Start stockpiling
The weather is very hot, but we have enough heatstroke prevention gear and can barely get through it.
Those who were paying attention noticed that the territory had seen a significant increase in greenery over the past two days. Particularly noticeable were the jacaranda trees surrounding the statue in the center of the territory, which were already beginning to bloom. The shady areas beneath the trees provided shade and a faint fragrance. Beneath the trees were also planted some unnamed, low-growing plants.
The rest of the roads are planted with shade trees. They don’t have the bright blue color of jacaranda flowers, but they are ordinary and practical. Even if you walk there in the middle of the day, you won’t be exposed to the sun.
Even when the sun was shining brightly, the entire territory looked cool and shady.
In the morning, Li Mu went to work as usual under the shade of the trees.
Others didn't know why Ye Miaomiao was so desperate to cultivate the land, but she knew it all too well. She had thought she was just worrying too much, but when she arrived at the farmland, she saw some miserable faces.
At noon, the sun was high overhead, like a lighter about to ignite the people on the ground.
When Ye Miaomiao arrived with a parasol, the entire peasant team was gathered together enthusiastically, but the silent atmosphere foreshadowed that something unusual was about to happen.
"Most of the crops should be ripe today, but we drove the harvester here, but were told that we can't harvest them. The plant growth rate has slowed down, so we have to wait another three days before we can harvest..." Li Mu said solemnly.
She squatted down, picked up a handful of soil and placed it in her palm. The soil was extremely dry and she had to crush it hard to break it up.
"The main reason is dry soil. But I've been watering twice as much these days as you said, boss! I'm sure the soil was fine yesterday! I never expected it to change overnight..."
Everyone frowned in worry, or shook their heads—
Food is the most important thing for people. If the land does not produce any crops, what will we eat?
"It's useless to water it more." Ye Miaomiao had anticipated this and walked towards the rice fields farther away.
Only then did everyone realize that the rice fields, which had been healthy yesterday, were now half empty, revealing dry, cracked earth. Many of the fish and shrimp farmed in the paddy fields had died, their carcasses piled on the ground, emitting a disgusting stench that was truly terrifying.
"A drought hell disaster won't just dry out the soil; streams and rivers will gradually evaporate, turning into sand." Even though she'd anticipated this, Ye Miaomiao rubbed her forehead. But how could she possibly survive an intermediate doomsday so easily? She quickly pulled herself together.
"But don't worry, I'll harvest this batch of crops first. I have a plan for the next batch."
Everyone looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
"It's just..." Hu Sanhan sighed, "Now that information is globally shared, everyone knows about the food shortage caused by this disaster, and they've been stockpiling food recently. Many people are hoping to stock up more this time. If it's not on the shelves, I'm afraid..."
Hu Sanhan's concerns are not without reason.
Many people were counting the days, anticipating the arrival of fresh vegetables on the shelves. Instead, they received a notice of delayed availability, which, combined with the alarming news on Taoduoduo, made them anxious.
"Grandpa, do we really not need to stock up on food? I saw Grandma Xu Lu bring back flour, rice, and so much more yesterday! I don't know how much she's stockpiled! Look at how much food prices have gone up on Taoduoduo! No vegetables today, rice and flour tomorrow, no feed the day after tomorrow, and no meat either. What are we going to eat?"
Zhang Tiantian paced back and forth in the room. Seeing that his grandfather didn't respond, he said, "Oh, I'm almost dying of anxiety, Grandpa!"
"Why are you so anxious about just a rumor? You're such a man, why are you so impatient?" Grandpa Zhang glanced at him. "Grandma Xu Lu is treating everyone to a meal to thank everyone for taking care of her granddaughter, so she bought all this food. And we don't have a refrigerator now. In the middle of summer, how can we finish all this food? It will go bad and become stale, which is a waste!"
"Have you forgotten? We still have the sea in our territory! No matter how dry it gets, the sea won't dry up. We won't starve to death thanks to the sea. Besides, the central area is just hot this time, with no monsters, so we can go in and collect resources. The lord also said that fresh vegetables will be on the shelves in a couple of days, so there won't be a shortage of food. Look, are there no more meals in the restaurants? Are there no more rice in the shops?"
"When doing things, you can't start scaring yourself just by hearing a rumor. Just listening to what others say is false; you have to see with your own eyes; what you see is the truth."
"I understand the reason..." Zhang Tiantian said, still a little worried, "But..."
Grandpa Zhang then slowly walked to the corner of the room, opened the cabinet, and counted them one by one. "Three cured sausages, five cured fish, cured pork, and a few large pieces of beef. A bag of rice, a bag of flour, and a basket of potatoes. We also planted onions, peppers, leeks, and cherry tomatoes on the balcony. If that's not enough, we also have a few buckets of instant noodles, instant rice, and biscuits from the New Year shopping. Is that enough for you?"
Zhang Tiantian looked at the various foods and finally felt relieved and smiled happily: "Grandpa, why do you have so much bacon?"
Grandpa Zhang wanted to boast about his foresight, but he coughed lightly and said, "It's the custom of our ancestors to pickle vegetables in the Minor Snow and meat in the Major Snow. Who doesn't store some sausages and bacon at home? One jar can last a year. Now it seems like they have endless wisdom!"
Zhang Tiantian nodded in agreement, and the anxiety in his heart was relieved a lot.
In another building, Li Da watched his son carefreely playing house with his wooden dolls and said to his wife, "Jia Jia, should we stock up on some food?"
Xiaojia nodded, sharing the same thought. "Forget about buying more. The Shenmu Forest used to be full of berries, but now there are far fewer, and the leaves are even turning yellow. I think the high temperatures are just a pretext; the real disaster is the drought! Droughts have killed countless people since ancient times! We can't be among them."
The two agreed and decided to make a list and stock up on some goods.
The stores still have plenty of rice and flour, as well as a good variety of meats, but vegetables are lacking. However, some is better than nothing, so stock up on staple foods and meat to avoid starvation.
The two opened the cabinets and began to clean up the existing food.
As I was packing, a small bag suddenly fell out from the gap between the cabinet door.
"What is this?" Li Da, who had never seen this cloth bag before, bent down to pick it up, opened it, but was stunned.
"What is it?" Xiaojia turned around hesitantly without getting an answer, but saw that Li Da's eyes were red and his lips were trembling. He was trying hard to hold back the tears in his eyes. "What's wrong!" she exclaimed.
After a while, Li Da finally suppressed his surging emotions.
"It's the stockpile left by Dad."
The cloth bag was small, with few storage compartments. He unloaded everything from the small bag, revealing three large jars of pickled vegetables. Inside the transparent glass jars, one could clearly see cabbage, white radish, and cowpeas. There was also quite a bit of pickled garlic and chilies, all neatly arranged, a testament to the owner's care.
"So many pickled vegetables! Are they all stockpiled by Dad?" Xiaojia exclaimed, looking into the mezzanine of the cabinet and found another small package, this time containing several large strips of bacon.
"It can only be Dad. I guess the house is too small and there's no place to put it. Dad was afraid we'd say he was hoarding things, so he hid it here and didn't tell us." Li Da guessed the whole story, his nose sore and he choked up, "With so much meat and vegetables, there's no need to worry about stockpiling..."
Xiaojia took the two cloth bags from his hands and sighed. It was true.
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