Crossing the farm gate, the whole family reunites in the disaster year

The midday sun enveloped the village.

The villagers are used to taking a break, and the whole village is so quiet that it seems as if the pause button has been pressed.

Going west, you will see low houses scattered throughout the village. Although the Cui family's house is a mud house, it is still acceptable in the whole village. There are also dilapidated thatched houses on the road, supported by a few wooden pillars, and are crumbling.

The rolling mountains to the north are divided into pieces of farmland at the foot of the mountains. There is a winding river between the farmland and the mountains. The river has long dried up, and the riverbed is full of gullies and cracks, which is desolate.

If the spring harvest is accompanied by rainy days, you can still survive by saving some food. But if there is a drought, you may have to leave your hometown to have a chance of survival.

Cui Zhaozhao followed Cui's mother's footsteps and stepped into the farmland cautiously.

The ridges of the fields are neat, and thin strips of crops stand upright on the cracked soil, with their leaves shriveled and yellowed.

Cui Zhaozhao had never farmed before, but he could tell that the field was very clean.

Cui's mother squatted down and said with regret: "If it doesn't rain again, there will be no hope for the wheat."

"Mom, you can farm?" Cui Zhaozhao was surprised.

Cui's mother smiled and said, "Your generation was born in a good era. When I was six or seven years old, I would go with your grandmother to pick wheat ears and peanuts."

"Look here." Cui Zhaozhao squatted down and looked in the direction of Cui's mother's finger. "It's the time when the wheat is heading, but the wheat hasn't even reached its joints yet."

Cui Zhaozhao looked around and saw that the nearby farmlands were all green and yellow, looking very bleak.

This is all the villagers hope for.

"Huh." Cui's mother looked into the distance and frowned in confusion.

"Is that your dad?"

Cui Chengliang was holding a bamboo basket in his arms and walking stealthily towards the east.

Where are you going during lunch break?

Cui Zhaozhao followed quietly, and the wheat field hid the figures of mother and daughter tightly.

After leaving Xiahe Village, Cui Chengliang walked quickly. When Cui Zhaozhao came out of the wheat field, Cui Chengliang was no longer in his sight.

Due to consecutive years of disasters and rampant bandits, Cui Zhaozhao did not dare to leave the village rashly. After taking a few glances at the village entrance, he had to turn back.

There were a few villagers working in the fields on the road. They had worried looks on their faces and walked in a hurry.

"Since we two came here, your brother is the only one left."

Cui's mother muttered to herself.

The scene of the car accident must have been tragic. At this time, their bodies are probably already waiting for a number at the crematorium.

Thinking of their eldest son who was alone, both mother and daughter had tears in their eyes.

Mother Cui wiped her tears and thought of another thing.

"What's with the rice porridge? The man specifically said it was millet, but I see the rice porridge you made is all refined rice."

In ancient times, refined rice was very expensive, especially in years of disaster, when the price of a pound of refined rice could rise to more than ten wen.

Unable to withstand Cui's mother's sharp gaze, Cui Zhaozhao turned his eyes away, and a familiar mechanical sound suddenly rang in his ears.

[Found wild shepherd's purse, 10 wen per pound.]

Cui Zhaozhao looked around and pulled Cui's mother to the side of the road.

"Mom, don't make any noise next time you see something."

The shepherd's purse was covered by some dead grass. Cui Zhaozhao picked up a wooden stick and carefully dug out the two shepherd's purse that were connected together.

[One ounce of natural shepherd's purse, purchase price: 1 wen, would you like to sell it?]

For sale.

In the blink of an eye, the shepherd's purse disappeared, replaced by an ancient copper coin.

Cui's mother opened her mouth wide, stunned.

What's wrong with this world?

Cui Zhaozhao explained the functions of the system, including her operation of exchanging millet for rice.

After experiencing the time travel, Cui's mother quickly accepted the existence of the system and rubbed her forehead.

"The price of the system should be calculated based on productivity. The grain production here is low, so it is more valuable."

If it were just the two of them living there, their lives would be much more comfortable with a system, but now they are living with the Cui family, and it would be difficult to explain if they were discovered.

The character of the Cui family is still unclear, so we can't be too conspicuous.

"It's fine if only the two of us know about the system. Store the food we exchanged from the space and cook only as much as we need for each meal."

Cui Zhaozhao agreed readily. It felt great to travel through time with her mother. No matter what she encountered, her mother would always consider her sincerely.

Cui Zhaozhao hugged her mother's arm affectionately, but her mother pushed her away mercilessly.

"Don't dawdle, hurry up and dig up the wild vegetables."

Who knows if the system will be gone one day? It’s better to exchange some money and hold it in your hand.

Cui's mother was an expert at digging wild vegetables. She dug up nearly a pound of them in a short time. Cui Zhaozhao only had a few pitiful vegetables with broken leaves and roots in his hand.

"Why did his third aunt bring her family back to our Cui family when she could have lived a decent life in the city?" A pale-faced woman behind him said loudly with a smile.

Mother Cui turned around and took a look, then lowered her voice to explain, "It's your second aunt Feng."

Unlike the villagers who were pale and thin, Feng's strong body squeezed her neck so short that it became only a short part. She looked at Cui Zhaozhao and her daughter with a pair of narrow eyes.

Cui Zhaozhao helped Cui's mother stand up.

Cui's mother said calmly, "The children are all grown up now. It's not good for them to always live separately from their father."

Cui Chengliang returned to the village from the county town alone and lived there for three years without his mother and daughter showing up. Feng didn't believe this.

But Cui's mother didn't give her the chance to gossip and got up to go home.

Feng's eyes rolled and she followed with a smile: "Aunt San, what kind of vegetables are you digging? You still have a wound on your head. Let me help you." As she spoke, she was about to grab them.

Cui Zhaozhao leaned between the two of them and quickly stuffed all the shepherd's purse in Cui's mother's arms into his sleeves.

"This kid still doesn't believe me."

Cui Zhaozhao left Feng's voice behind, ran back home in one breath, and closed the door of the east room tightly.

There were a total of one and a half pounds of shepherd's purse. Half of it was sold for 8 cents, and the rest was carefully picked clean.

"...I'm going to die from this. Xiaowu and Xiaoqi are crying hungry every day. Auntie, you're their mother too. It's not a big deal if we lose our stomachs, but how can we feed the kids if they starve?"

Cui's mother walked into the yard with a wooden face, while Feng was still chattering behind her.

"There is no food left at home. The kids will be happy for several days if they can have some wild vegetables." After saying this, Feng looked at Cui's mother eagerly.

Wild vegetables can be dug everywhere, and they are of great use to them, so Cui's mother did not respond.

The door of the upper room was pushed open with force, and Old Mrs. Cui came out with a dark face. She glared at Cui's mother and scolded her.

"Who has rice to cook these days? If you have the time to grind your teeth, you would have dug it out and eaten it long ago." Old Mrs. Cui's gray hair was tightly tied into a bun at the back of her head. Her skin was thin and her mouth corners drooped, making her look particularly sharp.

Mrs. Feng didn't seem annoyed at all. She smiled and said, "It's just a coincidence that I saw it. His third aunt just came back. I'll ask Erlang and the others to come and kowtow to his third aunt later."

Old Madam Cui saw through Feng's thoughts and snorted, "He came to kowtow at mealtime, and then he can have a full meal with his Third Aunt after that."

Feng laughed dryly, "It's been a while since we've had a lively party. It's a good time to have a table. What do you think, Third Aunt?"

Cui's mother was penniless and she didn't want to say a word.