Grandma Li quickly took her granddaughter outside, and sure enough, Li Laosi came in from outside the courtyard looking travel-worn.
His clothes were filthy, his hair was a mess, and his lips were chapped and peeling.
This is much more disheveled than when I went out before.
Tao Hongying took the luggage with a pained expression and asked.
"Was this escort mission very tough? You look so exhausted!"
Li Laosi waved his hand, "Bring me two pots of cold tea, I rushed back on horseback!"
Upon hearing this, Tao Hongying knew something was wrong and quickly threw down her luggage to go to the kitchen.
Jiayin felt sorry for her father's suffering, but she was more curious about what was happening in the south. She didn't ask for a hug, but nestled on her grandmother's shoulder, being obedient and well-behaved.
Li Laosi entered the house and was surrounded by everyone. He gulped down two pots of cold tea before he spoke.
"Mother, things are not good in the south. We traveled a thousand miles this time, and it hasn't rained in any of the prefectures and counties along the way."
I've heard that in some places, there hasn't been a drop of rain or snow since last year's harvest. Cultivation was barely possible before, and now nothing has even sprouted.
Everyone's faces turned grim upon hearing this. If it were only the area around Kyoto that was experiencing drought, it would be a different story.
After all, it was under the emperor's nose, and the Tianwu Dynasty had a vast territory.
The southern prefectures have had a bumper harvest, so sending some grain over is enough.
However, it seems that the south is also struggling to cope, even more so than the area around Kyoto, and a complete crop failure this year is already foreseeable.
"I heard it hasn't rained here either?"
Li Laosi sighed and told him the idea he had been thinking about all the way.
"Mother, we need to buy grain quickly. We've just settled here and don't have any grain left over from last year. We can't be afraid to spend money; we need to stock up on grain as soon as possible."
Li Lao Er nodded and quickly agreed.
"Mother gave us the money, and we're on our way to the city to buy grain."
Li Laosi was pleasantly surprised. He had thought he would have to persuade him more, since he didn't have much money and it would be too difficult to spend it all on buying grain.
Fortunately, my mother is reasonable.
Grandma Li stroked Jiayin's little hair, took a deep breath, and suppressed the panic in her heart.
"Go and buy grain quickly, don't worry about spending money. Buy as much as you can! Remember to buy from different places, and secretly transport it back after dark."
"I understand, Mother, don't worry."
With the strongest younger brother back, Li Lao Er and Li Lao San felt even more confident.
Li Lao Er hitched up a mule cart and left the village, while Li Lao San and Li Lao Si went around to the foot of the mountain behind the village.
Try to avoid being seen by people, otherwise if all three brothers go out, the villagers will definitely become suspicious.
It's not that the Li family intends to keep everything to themselves and refuses to share the information.
Firstly, each household has stored up enough grain to last until autumn. Secondly, the weather is unpredictable.
What if everyone goes to buy grain, and then it rains? Then the Li family's good intentions might be completely wasted.
Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru took Jia Huan, Jia Xi and Jia An with them and went up the mountain together.
Pick everything edible: wild mustard greens, wild garlic, dandelion, and wild bellflower.
Pickling them to make salted vegetables, or drying them to store as dried vegetables, can fill your stomach in times of need.
Jiayin, however, was not optimistic about this preparation, because both pickled and dried vegetables require water to eat.
It's extremely dry; the biggest shortage is water...
But she couldn't persuade him, nor could she persuade him.
She could only pretend to be asleep, and then went into the small courtyard to work hard.
The various vegetable seeds that Old Lady Li had previously obtained came in handy at this time.
They plant wherever there is space in the fields.
Especially some side dishes, after a month, they can definitely be eaten again.
Of course, what Jiayin was most concerned about was the well in the front yard.
When I went back to my hometown, the village had started using electric pumps for water pumping.
But she preferred the hand pump well at home and insisted on not making any changes, which has now become her lifeline!
Pour a ladle of water in, press the handle quickly, and soon well water will gush out.
But Jiayin is still young, and she gets tired after pressing for a while.
The little lamb that lost its mother back then has now grown into a half-grown sheep.
It ran over, bleating happily, wagging its little tail, and drinking the sweet, cool well water.
Jiayin added some water to the four piglets, chickens, ducks, and geese, and only then did she feel much more at ease.
Her small courtyard is her greatest source of confidence.
I don't ask for wealth or status, I just want to make sure my family has enough to eat and wear.
The family had been anxiously waiting, and finally, as darkness fell, the mule cart returned.
Bags of sorghum and millet were unloaded from the truck, along with fifty kilograms of white rice and fifty kilograms of fine flour.
This was bought for his daughter by Li Laosi with his own money.
On his journey as a镖师 (bodyguard/escort), he went hunting several times and exchanged the hides for some silver.
He originally wanted to buy some gifts for his family, but he was really worried about them, so he told Liu the镖头 (bodyguard) and rushed back on horseback ahead of schedule.
Jiayi is still with the escort team, so he's not worried about the team being short-handed.
The side room, which was temporarily used as a warehouse, was immediately half filled.
The Li family, young and old, stood at the door, staring at the sacks and cloth bags. No one spoke, but their eyes showed a renewed sense of unease.
With food at home, there's no need to panic.
"Keep your mouths shut, and don't tell anyone that we have grain. Think about all the grain that was stolen on our way out of the famine. When people are starving, anything can happen!"
Grandma Li whispered instructions to her family members, especially Jia'an and Jiaxi.
Children often have a loose tongue and tend to boast to others.
When Jia'an and Jiaxi saw that everyone was looking at them, they quickly covered their mouths, determined not to say a word.
This made everyone laugh.
Jiayin wanted to store all the grain in the small courtyard of her space, but she was too small to move around easily and had to go back and forth to retrieve the grain.
Moreover, if the family sees that the goods have been stored away, and then can't find them, they'll become suspicious...
Within two days, Jiayi finally returned.
He took three taels of silver, which was his payment for the escort mission.
Li Laosi returned early, but Liu, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), still gave him two taels of silver. Jiayi, being young, always received half a share of the wages, one tael.
The uncle and nephew are well-known to everyone at the security escort agency.
Everyone who goes on a delivery mission wants to take them along, because they are such a great help.
There's a physically demanding job available on the road, so there's no need to worry at all.
Especially this time, when some bandits were too blind to rob us, Li Laosi was the first to notice.
He shot an arrow that pierced right through the bandit leader's hat, scaring all the bandits into not daring to take another step forward.
The convoy passed through smoothly without any violence or wasting any toll money.
Therefore, Chief Escort Liu made a special trip, bringing two boxes of pastries and a piece of meat for Old Lady Li, and a bag of sesame candy for Jiayin.
Inevitably, Tao Hongying cooked a meal and had another meal together.
Days passed by, and it got hotter and hotter.
The sun baked the earth like a hot pan, and everyone was like an ant on a hot pan.
The village chief ran back and forth to the fields, and seeing that the crops were all wilting and drooping, he became determined and shouted at the villagers.
"Hurry up and fetch water to irrigate the crops, we can't wait any longer."
The villagers all looked miserable; carrying water to irrigate the fields was the most tiring job.
Each family already had few able-bodied men, and for some who were veterans, farming was not easy.
Now this huge job has been added, it's absolutely maddening.
Some people were hoping to get away with it and wanted to wait a few more days, but the Li family acted swiftly.
The mule cart was harnessed to the house, and all the wooden buckets and basins were brought out.
The mule cart hauled water, and Grandma Li, her mother-in-law, and their child were responsible for watering the plants.
Li Lao Er and his brothers, along with Jia Yi and Jia Huan, also had to fetch water.
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