Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

If it weren't for the words "deserted village" written on a stone at the village entrance, you really wouldn't know this is a village!

Everyone in the village fell silent when they saw the wasteland. The village did have a lot of land, but it was all barren mountain land.

Wu Dagui looked at Zhang Xixi and the others and said, "This is the abandoned village. You can see how big it is. There's also a river over there. Although it's all wasteland, you can still grow crops after clearing it."

Zhou Dashan felt a pang of sadness, but then comforted himself that it was at least a place to stay. Although he couldn't grow any crops this year, there were plenty of wild vegetables and fruits, so he could manage for another year. He could plant crops on the reclaimed land next year.

"Sir Wu, may I ask who the village head is? We'd like to pay him a visit."

"This village has no village head."

Zhou Dashan looked at him with suspicion. There wasn't even a village head; who would take care of things in the village in the future?

Wu Dagui quickly explained, "This village used to have a few households, but they all moved away for various reasons, so there is no village head. Whoever was the village head in your village before will be the village head of this village. After the land is selected, we will report to the town."

Zhang Xixi quickly asked, "Sir Wu, who are those people on that hillside over there?"

Wu Dagui glanced at the thugs and said, "Those people are all homeless and idle. The town mayor saw that they had nowhere else to go, so he allowed them to build a few houses here."

Zhang Xixi nodded; it turned out they were just street thugs.

Wu Dagui glanced at the sky and, worried that it would be too late to go back, said to Zhou Dashan, "It's getting late. You guys keep busy. It's best to choose the land today, and I'll bring people over tomorrow to measure and sign the contract."

"Alright, alright, thank you for your hard work, sir!"

After thanking him again, Zhou Dashan escorted Wu Dagui to the village entrance.

"Walk slowly!"

After the man left, Xiao Jin and his wife jumped off the carriage again, yelled at Zhang Xixi, and ran up the mountain. They were hungry, and the tiger was going to hunt.

When Zhou Dashan returned, the villagers had already put their luggage and food on the ground, and their mules and horses had been led by their young boys to the river to drink water.

“Each family will send one person to come with me to choose farmland and homesteads, while the rest will stay behind to set up tents. We estimate that we will be living in the wild for quite some time.”

After everyone agreed, they all sent the person in charge of their household to accompany Zhou Dashan to inspect the wasteland.

Zhang Xixi followed behind, looking around at the land. It was mostly mountainous, with hillsides everywhere, and the soil was barren, some of it even being sandy. This land was really bad!

"I think the soil quality here is all pretty much the same. If we can choose any one, let's go with the one near that little river! That way it'll be easier to cultivate and irrigate."

“Da Bao’s mother is right! Let’s go to that riverbank and take a look. If it’s suitable, we’ll choose that spot!” an elder chimed in.

The others also thought Zhang Xixi's words made sense, so they went directly to the riverbank. This piece of wasteland was flatter than other places, and its area should be more than 2,000 mu.

Zhou Dashan and the villagers nodded in satisfaction. Let's choose this one!

"Go back and discuss how much land each family wants. Don't choose too little or too much. If the fields can't be planted next spring, you'll be punished."

"understood!"

Zhang Xixi then walked to the other side of the river, because she decided to build the house at the foot of the mountain so that it would be convenient for Xiao Jin and the others to go into the mountain.

She looked at the foot of the mountain and saw a small plot of land with a gentle slope, about an acre in size, just enough for her to build a two-courtyard house.

When the villagers saw that Zhang Xixi had chosen a house site at the foot of the mountain, apart from the Zhang family who also chose a plot there, the others did not follow suit. They were afraid that wild animals would come down and hurt people because it was too close to the mountain, so they all chose places near the village entrance.

After marking their own plots, everyone went back to help set up tents and prepare dinner.

Meanwhile, in Zhoujia Village in the northwest, several people dressed in armor appeared at the village entrance.

Zhou Yuhao looked at the village where he had grown up and smiled. "This is our village. Let's go, brothers!"

But as we walked along, the village was completely silent, with nothing at all.

A burly man who looked very strong looked around the quiet village. "Boss, this village looks like it has been abandoned for a long time!"

Zhou Yuhao's expression also turned serious. Could something have happened to his parents and the villagers?

"Go and check out the other places!"

The burly men who followed responded and then dispersed to check on the other villagers' homes.

Zhou Yuhao also quickened his pace to his front door. As soon as he pushed the door open, a lot of dust fell off!

He waved his hand and went inside. He found the courtyard empty, and everything in the room gone. Only a few mice scurried around, startled by the sound of him pushing the door open.

Did they move away? But why didn't my parents leave any message for me?

Zhou Yuhao walked out of the courtyard with his head down, looking for his other brothers.

Li Qiang ran over and shouted, "Boss, I found a cemetery, and your name is on it!"

"Where are you, Qiangzi!"

Li Qiang pointed in a direction, "There are many pine trees on that hillside over there."

"That should be the Zhou family cemetery. Let's go take a look!"

Zhou Yuhao and Li Qiang arrived at the cemetery, found the wooden plaque with their names written on it, and confirmed that it was indeed their name. They looked up at it, their eyes wide with fury, and crawled forward to kneel down in front of the grave.

"Father, Mother, your unfilial son has returned!"

Li Qiang and his brothers who arrived later were also shocked and knelt down as well.

These are actually the eldest brother's parents! How heartbroken and remorseful the eldest brother must be!

How come this is my parents' grave? They were perfectly fine before they left! How could this be...?

It's all his fault. If only he could have come back sooner! Zhou Yuhao kowtowed repeatedly, each time hitting the ground hard, tears streaming down his face.

It is said that a good man does not easily shed tears, unless he is truly heartbroken!

When Li Qiang and his brothers saw that Zhou Yuhao's forehead was bleeding from kowtowing, they quickly stepped forward to stop him, holding his shoulders to prevent him from kowtowing any further.

"Boss, the dead cannot be brought back to life. Please accept my condolences!"

Zhou Yuhao struggled, saying, "It's all my fault!"

"Yes, eldest brother, if you keep hitting your head, you'll bleed to death. I'm sure your uncle and aunt wouldn't want to see you torture yourself like this."

"Besides, don't you have a younger brother and a wife? Maybe they're waiting for you to take care of them!"

"Time flies, but we must always consider the living!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuhao stopped torturing himself and simply knelt silently before the grave. No one knew what he was thinking.