The air was slightly cool on the riverbank in the early morning.
Old Sun, Wang Mazi, and three other men who decided to go back to fetch their families had already packed up.
They changed into relatively thick and intact old clothes that Jiang Chan had "conjured up," and wore newly woven straw sandals. Each of them carried a bulging coarse cloth bundle on their back.
Inside the bundle were the provisions Jiang Chan had prepared for them: a thick stack of golden-brown, crispy multigrain flatbreads. Each person also had four bamboo tubes filled with cool well water hanging from their waist.
This equipment is practically a luxury setup for fleeing famine!
In the open space in the center of the camp, a large pot was set up. Inside, large chunks of pork, radishes, and cabbage were stewing, their rich aroma filling the air. Next to it, in a steamer, sat freshly cooked, snow-white rice.
This is a farewell meal.
Everyone gathered around the pot, including the newcomers Zhao Si and his group. The atmosphere was somewhat heavy, yet filled with anticipation.
"Eat! Eat as much as you want! You'll need the energy to keep going!" Jiang Chan urged.
No longer holding back, everyone ladled out heaps of rice, poured on glistening meat and vegetables, and devoured the food. Old Man Sun and the others ate with particular gusto, as if trying to etch the flavors and the feeling of fullness into their very bones, to sustain them on their long journey home.
Little Tao, holding a small bowl, ran to Grandpa Sun's side, looking up at him with her little face: "Grandpa Sun, you must come back soon!"
Looking at Xiaotao's rosy cheeks, Old Man Sun felt a lump in his throat and nodded vigorously, "Oh! Good child! Grandpa will definitely come back soon!"
Wang Mazi patted his chest and said, "Wait until I bring my son over, then he can play with you!"
The farewell dinner ended in a slightly somber yet expectant atmosphere.
Old Man Sun and his four companions carried their bundles and picked up sturdy wooden sticks to serve as walking sticks.
“Young lady…” Old man Sun walked up to Jiang Chan and bowed deeply. “We… are leaving.”
"Be careful on the road." Jiang Chan nodded, her voice calm. "Remember what I said. Only bring the people you should bring. Go quickly and come back quickly."
"Yes, young lady! We've got it!" the five replied in unison, their eyes resolute.
They clasped their hands in greeting to Chen Yan, Zhao Si, and the others, took one last look at the riverside camp that had given them new life and hope, turned around, and stepped onto the dirt road leading to the official road.
Five figures, carrying bundles and leaning on wooden sticks, walked further and further away in the morning light, eventually disappearing around the corner of the official road.
The camp fell silent. Everyone gazed in the direction they had disappeared, speechless for a long time. There was worry, there was anticipation, and above all, there was longing for the future—when they returned, this place would feel even more like a true "home."
After seeing off Old Man Sun and his four companions, the camp immediately shifted its focus to digging cellars.
Zhao Si, leading a dozen or so men, became the main force in digging the cellar. They took off their shirts, revealing their backs, which, though still thin, had developed some muscle definition, and wielded hoes and shovels, digging vigorously on the selected slope.
"Hey! Keep it up!"
"The soil here is hard! Get a pickaxe!"
"Dig carefully! Tamp the soil down as you dig! Don't let it collapse!"
The shouts, the sounds of hoes and shovels striking the soil and rocks, and heavy breathing mingled together.
The soil was shoveled out one shovelful at a time and piled up around the pit, gradually forming a ring of earthen walls. The outline of the cellar grew deeper and deeper.
Jiang Chan would come to check on the progress several times a day.
"That's deep enough." She looked at the pit, which had already been dug to a depth of more than a person, and shouted down, "Expand it to the sides! Dig out a few storage rooms! Leave a passageway in the middle! Put thick timber beams on the roof! Lay thick planks on top! Then cover it with soil!"
"Alright, miss!" Zhao Si wiped his sweat and looked up in response.
The bottom of the pit became busier. The men began digging to both sides, creating several arched storage spaces. Thick logs were carried down and placed in the designated positions to serve as crossbeams supporting the ceiling.
The progress is visible to the naked eye. The deep pit has been transformed into a rudimentary underground storage room.
At the campsite, Xiao Tao also made new playmates.
Among the new refugees were two children of similar age: a boy named Shitou, about seven or eight years old, and a girl named Cao'er, about six or seven years old. Although the two children were still thin and small, they had eaten their fill, their faces had regained color, and their eyes were no longer timid.
Xiao Tao took the initiative to play with them. The three children quickly became acquainted, chasing and playing on the weedy fields by the river, or squatting outside the greenhouse, looking at the lush green seedlings inside.
That day, the three children were tired from playing and sat down to rest on a large rock by the river.
Looking at the huge greenhouse in the distance, and then at the clear water flowing day and night by the river, Shi Tou couldn't help but whisper to Xiao Tao, "Little Tao... how come you have so many delicious vegetables here? And so much water... in my hometown, the river has dried up..."
Grass also opened its big eyes and looked at Little Peach with curiosity.
Xiao Tao puffed out her little chest, looking proud: "It was given to me by Sister Jiang!"
"Sister Jiang?" Shi Tou scratched his head. "How...how did she give it to me? Did she conjure it up?"
Xiao Tao nodded vigorously: "Yes! Sister Jiang is amazing! Whatever she wants, the Mountain God will bring it to her!"
"Mountain God?" The stone and the grass stared wide-eyed, filled with awe and wonder. "Really?"
“Of course it’s true!” Xiao Tao pointed to the greenhouse. “That big house! And that iron ox that can harvest wheat by itself! And that silver blanket that can dry grain! They were all given to Sister Jiang by the Mountain God!”
Stone and Grass listened with their mouths slightly open, looking towards the greenhouse and the distant drying ground, their eyes filled with infinite awe and worship for the "mountain god"!
"What...what does the Mountain God look like?" Cao'er asked timidly.
“Hmm…” Xiao Tao tilted her head and thought for a moment, “The Mountain God… lives on a very, very high mountain… has a white beard… and glows! He’s so amazing!” She fully utilized the child’s imagination.
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