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

“Dear guest, you have also seen the situation in my family.

I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but my whole family is having trouble finding food to eat.

In this village, we still have two acres of thin land, and we can get some food from Tukala.

If I really leave, how will I survive without any money or skills?

As the old man spoke, the deep wrinkles on his dark face were filled with sorrow.

He looked at his two sons who were standing obediently beside him and said to Lu Tianming with a wry smile:

“In fact, I know very well that once I’m captured as a soldier by the government, I’m afraid I won’t have a chance of survival.

But my two sons are both simple-minded, not as smart as other people's children.

I have been cheated more than once when I went out to work with people I knew.

Besides, there are children at home, and my wife and I are old and our legs and feet can’t keep up.

Given the situation at my house, even if I escape, things might not be any better.

Alas, if it were not so, I would have tried to escape at all costs.”

Next to them, my father-in-law's two sons buried their heads even lower.

Lu Tianming listened to his father-in-law's words, looked at his father-in-law's descendants in the room, and sighed silently.

Life is hard!

Seeing the expressions of Lu Tianming and the others, the father-in-law seemed to think it was not good to complain to strangers like this, and he put on a smile again.

“However, now that everyone in the village has left, the entire village’s land has been handed over to our family to manage.

Apart from government taxes, there are no other fees.

If we can make it to the autumn harvest, life will be better for our family once we get the grain!"

As the father-in-law spoke, his two sons beside him raised their heads a little.

They have lived on this land all their lives, and all they see is the land.

As long as they have land to farm, they feel they have hope in life again.

After hearing this, Lu Tianming and the others didn't know what to say for a moment.

What my father-in-law said sounded nice, but everyone present knew what had happened in the past two years.

Because of the successive disasters, there was no time to harvest all the crops in the fields.

Well, I hope this year won’t be another disaster year, so that the people can have a break!

Lu Tianming was silent for a while, then said:

"Father, I wonder if Brother Dagen is free?

If he is willing to take us to the dock, in addition to the half bag of coarse grains on the table, I will give you another bag of coarse grains!"

Upon hearing this, my father-in-law and his family all looked over in surprise.

At this time, the thin woman in the corner of the room hurriedly replied:

"I'm free, I'm free! My dear guest, when are you leaving? I'll ask my boss to pack up and show you the way!"

The father-in-law felt his face flush with embarrassment when he heard his eldest daughter-in-law's anxious response.

He naturally knew that Lu Tianming and his group were taking special care of them.

It takes at most four days to go from Jiangzhuang to the dock and back, so it's not worth giving a bag of coarse grains.

Logically, he shouldn't have accepted these extra benefits.

But look at the two grandsons squatting by the doorstep, they are so thin that they are just a bag of bones.

Thinking of this, he just lowered his head and said no more.

Lu Tianming nodded in agreement.

"We'll set off right after we get some water!"

The woman pushed her boss and asked him to come out and answer.

Da Gen was indeed a very honest man, but when he was pushed out and saw everyone looking at him, his face turned red with shame.

After responding in a very small voice, he retreated into the corner.

After seeing Lu Tianming agreed, the father-in-law planned to secretly instruct his son later.

When leading the way, if you encounter any physical work, you must take the initiative to do it.

Seeing Lu Tianming and the others about to stand up, he hurriedly said:

"Dear guests, let me take you to fetch water. It's in the ditch behind our village.

That water is no better than well water, so please don’t despise it.”

Having said that, he turned around and instructed:

"Da Gen, go and pack your bedding and follow the distinguished guest later."

Lu Tianming and his group returned to the carriage, and the convoy headed towards the ditch north of the village.

When everyone arrived, they found that this ditch was similar to the ditch that their village used to store water for irrigation.

The whole ditch was filled with fallen leaves and grass fluff, and it didn't look very clean.

If people had just fled famine, some might have disliked the dirty water.

But now, each family did not hesitate for a moment and began to fill their own big bathtubs with water quickly.

My father-in-law and his family also came to help.

Seeing that Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang were young, Da Gen took his own bucket and helped them fill the big bathtub.

When the two thanked him, he just smiled shyly and waved his hand.

Looking at the patched clothes on him and the other children, Lu Qingqing quietly took out a few pieces of clothes of similar size.

These were the newer clothes she had picked out when she collected the items earlier. She had folded them neatly and placed them in the box.

When Da Gen was about to leave, she asked Qin Lang to quietly hand him the bag of clothes.

Da Gen was about to refuse with his bag in his arms when he was seen by his wife.

When she opened the bundle and saw the brand new clothes, her eyes narrowed with joy.

Her family hasn't made clothes for several years, and the clothes of everyone in the family, young and old, are patched over and over again.

In previous years, children’s clothes were made from adults’ old clothes, but now adults don’t have enough clothes to wear, let alone children.

These clothes are really good things. Seeing that Dagen was still hesitating, she snatched the bundle and advised:

"Boss, if you retreat, our two sons will be left with nothing!

Besides, these distinguished guests are all kind-hearted people and would not bear to see our children suffer.

Just work harder on the road and don't make others tired."

Having said that, he picked up his bag and went home happily.

Only Da Gen was left behind, standing there with a confused look on his face.

Soon, the whole team set off again.

However, this time there was a dull farmer named Da Gen in the team.

Since most of the carriages in the team had women on them, it was really inconvenient to let Da Gen, a stranger, pass through.

Lu Tianming wanted to choose a carriage from a family in the team that did not have a woman, and let Dagen ride in it.

The entire team, except for Zhuzi's father's family, consists of Master Yan's apprentices.

Zhuzi's father didn't want his horse to pull another person, so he hid behind the crowd when he saw this.

Seeing this, Master Yan took the initiative to let Da Gen and Li Rui ride in the same carriage.

When the convoy set off again, Li Rui and his companions' carriages began to lead the way at the front.

Under Da Gen's guidance, the convoy went smoothly.

During this time, the chatterbox Li Rui asked Da Gen about the surrounding situation and anecdotes.

Even though Dagen was a shy and dull person, he became familiar with several people under Li Rui's extremely enthusiastic offensive.

During the trip, whenever the road conditions were bad and they needed to build boards or move stones, Dagen would jump out of the car and do it very quickly.

The series of actions made Li Rui and others next to him feel embarrassed. They wanted to rush to do it, but they couldn't resist Dagen.

Lu Tianming saw it clearly from behind and sighed that this man was honest.

Along the way, Da Gen tried his best.

Seeing that the carriage was shaking violently on this small road and many people in the team were uncomfortable, he carefully considered the road conditions nearby and chose a better road for the team to travel on.