Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

Zhang Xixi and the others walked quickly along the path that the villagers had taken. No one spoke, because they were worried about their families and were in a hurry to get on their way.

To be honest, the effects of this blood vine fruit are quite good. Zhang Xixi thought that she could give a few to her family members in the future. If the whole family became incredibly strong, she would say that the power of their bloodline inheritance had been activated.

This excuse couldn't be more perfect; I'm sure Dad will agree!

Ahead, the villagers, led by Zhang Wenbo, walked quickly forward without daring to rest even once, for they were afraid that if they stopped, they would be caught up by other wild animals and become a burden.

At Shenshi (3-5 PM), Zhou Dashan and his group finally caught up with the main force. By then, they had crossed the mountain and reached a small valley with trees and rocks on both sides, where they could rest for the night.

Upon hearing that they could rest, everyone plopped down on the ground, panting heavily. They were exhausted and hungry, and just wanted to sit still forever.

Zhang Xixi paused for a moment before stepping forward to look at the two babies. "Da Bao, Er Bao, are you hungry?"

"Mom, we're not hungry. Da Bao and I ate apples on the way."

"Good boy, have some more sweet potatoes!" Zhang Xixi took out the sweet potatoes from the basket and handed them to the two children, and then gave two more to her brother-in-law.

"Yujie, you should eat too. Get more if you're still hungry."

"Sister-in-law, I have more." Zhou Yujie took out the sweet potatoes from his basket.

Zhang Xixi frowned as she looked at the same number of sweet potatoes and apples she had given him that morning. "Yujie, we don't lack food now. Don't be stingy. There's still a long road ahead, and we'll need you in the future."

Zhou Yujie hesitated for a moment, then smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, I know. We were rushing the whole way, so we didn't have time to eat."

"There's plenty of food in these mountains, so don't be stingy. Drink when you're thirsty and eat when you're hungry," Zhang Xixi reminded her again.

Little Jin, standing nearby, suddenly cried out, "Master, why don't you care about me? I'm so hungry and thirsty!"

Zhang Xixi looked at Xiao Jin, whose eyes revealed her thirst, and had no choice but to stand up, take out Xiao Jin's special wooden basin, and use its body to block other people's gazes, and buy a bucket of spiritual spring water for it.

"After you finish your water, go find something to eat yourself." Zhang Xixi patted Xiao Jin on the back.

Xiao Jin happily finished drinking the spiritual spring water and ran deep into the mountains and forests.

Zhang Xixi had just finished eating the sweet potato in her hand when she turned around and saw her second sister-in-law, whose face had turned deathly pale, slumping to one side. She immediately became anxious and said, "Second brother, quickly help your second sister-in-law up."

Zhang Wenhong immediately turned around and ran forward to support Zhou, who was about to fall. "Wife, what's wrong?"

"My stomach hurts a little," Zhou said weakly.

Seeing her second daughter-in-law's condition, Chen realized she must have had a miscarriage, so she quickly called out, "Eldest son, go and fetch your Uncle Wang!"

Then he and Xiao Chenshi took out the bedding from the house and spread it on the ground. "Erlang, quickly bring your wife up here and let her lie down."

A few minutes later, Zhang Wenbo brought over Wang Gensheng, the only barefoot doctor in the village. Zhou's family members also came over, looking at Zhou with worried expressions, but no one said a word, probably because they were afraid of interfering with Wang Gensheng's consultation.

After a while, Wang Gensheng said, "You were startled and it upset the baby. A few doses of medicine to help stabilize the pregnancy will do the trick, but you're still weak and need to take some extra nourishment."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that it wasn't serious.

Upon hearing that he needed to replenish his body, Zhang Wenhong picked up his bow and arrow and was about to leave. "Mother, Mother-in-law, I'm going to hunt some pheasants. Please take care of my wife for me."

"What are you doing? You're here keeping your wife company. Have you forgotten there's bear meat at home?" Zhang Dacheng stopped him. This silly son of his has no sense at all. His parents-in-law are still here. What is he thinking of doing instead of keeping his wife company?

Zhang Wenhong scratched his head and chuckled, "I forgot!" He turned back and saw Zhou Shi groaning in pain, while his mother-in-law, Li Hehua, quietly comforted her, feeling extremely distressed.

"Honey, don't be afraid, everything will be alright."

Zhang Xixi handed Zhang Wenhong a cup of brown sugar water made with spiritual spring water. "Second brother, why don't you feed this cup of brown sugar water to your wife first?"

"Okay!" Li Hehua held Zhou Shi in her arms, and Zhang Wenhong carefully fed her water with a spoon.

"Honey, how are you feeling? Any better?"

Seeing that Mrs. Zhou nodded, Zhang Wenhong said, "How about another bowl of sweet soup?"

Li Hehua, standing nearby, stopped her, saying, "Don't drink too much sugar water, you still need to take your medicine later!"

Chen took the prepared pregnancy-stabilizing medicine and handed it to Xiao Chen before thanking Wang Gensheng, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Brother Wang. How about I give you the consultation fee and medicine money in grain instead?"

Wang Gensheng nodded. He hadn't originally intended to accept it, but then he thought of his wife at home. "Sister-in-law, just give her a few sweet potatoes."

In the end, Chen gave Wang Gensheng more than ten sweet potatoes and a few apples, and also cut off a small piece of goat meat.

"This is too much. All my herbs were picked from the mountains. They're not worth this much," Wang Gensheng declined.

Chen insisted on giving it to him, not wanting Wang's wife to gossip. "Brother Wang, if you don't accept it, I'll have Dalang deliver it to your house."

Wang Gensheng accepted the medicine somewhat awkwardly, told him to call him again if he didn't feel better after taking the medicine, and then left!

Zhang Xixi thought the spiritual spring water would be useful, so she decided to add some when brewing the medicine. She secretly added some to the medicine pot when her sister-in-law wasn't looking.

While preparing dinner, Zhou took her medicine and her stomachache subsided. Ignoring Chen's pleas to stay, Li Hehua returned to her own quarters. In those days, it was rare to eat at someone else's house because food was so scarce!

"Mom, have you ever eaten bear paws before?" Zhang Xixi asked curiously, looking at the two bear paws her father had brought back.

Chen nodded as she recalled, "You and your siblings weren't born yet. Your father was lucky enough to catch a bear cub."

Zhang Xixi then asked, "Then, Mother, can you make it?"

"I really don't know how to make this, but your father does." Chen was embarrassed; this was probably the only dish she couldn't cook.

As long as someone can cook, Zhang Xixi will just be in charge of eating!

At dinner time, a rich aroma wafted from the Zhang family's house, as Zhang Dacheng had already prepared the bear paw. Zhang Xixi and the younger children had been waiting by the stove ever since they smelled the aroma. Hearing that it was ready to eat, they immediately set out bowls and chopsticks, eager to dig in. In the end, apart from leaving half a bear paw and some meat for Zhou Shi, Zhang Xixi and the others ate everything else—it was absolutely delicious!

Zhang Xixi ate until she was stuffed again, and took her two children for a walk to digest. The others followed suit, thinking to themselves how wonderful it was to be living like this during the famine, as the food was even better than at home!