"Okay, then I'll tell the kids tomorrow. They probably think they can't go into the mountains tomorrow."
"Wife, I didn't want to let the children go into the mountains, but as you know, most of our children are easy to take care of."
"However, I'm afraid Yiyi will sneak up the mountain by herself. So, let's let them go up the mountain together. Besides, Yiyi will know her limits if she brings so many people up the mountain."
"Master, you are right. The children would love to go to the mountains. If you really let them go, they won't be able to cheer up at home."
Butcher Yun suddenly remembered, "Oh, wife, have all the chestnuts been dried?"
"Master, I've already prepared a larger mat to dry. However, there are still quite a few chestnuts left to dry, so I washed another mat."
Zhang stood up and lit the oil lamp. She walked over to the mat and felt it with her hand. "Master, the mat is dry."
"Okay, wife. You hold the oil lamp. I'll dry the chestnuts."
"Yes, Master, but we need to put firewood under the mat."
"good."
Butcher Yun brought over a large pile of firewood he had gathered today. He spread the firewood flat before laying the mat on top.
Then, Yun the butcher scattered the crushed chestnuts on the mat handful by handful.
"Wife, when the sun comes out tomorrow, you should ask the children to help you carry the mat and move it under the sun. That way, it will be completely dry in two days."
"Okay, let's move to the exit of the woods behind us. No one usually passes by there, so it's not easy to be discovered."
"Wife, you have to leave the two children at home to help you with the work tomorrow. You can't handle it all by yourself. Especially when it comes to drying chestnuts, you need someone to watch over you at all times."
Zhang was stunned for a moment. "Then let Zirui and the second child stay at home tomorrow. The eldest child, the third child, and Yiyi can go up the mountain if they want."
"Sure. Anyway, I'll be back at noon tomorrow, so I won't delay them from going up the mountain in the afternoon."
"There's one more thing I want to discuss with you, wife. Yiyi and the others picked a lot of wild hawthorns, but I think even if we dry them, we can't eat so much."
"So, tomorrow I want to take some hawthorns to Shilin Town to sell them, and then exchange them for some food."
Zhang thought this was a good idea. Grain would definitely be more effective than hawthorn in relieving hunger.
"Yes, Master. When you've finished drying the chestnuts, I'll set aside some of the hawthorns, and you can sell the rest and exchange them for food."
After a while, Yun the Butcher scattered the remaining chestnuts on the mat.
Then, Yun the Butcher loaded all the empty water jars in his home onto the mule cart, and he also moved half a basket of hawthorns onto the cart.
Butcher Yun yawned loudly and said, "Wife, I'm going to town to eat tomorrow morning. You don't have to get up early to help me cook."
"Okay, let's go to bed. I'm so sleepy."
"Let's go to bed."
The oil lamp was blown out, and Yun the Butcher and Zhang fell asleep almost instantly.
After a busy day, the refugees almost all fell asleep.
The two people on night duty in Yunjia Village sat by the fire and chatted in low voices.
For fear that they might fall asleep, they would get up every once in a while and walk around the woods.
They waited until it was a little light. After the village chief, who slept late and rose early, got up, the night watchmen dared to catch up on their sleep.
Yun the butcher had already gotten up and was feeding his mule and donkey with fresh grass and water.
Seeing that it was still early, he cleaned the iron pot, put half a pot of water in it, cut two sweet potatoes in it, covered the pot and started to light a fire.
After more than ten minutes, when the water in the pot boiled, Yun the butcher scooped half a bowl of corn flour, mixed it into a paste, and then poured it into the pot.
He picked up the spoon, stirred the pot a few times, and then turned the heat to low.
Corn porridge is not easy to cook. If you are not careful, it will easily burn the pot or boil over.
In this way, Yun the Butcher cooked for more than ten minutes before covering the pot and extinguishing the fire at the bottom of the pot, letting it simmer slowly.
"Brother Yun, shall we set off?"
Butcher Yun looked up and saw that it was Old Man Wu from next door who came over.
"Okay, Brother Wu, wait for me to drive the mule cart."
"Then I'll wait for you out front."
"Okay, Brother Wu, I'll be right there."
Butcher Yun quickly changed into clean clothes and then drove the mule cart to catch up with Old Man Wu.
After a while, the sky became brighter and Zhang woke up.
She looked to the side and saw that Yun the Butcher was gone. She guessed that he had left for Shilin Town.
She quickly got dressed, washed up, and prepared to cook.
When she opened the lid of the pot, she found that the corn porridge in the pot was already cooked.
She happily served the corn porridge, cleaned the pot, and added a little oil.
Finally, she put the pie from last night into the iron pot and cooked it slowly over low heat. After turning it over twice, the pie in the pot was hot. So she turned off the fire at the bottom of the pot.
At this time, the sky was already very bright and the sun was rising from the east.
However, Zhang went to check on the children. They were still sleeping soundly.
Thinking that they didn't have to travel today, Zhang didn't wake the children up and let them sleep in.
During this period, the children had to flee famine every day and did not have a good night's sleep.
Zhang used a shovel to carefully turn the chestnut flour on the mat, thinking that she would have to move it to the sun to dry it later.
By the time Zhang had turned over all the chestnut flour, the woods had become very lively.
The villagers also started to get up, cook and eat, and the noise started to get louder.
"Mom, why didn't you call us?" Brother Yun asked, rubbing his eyes.
Zhang smiled and said, "There's no need to rush today. You can sleep a little longer if you want."
As Brother Yun was getting dressed, he said, "Mom, I'm awake now."
Brother Yun San sat there and said, "Mom, I'm hungry."
Zhang laughed when she heard this. The third brother was really a funny guy. If he wasn't hungry, he would still be sleeping.
"If you're hungry, get dressed and eat. Mom has already prepared the meal."
"Oh, I see, Mom."
"Yiyi, Zirui, get up and eat."
Big Brother Yun called softly to the two little ones who were sleeping the most soundly.
"Brother, is it dawn yet? So soon?"
Brother Yun said jokingly, "Zi Rui, the sun is out, hurry up and get up to eat."
"Okay, got it, big brother."
Brother Yun saw that Xie Zirui was about to fall asleep after he finished speaking, so he simply went forward to help Xie Zirui put on his clothes.
Xie Zirui rubbed his eyes and said, "Brother, I am really awake this time."
So, Brother Yun took his younger brothers to wash up.
"Mom, you should go and wake Yiyi up."
Zhang smiled and shook her head.
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