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

After Lu Qingqing finished eating, seeing that the village chief had not returned yet, Zhuzi's wife came over to chat with Lu Qingqing again, and they talked about home.

Zhuzi's wife's youngest daughter, Erni, is only two years old and has never eaten anything good since she was born.

Lately, there has been nothing for her to eat.

Seeing that I was almost dying of hunger, I bought half a pound of millet and wanted to take it back to feed my child.

Lu Qingqing looked at the woman in front of her with a sad face. She vaguely remembered that she seemed to be only eighteen or nineteen years old, but she looked much older.

Zhuzi's family lives in front of the Qin family and is the closest family to the Qin family in the village.

After Lu Qingqing got married, she found that his family had a good relationship with the Qin family.

After coming to the Qin family, Zhuzi's wife became familiar with Lu Qingqing. Lu Qingqing also knew the situation of Zhuzi's family.

Zhuzi's parents favored their youngest son, so they separated Zhuzi's family and drove them to the back of the village.

A total of one and a half acres of wasteland were given to them, and even after paying the grain tax, they still had not enough to eat. The two daughters in the family were as thin as kittens.

In Lujia Village, Zhuzi's family is considered to be living poorly.

In previous years, Zhuzi would go to the wealthy families in town to help harvest wheat, or do odd jobs to at least earn some money to support his family.

There was a severe drought this year, and most families in the town no longer hired workers, so it must have been even more difficult.

Zhuzi's wife was under pressure from life and felt that although Lu Qingqing was young, she was very prudent in her words and deeds.

The two families had a good relationship, so he started to talk about it, as if after saying it out loud, he felt less bitter.

These days, life is hard for people, and even harder for women.

Seeing that everyone had returned, the village chief counted the number of people and then called on everyone to set off.

On the way back, everyone felt less stressed because most of the carts were empty.

After leaving the city, some refugees began to appear sporadically on the roadside.

Not long after walking out, a white-haired old man rushed in front of the car and begged everyone for some water to drink.

The old man had messy white hair and his cloudy eyes were filled with a desire for life.

Some soft-hearted villagers in the village turned their faces away unconsciously and dared not look.

The village chief looked at the old man in front of him who was older than his father, and a trace of pity flashed across his eyes.

When he looked up again, he saw that the refugees around him were all staring at him, and he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

He shouted at the old man to get out of the way, and seeing that he had no strength to move, he asked the villagers to carry him to the woods by the roadside.

Hearing the village chief's scolding, the men in the village also reacted, holding their weapons and showing fierce postures, and the surrounding refugees stopped paying attention.

The village chief asked everyone to speed up and leave.

On the way back to the village, if the team encountered refugees blocking the road and asking for water, they would bypass them if possible. If they couldn't, they would pretend to chop them and scare them away.

Along the way, Lu Qingqing saw a large number of refugees wandering around, and she became more determined to go back and practice archery.

The imperial court did not provide disaster relief, and the water and food shortages caused by the drought only made the situation more and more chaotic.

In the evening, the team finally returned to the village.

Under the dim firelight at the entrance of the village, many people were waiting for them to go home.

Lu Qingqing saw Grandma Qin standing on the side of the road. The old woman's originally tense body relaxed quietly when she saw them.

Grandma Qin took two quick steps forward, took their hands, and seeing that they were both unharmed, she said repeatedly:

"Just come back safely, that's all."

Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang pulled the cart, and the three of them started walking home.

On the way, Lu Qingqing secretly put the weapon back into the backpack.

After arriving home, Lu Qingqing first told Grandma Qin about what happened on the road, and said that she picked up a jade pendant and pawned it to buy something.

Worried that Grandma Qin would accuse her of spending money recklessly, she focused on the chaos caused by the refugees outside.

After listening to this, Grandma Qin looked through the things Lu Qingqing bought. She looked at the bow and arrow and the Tang sword for a while, and remembered the big sword and bow and arrow that the old man used in his early years.

It's a pity that the old man was left in the mountains after he was injured. Thinking of this, he praised Lu Qingqing even more for buying a good weapon.

The world is becoming more and more chaotic, only weapons can protect your wealth!

When Grandma Qin saw the candy and three sets of clothing materials under the backpack, she knew that the girl was filial and grateful.

He liked Lu Qingqing more and more and told her about the Qin family's early years.

Grandma Qin followed Grandpa Qin to Lujia Village to escape the famine because of a disaster in her hometown.

The Qin family's hometown in the early years was far away from here, further south.

The Qin family had previously run an escort agency, and Grandpa Qin had accumulated considerable wealth. With plenty of land and food, they were considered a wealthy family in the area.

Unexpectedly, after a flood, everything was washed away.

At that time, the family only had time to take some valuables and then ran to the mountain with their family.

The food and livestock in the homes were washed away and soaked by the flood, and many people who did not have time to escape were drowned in the water.

When the flood receded, the ground was covered with mud, branches and various corpses, and the smell was foul.

When Grandma Qin and her family returned to the Qin family's home, they found that most of the things in the house had been washed away and several rooms had collapsed.

There were still some scattered grains under the mud in the granary that had not been washed away, but people did not dare to eat them.

After the flood, those who were still alive were forced to become refugees.

In order to survive, refugees often committed burning, killing and looting.

Grandma Qin had two sons. On the way to escape famine, the younger son was killed in order to protect them.

The eldest son, Qin Lang's father, was also seriously injured and died.

Only Grandpa Qin, Grandma Qin and the pregnant eldest daughter-in-law survived and moved to Lujia Village.

This village was chosen by Grandpa Qin. It is backed by a mountain with water sources. If something really happens, we can hide in the mountains.

After the Qin family moved to Lujia Village, the old couple sold some of their gold and silver jewelry.

After building this house, he bought a few acres of land in the village and settled down here.

But not long after, Qin Lang's mother died of hemorrhage after giving birth to Qin Lang.

The old couple were left to take care of their little grandson, and the output from the few acres of land was just enough to feed the three people in the family.

Old Master Qin wanted to buy some property for his grandson, so he went into the mountains from time to time.

The house was built far away from the villagers, so whenever they caught small prey such as rabbits and pheasants, they would eat them secretly to replenish their bodies.

When they got a big prey, they would secretly transport it to the county at night and sell it.

In this way, by saving a little from time to time and adding it to the original belongings, the family's financial situation became more prosperous.

When Qin Lang fell ill, although some of his money was spent, he still lived a relatively wealthy life with the subsidies provided by Old Man Qin from time to time hunting.

The old couple, who had experienced famine, understood the horror of famine better than anyone else in Lujia Village. They always kept enough food at home to last for two or three years.

Although Qin Lang had a high fever when he was a child, causing his intelligence to remain at the level of a five or six-year-old, he had been practicing boxing and kicking with Grandpa Qin since he was a child. He was stronger than ordinary people and had unusually great strength.

Until five years ago, Mr. Qin was injured in the mountains when he went there for the last time and passed away shortly after returning.

At that time, Grandma Qin was taking care of her grandson by herself. She was worried that it would attract the covetousness of the villagers, so she became more low-key.