It's no wonder that Xiaoman was desperate; perception determines behavior.
Just now, he saw the red light above his head getting brighter and brighter, and knew that the fire was quite large.
The people in the mountains are most afraid of burning the fields, because the strong winds carry sparks everywhere, and they burn wherever they land.
The two families are now in the mountains, surrounded by withered grass and leaves, and there isn't even enough water to fight the fire.
Wherever he went, it was practically the same as waiting to die; his newly formed will to survive was about to collapse once again.
Jiang Zhi had no intention of giving up; scientific fire prevention always offered a glimmer of hope.
"Lord Chang Geng, this place is a safe haven from fire!"
Jiang Zhi led this group of elderly, weak, sick and disabled people to the terraced fields she had just created.
Although the area is not large, the withered grass has been cleared away the cleanest, and there are no tall trees, making it the most open space.
Grandpa Xiaoman stumbled into the new soil and was immediately drawn to it: "This used to be a rocky slope, how did it turn into circles of flat land?"
Jiang Zhi was still thinking about the fire and had no time to explain: "Uncle Chang Geng, the three of us need to find a way to divert the fire. You still need to keep an eye on things here and make sure the wild animals that come out of the fire don't hurt anyone."
Although this place is close to the village and people often go up the mountain, there are no large predators like jackals, tigers, or leopards, but there are still wild boars and wild sheep.
Normally, these wild animals will intentionally avoid people, but when a wildfire starts, the animals on the mountain will run around wildly when they get hot, and it is possible that they will come and collide with people.
Knowing the situation was urgent, Xiaoman nodded and said, "Okay, I'll guard it."
Aside from Jiang Zhi and the two boys, he was now considered a laborer and needed to take on the task of protecting the weak.
The paralyzed Xu Dazhu was placed directly on the grain sack, while Grandpa Xiaoman, Grandma Xiaoman, and Qiaoyun stayed behind with the child.
Jiang Zhi then led Xu Errui and Xiaoman to begin clearing away the surrounding bushes and weeds.
This time she didn't cut or dig anymore, because that wouldn't clean it properly and would be too slow. She was going to use fire.
Now that the wind direction is known, a small-area fire can be used to create an isolation zone.
Initially, the three of them stood upwind. Jiang Zhi lit a small patch of dry grass with a torch, while Xiao Man and Er Rui ran along the fire line.
As the wind blew, the flames spread rapidly forward, burning the dry grass, and stopped near the terraced fields that had been dug in advance, where they extinguished themselves due to the lack of fuel.
If any sparks fell outside, Xiaoman and Xu Errui immediately extinguished them with tree branches.
After one section burns out, step back a dozen steps to light another fire, then extinguish it, then light it again, and extinguish it again.
They burned it little by little, gradually burning away the shrubs on the slope, and then the surrounding forest, burning away the flammable dry grass and leaves under the trees, leaving behind a patch of black soil.
In the terraced fields of the open space, Grandpa Xiaoman held a wood-chopping knife in his hand, and a quilt was draped over his body to shield him from the wind.
He asked Qiaoyun with a puzzled look, "Errui's wife, when did your mother clear this land? The soil here is very fertile!"
He was a farmer who had worked the land all his life. He could tell how much grain a piece of land could produce just by touching the soil with his hands.
Now, as Xiaoman Grandpa touches the soft and thick soil beneath him, he can hardly believe his eyes. How could such a good wasteland suddenly be cleared from this rocky mountain that his ancestors had walked through countless times?
Although the area is still small, it is indeed the best possible land.
Qiaoyun wasn't idle either. Since it wasn't convenient for her to go hiking in the mountains with her mother-in-law and husband, she sat on a straw mat and used a sickle to clear away the grass roots that had been missed in the terraced fields.
When Xiaoman asked her about these terraced fields, Qiaoyun put down her sickle, looked at the sky with concern, and then said, "Grandma said that you can still grow crops even if the soil is thin. These fields are called terraced fields. You can make the soil as deep as you want, and you can also store water to transplant rice seedlings."
Jiang Zhi told Qiao Yun these words that evening while she was grinding oak powder.
Knowing that rice seedlings could be planted, Qiaoyun was happy for a long time. That night, she lay on the earthen bed with Errui, talking about how their child would eat white rice and white flour and drink thick rice porridge, and that the family would no longer have to worry about food shortages.
But just a few hours later, a wildfire broke out, and it was uncertain whether the family would survive.
Qiaoyun was unwilling to accept it!
Since moving to the mountains, my mother-in-law has stopped scolding people and treats me better than my own mother. Behind her back, she is secretly grateful to those soldiers and refugees.
But why doesn't God allow these good days to last?
Terraced fields!
Grandpa Xiaoman frowned even more deeply, as this method of cultivating fields on slopes also exists in other places.
Normally, earthen ponds are built on high ground to store water for irrigation, but I have never seen such a narrow and long piece of land with layers of steps.
Beside her, Grandma Xiaoman held the soundly sleeping Nini, and pulled the blanket over her eldest grandson's exposed legs, whispering, "Grandpa Xiaoman, once this wildfire is over, we'll also clear land and start farming."
Food supplies are dwindling day by day, and no matter how much we try to save, it's not enough to eat.
Today, Errui's mother gave us some green fruit jelly, which is enough to make our family barely have enough to eat once. We can't rely on others for charity every day.
Dig out some wasteland and plant melons, beans, and sweet potatoes when the weather warms up.
Grandpa Xiaoman dropped the soil in his hand and looked up at the sky: All hope still depends on this fire passing!
At this point, the children were busy trying to survive, so he stopped sitting idly.
Land is the lifeblood of a farmer's family. He had worked the land all his life and could never put down a piece of fertile land.
By this time, the torches on the terraced fields had burned out, so in order to conserve resources, new torches were lit.
Without any light, Xiaoman crawled on his knees, groping around to pile up the pebbles that Jiangzhi hadn't picked up from the field onto the edge of the embankment, not letting go of even the smallest pebbles.
The group didn't hide their conversation from Xu Dazhu, who was lying on the grain sack.
At this moment, Xu Dazhu pretended to be asleep as always, but he was feeling very uncomfortable inside.
In the past, the family kept things from him, always saying they had enough to eat. Today, to avoid fire, all the grain was laid out and buried with soil so he could see it clearly.
There was only a large bag of millet and some refined grains, along with a small handful of dried sweet potatoes. Even if they cooked porridge, they wouldn't be able to get any harvested grain.
Although Errui's family had more grain than ours, it wasn't by much. Aunt Jiang was now clearing land and turning it over, which was better than our family waiting to starve.
It's all my fault for becoming a useless person. When disaster strikes, I become a burden. My grandfather is getting old and not only has to take care of me, but he will also have to do heavy work of clearing land in the future.
Xu Dazhu was tormented. He reached out and pinched his thin legs until the skin was broken and the flesh was torn.
In the darkness, everyone except Nini, who knew nothing, had their own things to do.
On the other side, Jiang Zhi and the other two were working enthusiastically.
This was real heat; flames roared before them, and they dared not be distracted for even a moment. The three of them were drenched in sweat, and even splashing their clothes with spring water did not help.
Xiaoman and Xu Errui wanted to take off their clothes and go shirtless, but Jiang Zhi stopped them: "No matter how hot it is, you are not allowed to take off your clothes."
This is a fire scene, where the temperature is extremely high. Cotton and linen winter clothing can at least provide fire protection and heat insulation.
Taking off your clothes will cause burns instantly. In the most severe cases, the skin on your body will peel off like cooked meat without you even realizing it.
Just as the three of them had burned most of the fallen leaves and withered grass in the woods near the two families' homes and were preparing to expand the area, a gust of wind suddenly changed direction and rushed towards the mountaintop, causing the flames to also change direction.
Fortunately, Xiaoman was there to watch over the fire and extinguished it with a few taps of a tree branch.
Jiang Zhi's face immediately tightened: "Quick, the wind direction has changed. Put out all the fires here, let's hurry back to the terraced fields!"
The wind that was blowing outwards just now is now rushing up the mountaintop, which means the fire below has already spread over.
It creates a chimney effect, and the fire can rise in just a few minutes.
Upon hearing that the fire was approaching, Xiaoman and Xu Errui dared not linger any longer, fearing that they might end up burning to death after working up all night.
They used their last bit of strength to extinguish the remaining flames. Almost instantly, thick smoke billowed up from the valley behind them, causing the three of them to cough violently as they groped their way toward the terraced fields in the dark.
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