Spring comes to the desperate place

Song Chunlin patted his chest and quickly swallowed the cherry tomato that was still in his mouth. As a fruit, cherry tomatoes are not sweet, but they are juicy. After eating them, the whole mouth is filled with the refreshing tomato aroma.

Of course, now only Song Chunlin is enjoying it. Even the little cub can’t eat it because he doesn’t have teeth.

Before going to bed, Song Chunlin seriously thought about how to make the appearance of cherry tomatoes seem natural and make people of this era believe that this thing is non-toxic.

The next day was another day of traveling. Perhaps because they were heading south, the surrounding vegetation was more lush than the day he traveled through time, but Song Chunlin still couldn't find a way to make the cherry tomatoes appear successfully, so what they dug up today was big potatoes, also called kudzu potatoes in this era.

In Song Chunlin's time, the weight of a kudzu berry could reach more than ten pounds, but obviously the kudzu berries of this era had not been improved, so when the news came back that the two Song brothers had dug up a kudzu berry weighing seven or eight pounds, the whole village was shocked.

"What kind of thing can grow to 15 kilograms? I have never seen a kudzu berry weighing 15 kilograms in my life."

"That's right, don't tell me you dug up a stone and brought it back."

An older woman listened to the conversation with some disdain: "You are surprised by what you have never seen before. When I was young, someone in the neighboring village dug up a 10-jin kudzu nut and brought it to the medicine store for a lot of money."

"Oh, there are some that weigh ten kilograms. That's incredible. I usually only dig up five or six kilograms."

"The harvest is not as good as it was in the past. It's been so dry for so long, but the kudzu berries can still grow so big. It's strange."

The old woman glared at them and spat, "Take your eyes away. They are lucky brothers. Do you think they are all like you, who can't even step on a pile of dog shit all year round?"

The man was embarrassed by what she said. He dared not say anything and walked to the other side stealthily.

The Song Chunlin brothers were unaware of the dispute in the camp. Due to Mr. Song's reputation in his early years, no one would be so low as to run up to them and say something sour. However, there were many people who were jealous when they saw Song Dazhuang holding the seven or eight kilograms of kudzu berries in his arms.

It's a famine year now and everyone is short of food. But suddenly, seven or eight kilograms of food falls from the sky into your family. Who wouldn't be jealous?

Widow Huang was almost going crazy with jealousy. She had always liked Song Dazhuang's strong body. Why would she refuse to take the bait of such a useful laborer? If he would fall at her feet, wouldn't the big kudzu nut be hers by now?

Widow Huang was still dreaming sweet dreams, totally unaware that a pair of eyes with three white dots were glaring at Song Dazhuang viciously in the dark.

That night, not only did the Song family harvest a huge kudzu nut, but several other families who followed them to dig the ground also harvested several slightly smaller kudzu nut. Although small, they still weighed three or four pounds. Being able to pick up this kind of fallen food halfway through the journey gave everyone a little more confidence in the future journey.

In the evening, Song Qin chopped off a small piece of kudzu nut and threw it into the fire to cook it. However, this thing was dry. Song Qin gritted her teeth and boiled two more bowls of water in the evening for fear that her family would choke.

Other families are not so particular. It doesn’t matter if it chokes people, as long as it fills their stomachs.

Song Chunlin didn't like this stuff very much. It was dry and tasted like pure starch, not as fragrant as yam. However, Song Qin broke off a big piece for him and Song Chunsheng, saying it was a reward for the two brothers for their hard work in digging for food. Song Chunsheng ate it with relish, but Song Chunlin was more bitter and resentful.

With a wrinkled face, Song Chunlin couldn't swallow half of the meal. There was very little water in the pot. It was the water they fetched from the pond last time. The Song family used it very sparingly. Song Chunlin sometimes secretly added water to it, but he didn't dare to go too far. Therefore, they were always short of water. The family only drank water when they were eating. At other times, only Song Xiaobao would occasionally take a sip. Everyone endured it.

Song Chunlin also endured it, and secretly drank the space water in the middle of the night, and also fed Song Xiaobao, but there was no more.

It is so inconvenient for a large group to travel together. No matter what they do, they will be seen. The fact that their family has dug up edible food in the past two days has already attracted a lot of attention. When Song Chunlin was digging during the day, he clearly felt that he was being stared at.

At the end of the decade, Song Chunlin was very sensitive to the gazes of humans. Although the other party had no ill intentions, it also sounded an alarm bell in Song Chunlin's heart.

This won't do. The weather is still hot, even though they are heading south. Apart from the fact that the grass and trees on the roadside are a little more lush, there hasn't been much change. It has been nearly ten days since Song Chunlin arrived here, and the sky has been sunny without a drop of rain. Some streams along the way have dried up long ago. If it weren't for the small pond that day, and if Song Chunlin hadn't secretly added space water into the pond, this group of people would have run out of water to drink long ago.

Now everyone can still drink it sparingly, and Song Chunlin estimates that there is not much left, so they must find a way to find a source of water as soon as possible.

The village chief was also thinking about the same question. They had been walking for almost a month, and apart from the small pond in the middle, they had not found any other water source on the road. He observed everyone's meals tonight and found that several households had almost finished their water. If they couldn't find any more water, they were afraid that someone would die of thirst.

"Dad, we have been traveling south for so long, but we haven't even found a source of water. Is there really a place in the south where we can survive?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? The books all say that the South is a land of fish and rice, with both fish and rice. The fish are fat and the rice is full. It's obviously a good place. There are big rivers there, so there must be no shortage of water like in our village."

The village chief's son was still worried after hearing this. Although his family was better off than other villagers, when there was no water, even the most wealthy family could not withstand such a drain.

There has been a severe drought for three years. If His Majesty had not exempted taxes in the first year, they would have starved to death long ago. But no one knows when the drought will end, and no one knows whether the south is really as beautiful as the village chief said, with the protection of big rivers and lakes and no shortage of water forever.

Thinking of this, the village chief's son sighed and said, "If we can transport the water from the south to our north, we won't have to worry about running out of water."

When the village chief heard his son's words, he glared at him.

"Stop talking nonsense. Can you afford the water from the south that is transported to the north? You just keep daydreaming all day long." After scolding his son, the village chief put his hands behind his back and went to rest.

But the village chief's son thought that this was not a crazy idea. Who said that transporting water from the south to the north must rely on horses and carriages? Couldn't they just dig a canal to divert the water?

If Song Chunlin heard this man's idea, he might even praise him as a genius, because in modern society, his country has indeed completed the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, but the manpower and material resources consumed and the sacrifices made behind it are much more expensive than horses and carriages. Even in that era, it can be regarded as an epoch-making feat.