Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

The villagers of Zhoujia Village walked slowly through the mountains, and a month passed in the blink of an eye!

Zhang Xixi eventually gave up learning to make boots; she was completely disillusioned with her needlework career!

However, Zhang Xixi did a good job assisting Chen Shi during this month, so Chen Shi had already made all the rabbit skins into boots, just enough for each person. The other furs were also made into clothes. Zhang Xixi kept the fur coats for the two Baos and Zhou Yujie, and gave the rest to the Zhang family.

It was already late autumn and the weather was getting cold. Considering that Zhou was still heavily pregnant, Zhang Xixi had Zhang Wenhong give her the bearskin coat.

When Chen saw this, she joked, "Aren't you and your second sister-in-law like oil and water? Why are you thinking of her so much!"

“Mother, my second sister-in-law and I are nothing like that. At most, we just have a few arguments. Besides, my second sister-in-law is just a little resentful and is pregnant, so she tends to overthink things. She doesn’t really have any bad intentions.”

Chen scolded, "Then why did you argue with her at the dinner table!"

"I just felt that what she said was too harsh, and I couldn't stand it! Besides, I didn't take it to heart. There's an old saying that a beating is a sign of affection, and scolding is a sign of love!"

Hearing this, Chen was both amused and exasperated. "Who said that? Don't say it again, or people will laugh at you."

Zhang Xixi muttered under her breath, "You were saying you were open-minded just now, but now you've turned into an old-fashioned person!"

"What did you say! Did you remember what I said?!"

"understood!"

Seeing that Zhang Xixi agreed reluctantly, Chen scolded, "You're a mother now, how come you still have such a childish mentality!"

Zhang Xixi rested her head on Chen's shoulder, "Mother, I'll always be a child in front of you!"

Mrs. Chen was amused. "Yes, you're absolutely right!"

Da Bao had just arrived when he heard this, and he threw himself into Zhang Xixi's arms, saying sweetly, "Mom, aren't Er Bao and I your good babies too!"

"Of course, you and Erbao will always be Mommy's good babies!"

Da Bao's eyes darted around. "Mommy, can your sweet baby ride a horse for a little while?"

Looking at Da Bao's expectant little eyes, Zhang Xixi refused without hesitation: "No, you're too young. It's not safe to ride a horse."

Da Bao pouted, "Mom, I'll only ride for a little while!"

"Not even for a little while. Isn't Little Gold a very impressive mount?"

Upon hearing its name, Xiao Jin immediately barked, "Master, are you going to abandon me?"

"All right!"

Seeing Da Bao's disappointed look, Chen comforted him, "Da Bao, you can ride a horse when you grow up. Now you have to be a good boy and listen to your mother, okay?"

Grandma, when will I grow up?

"You'll be all grown up in a few years!"

"How long is 'a few more years'?"

Seeing Da Bao's determined attitude and relentless questioning, Chen was speechless. How come she never noticed how stubborn this child was before!

Zhang Xixi came to the rescue, saying, "You'll be grown up when you're as tall as your mother!"

Da Bao quickly got out of Zhang Xixi's arms, pulled Zhang Xixi up as well, looked at Zhang Xixi, and then looked at himself.

Sigh! Looks like I need to eat more to grow taller!

Zhou was stunned when she saw the fur coat Zhang Wenhong handed her, and didn't reach out to take it.

"What's wrong? Didn't you say you were cold a couple of days ago?" Zhang Wenhong asked, puzzled.

"Who gave this to you?"

"My little sister gave it to me. She said the bearskin is a bit big, so the fur coat she made will be big too, which will fit you perfectly." Zhang Wenhong said with a smile. His little sister was so thoughtful.

Zhou's expression changed, feeling a lump in her throat that she couldn't swallow. She wanted to say something about Zhang Xixi's kindness, but looking at the fur coat, she couldn't bring herself to say it.

Seeing Zhou Shi remain silent with her head down, Zhang Wenhong seemed to realize something and asked, "You're not still angry with your younger sister, are you? It's not like you have any grudges or anything, is it worth being so petty?"

Zhou grabbed the fur coat and snorted, "I'm not stingy at all, I'm just a little embarrassed."

Zhang Wenhong scoffed, but didn't say anything more. He just thought to himself that his wife was pregnant and he should be more accommodating to her since she was in a bad mood.

As the weather grew colder, the villagers finally realized what was happening and began to feel anxious. They had been living too carefree for a while and hadn't expected time to pass so quickly; winter was just around the corner.

They have enough to eat and wear now, but not in winter. It will definitely snow in the mountains, making it impossible to travel. There is no place to stay for a long time, and the simple tents they brought are not enough.

Everyone in the village put on thick clothes, and the two children even wore their newly made wolfskin coats. Zhang Xixi also bought a thick cotton coat from the mall, saying it was given to her by a cheap craftsman, and no one suspected anything.

Zhou Dashan was also very anxious. Every day he urged the team to speed up and stop being as lazy as before. Moreover, whenever they arrived at a rest stop, he would organize the young and strong men to carefully check the surrounding area to see if there were any caves or other places that could comfortably spend the winter.

However, each time they went, they returned empty-handed. Zhang Wenbo also carefully searched for a suitable place for everyone to spend the winter, but after looking around, there was no suitable place within a hundred miles.

With no other option, the villagers could only keep moving forward as quickly as possible, hoping to find a suitable place. These past few days, eating has been like fighting a battle, and they only rest when it's too dark to see the road at night.

After walking for several days, everyone was exhausted. Some of the pregnant women who were weak had turned pale. Zhang Xixi's second sister-in-law, although riding on a mule, was also in bad shape because she was in a hurry to get somewhere and her legs were cramping from time to time.

Zhang Xixi felt that things couldn't continue like this, or someone would die.

Since we can't find a cave, let's find a place with a water source and work together to build some houses.

Zhang Xixi shared this idea with Zhang Dacheng and Zhou Dashan, and they all agreed.

Zhang Xixi immediately activated the system scan function.

"System, scan for water sources in this area."

"Host, there's a small waterfall over that little hill ahead, and in front of the waterfall is a large, flat area."

"Really? I'll go check it out!"

Zhang Xixi rode her little flower and ran quickly forward. When she arrived at the hillside, she looked down and was amazed. She was surprised to find such a beautiful place hidden here.

There are yellowing grasses, a waterfall, and a small river flowing below the waterfall, where wild ducks are playing. This place is really nice!

Zhang Xixi looked around carefully again, but didn't find any large wild animals, so she turned around and went back.

"I saw a small waterfall behind that hillside, and in front of the waterfall was a relatively flat grassy area."

“Really!” Zhou Dashan stepped forward and looked at Zhang Xixi.

"Really, it's down that hillside, the road is very difficult to walk on, we need to clear the road first."

"As long as there's a water source, everything else is secondary." Zhou Dashan waved his hand. "Everyone, hurry up, we've found a place to set up camp."

The villagers were overjoyed upon hearing the news, and they shouted as they walked forward.