The people of Hanjiacun get up at the crack of dawn.

Han Shunde instructed everyone to eat a good breakfast, and after they had eaten and drunk their fill, they would go down the mountain.

So every household cooked a thick porridge and ate it with wild vegetable pancakes.

Some families even added dried meat to their wild vegetable porridge.

Yes, dried meat. These past few days, the game that the men hunted in the mountains was all distributed to everyone. When they got their share of the meat, no one wanted to eat it. They would pick the meat off the bones and boil the bones and wild vegetables together to make soup. They would put the meat in a pot and dry it to make the simplest kind of dried meat, thinking that when they were on the road fleeing famine and their strength was really exhausted, they could have a bite to chew on.

During the three days or so that Li Lanzhen stayed on the mountaintop, she also tried to find ways to help Zhang Yuniang recover.

She gets a bowl of sweet soup every day without fail, and when making pancakes, we try not to put any wild vegetables in them; we make her eat plain black flour pancakes.

So far, the mall has not been able to redeem any medicines or medications for preventing miscarriage, nor any gauze, scissors, or disinfectant needed by women during childbirth.

These past few days, Li Lanzhen's father and younger brother have also been very busy.

Because the two of them were skilled in carpentry, everyone would ask them to build carts or donkey carts.

Xue Laohu said that taking the horses he had seized in Ankang City would attract too much attention on the official road.

They originally planned to kill the horse for meat, but no one wanted to lift a finger and couldn't bear to do it. They wanted to take the horse to Youzhou to settle down so it could help them plow the fields and do farm work.

However, Xue Laohu told everyone about the dire consequences of their attempt to flee the famine with their horses.

“This is too conspicuous. We are refugees, dressed in rags, yet we have so many horses. One reason is that we will attract the attention of starving refugees, and the other is that we will attract the attention of the government troops. Once the government troops discover these horses, we will not be able to explain where we came from, and we will not be able to escape.”

Li Lanzhen then realized that this was indeed the case.

She racked her brains trying to figure out how to put these horses into her spatial dimension.

Xue Laohu glanced at Li Lanzhen, who was frowning and deep in thought, and he also had his own thoughts.

He figured his in-laws must have some secret, and that she should be able to take these horses out, so he said, "How about this, let's gather these horses together and have them pull the cart up the mountainside first."

"Once we reach the mountainside, we'll scout out the situation on the official road. If we can take them, we'll bring them to the next county town and exchange them for silver or grain. If we can't take them, we'll leave them here in this mountain valley until we reach Youzhou and settle down. Then we'll send someone to bring these horses back."

Everyone thought this was a good idea.

Because they had horses, they thought of having Li Erhan and his son Li Xishui build some carts for them to pull.

The father and son alone certainly wouldn't be enough, so when they needed to hail a taxi for someone, that person had to find the timber and cut the planks themselves.

Li Erhan and Li Xishui only dealt with these crucial aspects of installing the mortise and tenon.

Han Shunde also said that the carts should be made smaller so that they are easier to pull.

So all the men in the village who liked carpentry learned some skills from Li Erhan and his son, and they were all very grateful to them. Carpentry is a craft, and it's admirable that they would teach their skills to others.

And so, after a hearty breakfast, the people of Hanjiacun went down the mountain.

Horses pulled carts or carried heavy loads, and they moved quite fast along the way.

The women freed themselves up, carrying baskets and short sticks they had chosen. They dug up wild vegetables whenever they saw them and put them in their baskets. They didn't let go of anything edible, which slowed down their journey. Han Shunde shouted to everyone to hurry up and stop focusing on digging for wild vegetables. He said they still needed to make time so they could settle down in Youzhou as soon as possible.

His words gave everyone hope, so they quickened their pace. Even so, they didn't stop for lunch. Each person ate a bite of dry rations and continued walking until it was getting dark, when they finally reached the mountainside and a little further down.

This shows how high the mountain is. When they arrived, the river in the valley was already quite dry, and it was estimated that it would dry up if they went any further down. So everyone cherished the water and tried to use the water from the stream for drinking and eating, and resolutely refused to use the water from their own car.

Nothing happened that night. The next day, they spent another half a day reaching the foot of the mountain. The further down the mountain they went, the drier the river became, the withered grass and trees turned yellow, and even the bark of the trees was stripped off.

Xue Bao, leading his guards, had previously found a low-lying area where the people of Han Family Village were gathered.

Han Shunde instructed everyone not to make a loud noise, but to sit down quietly, eat something, and drink some water. Then he would send a few people to the main road to investigate the situation.

This time, Xue Laohu led Xue Bao, Han Mingjiang, Han Zhaoxiong, and several others down the mountain.

After a few twists and turns, Xue Laohu and his men reached the official road.

Looking up, I was stunned by the scene on both sides of the official road!

The roadside was crowded with people, their eyes lifeless and bodies emaciated. Some of the children were crying like kittens in their mothers' arms.

Seeing them come down, these people looked terrified, but they didn't have the strength to get up and walk.

Xue Laohu and his men continued walking forward, each carrying a large knife and a wooden stick.

After passing through this area, the rest of the way is desolate and uninhabited.

A scorching wind rose up, whipping up the three-foot-thick layer of yellow soil on the ground due to the drought, making it impossible for people to open their eyes.

Han Mingxiang was deeply shocked by the sight of this tragic scene.

Fortunately, they have their mother! Han Mingxiang firmly believes that his mother holds a secret, and all the opportunities in their Han family village are brought about by his mother.

Otherwise, they would die here from the sun or starvation, just like these refugees, or they would be eaten by their own kind.

Xue Laohu thought the same thing.

After years of getting to know her, he knew that Li Lanzhen was not someone to be trifled with; she was exactly the kind of person the villagers talked about!

She gets restless if she doesn't get the benefit immediately, and she mistreats her daughter-in-law and doesn't even treat her own daughter and granddaughter well.

However, since the announcement of the need to flee the famine, many things have changed.

Moreover, since fleeing the famine, every good opportunity has been related to Li Lanzhen.

This made Mr. Xue suspect that she had a secret.

Xue Laohu has traveled all over the country and seen a lot of things. There are many mysterious and powerful people, but ordinary people just haven't seen or discovered them.

He believed in himself, and this in-law was that kind of person. He wondered how she had gotten such an opportunity!

In any case, this is good for everyone, especially for his daughter.

After standing in the yellow wind for a while, Xue Laohu said, "Let's go back."

He was thinking to himself that it was noon now and he should quickly get the people from Hanjiacun to the main road.

We quickly passed through this area; there was no one else around. We walked until dark, then found a place to rest and stay. We couldn't stay with these people.

So they quickly returned to where they had been in Hanjiacun.

He explained the situation in detail to Han Shunde and the others.

Upon hearing that the situation was serious, the old village chief said, "Go! Go quickly! Quickly, get through this area!"

Han Shunde saw that everyone had finished packing.

He then said to Xue Laohu, "I'm afraid we can't take these horses out, my in-laws. What should we do?"

Xue Laohu slapped his forehead and said, "Oh, indeed, we absolutely must not go onto the official road!"

If we get onto the main road, I fear a swarm of famine refugees will arrive, so I killed the horse. But then, those who go berserk might turn on us.

He glanced at Lanzhen and said, "My dear in-law, you and Han Mingjiang should hide these horses in the ravine ahead. I'll keep watch there. You just hide there, and the horses won't be able to get out."

Li Lanzhen was taken aback. She had a thought in her mind: Xue Laohu had probably already discovered her disguise.

So what if they find out? As long as I don't admit it or say it out loud, what can anyone do to me?

She nodded and led Han Mingjiang, pulling seven horses, towards the mountain valley.

Without thinking, Han Mingxiang led the horse and followed behind Li Lanzhen into the deeper mountain valley.

Xue Bao looked at his father, then at Aunt Lanzhen who had walked away, scratched his head, and was filled with doubt.

But there were many people around, so he didn't ask his father aloud.

Li Lanzhen and Han Mingxiang led the horses around a bend in the mountain and out of sight of the people from Hanjiacun Village. She then said to Han Mingjiang, "Second brother, bring the horses over here."

Han Mingjiang led the horse here, looked left and right, and it didn't seem like a place where he could hide the horse.

He then said to Li Lanzhen, "Mother, my father-in-law must have made a mistake. How could horses be hidden here?"

Li Lanzhen said, "Foolish!" and with a wave of her hand, the horse disappeared.

Han Mingjiang was startled when he saw that the horses that had been behind him had suddenly disappeared. He shouted, "Mother, there's a ghost!"

Li Lanzhen reached out and slapped him on the back of the head. "Get lost!"

Then, he casually took out a steaming white steamed bun from his spatial storage, handed it to him, and said, "Silly boy, eat up!"

Han Mingjiang stared at the soft, white steamed bun in his mother's hand, swallowed hard, and exclaimed with wide eyes, "Mom, do you know magic tricks?"