The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

Lu Qingqing took Qin Lang to a valley and found some wild vegetables there.

The two squatted here and dug for a while. Lu Qingqing saw that there was no one around, took out a sweet potato from her arms and handed it to Qin Lang.

There are not many sweet potatoes left from the ones she bought before, so Lu Qingqing plans to wait until the sweet potatoes in the space field are ripe before eating them.

When Qin Lang saw that she hadn't eaten it, he broke off a piece and gave it to her, asking her to eat it too.

Looking at the half piece of sweet potato handed to me, it was still steaming.

The golden potato flesh exuded a sweet aroma. Lu Qingqing couldn't help but took it and took a big bite.

The sweet and soft taste made her squint her eyes while eating.

Qin Lang was also very happy watching her eat.

In the past, when there was something delicious at home, he would ask his grandmother to eat with him, but his grandmother always said she didn’t like it.

Qin Lang knew that his grandmother was lying to him.

Every time grandma refused like this, Qin Lang felt that the food no longer tasted good.

Fortunately, my sister is here now, and they can eat delicious food together in the future.

The two of them took turns eating, as if they were competing, and finished in no time.

Watching Qin Lang take out a handkerchief and wipe his hands carefully, he lowered his head to help Lu Qingqing wipe off the sweet potatoes on her hands.

Lu Qingqing truly felt that Grandma Qin was a wise old woman who had taught Qin Lang very well.

Simple but not selfish, knows how to respect others, does not bully children, and does not act unreasonably like a few-year-old child.

They should be able to live in harmony.

After eating, Lu Qingqing reminded them again not to tell anyone that they had eaten outside.

Otherwise, there will be no more delicious food in the future.

Qin Lang nodded vigorously, then stretched out his little finger, hooked Lu Qingqing's little finger, and said that they would never change their promise for a hundred years, and then stamped it with his thumb.

Seeing this, Lu Qingqing curled up the corners of her mouth, pulled up his sleeve, and the two of them started walking home.

The sun was scorching hot on the way, and after returning, the two of them gulped down several gulps of water because they were so hot.

Grandma Qin looked at the few wild vegetables in the two people's baskets and told them not to go out to dig wild vegetables starting tomorrow.

While Lu Qingqing was preparing lunch, she heard the village chief beating a gong and calling for all the villagers to gather.

Grandma Qin and Qin Lang quickly picked up their things and walked out. Qin Lang did not forget to call Lu Qingqing.

When the three of them arrived at the village entrance, they saw dozens of refugees gathered there.

Although the refugees were all skinny, there were quite a few of them.

Seeing such a large group of people blocking the way, Lu Qingqing was still worried that a fight might break out.

As more and more people came from the village, I gradually felt relieved.

Now the villagers and refugees are face to face, and the difference between having food and going hungry is immediately apparent.

Although most of the villagers ate coarse grains and wild vegetables, they could still eat until they were 60% to 70% full, and were obviously much stronger than the refugees.

When the refugees saw more and more villagers coming, they gradually stopped being restless and a leader came out to talk to the village chief.

Listening to their conversation, Lu Qingqing realized that these refugees were from the neighboring county.

The water shortage there lasted even longer, and the crops in the fields died of drought before they could even bear ears of grain.

There was no drinking water left, so people had no choice but to flee the famine.

I heard there is a water source on the mountain here, so I came here just to drink some water.

Before the village chief could reply, the villagers started talking about how the water source on the mountain had stopped a long time ago.

The village chief looked at the group of skinny, emaciated people in front of him, suppressed his pity, and said:

"The water source on the mountain has been dry for more than half a month. We have no water to drink. You should go look for it somewhere else."

After hearing this, some of the refugees sat down on the ground, muttering,

"There's no water elsewhere. Even here on the mountain, there's no water. God doesn't want us to survive."

There were also some cunning ones among the refugees, who started to shout,

"There must be somewhere to drink water in the village. We won't ask for too much. We can each have a sip and leave."

The village chief watched as the refugees were provoked by these words and the noise grew louder and louder.

Just as I was hesitating about what to do, the old village chief came out and said:

"It hasn't rained, and the water sources on the mountain have all dried up. Everyone in Lijia Village downstream knows about this. We went up the mountain together to see it."

"We don't even have anything to drink, so how can we give you water? Go east. I remember there's a big river over there. Go see if there's any water there."

Seeing that most of the refugees hesitated, the refugee who had caused trouble earlier wanted to continue speaking.

Then the old village chief said sternly:

"I see it's been hard for you to escape the famine, so I said a few more words. If you don't leave, do you want to rob our village? The young and old men in the village will not agree to it!"

Hearing this, the men in the village took two steps forward with their weapons, scaring the refugees so much that they retreated again and again.

One refugee retreated, and the rest soon left.

After this incident, the villagers immediately organized themselves and arranged for people to guard the entrance and the end of the village, and to ring the gong as soon as any situation occurred.

After a while, the drought became more and more severe.

As the water level in the village well became lower and lower, the village chief organized people to dig in the well, but the water level continued to drop.

Now, the village only provides water once every three days, with each person receiving half a bucket of water.

This amount of water is not enough to even cook, it is just enough to have a small sip when you are thirsty.

When Grandma Qin started to control water in the village, she saved up all the water.

Now the three buckets, water jars and basins in the house are still full.

The Qin family still has water for cooking, but they use it very sparingly.

The village welcomed waves of refugees from time to time. Fortunately, the refugee groups were not too large and did not dare to attack Lujia Village.

The refugees were all emaciated, and seeing that they could not get food and water, they walked eastward like zombies.

The refugees coming and going revealed that there were people selling water in the town before, but now they have stopped.

It can be seen that the situation outside is very difficult, and the villagers no longer have any objections to the village chief's water control.

Now that I have water to drink, I feel good to be alive.

During this period, relatives from other nearby villages also came to borrow water.

Some people are shy and may be scolded by their family members or cause a quarrel at home after lending the money out.

More often than not, the family members simply refuse, after all, water is more precious than food nowadays.

One day, Mrs. Lu Li came to see Lu Qingqing.

It turned out that it was Lu Li's younger brother Li Jinbao who came.

He first went to the Lu family to borrow water, but was directly rejected by Old Man Lu and Old Lady Lu.

Li Jinbao kept pestering Lu Li, and Lu Li, who was a little softened by his plea, suddenly thought of Lu Qingqing.

When Mrs. Lu Li saw Lu Qingqing, her attitude was the same as before, and her tone was commanding.

"Daya, go get me a bowl of water."

This made Lu Qingqing laugh out loud, and she really wanted to reply, "Who are you?"

But this was ancient times, and her status meant she couldn't directly scold Lu Li.

Lu Qingqing looked at Lu Li coldly.

"Mom, I've been sold by my family. Do grandpa and grandma know that you came to me to ask for water?"

Seeing her like this, Mrs. Lu Li immediately became angry.

"You're such a rebel! You dare to use your grandparents to pressure me. You're my daughter. Even if you get married, it won't change the fact that you crawled out of my intestines."

"I asked you for a bowl of water, but you didn't even give it to me. I really wasted my time raising you. I might as well have thrown you into the urine bucket when you were born!"

Mrs. Lu Li said this with gritted teeth, trying to strangle Lu Qingqing.

Lu Qingqing naturally couldn't let her pinch her, so she dodged. She was not the old Daya who could be beaten and scolded by her.

Ever since she was sold by the Lu family, she has had no relationship with the Lu family.

“The Lu family has sold me to the Qin family. Do you think I can touch the Qin family’s water?”

Mrs. Lu Li also felt that since she was sold to the Qin family, she probably wouldn't be able to drink much water. But her brother had come, so she couldn't go back empty-handed.

Seeing that Lu Qingqing seemed to be in better condition than before, he immediately pointed at Lu Qingqing's face and said:

"You little bastard, are you kidding me? Look at your mouth, it's a little chapped, and you seem to have gained a little weight. Are you dehydrated?"

Lu Qingqing was shocked, but she remained calm on the surface.

"There's a water shortage in the village right now, and I guess the Qin family doesn't have much water either. Besides, I can't get any water here."

Lu Li looked at Daya's cold expression and felt that this girl seemed to be out of her control. She subconsciously raised her hand to hit her.

Lu Qingqing grabbed her arm. At this time, Qin Lang in the yard saw his wife being bullied and was about to come up to help.

Lu Qingqing coaxed him to go back into the house, saying that she would be back soon and everything would be fine.

Seeing that Mrs. Lu Li was still pestering her, Lu Qingqing became annoyed and grabbed Mrs. Lu Li's arm and dragged her out.

"Every family is short of water now. Since mother is determined to make me steal water and get divorced by my in-laws, why don't I just go back with you and explain this matter to grandpa and grandma."

Mrs. Lu Li felt the strength coming from her arm and looked at Lu Qingqing who was still pulling her forward. She suddenly panicked. This damn girl really wanted to complain.

She didn't dare let her parents-in-law know that she came to Daya to ask for water. If her parents-in-law knew that she wanted water to support her younger brother, they would definitely send her back to her parents' home.

Now her parents' family could not afford to support her, so Lu Li pulled her hand away and ran away in a hurry.

Lu Qingqing looked at Lu Li who was running away and reflected on herself silently.

Nowadays, lack of water causes most people to have chapped lips and an ugly complexion.

Since she came to the Qin family, the food has obviously been much better than before.

The three people in the family eat the same food, so she can eat whole grains at every meal.

My body is too weak, and it would be troublesome if I got sick. Taking advantage of the independent space after arriving at the Qin family, Lu Qingqing consciously replenished herself with nutrition.

She would secretly eat some oil residue or other foods as a snack almost every night. Maybe she ate too much, so she started to grow taller and gain some weight.

I secretly warned myself that I should be more careful in the future and disguise my face when going out.