"Mom, stop looking! Let's catch up with the group." Yun Yiyi anxiously called out to Zhang. "Okay, Yiyi," Zhang said, wiping her eyes with her head lowered, choking back tears. Yun Yiyi shook Zhang's hand, feeling sad too.

The day before yesterday, after the village decided to flee the famine, Zhang returned to her parents' home. Zhang's family refused to join them. Their village was larger and more populous, and everyone was divided on the matter. As the village chief, Zhang's father certainly couldn't go alone. So, he packed some food for Zhang to take back home with her to eat on the journey.

Zhang also understood that this was a farewell, and that she might never see him again. Her heart grew sadder. "Don't be sad. Maybe we'll run into each other on the road fleeing the famine," Yun the butcher urged, pushing his cart. "Well, let's catch up," Zhang said, hurrying forward with her bag on her back.

"Yiyi, do you want to ride with Third Brother?" Third Brother's loud voice suddenly came, startling Yun Yiyi. "I'm not going, Third Brother. I'm a big kid, I want to walk on my own," Yun Yiyi said proudly to Third Brother, holding her head high. Over the past two days, she had absorbed the original owner's feelings, and under everyone's pampering, her behavior had become even more childish.

"Well, if you're tired, come find Third Brother, Yiyi." Third Brother said disappointedly. "I'm not tired, Third Brother." Yun Yiyi said proudly. Everyone laughed out loud after hearing her words.

Yun Yiyi walked at the end of the team, looking at the long queue in front of her, thinking that hell mode had begun.

The adults knew leaving their homes to escape famine wasn't easy. The younger children, however, thought they were just going out for fun, running around their parents and friends. At first, you could hear the parents' loud scolding, the children's laughter, and their cries for mercy. Gradually, the group quieted down. Even in October, the daytime temperatures were still high. After walking in the heat for so long, Yun Yiyi felt dizzy and her hands and feet were weak. She felt like a fish out of water, struggling to breathe.

Many children in the group, exhausted and thirsty, clamored for water from their parents. "Water must be used sparingly. It's drought-stricken and water-scarce right now, and we don't know when we'll get water again. Without water, we can't cook," the village chief's hoarse voice could be heard faintly. The parents, holding water bags to feed their children, felt their hands tremble.

Yes, water is all we have now, so we must conserve it. Parents have no other choice but to coax their children into drinking a few small sips, then refuse to feed them no matter how much they cry. Even when their own mouths are dry and cracked, bleeding, they still refuse to drink a single sip.

"Yiyi, you're thirsty, come and have some water," Zhang said, holding the water bag. Yun Yiyi took it and took a few sips. It seemed that next time she went looking for water, she would find a chance to refill the bag with water from the space. Otherwise, everyone would be reluctant to drink the water. In such high temperatures, a prolonged dehydration would be unbearable.

Yun Yiyi secretly warned herself. After Yun the Butcher, Zhang, and the three Yun brothers finished drinking, the water bag was still mostly empty. Seeing everyone's lips chapped and bleeding from lack of water, Yun Yiyi felt distressed. Alas, this world is truly a cannibalistic place.

We kept walking until we'd covered about twenty miles before the village chief called for us to stop and rest for a meal. As soon as he finished speaking, everyone sought shade under the trees along the road. In this drought, the bark had been stripped clean, leaving the trees bare. The roadside was also parched and cracked. There wasn't a single green vestige in sight; everything was desolate.

The strong laborers of the family could rest for a while. The housewives were busy gathering firewood, building a makeshift stove, and preparing to cook. The children were also sent to the woods to gather firewood. Here, Zhang also quickly set up the stove, installed the family's large iron pot, filled it with water, and began to boil water. The three Yun brothers were also busy collecting and delivering firewood. Yun Yiyi, exhausted, sat down under a tree, unable to get up.

She now had the body of a child, mentally persevering, but physically honest. Farm children were generally free-range, running around in the mountains and rivers. Her body, confined at home as a child, lacked physical activity. Combined with her strength and appetite, she had always been a chubby child. It was only in the past two years, with Zhang's care becoming less strict, that she began to run around with the three Yun brothers, searching for food and water. With this increased activity, Yun Yiyi, though tanned, had lost some weight.

"Yiyi, let's have fried noodles for lunch and hot pancakes for dinner." "Okay, Mom," Yun Yiyi replied weakly. Yun the butcher was checking the wheels of his cart, taking advantage of his break to repair any damage. The three Yun brothers found some fine hay and fed it to the donkey. The eldest brother, Yun, filled half a bucket with water, added salt, and fed the donkey.

At that moment, I deeply realized how fortunate it was to have a donkey to help pull the cart. Some families in the village couldn't afford oxen, donkeys, or horses, so they used carts, which often made it difficult to keep up with the group. Furthermore, in some places with many children, two or three-year-olds could be placed on the cart and pushed, while older children had to follow.

After walking for half a day, several big blisters appeared on my heels. At this time, people usually burn the blisters with a needle over fire and then prick them. At this time, the children under the tree screamed in pain, which was unbearable to hear.

Both Butcher Yun and Zhang loved children. Zhang helped push Big Brother Yun's cart for the second half of the journey. Big Brother Yun looked tall and strong, but he was actually quite young. In modern times, he would be in junior high school.

The water boiled, and Zhang took out the fried noodles and made a large bowl for each of them. It was fragrant and filling. She let the remaining water cool and poured it into the water bag. Zhang then heated up the medicine she had boiled yesterday and had Yun Yiyi drink it. She checked the wound on Yun Yiyi's head and found it was much better. She could just apply the medicine without bandaging it. Now, walking in the sun, her head was sweating all the time, and bandaging the wound would make it difficult to heal.

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