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

After the leader finished speaking, he looked at the people in the Lujia Village team. Before he could take a closer look, he heard a voice from the team.

"This water can save lives. You know there's no water around. Selling it to you is like selling our lives. Can you raise the price?"

It was Li Jinbao in the team who was speaking. He saw that this man had raised his salary from ten taels to fifteen taels, and he estimated that there was still room for further increase.

When Lu Tianming heard that Li Jinbao wanted to change the water, he still spoke up to persuade him:

"We don't know how long it will take to find water along the way. What will you drink if you run out of water after you change?"

Li Jinbao shrank his head, and Jinbao's father said at this time:

"Master Lu, I know you mean well, and I appreciate it. But if I manage to escape, I won't have the money to buy land, and my descendants will have to be tenants. Life will be too hard!"

Hearing this, Lu Tianming shook his head.

Li Jinbao's family were not originally from Lujia Village, so he had fulfilled his responsibility by persuading them to leave.

As for what will happen if they don't listen, he can't control it.

When the leader heard what Li Jinbao said, he secretly cursed the man for being greedy and not being satisfied with fifteen taels of silver for a bucket of water.

But when he heard Lu Tianming's objection, he was afraid that they would stop selling water.

Think about the treasures in your carriage. Just picking up any piece would be enough to buy more than ten buckets of water.

I had already decided to pay more, but I pretended to be embarrassed and said:

"Brother, the price I'm offering is already very high. I'm afraid I can't afford to pay more."

When Li Jinbao heard this, he was afraid that if he asked for more money, the man would think it was too high. While he was hesitating, Li Jinbao's father spoke:

"Think about it, this bucket of water can keep a person going for ten more days. Without water, you can't leave even with money."

"On this journey of fleeing famine, silver isn't exchanged for water, it's exchanged for life! How many lives can this bucket of water save? Even twenty taels wouldn't be too much!"

When Li Jinbao heard this, he looked at his father with admiration. He didn't expect his father to say this, but then he turned to look at the man.

When the leader heard the old man say this, he cursed him for his cunning words. He pretended to be very embarrassed and said hesitantly:

"That's... that's all. Twenty taels a barrel at most. If I do that, I'm afraid I'll be giving you all my wealth. If you have something to change, bring some water here."

The man then added:

"By the way, this bucket of water must be full. I won't accept it if it's less!"

When Li Jinbao heard that a bucket of water cost twenty taels, he said excitedly:

"Okay, you'll definitely have enough water! My family wants to exchange half a bucket of water for ten taels of silver, and the other half a bucket of water for a bag of grain. Is that okay?"

Seeing the leader nod, Li Jinbao asked both parties to exchange water at their current location. The leader went back to get the silver and money, while Li Jinbao and his family went back to get water.

Jin Bao Niang carefully used a ladle to scoop water into the wooden barrel, fearing that it would spill. She borrowed a barrel from another family and filled two and a half barrels with it.

When the leader came back, the guards behind him were all carrying big swords. Li Jinbao was so scared that his legs went weak, fearing that the guards in front would stab him.

The leader was also very nervous. There were too many people in the Lujia Village team. If they were robbed by gang members, they would probably lose their lives. They were also prepared to run away at any time.

Both sides were very wary, fearing that one would go back on its word and rob the place.

Li Jinbao and his son only breathed a sigh of relief when they received ten taels of silver and a bag of grain and returned to the team.

At this time, the other people in the team were tempted when they saw that Li Jinbao's family really used water to exchange for silver and food.

That's a lot of silver. Even if they escape in the future, they won't have the money to buy land, so they will have to become tenants, and that will not be easy.

Wang Kangshi also spoke at this time.

"My house is changing too, wait a minute!"

When Lu Tianming heard that his family was also planning to change, he endured it and said:

"Have you thought about it? If there's no water on the road in the future, no one will give you water even if you pay for it!"

Wang Kangshi heard him talking, lowered his head but still replied in a low voice:

"We don't have much food left at home. We can't survive without it."

Lu Tianming thought about the food that had just been distributed and knew that this was an excuse, but he didn't say anything else.

Soon, Wang Kangshi's family also changed half a bucket of water.

In the village, two more families brought out water for exchange.

At this time, in the middle of the team, Zhuzi's father was scooping water out, and Zhuzi's mother wanted to stop him because they didn't have much water at home.

If half a bucket is sold, the rest can last for a while, but Zhuzi's father wants to sell one bucket, then the rest of the family will have no water to drink in a few days.

When Zhuzi's father saw her trying to stop him, he pushed her impatiently and whispered,

"Didn't you see that Zhuzi didn't sell water? He still has water. If we run out of water, we'll go to his house and ask for it. Will he let his parents die of thirst?"

When Zhuzi's mother heard this, she suddenly realized and slapped her forehead. She had forgotten that there was water in Zhuzi's house.

Seeing that the villagers were still trading, Lu Qingqing returned to the carriage, closed the curtain, and asked Qin Lang to keep an eye on it and not let anyone in.

He entered the space, filled all the buckets in the space with water, and also filled his own big bathtub with water.

Only then did he leave the space and wait quietly for the villagers to finish their transaction.

By the time the villagers finished their transaction, it was already dark. Lu Qingqing went to ask Zhuzi's wife to help watch the ox cart.

Zhuzi's wife knew that they were going to change the water and wanted to persuade them, but she felt that Lu Qingqing was a person with her own ideas, so she swallowed the words back.

While she was hesitating, Lu Qingqing and Qin Lang had already walked outside with buckets of water.

Outside the team, the leader was holding a torch, and the guards behind him were walking back with buckets of water.

The leader saw Lu Qingqing and the other person coming over with buckets of water and asked:

"Do you want to exchange a bucket of water for silver or grain?"

Lu Qingqing looked back and saw that she was already quite far away from the team. She asked:

"I'm going to change the water in a big tub. Do you want me to?"

The leader was startled, and then he remembered that the ox cart and carriage of the little girl with a bow and arrow seemed to be right behind the leader.

The first few families in the Lujia Village team all had carriages, and it was impossible to see how much water was inside. It seemed that the two families had a close relationship.

It is even possible that this water was pooled together from several suppliers. After all, the price I offered was quite high, so it was normal for them to be tempted.

Thinking of this, he said:

"A large bathtub requires about ten small buckets. If you have any, I'd certainly take them. Where do you want to change the water?"

Lu Qingqing pointed to a place far away from the two convoys, where there was a low slope, and said:

"Put an empty tub there and we'll fill it with water."

The leader nodded and instructed a guard behind him to lead people to move the big bathtub.

Soon, the big bathtub was brought over, and Lu Qingqing started to chase them away.

"Go back and prepare the silver and money. We'll come over and call you when the tank is full."

The guards looked at the leader and hurried to catch up when they saw him walking back.

After the people left, Lu Qingqing took out the full bucket of water from the space and poured it into the bathtub.

After filling the bathtub, she waited for a while and asked Qin Lang to watch the bathtub while she went to call for help.

Lu Qingqing held the bow and arrow in her hand, guarding against any change of mind on their part, and called out to people outside the group to come out.