Chapter 198: The extra bread was distributed to the children and the nursing woman...
For a moment, a gloomy mood enveloped all the villagers in the straw huts.
Even those villagers who were secretly happy at first that they had left early and saved most of their family belongings no longer had any thoughts of being thankful.
Fields, their fields!
The laborers in every household work from sunrise to sunset, and work hard in the fields every day just to have a good harvest. But this storm can even destroy the thatched houses, let alone the rice in the fields.
Even if the imperial court exempted this year's taxes because of the flood, they still couldn't survive!
Finally, the village headman stepped forward and said, "Why is there no way to survive? In a few days, the higher-ups will mobilize grain from the nearby prefectures and counties for disaster relief, and kind-hearted people in town will set up stalls to distribute porridge. Even if we lose our fields, we still have mountains and rivers. If we don't have food to eat, we can go to the mountains to pick wild vegetables and fruits, and go to the rivers to catch fish and shrimp. We won't starve to death! If we hold on for a few more months, the court will allocate a batch of official silver for disaster relief, and we will have no problem making it until next year!"
After the headman said this, the villagers felt comforted, their anxiety was reduced, and they gradually calmed down.
Lin Shu and Zhou Ye looked at each other with heavy hearts.
The village head was right, but she and Zhou Ye both knew that this was only the ideal scenario.
While the country may be peaceful and prosperous now, corrupt officials have always existed in the imperial court. After the relief funds issued by the imperial court were exploited layer by layer, it's unclear how much was left. If not, how could Zhou Ye have been forced to flee the famine with his entire family?
In the southwest, the emperor is far away, the mountains are many and the roads are steep, and there are many bandits. It is hard to say whether the relief supplies sent by the court can be delivered to the local officials safely.
Then there's the matter of neighboring counties and prefectures allocating grain for disaster relief. I wonder how much of this flooding has affected this area. If several surrounding towns, or even the county above, have been hit by floods, the relief supplies will undoubtedly go first to the people of the county seat, then to the larger towns, and finally to the villages below. With supplies so scarce, how much will be left after all? Therefore, the most terrifying thing about a disaster isn't the disaster itself, but the famine and even plague that follows.
It is better to rely on yourself than on others. In the end, you still have to find a way yourself.
But the headman was right about one thing: they relied on the mountains and the water, so even if they had no food, they would not starve to death even if they ate wild vegetables, tree roots and wild fruits every day.
The villagers of Tianshui Village were even able to save most of the food at home thanks to Lin Shu and Zhou Ye's early warning, which was enough to last for a while.
"...I wonder if the rain will continue tomorrow." Lin Shu looked at the drizzle outside the straw hut, feeling worried.
Even if the heavy rain subsides, we cannot relax. It would be fine if the rain stops, but if it rains for several days, even making a fire will be a hassle.
Zhou Ye moved a piece of palm bark from under him to Lin Shu and sat next to her.
Every straw hut was crowded with people, but because Lin Dashan's family left early and had a lot of things at home, Zhou Ye built the straw hut more spacious. In the straw hut where the two of them were, in addition to Lin Dashan's family, there were also his third uncle Lin Dashui, his third aunt Zhang Qiaohua, Li Chunmiao's family, and Liao Dunzi from Old Man Liao's family.
The total population of the several families was actually far less than that of the other straw huts, but each family carried baskets and bags of various sizes, and the belongings they moved out took up nearly half of the space.
There was a straw bale under the hut, but it was also wet. Zhou Ye peeled some palm bark from the road and put it on the bale for Lin Shu to sit on. Lin Xiaopu, He Guixiang, and a few others also had some. He didn't care about the others.
Zhou Ye sat down next to Lin Shu, his expression calm. He held Lin Shu's hand and said soothingly, "Don't be afraid, Shu. Even if it rains for days, I can find dry firewood for you. I've also stored a lot in the caves deep in the mountains. If you want to eat a hot meal, I'll go to the cave and make a fire for you."
Lin Shu was speechless. "It's not as easy as you say. Normally, there are roads to the mountains, let alone the floods now. We can go there on a bamboo raft, but the mountain roads are muddy and difficult to walk on. We should leave the dry firewood in the cave alone for now. When the rain stops, we can look for it in the back mountains. If we can find a dead tree, we can scrape off the outer layer of bark. The inside can still be used. The same goes for thicker firewood. Let's look for caves and tree holes. We can also find dry firewood there. I asked Dad to bring the flint. It will be easy to start a fire. We also have an iron pot. When the time comes, we will spread a layer of stone slabs on the ground and build a stove..."
As Lin Shu was speaking, she noticed Zhou Ye looking at her with a strange look in his eyes. She paused, then changed her words, "Don't ask. If you're asking, it's because you read storybooks. Let me tell you, there are storybooks of all kinds in the capital. Not only about love, but also wilderness survival manuals, teaching you how to identify wild vegetables and fruits, how to drill wood to make fire, filter dirty water, build straw huts, and so on. Oh, and there's also things like making bamboo rafts, so don't look like such a country bumpkin who's never seen the world."
Zhou Ye put away his inquiring and suspicious look and nodded thoughtfully, "I see."
Just at this moment, Lin Shu's stomach rumbled.
Previously, she and Zhou Ye were too busy to have any time, so although they asked A Niang to make a lot of pancakes in advance, they didn't have time to eat them.
He Guixiang was worried at the moment. She didn't dare to take out the bread she brought with her because it had gotten cold.
Even though it was her own food, anyone with any sense wouldn't ask for food from other families. But the situation wasn't like usual. If the villagers came to ask for food, would she give it to them or not? If not, what would she say? If she did, how would she give it?
It was past dinnertime, and after a long day's work, men, women, and children were all starving. Most people had no dry clothes, and even those who brought blankets were soaked by the heavy rain.
There were ignorant children crying in the crowd, and there were also sensible children whispering to their mothers, "Mother, I'm so hungry..."
Lin Xiaopu and Wang Yingen in the straw hut were also hungry, but they tacitly kept silent.
Lin Xiaopu knew that his mother had made a lot of bread, but there was not enough bread to share.
Wang Yingen also knew it, he had a keen nose and could smell the aroma of the bread.
He was so hungry, but he couldn't make a fire to cook. He was so thirsty, but his mother said the water was dirty and couldn't be drunk. But he saw Xiao Pu secretly drinking water, and it was clean water.
Seeing that he kept glancing towards the Lin family, Li Chunmiao secretly twisted his arm and whispered, "Stop staring. Do you want everyone to know that Ah Shu has dry food at home? It's not like anyone will die if they skip a meal! In the early years when the harvest was poor, Ah Niang was the same age as you, and we only had one meal a day at home, and we managed to get by like that."
Wang Yingen said "oh" dejectedly.
Lin Shu listened to the crying of children coming from other straw huts and suddenly asked Zhou Ye, "Aye, you've been busy for so long, you must be hungry, right? Before I left, I asked my mother to make some bread, you should eat some quickly."
She didn't lower her voice deliberately, and the villagers in the nearby straw huts heard it.
Li Chunmiao quickly winked at her, asking her to speak more quietly, but Lin Shu smiled at her and shook her head.
She then understood that Ah Shu did it on purpose.
Facing the villagers' astonished gazes, Lin Shu took out all the more than 20 pancakes made by He Guixiang.
Someone immediately gasped, "Wow, so many pancakes!"
The villagers were envious and started to murmur.
"The Lin Dashan family had the time to make pancakes before fleeing?"
"Not only did he have time to make noodles, I saw Lin Lao Er even carrying two large buckets of fish up the mountain! He didn't leave any chickens behind either."
"Lin Lao Er also took the iron pot with him. We left in such a hurry that we even forgot to take the clay pot. Sigh..."
"He definitely can't finish all the bread at home, right?"
"Looking at this makes me so hungry. I only had two bowls of porridge for breakfast today..."
When Lin Dashan heard this, he almost blurted out "I'll give you some", but he swallowed the words back in time. His wife had told him to shut up and not say a word, as Ah Shu and Ah Ye had their own plans for the cake.
After today's flood, not to mention the villagers, he has complete faith in his daughter and son-in-law.
He stopped talking, said nothing, and started pretending to be deaf.
Lin Shu glanced at Lin Dashan and thought to herself that it was a good thing that her cheap father didn't say anything. If he dared to speak, she would stuff a pancake into his mouth and be so "filial" that he would be speechless.
There were more than twenty pancakes. Lin Shu gave two to Lin Dashan, one each to He Guixiang and Lin Xiaopu. Zhou Ye had a big appetite, so she gave five to him and kept two for herself. There were more than ten left, and she gave half to Liao Dunzi, who was secretly looking over.
Liao Dunzi's eyes widened, and after realizing what was happening, he waved his hands repeatedly, "No, no, I can't take it!"
"Take it. Old Man Liao is much safer in town than in our village. He has Uncle Zhao and Aunt Lin to help him, so don't worry too much."
No matter how mature Liao Dunzi behaved, he was still just a boy after all. How could he not be panicked at all? He didn't show it, but Lin Shu saw it.
Liao Dunzi stared at her blankly, took the half of the pancake with both hands, and murmured, "Thank you, Sister Shu."
Lin Shu gave half of it to Wang Yingen, who was staring at her eagerly.
Wang Yingen's eyes lit up and he reached out to take it, but Li Chunmiao slapped him away, and she reached out to take it instead.
Li Chunmiao even raised her voice deliberately and said, "Ah Shu, I won't take it from you for nothing. I'll exchange it with you for half a bowl of brown rice!"
Lin Shu appreciated her kindness and said, "Okay, Auntie. Actually, we don't have too much bread, so we can only share it with the children in the village."
Li Chunmiao understood and immediately replied, "Yes, yes, your pancakes look a lot, but there are not many. We old people can still endure it, but the little ones at home can't."
As soon as these words were spoken, the villagers who had originally wanted to shamelessly exchange them for a few bread to eat suddenly felt too embarrassed to speak.
Lin Shu didn't care about the villagers' little thoughts. She brought out the chopping board and kitchen knife from home. She took the knife and cut the remaining bread in half. Then she put the cut bread in a bamboo basket and handed it to Lin Xiaopu. "Xiaopu, I have a task for you. You and Wang Yingen will distribute these bread to the children in the village. Those under eleven will get half a bread, those under five will get half and then half again, and the sisters-in-law who are nursing babies and pregnant sisters-in-law will each get half a bread."
Lin Xiaopu blinked, then grinned and replied, "Okay, sister, I promise to complete the task well!"
Lin Shu didn't do it herself, but called two little kids to share the cake. This way, the adults who were craving for the cake would be even less likely to ask for it.
And she calculated that these cakes were just enough for the people she mentioned.
Zhang Lamei's family watched helplessly as Wu got half of the pancake, and they were all extremely greedy.
Especially the youngest, Lin Duoliang, who was thirteen years old and could not get any share of the cake at all. But he was very indignant. There were several eleven-year-old boys in the village who were stronger than him. Why couldn't he get half of the cake!
The dough had become dry and hard after being left out for so long, but it still smelled delicious to the villagers who had been hungry for a day.
The parents of the little boy who got the bread were incredibly grateful to Lin Shu. They'd go hungry every day, and their little one wouldn't have been able to handle it. Thanks to Lin Shu and Zhou Ye, they'd saved most of the family's food. When they got the bread, they promised not to eat it for free, but to bring half a bowl of brown rice back to Lin Laoer's family. Wu Shi remained silent, her face flushing with shame. She had no food on hand, not even half a bowl of brown rice, so how could she dare promise anything? Fortunately, Ah Shu didn't make a fuss.
She held half of the pancake in her hand and ate it in small bites. The pancake was hard and she had to chew it with saliva to soften it before she could swallow it.
"Da Lang, are you hungry? Have a bite too." Mrs. Wu handed the cake to Lin Duocang.
Lin Duocang pushed it back with a smile, "I can handle it. You eat it yourself, but don't let the baby in your belly go hungry."
Wu's movements slowed down as she ate, and she suddenly called out to him, "Da Lang, if our parents really want to kick us out, we can just go along with it and split up."
Lin Duocang quickly shook his head. "Mother was just saying that out of anger. Let's comfort her later and she'll forget about it. If we get kicked out of the house, how will I support you and your mother?"
Mrs. Wu wanted to say something else, but suddenly her throat felt itchy and she coughed twice. "Ahem, Dalang, I'm afraid I've caught a cold."
The fire wouldn't light, her clothes were wet and stuck to her skin, and the night wind blew again, making her shiver with cold.
Lin Duocang was panicking, but he was helpless. "I'll go ask where there's dry clothes and borrow some!"
Mrs. Wu held him back and said, "Every household is the same. Who are you going to borrow from? Even if someone has dry clothes at home, they'll use them first. There's no reason to lend them to others."
At this moment, Lin Xiaopu, the daughter of Lin Laoer, came over with a set of dry clothes. "Sister-in-law, these clothes belonged to my mother. They were wrapped in bedding and brought up the mountain. They didn't get wet in the rain much. You can change into them. Tomorrow, my sister and brother-in-law will find a way to light a fire. Then we'll boil a pot of ginger soup for everyone to drink. Just be patient and don't get sick."
When Mrs. Wu heard this, her nose suddenly felt sore and tears came down.
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