Ten days passed quickly.
It was after four o'clock in the morning, and Qingcao's family had already gotten up. Because today is the day to harvest food.
Qingcao is preparing breakfast at home, while others are harvesting rice with sickles.
When Qingcao prepared breakfast, she quickly finished it herself, and then carried the rice basket to deliver breakfast to her family. This saves time on the round trip.
On the way to the fields, I saw many villagers harvesting rice. Everyone got up very early in order to harvest the food early.
When they arrived at their own field, Qingcao called her parents to eat. He went to the fields with a sickle to cut the rice.
It was such a busy three days. They took back the grain from the fields. It took a day to thresh the upland rice. There was no time to thresh the corn, so they bagged it whole.
Qingcao looked at so many things on the oxcart and wanted to tell her family that she had space. But then she held back.
I thought to myself, there is nothing to take with me when the time comes. She just needs to sneak it into the space. In this way, there will be no waste, and there is no need to worry about the space causing danger to the family members.
Zhao Shitou and Li Shi have been helping the old house collect food these days.
Mrs. Luo had no intention of escaping. I couldn't resist my eldest son's persuasion, so I planned to follow him.
Zhao Tian was a little scared when he saw that everyone in the village was preparing to leave. That's why he persuaded his wife to flee the famine.
Zhao Yunshan resented the fact that her parents went to help the old house collect food.
I originally thought that my parents would help others so that I could buy some food back. Now they are running to help the old house, and it is impossible for the old house to sell food to them.
Zhao Yunshan shamelessly asked families with lots of land if they sold grain.
Some people are unwilling to sell, and those who are unwilling feel that they are running away. Food is a life-saving thing, so it should be reserved for your own family.
Some people are willing to sell, but they must ask Zhao Yunshan to pay a high price, otherwise they will not sell.
Zhao Yunshan didn't want to be fooled. The price was higher than what was sold at the county grain store. She might as well go to the county to buy it, at least one or two cents cheaper.
In a blink of an eye, it’s the ninth day of July.
Qingcao and the others gathered at the entrance of the village early.
The village chief organized everyone to line up, and those with cars were assigned to one end and the other, while those without cars went in the middle. This can stabilize the team and protect everyone's safety.
Qingcao and his family have four cows, so they were assigned to the tail of the team. Of course, there are also the Mu family's in-laws, who are all at the back.
The leader of the team was composed of the village chief, Mr. Mu and several other elders.
At eight o'clock, when the village chief saw that no one was coming, he raised the whip in his hand, and with the village chief's "drive", the ox cart started to move.
Qingcao looked at Damucun who was getting farther and farther away from him. She said silently: Goodbye, the place where she lived for ten years.
The team had just set off, and several children were quite excited. Because they have never traveled far.
So along the way, I was very curious about the scenery outside, and we were all chattering about it.
But after walking for more than two hours, they were no longer interested in the scenery outside. Because there are mountains and trees along the way, there is nothing to see.
Soon, several people fell asleep head to head.
"Kids, wake up." Mr. Liao woke up several children.
"Grandma." Mu Qingli called, rubbing his eyes.
Mr. Liao smiled and said, "The carriage has stopped. Let's get out and stretch our muscles."
When Mu Qingxing heard this, she immediately woke up from her drowsiness and said loudly: "Wow, we finally parked the car. I felt like vomiting. And I felt so sore all over my body. I didn't even feel it when I rode a bullock cart to the county before. So tired."
Mu Qinghua stretched her body and said, "I used to ride in an oxcart for a long time, but now I have to ride for a long time. How can it be compared?"
"Besides, didn't the village chief say it before? We have to go for at least two months. Think about it, most of the time in these two months will be spent in the car."
When Mu Qingxing heard this, her happy face suddenly drooped.
Oh my God! Two months' time. She doesn't want to live anymore. Mu Qingxing looked sad.
Everyone laughed when they saw her like this.
"Okay, get out of the car quickly." Mu Qingwu patted Mu Qingxing on the shoulder. He still wants to go out and do some activities.
After sitting in the car for so long, he felt that all the bones in his body were stiff.
Mu Qingxing got out of the car with a pouted mouth. Others followed, one after another.
After the children got out of the car, Mu Shigao arranged for them to go to the woods to collect firewood.
A group of people ran wildly into the woods. There was strength in numbers, and soon they came back with a pile of firewood.
With firewood in hand, the three sisters-in-law each prepared food.
The men, on the other hand, went in search of water.
Mu Dabin asked several children to take the cow to find some grass to eat so as not to starve.
Qingcao and the others led the cow into the woods again.
After herding the cows for a while, Mu Qingxing got bored and said, "Qingcao, let's tie the cows to the tree. Go look for wild fruits and bird's nests nearby."
Qingcao shook his head, "With the cow tied up, it won't be able to eat much grass. If it doesn't have enough to eat, it won't be able to pull the cart by then. Sister Qingxing, go on your own."
Mu Qinghua said expressionlessly: "Qingxing, let Brother Qingwu and the others accompany you to find wild fruits."
She and Qingcao had to herd cattle, so they didn't have time to play around.
Mu Qingxing pouted, her brother was herding cattle. I definitely won't go with her.
I looked at my uncle's two brothers again and found that they had nothing to do.
Mu Qingxing immediately took Mu Qinghong to find Mu Qingshan and Mu Qingshu.
I learned that Mu Qingxing wanted to find bird nests and pheasants. The bored Mu Qingshan immediately agreed, and also called his two cousins.
Mu Qingshan and the others wandered around for half an hour, but found no pheasants or wild fruits.
There are some wild vegetables, but they are all shriveled, which seems to be caused by lack of water.
The four people returned disappointed.
When the cattle were grazing on the green grass, I also went to get a sickle and cut some weeds for preparation. She was afraid that it would be difficult to find weeds on the road behind.
When the cow was full, they led the cow back.
Not long after Qingcao and the others came back, Mu Shiquan and three others who went to look for water also came back.
Mu Shiquan said: "After walking for a long time, we found a small puddle. There was not much water in the puddle. It was also very turbid. We only brought back a little to feed the cattle."
As for the water they drank, there was still it in the big water tank.
Mu Shiming wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "We have just arrived at Pingjiagou. We didn't expect the drought to be so severe."
"I remember that when I passed by before, there was a small stream near here, but now it's all gone."
"I don't know if this will always be the case on the road in the future. If this is the case, then we have to save some water."
Without water, people will die of dehydration.
Mu Shigao nodded and said in agreement: "We must save water before arriving in Ninghui County."
"If you are thirsty, try to hold it in until you can no longer hold it in before drinking. Don't drink water as soon as you are thirsty."
Mr. Liao interjected: "In the future, we will make more multigrain pancakes or multigrain rice balls. This will reduce the need for water during cooking."
The third sister-in-law nodded, indicating that she understood.
After explaining to a few children, everyone started to have lunch.
After lunch, everyone went to rest.
After three o'clock in the afternoon, the team continued to set off.
On the third day of their escape, the team finally arrived at a village near Ninghui County.
However, the drought in the village is very serious and it has reached the point of water shortage. Dead crops can be seen everywhere on the road, as well as people fleeing famine.
Seeing this situation, the village chief immediately decided not to enter Ninghui County. Go directly to Anfeng City from the official road.
On the way to Anfeng City, we encountered more and more people fleeing famine. Their expressions were numb, their eyes were dull, and they felt they had lost hope in life.
After driving for another seven days, we finally arrived outside Anfeng City. The team was placed thirty meters away from the city gate.
After the Mu family was settled, Mu Shigao immediately went to the city gate to inquire about the situation inside the city.
