Traveling through 1942 with space

While his two younger brothers were looking for his aunt and uncle, Hou Xiaoge did not dig by himself, but sat on the ground and waited quietly.

"Dad, uncle, second uncle, brother Heiwa found a rat hole and asked us to come over to call you over." Zhou Kangzhan and Xiao Shuanniu ran to them breathlessly and whispered in their ears.

The uncle, Erda and the uncle-in-law, who were digging hard at the roots of a dead tree, heard the two kids' message, picked up their backpacks and hurried towards Hou Xiaoge.

As the few people walked towards Hou Xiaoge, the refugees around them also looked over here. Some people began to whisper, and those who were familiar with them asked directly.

"Yangmin, what are you guys doing in such a hurry? We found something good." A shirtless, skinny middle-aged man asked them in a flattering manner.

"Brother Yangwa, Heiwa asked me to come over, but I don't know what's going on." Seeing that they were from the same clan, uncle Hou Yangmin did not retort, but just laughed and said.

"Yangmin, if you find any grain, give me half a pound, or two ounces will do. My father is dying, and I want him to have a bun before he dies. I beg you for it." The middle-aged man said as he wiped his tears.

"Sanda, I saw you the day before yesterday and you were in good spirits. How come you're no longer able to do it now?" Hearing the man's words, several people stopped and asked.

"My father only drank water and gave all the food to the kids...!" the middle-aged man said as he burst into tears.

"Ugh!"

Although my uncle sympathized with this relative, food was life at that time, and if he gave it to others, his own family would not be able to survive.

Therefore, he did not dare to say that he had food at home, but just wanted him to follow them to Hou Xiaoge to try his luck.

"Brother Yangwa, come with us! Let's see if we can get some food." After saying that, the uncle led everyone to continue heading towards Hou Xiaoge.

"Oh! Hit." The middle-aged man's face lit up with joy and he quickly followed.

When Hou Xiaoge saw his uncle and his companions coming, he quickly stood up from the field to greet them.

"Heiwa, have you found the rat hole?" Erda was an impatient person and asked quickly.

"Yes! It's right here. I covered it with straw because I was afraid others would find it." Hou Xiaoge quickly pointed to a small pile of dry straw at his feet.

"Okay, look around quickly to see if there are any other holes. Be careful that mice may escape from other holes." Uncle stood aside and gave orders.

"understood!"

Everyone started searching along the rat hole in an area of three to five meters. Soon, only one hole was left and they found it.

"Excavation!"

Seeing that there were no more holes, everyone began to dig along the two entrances.

Everyone brought tools like hoes and shovels when they fled, so they dug the hole very quickly. They found the rats' bedroom and granary in just three or four minutes.

"Squeak, squeak!"

Just as the mouse couple was about to escape, Erda and his uncle grabbed them and stuffed them into the bamboo tubes in their hands.

"These rats are really a disaster for food. A small rat hole can hide more than three pounds of wheat. It's such a waste to feed it to these animals." The uncle took out a cloth bag from his arms and carefully put most of the food into the bag.

"Brother Yangwa, there are still a few pounds of wheat and some grass seeds left. You can pick them up yourself! We'll leave first." The uncle glanced at the middle-aged man next to him and said.

"Thank you for raising me." Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man hurriedly thanked him, then lay directly on the ground and quickly put food into the bamboo tube in his hand.

The uncle stood up, carefully put the cloth bag into his arms and patted it, then waved his hand to signal everyone to go back quickly.

Everyone understood what the uncle meant. Three pounds of food and two mice were not a small number, so they quickly surrounded the uncle and drove back to the village.

The middle-aged man lying on the ground nearby had already packed the food. When he saw Hou Xiaoge's family leaving, he hurriedly followed them.

Less than three minutes after everyone left with the food, the refugees who had been watching from all around rushed over. When they saw the empty rat holes, they slapped their thighs in regret.

What's worse, some people may rely on their acquaintance with Hou Xiaoge's family to chase after Hou Xiaoge and his group, trying to get a bite to eat.

"Brother Yangwa, if someone sees us, go back and cook the food and eat it." The uncle at the entrance of the village warned the middle-aged man who came back with him.

"I understand, Yangmin. If you have any problems in the future, just let me know. I will help you even if I break my head." The middle-aged man said a word of gratitude and hurried back.

"Let's go, let's go back quickly, there are wolves chasing us from behind." The uncle looked at the people chasing them from a distance and quickly called everyone to go back.

"Why are you back so early today?"

As soon as everyone entered the door, the second aunt and the younger sister-in-law, who were drying tree bark, came to greet them.

"Dahuan and Erhuan, close the door quickly! Prop it with wood and don't open it no matter who knocks. Just say you have no food." The uncle said to his two sons.

"Got it, Dad." They both said in unison.

After returning to the yard, the uncle told Erda and his uncle-in-law to kill the mouse quickly, and then throw away the head, tail and internal organs without leaving any residue.

"The second brother's family, this grain has been discovered and cannot be kept, so we cooked it all this afternoon and let everyone have a semi-dry meal.

Also, the remaining food could not be kept, and others would be jealous if they knew about it.

Try to cook more for each meal in the future so that everyone can have more energy and walk faster when fleeing famine." The uncle handed the grain bag in his arms to the second aunt and instructed.

Although Second Aunt has a bad temper with children like Hou Xiaoge, she dare not say a word against her uncle who is the head of the family.

I took the food and started cooking quietly with my sister-in-law.

Hou Xiaoge stood aside and watched quietly without saying anything, but in his heart he admired the decisiveness of this cheap uncle.

Throwing away the difficult-to-handle internal organs and the rat heads and tails that don't have much meat on them can create internal conflicts among the disaster victims who are out to get money, making it difficult for them to unite.

After all the food is cooked, the aroma of rice wafting out indicates that the food has been eaten, and those who have eaten have energy, so there is no need to worry about the weak victims causing trouble.

Moreover, as the disaster continues to get worse, it is no longer realistic to keep food to survive. Only by ensuring physical strength can one get out of the disaster area.

In Hou Xiaoge's opinion, uncle might have another meaning.

"During famine, disaster victims are no longer human beings. The more severe the disaster, the less human they are. The best way to resist risks is to maintain sufficient physical strength at all times."

Sure enough, within a few minutes of the rice being cooked, there was a knock on the door.

"Yangmin, Minyou, Cuiping, open the door! I am..." From time to time, weak knocks and weak shouts were heard from outside the door.

It was not until more people gathered outside the door that the uncle signaled Erda to throw away the prepared internal organs and other waste.

The effect was immediate. There was a burst of cursing and snatching sounds coming from outside the door, which lasted for a long time before completely disappearing.

But after the snatch was decided, knocking and shouting were heard again.

Now it was the women's turn. Second Aunt did not tolerate the people outside. She put her hands on her hips and started cursing.

"The food we get from the rat holes is not even enough for my family of more than a dozen people to eat in one meal. Who do you think you are? How dare you come to my house to beg for food.

My Xiaohui was sick a while ago and needed money to buy medicine, but none of you helped her. Xiaohui was only six years old! She died in my arms." Second Aunt started to cry while scolding.

Second Aunt cried and cursed louder and louder, until finally the knocking on the door disappeared.