Chapter 3391 Extra Zhou Yin 6
No one spoke. Three older people from the tribe came and confirmed that the village chief was really dead. They nodded, and then a young man came forward to close the coffin and nail it.
There was no pause for the funeral. Everyone silently lifted the coffin and carried it to the cemetery. Several young men took turns digging and finally dug a hole that was barely big enough for the coffin. Then they lowered it into the cemetery with great effort.
After doing all this, Zhou Yin was so hungry that he felt dizzy and almost fell to the ground.
Everyone sat on the ground to rest for a while, but did not go home. Instead, they walked up the mountain and saw that the trees outside had their bark peeled. They had no choice but to walk inside. They walked a long way before they saw a tree whose bark had not been peeled.
Zhou Yin touched his belly, cut a layer of bark with a sickle, and then peeled it off, but he peeled off one piece for each tree.
Dayong went forward to peel the tree, but Zhou Yin clapped his hands and said, "Change the tree, let it live."
Dayong sat down on the ground and said weakly, "People are dying, and you're still taking care of trees."
Zhou Yin threw the bark in his hand to him and said, "The next tree is not far away. Our descendants will need it in the future. We can't destroy all the trees."
Dayong pointed to the stripped trees outside and said, "They are all stripped clean."
Zhou Yin turned and left, "But this one hasn't been picked yet, and this one hasn't been picked yet..."
Zhou Yin peeled off a piece of bark from the next tree and continued on another one...
He brought the bark home, and Zhou Dalang and his friends chopped it up finely, added water, and began to boil it. "You'll have a handful of rice in a short while."
"I need to ask my mother for rice."
Zhou Yin, who was sitting on a small stool in a daze, stood up and said, "I'll go get it."
"Sister-in-law," Zhou Yin knocked on the door, and when he heard no response, he called again. His heart was pounding, and he pushed the door open and went in.
Qian lay motionless on the bed. Zhou Yin took a few quick steps forward and used trembling fingers to feel her breath. After a long while without detecting any breath, his face turned pale and he hurriedly touched her neck.
After finding her pulse, he breathed a sigh of relief, nudged her and called out, "Sister-in-law, sister-in-law."
Qian's eyelids trembled and she tried hard to open her eyes, but failed.
Zhou Yin had a bad feeling, looked at her cabinet, and hurried forward to open it and find the grain bag.
He lifted the grain bag in his hand. There were still at least three bowls of rice left, but...
Zhou Yin breathed heavily. He knew how to count. With so many people in his family, there shouldn't be so much food left in that bag after all they had eaten.
Zhou Yin wiped his face and took out a bowl of rice from the grain bag.
Zhou Dalang and Xiao Qian were shocked when they saw the bowl of rice. "Uncle, why do you want so much? Mother only gave us a handful before."
Zhou Yin grabbed two handfuls of rice and put them into the bark soup. He gave the remaining half bowl to Xiao Qianshi and said, "Start a new pot and cook the porridge."
Xiao Qian took it in a daze and turned to look at Zhou Dalang.
Zhou Dalang's hands trembled slightly, "Uncle, is it my mother..."
"Hurry up, I'll give my sister-in-law some water first." Zhou Yin looked around and frowned, "Where's my brother?"
"My father and my third brother went to fetch water, but it's hard to get water now. We have to wait in a long line to get a bucket."
Zhou Yin nodded, took a bowl of boiled bark soup and brought it into the house to feed Qian.
Xiao Qian is very good at making porridge. Even if she just adds water to boil, she can make the porridge foamy, and the fragrance of rice fills the whole house.
The young Zhou Silang leaned against the door frame and stuck his head in. Because he had been hungry for a long time, his legs were shaking, his head was big, his body was all bones, and his patched clothes were empty and would swell up in the wind.
He pulled down the clothes that were blown to his face by the wind, leaned on the door frame to look into the kitchen, and couldn't help swallowing, and swallowing again and again.
Zhou Dalang felt distressed when he saw this. He glanced at his wife and then carefully scooped a spoonful of rice soup for him.
Zhou Silang took a big bite and was reluctant to let go of the spoon.
Zhou Dalang pinched his mouth open, took out a spoon, thought for a moment, and then scooped him another spoonful of rice crackers with seven or eight grains in it. "After you finish this spoonful, there will be no more. This is for mother."
Zhou Silang nodded, but clung to the door frame and refused to leave.
Zhou Dalang couldn't bear to look him in the eye, so he covered his eyes and said, "Go to the yard. The bark porridge will be ready soon. I'll give you some extra."
When Zhou Jin and Zhou Sanlang came back, they found out that their wife had fainted from hunger. They hurriedly put down the bucket and rushed into the house.
Once a person faints from hunger, he is not far from death. This is the case with all the people who starved to death in the village. They first faint and then die silently without leaving even a word.
Zhou Yin blew on the cooked porridge, pinched Qian's mouth open and fed it in.
He complained to his eldest brother, "Sister-in-law didn't eat, how come you didn't notice?"
Zhou Jin lowered his head and said nothing.
Zhou Yin was a little angry, "Brother, I'm asking you a question."
Xiao Qian hurriedly pulled his sleeve and said, "Uncle, let me feed him."
Zhou Yin gave her his seat, and Zhou Dalang advised, "If Mom keeps it a secret, Dad will definitely not find out. Uncle, don't be angry. Being angry is a waste of energy."
Zhou Erlang: "Yes, the bark porridge is ready, let's eat first."
After eating a bowl of porridge, Qian's complexion gradually improved and she barely woke up, but she was still too groggy to speak.
Zhou Yin knew at a glance that he had been hungry for too long. He turned to Zhou Jin and said, "I'll go into the city tomorrow."
"Why are you going into town?"
"Get some information," Zhou Yin said, "and find out when the government will distribute grain, and also find some work."
Zhou Jin didn't stop him. Zhou Yin had been in the county for five years and had some connections. It was more likely that he could go out and survive.
Zhou Yin went out early the next morning and went straight to find his good friend in the county, the fat guy.
The fat boy became a thin boy. He said to Zhou Yin, "Our family is leaving."
Zhou Yin leaned against the wall, "Are you all leaving?"
The little fat man said, "There's nothing I can do. My family is running out of food. If I don't leave now, I'll starve to death."
He took out a small piece of cake from his arms and handed it to Zhou Yin.
Zhou Yin took it with a pale face, tore off a small piece, and returned the rest to him.
The little fat man pushed it back and said, "I saved it for you. It was originally a whole one, but I couldn't help but eat it. If you don't come again today, I will eat it all."
Zhou Yin took a bite and asked, "Your father said something about the government releasing grain..."
"I heard that people outside are looting. Government offices are grabbing relief food, and refugees are also grabbing it, so it's difficult to get food in."
Zhou Yin's heart sank. "What about the grain that was said to be released in the middle of next month..."
"That batch is fine. My father said that the county magistrate had someone transport it from Jiangnan, bypassing the Longyou Road. It's already on the way and should arrive in less than 20 days."
Zhou Yin breathed a sigh of relief. "So I just need to endure for twenty days."
good evening
(End of this chapter)
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