"Have you heard that the village of Dahe downstream lost more than 20 chickens overnight?"
"Last night, more than a dozen wolves came down from the mountain and rushed straight into the village. The wolf howled all night!"
"There are three other villagers who were bitten by wolves, how miserable they are!"
"Hiss - that arm bite was so bad, the hunter in the village took two bites of meat off his arm!"
"Even Doctor Xie can't do anything about the injury. He said he wanted his family to prepare for the funeral!"
...
The two villages were originally neighbors and were more or less related to each other. After hearing the news, many people rushed to Dahe Village for fear that their relatives would be affected by the disaster.
And when they returned to Shenjia Village again, every one of them was shocked.
Even Li Zheng couldn't help but come out and ask:
"Ms. Shen Wang, what's the situation like in your natal family?"
"Oh my god, I thought being visited by wolves was pitiful enough, but I never thought it would be even more pitiful!"
Mrs. Shen's expression was extremely complicated. She was sad because of the tragedy of her loved ones, but she also had a little bit of happiness on her face for some unknown reason.
These words aroused everyone's curiosity.
"What, is there anything more pitiable than a pack of wolves? What is that!"
"That's right. What happened? Could it be that the black bear also came down the mountain?"
"The black bear didn't come down the mountain, wow!"
Mrs. Shen slapped her thigh, "Everyone in Dahe Village is so hungry that their faces are yellow and skinny. Those who don't know may think they haven't eaten for months!"
Thanks to her bringing some food with her when she returned to her parents' home, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to last long looking at her brother and sister-in-law.
"Their harvest this year was not outstanding, and they didn't have much left after selling the land to the farmers. It's not like our sixth uncle Zhang Luo who bought food in advance. It is said that every household ran out of food half a month ago."
"And when the hunter heard the wolf howling at night, he was hungry and planned to hunt for something to eat. Who would have thought that the wolf wasn't hunting and got him in!"
hiss--
"Why are we running out of food? We can't go to Fucheng to buy it!"
"That's right, although the number of people in Fucheng is restricted now, it's not impossible to enter!"
Wang Shen sighed and said louder, "I can't afford it. I can't afford it. Do you know how much black noodles cost per pound?"
"Isn't it 15 cents per pound?"
"That's already the old days, now it's 25 cents per pound, and broken rice is even more unaffordable!"
hiss--
The melon-eaters gasped, "It's so expensive!"
"A black-hearted businessman, robbing money!"
Wang Shen shook his head slowly, and she became the most stable one.
"The grain shops in Fucheng all have the same price, and there are still many people here who are trying to squeeze in. Whoever has money in their hands will starve themselves. Isn't there no way out!"
The rich can still buy food with their family wealth, but the same cannot be said for the common people. Without money, they can only starve!
"So that's it!"
Only then did everyone realize that not all villages had Uncle Six.
When they looked at Li Zheng again, their eyes were filled with awe and admiration.
Shen Manyun subconsciously puffed up his chest and instantly felt that his aura was 2.8 meters tall.
"Listen, you all listen, now you know how good our village is!"
"Yes, yes, we know, thanks to Uncle Six's reminder, otherwise all our money would not be enough."
"If my uncle hadn't told us to be careful about animals coming down the mountain this time, we might not even be able to save the chickens at home!"
It is true that there is an old man in the village, as if he has a treasure!
While everyone was rejoicing, they all asked Shen Wang for more details.
At this time, halfway up Shennong Mountain, Cheng Xi was leaning on a large bare tree to conduct personal inspection with a high-powered telescope.
The truth is even worse than what Shen Wang described.
Dahe Village is a small village of about a hundred households, and each household lives relatively compactly. You can tell the general outline at a glance.
Today's Dahe Village is completely different from the last time she looked at it with a telescope. At least half of the rows of houses collapsed due to snow, thatch was flying everywhere, and even bare walls could be seen.
Many villagers were numbly cleaning up in the yard, and the large red blood stains looked particularly hideous in the white snow.
What a miserable word to describe.
"The battle last night was very tragic——"
Cheng Xi turned the telescope slightly and found that the conditions in the other villages were no better than Dahe Village, and most of the thatched houses were destroyed.
She even saw a family of seven or eight people walking out of a small house of about 20 square meters.
In the face of nature, human beings are still a small group after all.
"Um?"
Cheng Xi turned the telescope in his hand and saw four dark figures at the edge of the village entering a house with sticks in their hands. When they came out again, they were carrying a rag bag in their hands.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and waited for a moment. Finally, a half-dead figure slowly crawled out of the house.
Hunger breeds crime most easily.
The feeling of being hungry is uncomfortable. Even well-educated people may not be able to bear the bottom line when faced with hunger, let alone in ancient times that were not yet civilized?
The disaster caused by the snowstorm is just the beginning...
Cheng Xi looked at the minus 25 degrees displayed on the thermometer and was silent for a moment, then tightened her sister-in-law brand thick cotton-padded jacket tightly.
Go down the mountain.
***
In a small courtyard in Shenjia Village, more than a dozen villagers stood crowded together.
Surrounded by the crowd, Shen Manchun was so worried that he straightened his hair with his hands.
"Dad, do you have any other good ideas?"
"Yes, Uncle Six, you are the most knowledgeable person in our village. Can you give me some advice?"
"It's too cold. My house is like an ice cave. If I go down further, I'll freeze to death."
"If every household hadn't run out of firewood, we wouldn't be able to ask you for help, right?"
The villagers came to Li Zheng's house for one thing this time - there was no firewood to burn at home.
Firewood is needed for cooking, and firewood is needed to keep out the cold. You can't live even a day without firewood on such a cold day.
The temperature drop for several days in a row has made the villagers sick, some lying in bed, and those who can go out are in better health.
A while ago, everyone could go to the back mountain to pick up branches and make a fire to keep warm. Now let alone the branches, you can't even see the road.
While other villages are still struggling with hunger, the villagers in Shenjia Village have already encountered other challenges.
The sixth uncle frowned fiercely and glared at everyone.
"If you don't have firewood, just look for it. There are so many trees on Shennong Mountain, why can't you touch them?"
"Ouch——"
The expressions of the villagers became even more bitter!
"We really want to run up the mountain, but we don't dare!"
"Yes, Uncle Six, last time we ran into a wild boar before we even reached the halfway point of the mountain, and almost killed everyone!"
"It would be even worse if we meet a pack of wolves!"
"The prey on Shennong Mountain dare to come down the mountain. They must be hungrier than us. If we encounter them on the mountain, it will be life-threatening!"
Having learned from the fact that Dahe Village was visited by wolves in the past, the villagers no longer dare to underestimate the hungry wolves. Going up the mountain now is tantamount to fighting wild beasts.
