My mouth feels much fresher after brushing my teeth, but I really want to take a shower now, since my hair is all tangled up in clumps.
"Mother, I'm going to wash up by the stream. Keep an eye on the children."
"Okay, go ahead." My daughter's fussy habit really hasn't changed much. Luckily, there aren't many people around, so I can hear any noise. I told her to hurry back.
After a lot of effort, Qin San Niang took off her clothes and quickly slid into the water. The water temperature, which had been warmed by the sun all day, was just right, and she felt comfortable and relaxed.
As for whether anyone would be peeping? That was completely outside her consideration. There was no way anyone could be in this desolate wilderness. The main point was that this body wasn't anything to see; not only was it dark and gritty, but it was also so thin that she could barely tell the front from the back!
Fearing that Liu and the others would worry, he quickly took out soap and a bath towel from the supermarket and began to scrub the dirt off carefully. That's right, how clean do you think a body that hasn't been bathed for two months could be? It's only because the stream water was flowing that the dirt weighed at least two pounds.
Tangled hair was a big problem. It took a long time to comb it out, even after applying conditioner. I had to use shampoo three times before it was finally clean.
After finishing all that, quite some time had passed. Hearing her mother calling from the other end, Qin San Niang quickly replied to ease her mother's worry. Liu Shi was impatient; she couldn't let her get upset.
She hurriedly went ashore, and looking at the underwear and such, Qin San Niang said she really didn't want to wear them. So she took a set of underwear from the supermarket and put it on, and then put on another set of patched-up yellow linen clothes, which was also the only set she had.
Thinking that the children's clothes hadn't been washed yet, Qin San Niang quickly sped up her work; they needed to be washed quickly, as they would dry overnight in this weather.
I brought a basin of water and had Liu wash herself briefly. There weren't many soap tongs, and Liu was reluctant to use them.
As for the soap, Qin San Niang didn't take it out. Although the immortal had given her many things, how could she know if it was for washing hair, bathing, or something else? Anyway, it was hard to explain. At least she still had soap pods to use, but she wasn't used to them.
Wood ash should also be usable, but it's black and I don't think it will get the job very clean.
After Liu finished washing, she poured out the water and then put the child's clothes in a basin to wash in the stream. Luckily, it was a hot day, and a little laundry detergent and a few scrubs were enough to get them clean. There are no washing machines in the supermarket. As for polluting the environment? A little laundry detergent shouldn't be a problem, right?!
Hang the clothes out to dry on the big rock next to you. Don't worry about them being clean now, since their clothes aren't exactly clean either.
The children were already asleep. Qin San Niang covered them with a thin blanket and urged Liu Shi to get some sleep. After all, she was getting old and couldn't handle the long journey, especially since it was all done on foot.
Liu didn't push herself; she was truly exhausted. She had a long journey ahead of her tomorrow, and if she didn't sleep well, she wouldn't be able to walk fast, which would slow her down. Besides, she had gotten up very early, so she could relieve San Niang and allow her to rest a bit.
As for Qin Sanniang, she resigned herself to staying by the fire. She was so sleepy, her eyelids kept drooping, and before she fell asleep, she thought about finding a dog and the pain-relieving plasters on the supermarket shelf. She'd take them out tomorrow and apply them to Liu Shi; hopefully, they'd help a little…
When she woke up, Liu was already beside her, adding firewood to the fire; it was still a bit cold in the early hours of the morning.
Qin San Niang quickly wiped the drool from her mouth. She didn't know when her mother had woken up, but the sky was still pitch black.
"Mother, why are you awake? Aren't you going to sleep a little longer?"
"You should get some sleep. Old people need less sleep than you young people."
Remembering the plaster, Qin Sanniang pretended to take it out from her sleeve, "Mother, this is a plaster. I'll put it on you to relieve the pain."
Liu looked at it in surprise. There were no crushed herbs on the plaster. Could this also be a gift from the immortals? Since it was a divine medicine, it must be much better than ordinary herbs, right? She quickly put her right leg in front of her and lifted the trouser leg, which was already torn in several pieces. Her leg had been hurting more and more these past few days, and she was worried about whether she could make it to the south.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Qin San Niang woke up. What a damn biological clock!
There was no other way; after all, I was the pillar of support for several people.
She quickly got up to fetch water, boil it, and cook porridge. She also washed and blanched the wild vegetables, then tossed them with salt and hot oil. Perhaps because of the oil, the cold wild vegetable salad tasted quite appealing. In any case, the children ate very well, even licking the porridge out of their bowls, almost making their mother think that she didn't need to wash the dishes. In fact, the eldest child had only rinsed the bowls briefly and that was it.
The group continued on their way, carrying their baskets on their backs. Qin San Niang was really frustrated. She wished she knew how long the road would take and how far they were from the city ahead. Only those who were used to using GPS would understand this feeling, right? If possible, she also hoped to buy a map, I think it was also called a map map.
Perhaps because they were full, or perhaps because they had hope, their pace quickened considerably starting yesterday, as evidenced by the increasing number of refugees they could see on the road.
Most of these refugees traveled in groups, some long and some short; there weren't many orphans and widows like them.
Looking into the eyes of those people, Qin Sanniang saw confusion, pity, and greed—none of which reassured her. She truly didn't want to resort to force unless absolutely necessary, especially since a few guns wouldn't be enough to stop a large group of refugees. As for bombs? Forget it, that would be a terrible thing, and certainly not a first choice.
By midday, the sun was already blazing. Liu quickly told everyone to stop, as heatstroke would be a serious problem in such hot weather.
Having found a shady spot, I decided not to cook lunch. I still had some steamed buns in my basket; a little water would be enough to fill my stomach. It wasn't because I was lazy or tired, but because there were too many refugees around, and cooking wasn't safe.
Not to mention Liu Shi, even Qin San Niang herself could see that some of them had run out of food. Although they were resting, most of them had joined the ranks of searching for wild vegetables by the roadside. Qin San Niang had reason to believe that even wild vegetables were hard to find now; there were far more monks than porridge!
Sure enough, many women could only find a handful of wild vegetables, and that was only after they had sharp eyes and snatched them from others. Some women couldn't find even a handful of wild vegetables and could only walk back dejectedly.
In the distance, many burly men were stripping the bark off the trees, leaving nothing behind even the roots and grass. Many children were crying from hunger, sucking their fingers, but the more they sucked, the hungrier they became!
Liu's face darkened, and she broke the steamed buns into small pieces and stuffed them into the children's hands.
The children seemed quite familiar with this situation; they clenched their little hands tightly, and when no one was looking, they would put their heads on their knees and pretend to sleep, then secretly eat the steamed buns.
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