The old man's words didn't seem to be false. Besides, everyone goes their own way, and this cave doesn't belong to anyone.
Gu Qingshan turned to look at Qin Sanniang, and seeing her nod slightly, he suppressed his fierce aura, put away his bow and arrows, and cupped his hands, saying, "You're too kind, old man. We also came up the mountain to hide from the bandits. This cave is quite large. We'll take this side, and you can make yourselves at home."
After saying that, he calmly sat down by the fire and stopped exchanging pleasantries with others.
The village head of Lujia Village didn't dwell on the man's attitude. After all, capable people are often a bit arrogant, aren't they? Besides, they weren't related.
He quickly expressed his gratitude and invited the villagers to the cave next door. He also told them not to disturb the children's sleep, as some of the children in their own group were also fast asleep, so they shouldn't be so particular and should quickly find a flat place to rest.
Putting aside others, even he himself was almost falling apart after walking for a day. If it weren't for the fear of wild animals, he really wouldn't have been able to walk anymore. He originally thought that his old bones would perish in this dense forest, but who would have thought that he would see this cave with a fire burning. If there is a fire, there must be people! He sent his eldest son over first, and when he saw that there was a mule cart and a child, he guessed that they were also fleeing. So he quickly led the villagers over.
Upon hearing the order, the villagers hurriedly found places to rest. They were all exhausted. The men fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow, while the women had to look after the children. Perhaps due to hunger, the children were crying in their sleep. The women could only sing some unknown lullaby and gently rock and pat the children, hoping they would stop crying and fall asleep quickly.
Seeing this, Qin Sanniang felt a pang of sadness. In chaotic times, people are worse off than dogs in peaceful times; it's truly a case of the best that can be said. She'd see if she could help them tomorrow, at least finding them some food would be good. If all else failed, she'd have to take some live animals from her spatial supermarket and let them hunt for themselves.
Thinking about these things, she fell asleep.
The next morning, Liu got up early. A group of people had suddenly arrived, and she hadn't dared to sleep soundly all night. Wu Chunhua felt the same way; she was simply worried and afraid!
I'm not planning to cook this morning. I'll just wait and see how the person across the street eats before deciding on my next move. They'll probably just eat a few bites of steamed buns and call it a day.
The children were all very well-behaved; none of them asked for meat or rice.
The moment Grandma feeds them steamed cakes is the dangerous moment. The children seem to have developed a conditioned reflex; they don't need any instructions from adults to pack their bedding and put it in the carriage.
Perhaps most of the villagers were good, but there were also those who were fixated on their own side, their eyes practically bulging out of their sockets when they saw the padded jackets on the children. Besides, there were other carriages behind, and even Big Gray could become the object of their lust. When starving, they'd kill and eat people, let alone livestock.
Old Mrs. Chen, the village head's wife, had already started cooking. She put two handfuls of millet into the pot, added some wild vegetables, and that was breakfast for the whole family.
Seeing that several households were too lazy to gather firewood and start cooking, the village headman twitched his beard and shouted loudly.
"Everyone, hurry up and prepare the food. Once we've eaten, we should set off. If any of the men in your family are going out hunting, let me know so we can wait a little longer."
However, the dangers in the forest were still great, so his son was not allowed to go out hunting. As the village head, he also enjoyed the county's allowance and grain on a regular basis. Although it was not much, it was a steady stream of income. In addition, there were many men in the family and the women were hardworking, so the family was quite well-off.
They brought enough wild vegetable pancakes with them on this trip, all made day and night by Old Mrs. Chen and her three daughters-in-law. There are still some left at home, but Old Mrs. Chen is used to pretending to be poor and has always strictly forbade them to show off their wealth in front of the villagers, nor to give the pancakes away to others, otherwise, when will it ever end?!
Thinking of this, Lu Lizheng sighed. Some families in the village had run out of food and could only rely on grass roots and tree leaves to fill their stomachs. As the village head, he had an obligation to lead everyone safely to the south. However, he also had children of his own. If he were to take out the life-saving food, his wife would definitely fight him to the death. Besides, he didn't know how far they were from their destination. He was truly powerless!
He did try to persuade those households who had no food before they fled, repeatedly telling them to buy more grain and not to sell the grain they had harvested before. Unfortunately, no one listened to him, and now... sigh!
Qin San Niang took a bite of the steamed cake; it was so hard that she could barely swallow it after dipping it in hot water.
The dry, hard steamed cake looked like a delicacy to the little child not far away. He stared at it intently, his little mouth smacking as he mumbled something. His mother glanced over and quickly turned the child away, but the child's head turned towards her like a sunflower.
Qin San Niang was torn between eating and not eating, and she became depressed.
What should we do?
As far as the eye could see, there were only weeds and vines. This was not a suitable place to let the chickens and ducks out, and looking at the steep earthen slope, there was nothing to cover it up.
Just as Qin San Niang was looking around, she suddenly noticed that a familiar plant was climbing all over the mound of earth by the mountain. When she got a little closer to take a look, she was immediately invigorated.
The eldest son was the first to notice his mother leaving the cave and hurriedly followed her out, though he was a little worried.
"Mother, what are you doing?"
"Hey, big brother, we're really lucky! This is edible."
The eldest child looked at the green leaves. These were just ordinary plants. There were plenty of these things on the back mountain of their hometown. They had never heard of them being edible!
"Mother, these leaves are bitter and astringent, you really can't eat them."
The eldest child still thinks we have food at home, and this really can't be eaten; it's better to pick some tender leaves, they taste better.
Qin San Niang was absolutely certain that these were wild yams. The reason was simple: her own mother, Ms. Qi, had once grown wild yams in the yard, saying that they were more effective in medicinal cuisine, but they could only be harvested after three years. These purple necks were already as thick as a little finger, so they were definitely more than three years old.
As Qin San Niang dug with a hoe, she introduced the plant to Da Wa, saying, "This is called yam. It's a twining herbaceous plant of the genus Dioscorea. It usually grows in layers. Its rhizomes are edible, and they taste soft, sweet, and very filling. It's no worse than steamed buns, and even tastier than steamed cakes."
Hearing his mother say this, Da Wa got excited and wanted to dig up all the yams in front of him.
That's a miser!
The commotion caused by the mother and daughter had already alerted the people in the cave. Many elders gathered around, watching in surprise as Qin San Niang began digging. They had seen this plant before, but had never heard that it was edible. Just as Da Wa'er had said, the leaves were not tasty.
The white-haired old man, who was also the village head of Lujia Village, stepped forward and asked, "Madam, what are you digging for? Is this edible?"
He had never heard of such a thing, but given his age, there was really not much he didn't know, especially about the things in the fields! Of course, he also understood that there were always people more capable than him, and if he could eat them, that would be wonderful. He had to ask for help for the villagers, and this woman seemed easier to talk to than the scarred man from yesterday!
This is a huge area! Doesn't that mean the whole village will have a way to survive? And this woman can't possibly dig up all of this land, can she?!
"This is edible. You see, it's the root at the bottom. It's quite long. It's delicious when boiled. It's soft and chewy, even better than steamed cakes. And it can be stored for a long time, at least until winter," Qin San Niang said truthfully, her voice a bit loud, just so that everyone could hear it. She was determined to make sure it reached everyone's ears.
The white-haired old man was very excited, which could be sensed from his trembling beard and shaking hands.
"Is that really true?! Oh my, you are truly a kind-hearted woman, saving the lives of over 150 people from more than 40 households in our village! I thank you so much, my lady!"
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