Many villagers come to fetch water from the river.
Where usually only one or two stepping stones were exposed, now you can reach the small fish and shrimp at the bottom of the water.
The villagers who came to fetch water caught some fish and shrimp, but their faces were not very happy.
God it hasn't rained, and the rice fields are dry and cracked. If this continues, this year's harvest will probably be worse than last year's.
"Damn you, God! Last year it rained endlessly, causing a bad harvest. This year there won't be a drop of rain. We are going to starve to death!" A village woman cursed and howled.
The third sister tightened her grip on Xu Yin's clothes, looking a little scared at the scene.
"Don't be afraid." Xu Yin touched her head.
"Sister-in-law, the chief is here too." Erlang tugged on her sleeve.
Xu Yin raised her eyes and saw that the old man with a white beard and a frown on his face was in charge of this area?
After thinking about it, she put down the bucket and walked over.
"Chang Li, do you always think it will rain in the near future?"
"Who are you……"
"She is the elder man's wife." The village woman who recognized Xu Yin laughed heartily, "She is a shrewd little lady!"
"Oh, she's the elder man's wife."
The head of the village also heard about Xu Yin's behavior at noon. Although he didn't like her disrespectful attitude towards her elders, in detail, it turned out that this matter was indeed the fault of Mr. Li and his family.
Therefore, he was not happy, so he still expressed his own opinions on Xu Yin's inquiry:
"It doesn't look like it's going to rain today. I'm afraid this year..."
Li Chang sighed and shook his head, the future will not be too good.
Xu Yin said: "I once heard from a traveling businessman that the drier the place, the easier it is to attract locust plagues."
"A plague of locusts?" Hearing this, the head of the village paled instantly and murmured, "Yes! Our ancestors experienced a plague of locusts in their generation. The plague of locusts passed through the territory and there was no harvest! What should we do? What should we do? It’s good…”
The young ones don’t understand: “What is a locust plague? How can there be no harvest?”
The older ones had heard their parents and grandparents mention it, so their expressions became very bad.
"Li Chief, if there is a locust plague, our village will probably suffer the most." Xu Yin reminded them, "Our village is located in a mountainous area, surrounded by mountains on three sides. I heard from that person that locusts like to lay their eggs in uneven highlands in mountainous areas. Once this happens, When a locust plague occurs, our village will bear the brunt."
As soon as these words came out, the color drained from everyone's faces.
"What should I do?"
"Are we in Lijia Village going to be like the people in Beiguan, fleeing everywhere without being able to return home?" A village woman squatted on the ground, covering her face and sobbing.
Someone took the lead, and many women wiped away tears.
"Daughter-in-law, I think you know a lot. Do you have any good ideas?" the chief asked Xu Yin.
Xu Yin mused: "I can't think of a better way at the moment, but if it doesn't rain and the drought disaster is avoided, subsequent locust plagues are very likely to occur. Instead of waiting until the last grain is harvested, it is better to harvest the millet as early as possible Find a place to take shelter.”
It's not very likely, but it will definitely happen.
But she knew the plot, the villagers did not.
Some people stared at her with disapproval: "What? Harvest it now? Many of them are still green millet. If they are not full, what harvest will they have? Are you not well-intentioned?"
Xu Yin ignored his last sentence and sincerely advised: "Even if the harvest is small, it is better than no harvest at all."
The head of the house was silent for a long time, and then sighed: "That's it! Let's go back and discuss it with our families, and make our own decisions!"
Although most villagers are worried about drought and locust plagues, they are unwilling to harvest rice now.
It's only the beginning of May, at least half a month away from maturity. One side of the millet is yellow, but the other side is still green, and they haven't grown full yet. All it takes is a heavy rain to have a good harvest. Collect it now, who would be willing to give it up!
When Aunt Li learned that it was Xu Yin's idea, she ran to her door and yelled:
"What do you think, you stinky bitch? Let us collect the unripe grains, and what will we eat later? It's better for you! If you take half a stone of grain from an acre of land, it doesn't matter how many stones we can harvest, you poisonous woman Ah! You are so vicious! You want to starve us to death!"
As soon as Xu Yin's courtyard door is closed, she acts like an opera singer.
Anyway, that's all she said.
Everyone could listen if they wanted to, and she couldn't force their heads if they didn't want to.
Like Aunt Li, there are many people who feel that Xu Yin has bad intentions, and whisper in private:
“Her family doesn’t have land, so she’s probably jealous of us who have land, and wishes our harvest wouldn’t be good!”
"How could there be such a vicious person!"
"No wonder her brother-in-law wants to marry her off without any gift. If she were my sister-in-law, I wouldn't be able to bear it either."
"Poor Dalang..."
Although these words were behind Xu Yin's back, they were not behind the children of each family.
So, when these children were playing, they laughed at Erlang and Third Sister: "Your sister-in-law is a vicious woman! She came to your house. You two fools will be killed by her sooner or later!"
Erlang spat at the speaker: "You are a fool! My sister-in-law is a good person!"
"Yes! My sister-in-law is so good to us!" Third sister touched her little pussy, then looked down at the cuffs embroidered with green bamboo, and nodded vigorously, "Yes! My sister-in-law is the best!"
The child who was spat on refused to give up and jumped on Erlang, and the two of them twisted into a ball.
Erlang was young and not very strong, so he was quickly beaten on the ground by the older children.
Xu Yin heard from her neighbor next door that Erlang was being bullied, so she hurried over and pulled the child away.
"No fighting! If you have something to say, please speak up!"
"Vicious woman! Bah!"
The kid made a face at her and ran away with the others.
The third sister was so frightened that she cried. She squatted next to Erlang and choked out: "Sister-in-law, the second brother is so embarrassed, wuwu..."
Erlang's cheek was scratched by the child.
But he didn't cry, and even bared his teeth and said, "I bit him, it's not a loss!"
Xu Yin took them home, wiped his face with a clean towel, and then disinfected him.
"Sister-in-law, is this wine?" Erlang smelled the smell of alcohol and asked curiously, "Do we still have wine at home?"
"Well, my sister-in-law's dowry."
When the original person came, she brought a package. In fact, it was just two sets of clothes, but no matter what, she was the only one who knew what was in the package.
The two children were young and had no suspicion at all.
"It smells so good! My dad loves drinking the most!" Erlang sniffed, trying his best to smell the unique aroma of alcohol.
Xu Yin couldn't help but laugh when she saw his expression. She didn't even feel the sting when disinfecting him. The child was probably starving.
"My sister-in-law will cook egg noodles for you tonight. Do you want to eat them?"
"think!"
"Can we meet at home?"
"Yes, my sister-in-law exchanged it with others, but she is not allowed to tell anyone."
"Know."
After this incident, Xu Yin, who was raising a baby independently for the first time, felt that it was even more necessary to move.
It makes sense for Mencius' mother to move three times.
If you want your children to grow up, the living environment accounts for half of it.
Although she has no ambition to raise a top scholar, she doesn't want her two sons to spend their childhood fighting with others all day long.
In addition, the famine is approaching. Since there is no way to change the status quo, then escape to fight for a chance of survival.
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