Traveling through the mountains and farming

Luo Dashan took a deep breath, tightly gripped the bow and arrow in his hand, and walked out of the cave.

Before leaving, he carefully covered the entrance to the cave.

There was total silence in the cave. Everyone's heart was in their throat and time seemed to have stood still.

Seeing Li Chongshan pick up the hatchet at his waist, Granny Zheng pulled the little boy over and led him.

Li Chonghai also drew out his hatchet and stood guard at the cave entrance with Li Chongshan, ready to respond to any emergency at any time.

After a long while, there was still no movement outside, and everyone became more and more anxious.

Just at this moment, a slight noise came from outside the cave, and everyone's heart was tightened again.

Li Chongshan opened the hole and looked out, only to see Luo Dashan supporting an old man who looked a little embarrassed walking in.

The old man's face was as pale as paper, his hair was messy, a few strands of silver hair were randomly stuck to his forehead, and his face was covered with traces of sweat and dust.

Li Chongshan put down his axe, immediately went over to help, and asked, "Who is this person?"

"I found him outside. He had probably fainted from hunger when he got here. He looked friendly, so I brought him back."

Together they helped the old man into the cave and sat him down on the hay nearby.

When Li Changli saw the old man's face clearly, he couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise:

"Doctor Zhong, this is Doctor Zhong from Baicaotang. Why is he here?"

He hurriedly pinched Doctor Zhong's philtrum, and then Doctor Zhong slowly opened his eyes.

"You are? You saved me?"

"Doctor Zhong, we met at the south gate of the city not long ago. At that time, you followed Lin Wan back to our village to get medicine."

After hearing what Li Changli said, Doctor Zhong remembered and said, "So it was you. Thank you so much."

Li Chongshan asked from the side: "Doctor Zhong, what happened to you? Why are you so embarrassed?"

Doctor Zhong sighed and said, "Alas, I went out of the city this morning to collect herbs on the mountain, but I was almost caught by those soldiers. I took great pains to knock them out, and only then was I able to escape."

Li Chongshan looked puzzled: "How dare they arrest people like you who have legitimate livelihoods in the city?"

It is understood that people who have registered residence in the city and are engaged in legitimate business will not be arrested and sent into exile.

"I explained it to them, but they didn't listen. They even said I was quibbling and that they were the ones who were enforcing the law arbitrarily." Doctor Zhong shook his head helplessly.

He was still complaining in his heart: Why is the world so chaotic nowadays? People are arrested on sight and there is no law at all.

Li Changli also came over and asked, "Don't you have all kinds of medicine in your pharmacy? Why did you come here alone to pick herbs?"

Doctor Zhong said with a bitter face: "There is a medicine that needs to be fresh for use as medicine. I saw it in the mountains near your village last time. This time I needed it, so I came here to look for it. But I was so unlucky that I happened to encounter soldiers arresting people everywhere."

Granny Zheng saw that Doctor Zhong's voice was getting weaker and weaker, so she said:

"Don't talk about this anymore. Let's get something to eat for Dr. Zhong first, and then we can talk slowly later."

Only then did they remember that Doctor Zhong had fainted from hunger, so they stopped talking and hurriedly took action.

Li Chonghai and Li Chongshan quickly re-ignited the fire and continued to roast the rabbit meat that was almost cooked.

After a while, the aroma of rabbit meat filled the air again.

Li Chonghai tore the roasted rabbit meat into several pieces.

He handed a piece to Doctor Zhong first, "Doctor Zhong, please eat something first to fill your stomach."

Doctor Zhong took the rabbit meat and ate it slowly.

Then, Li Chonghai distributed the rabbit meat to the little boy and Grandma Zheng, and the others helped themselves.

For a moment, there was no other sound in the cave except for the slight chewing sound.

Everyone ate in silence, thinking about their own thoughts.

The little boy's mouth was full of oil and he licked his fingers from time to time.

Granny Zheng ate it in small bites.

When everyone had almost finished eating, Li Changli said:

"I don't know if the soldiers outside are still searching. I think we should leave here as soon as possible."

No one else had any objections, but they didn't know how Dr. Zhong should arrange it.

"I want to go with you. Lin Wan and I have some friendship with her, and I want to go and join her." Doctor Zhong suddenly said.

While eating the rabbit meat, he carefully considered that if he went back to the city alone, he would probably be caught halfway.

Although he could probably use his connections to get it done with a high probability, what if something unexpected happens? He couldn't take the risk.

There are also delicious foods to eat if you follow Lin Wan. I heard about those delicacies she talked about last time, so now I can eat them by following her.

When they heard that Dr. Zhong was going to follow them, no one knew how to respond for a moment.

Firstly, they were not familiar with Doctor Zhong, so they did not dare to bring a stranger back easily. Secondly, he was going to find Lin Wan, so they would not bring any trouble to Lin Wan.

Everyone turned their eyes to Li Changli.

Li Changli was also in a dilemma. Although Doctor Zhong could be Lin Wan's grandfather, he was still a strange man and he couldn't just take him back.

Li Changli looked embarrassed and said apologetically:

"Doctor Zhong, this is not easy to handle. We are hiding from place to place, and it may be inconvenient to bring you along."

Doctor Zhong also saw their dilemma and continued to persuade them:

"I'm a doctor. It would be good for you to bring me along. If you have a headache or a fever, I can help you diagnose and treat it in time. You don't have to worry."

Everyone thought it made sense. There were more than 30 people in their group, including many elderly people and children. It would be much more convenient to have a doctor around.

Especially when Li Chongshan thought that his wife was still pregnant and had a doctor by her side, he didn't have to worry about any unexpected situations during pregnancy.

Li Chongshan signaled to the others with his eyes that they should agree to him. Li Changli saw that everyone agreed to keep Doctor Zhong.

He agreed and reminded again:

"Well, Doctor Zhong, I'll inconvenience you to follow us. But life there is quite hard, so you have to think it through."

Doctor Zhong answered without hesitation: "I am in such a situation now. I don't care about whether it is hard or not. As long as I have a place to stay, it will be fine."

He immediately became full of energy, thinking only of eating all kinds of delicious food he had never tasted before, and he was not afraid of other difficult conditions.

"Okay then, let's go now."

Everyone packed up their things and set off without waiting for dawn.

The little boy held onto the corner of Grandma Zheng's clothes tightly, with a hint of sleepiness in his eyes.

Li Chongshan walked in front of the team, looking back from time to time to see if everyone was keeping up.

Luo Dashan was observing the movements around him vigilantly, never putting down the bow and arrow in his hand.

A group of people walked forward in the night.

~

Lin Wan, who was still asleep, had no idea that Luo Dashan and his men who were out had brought an old man and a child with her.

She was sleeping soundly in her new bed, with Fang Yun, Li Chonghai's wife He Hua and her three-year-old son Li Dabao lying next to her.

Last night, their two bedrooms and the living room were filled with children and women.

Several of the aunties had already gotten up and left early, leaving only the children still sleeping soundly.

Maybe the children were too noisy last night, so they all slept soundly.

Some of them had their mouths slightly open, some of them were holding a corner of the quilt tightly with their hands, and some of them had contented smiles on their faces.

"Bang bang bang~"

There was a rapid knock on the door, Lin Wan was awakened and sat up with sleepy eyes.

He Hua also mumbled in a daze: "Who is it so early in the morning?"

"I'll go take a look." Lin Wan immediately got up and went out to open the door.