That night, whether everyone tossed and turned, unable to sleep or whispered excitedly, the darkness quickly passed.
Almost as soon as the first light appeared on the horizon, the entire camp was bustling with activity.
The women were busy cooking. Originally, every household had a small pot, but now six or seven pots were enough, and they could even set aside one to cook millet porridge for the children.
The men packed their bags, hitched up their carts, and went to the river to fetch water.
The old men were calling out to the teenagers, training them like little soldiers on how to hit people with sticks, and where to hit them most painfully. The teenagers were ecstatic.
Soon, everyone finished their meal, packed their bags, and set off again.
This time, although they were still quite unfamiliar with each other, the team was clearly different.
There was a mule cart in front, a donkey cart behind, and women supporting the elderly in the middle.
The men carried loads on their shoulders, walking on both sides of the road, with machetes and sickles hanging on the baskets, gleaming in the sunlight.
The whole team looks like an oval-shaped egg.
Occasionally, someone else would try to join in, but they were always pushed out.
If someone has a bad temper and hurls insults, the villagers will immediately raise their machetes, and the person will quickly move aside.
For an entire day, with only a half-hour rest at noon, the group walked for a full fifty miles under the scorching sun, maintaining this formation.
This is much faster than yesterday; even the Hu family, which was originally lagging behind, has been left far behind.
However, some clever people realized that this group was unusual and stayed close behind them, several dozen feet away, using the light to travel together without having to clear a path.
As the sun set, the group found a place to rest.
It wasn't that the group couldn't endure the hardship, but there were too many elderly people and children in the team, and traveling at night was too dangerous.
At this point, playing it safe is the best option.
At noon, while everyone was drinking water and eating dry rations, many people watched from a distance, hesitating whether to go forward.
It's not hard to guess that these people must be out of food.
Whether they wanted to pay for the grain or beg for it, no one wanted to pay them any attention.
The previous severe drought left the land barren, and grain prices skyrocketed.
Except for wealthy families who had stored grain, most ordinary people had empty rice bins.
They did replant some vegetables and beans in the fields, but they couldn't take them with them when they fled the famine.
Therefore, almost all the refugees carried very little food.
In just a few days, the adults are still okay, but the children are already pale and thin, and some elderly people are leaning against the roadside, unable to get up after sitting down.
The villagers of Qingshui Village hardened their hearts and tried their best not to see or hear anything.
The village chief practically wore himself out, repeatedly giving instructions to everyone.
"Stop your kindness, everyone. Absolutely do not give anyone any rations or food. We only have a few dozen people, but the others who traveled with us along the way number in the hundreds. If they find out we have food, they will all come running. Then it won't be begging, it will be robbery!"
"Yes, anyone who dares to cause trouble for everyone should be kicked out. What kind of time is this? They can't even protect their own lives. If they're so kind, they'll just go with someone else!" Old Li echoed loudly.
His image, covered in blood after killing the Liu brothers, is deeply ingrained in people's minds.
Now, his words carry more weight in the ranks than the village chief's.
With a mix of admonitions and warnings, the day passed peacefully without incident.
But the most dangerous time is when you have to cook dinner at night.
The group deliberately stayed away from the official road, walking two miles further, and found a small mountain hollow.
It's inconvenient to get water here, but everyone likes it.
Because this place blocks most of the view, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. As long as the front of the mountain pass is protected, there is no need to worry about anyone plotting against us.
Soon, the mule carts and donkey carts were unloaded and placed across the mountain pass as simple cover.
The elderly and children, taking advantage of the remaining faint light, hurriedly gathered firewood nearby.
The women divided their tasks: one half lit a fire to boil water, while the other half carried baskets to gather wild vegetables.
Regardless of whether they taste good or not, as long as they won't kill you, pick them all.
Wash it clean, throw it into the porridge pot, add a little salt, and everyone can be half-full.
The food tonight is much better than the food in the past few days.
Because the chickens and ducks I brought from home could only be coated with salt in the rush to prevent them from rotting.
The weather in late autumn isn't particularly hot, but it's not particularly cool either.
If we leave them any longer, the chickens and ducks will probably rot.
So, in addition to wild vegetable porridge, we had several more pots of stewed chicken and duck for dinner.
With over ninety people, young and old, sharing only a few chickens and ducks was certainly not enough to feed them all.
But at times like this, even just a sip of meat broth would be a great pleasure.
The families who brought out chickens and ducks won't need to take any more food from the main stove tonight or tomorrow.
This can be considered compensation from everyone to those families.
When walking the same path, it's impossible to be absolutely fair in everything, but we should try our best to treat everyone equally.
This is the foundation for ensuring unity and overcoming difficulties.
When night fell completely, the men sat outside the donkey carts and mule carts, lit two bonfires, and chatted while waiting for their meal.
The aroma of chicken soup wafted in from the mountain breeze, making everyone's mouths water.
These past few days have been exhausting, especially for the able-bodied young people who have to carry loads, guard the convoy, and take care of the elderly and children.
It's not just the physical exertion, but more so the mental exhaustion.
A kind of tense tension, as if one wishes to have three heads and six arms, ready to deal with danger at any moment.
At this moment, smelling the aroma of food and listening to the boys playing and laughing on the other side of the mule cart, they could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Thinking of the Hu family who had left, they suddenly felt a sense of relief.
If they had left too, there wouldn't be this leisurely time to wait for dinner.
Unfortunately, there are always people who don't want them to have a little more time to relax.
Seven or eight children crept over without anyone noticing.
They didn't dare to get close, but stood a dozen steps away, gazing into the valley on tiptoe, occasionally wiping their mouths.
Perhaps because they were so hungry, one of the children suddenly started crying.
"I'm hungry, I want to eat meat!"
The other children seemed to have caught the infection and started crying too, sobbing and complaining of hunger.
Then they moved forward little by little, their faces timid and pitiful.
Li Laosan, who was leading the team on duty, quickly stood up.
The bystanders also frowned, wanting to scare them with shouts, but the children opposite were all five or six years old.
They can't hit them, and they can't scold them either.
Just as Li Laosan was about to harden his heart and chase them away, in the mountain valley, Uncle Wang and two other old men, who were in charge of leading the teenagers, were already calling out to their young soldiers.
"Kids, someone's here and trying to steal your chicken soup. What are you going to do?"
"Fight back! Fight back!"
The boys were practically glued to the pot, their mouths watering.
As a result, before they could even eat, someone came and snatched it away. How could that be allowed?
So, they were all like they'd been injected with chicken blood, yelling and grabbing their self-defense sticks, and rushed out.
The little kids were about to cry and beg, but before they could say anything more, the older boys chased them away with sticks, making them scream and stumble back home.
Uncle Wang followed behind, waving his half-arm and shouting loudly to call a retreat.
The boys returned triumphantly, carrying wooden sticks, especially Jiaxi and Jia'an, who clasped their hands in a gesture of respect, mimicking the mannerisms in traditional operas.
"General, we have returned victorious from our campaign. Will there be any reward?"
Uncle Wang laughed heartily and patted their heads.
"Of course there will be a reward; each person will receive three extra pieces of chicken."
"Oh, chicken! Chicken!" the boys cheered, then disappeared back into the ravine in the blink of an eye.
Uncle Wang then glared at Li Laosan and the others.
"How many times have I told you? Once we set up camp, no one can come near us. Have you been ignoring me?"
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