Leading the way was a donkey cart belonging to Xue Laohu's family.

The donkey cart was driven by Xue Nizi's younger brother, 16-year-old Xue Bao, with his parents walking behind. The cart was packed full, with a small space in the middle.

Xue Nizi's mother, Wu, was robust, knowledgeable about herbs, and skilled in basic traditional Chinese medicine. She cheerfully picked up her two grandsons and placed them in the crate of the donkey cart, letting the two sleepy children continue to sleep.

Following behind was Zhang Yueniang's father, Zhang Deshui, and his family.

Zhang Deshui was not tall, but he was physically strong. His wife, Zhang Lishi, fell down a mountain last year and injured her back, leaving her weak.

At this moment, Zhang Deshui was driving a donkey cart, with Zhang Lishi walking beside him, and Zhang Yueniang's elder brother, Zhang Songshu, was pushing a cart loaded with various tools.

Li Sanya followed behind with her three sons. It was unclear whether the three of them had eaten all the food in the house, but they were all dark-skinned and strong. The youngest, Zhang Sanniu, was only 2 years old. He carried a bundle on his back, swung his arms, and walked with his head held high, walking very fast.

Behind them were Grandma Han and her grandson.

When they arrived in the morning, Li Lanzhen's three families had already loaded their car and were ready to leave.

Six-year-old Gou Dan was pushing a miniature cart that Han Mingjiang had made for him yesterday. It was a little over 1.5 meters long and 1 meter wide, and the cart was filled with bedding, pots and pans, and two ceramic jars.

Grandma Han was in her forties and was fairly robust, though she was very thin and dark-skinned. Two days before they were to flee the famine, she went up the mountain to find wild vegetables and tree bark and broke her left wrist. So when the village chief gathered the villagers to flee the famine, she and her grandson did not go. Another major reason was that the village chief said that Li Lanzhen's family was also not going to flee the famine.

Last night, Li Lanzhen thought about it and realized that it was indeed what the original owner of the body had said to the village chief. She even scolded and kicked out the village chief who had repeatedly tried to dissuade her from taking her family to flee the famine with the other villagers.

Sigh, the original owner of this body probably couldn't bear to part with her husband who passed away earlier this year, and Gou Dan and his grandson were also a little reluctant to part with Gou Dan's grandfather and his father who were buried in the back mountain.

Grandma Gou Dan pulled the cart from the front, while Gou Dan pushed it from behind.

Finally, there was Li Lanzhen's family. The eldest and second eldest sons were each pushing a cart loaded with light items such as bedding, clothes, baskets, and wooden buckets.

The eldest brother's daughter, Han Miaomiao, was in the car. Han Yinan and Gou Dan were with him, helping to push the car. The two brothers were inseparable in the village, going up and down the mountain and down the river.

Han Mingxiang drove the mule cart, while his eldest daughter-in-law sat inside the large blue mule cart, which was filled with grain and dry food, as well as a large wooden bucket containing cooled boiled water, pots, pans, and other utensils.

Li Lanzhen, Xue Nizi, and her daughter Han Yuemei walked in front of the mule cart, each carrying a basket on their backs.

And so, they hurried past the town and county seat, taking a small path that Xue Laohu was familiar with. After walking for most of the day, when the sun was at its strongest, they arrived at a grove of trees.

By this time, there were already more than a dozen families in the woods, with donkey carts and handcarts, eating and resting. They looked exhausted, with the children and the elderly lying directly on the ground.

Xue Laohu called out to everyone, "Everyone, stop the car, rest for a while and have something to eat, then we'll continue. We need to hurry this afternoon, otherwise we won't make it past Yejiawan, and then we won't have anywhere to rest. Yejiawan is not a good place; we can't stop there."

"Yejiawan?"

Upon hearing the place name, Li Lanzhen suddenly remembered that she was a girl from Yejiawan. It was the young Han Yanshan who saved her from being bullied by some thugs when he passed through the area, and that's how she married into Hanjiawan Village.

My family also includes my parents, a younger brother, his wife, and two nephews and nieces.

Li Lanzhen's maternal home, Yejiawan, was an extremely poor place. The harsh environment breeds unruly people, and the local customs are fierce with strong xenophobic sentiments.

Li Lanzhen's father, Li Erhan, was an honest and kind man who married into the family. Her mother, Ye, was an only child. In the third year after Li Lanzhen was born, both of Ye's parents passed away, and their family's life in Yejiawan became increasingly difficult. They were often bullied by the villagers.

Li Xishui, the younger brother, is 28 years old. His wife, Hong Tonghua, came here to escape famine and was separated from her family. She was 6 years old at the time and was picked up and raised by Ye. She married Li Xishui when she was 16.

Li Xishui and Hong Tonghua have two children: their son, Li Guangyang, is 11 years old, and their daughter, Li Lingdang, is 8 years old.

Since the passing of the two elders, the Li family's life has become increasingly difficult. Fortunately, Li Erhan knows how to cut stones, which allows them to barely make ends meet.

Li Lanzhen married into Hanjiacun and rarely returned to her parents' home; she hasn't been back for three years now.

Whether it was the original owner's consciousness at work or not, a voice inside her was clamoring loudly: Go to Yejiawan! Go to Yejiawan! Find your parents and take them away from Yejiawan, or you will never have peace in this life!

Li Lanzhen chewed on the four-in-one black flour pancake in her mouth—no, it should be five-in-one flour, since her eldest daughter-in-law had mixed tree bark powder into it, making it hard to swallow. She chewed it anyway and swallowed it down.

Looking at Zhang Yueniang, who kept glancing at her, Li Lanzhen smiled at her with pity. She was a child who had been used to hardship. She was afraid of food shortages. Once she had food, she would try her best to feed her family for a longer time and to shorten the time they went hungry.

Yesterday, I sent two daughters-in-law to their respective families with black powder. Both families returned the gift: the Xue family sent a skinny, dried pheasant, and the Zhang family sent a bowl of powder made from tree bark.

The eldest daughter-in-law's smile slowly faded as she looked at the dried chicken in the second daughter-in-law's hand. Li Lanzhen immediately expressed her gratitude: "Thank you, in-laws. This dried chicken can be chopped up and used to make a soup to nourish everyone. This bowl of tree bark powder is finely ground and can be mixed with some dark flour to make pancakes. It will definitely taste better than what we make at home."

Both daughters-in-law left happily.

Perhaps because they had just left their hometown, the people around them who had fled famine were also eating dry rations, and some families would even cook a pot of clear, watery soup to drink.

Seeing that everyone had eaten, Li Lanzhen said to her eldest and second eldest sons, "Do you two still remember that your maternal grandmother's home is in Yejiawan?"

Both of them nodded, and the eldest son, Han Minghai, asked, "Mother, let's go and see them when we pass by. If Grandma and the others haven't left, let's take them with us to escape the famine."

Han Mingjiang nodded in agreement: "That's right, Mother. We need to take Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle with us to escape the famine. Otherwise, we don't know when we'll see them again."

"Okay, I'll go and discuss it with my in-laws."

Upon approaching Xue Laohu and Zhang Deshui, Li Lanzhen said, "My dear in-laws, it's like this. My family is from Yejiawan. I'm passing through there to find my parents and take them with me to escape the famine."

Both of them were a little flustered, muttering to themselves, "Yejiawan?!"