Seeing her hesitation, Xiao Hechuan thought that she disliked the kettle because he had used it before, but they had clearly shared the same kettle before?
"I washed it clean." This was all he had to explain.
Jiang Sui realized that she had been distracted for a while and had caused him to misunderstand her, so she quickly explained:
"No, I was just thinking about something else. I didn't mean to dislike you." She took the kettle and took a big sip honestly.
Xiao Hechuan raised his eyebrows, took out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth, and then covered the kettle tightly. These small details were done in one go and very naturally.
"Okay, I see. Are you feeling better?"
Two nights ago, Jiang Sui felt cramps in her lower abdomen due to her period.
Jiang Sui nodded. She had gotten through the first three days and no longer felt any pain.
Seeing that she was fine, Xiao Hechuan felt a little relieved.
Because it had rained for several days, the road conditions were bad, with mud all over the road, making it particularly difficult to walk on. In order to get through this section of the journey as quickly as possible, everyone unconsciously quickened their pace and shortened the rest time on the road. They just casually replenished their energy and then continued on their way.
On the way, Madam Song kept helping to carry things and do things. Xuxu and Goudan sat on the ox cart. Goudan took the initiative to take care of his sister and even taught her to recite poems.
It was just that little Xuxu had just been ill, and although she was no longer seriously ill, she still looked a little weak. But the little girl was very sensible and very supportive of her brother. Goudan taught her to recite poems, and she learned very seriously. She was only three years old, and her pronunciation was not very clear. At the end of her studies, she even fell asleep on the ox cart.
Madam Song asked Xiao's mother to get a small quilt to cover her. Not long after, Goudan also fell asleep. The two children slept together, looking extremely harmonious.
Sometimes when they encountered an uphill road and it was difficult for the cow to walk, Madam Song would help push from behind. Along the way, she and Xiao Qin would chat and laugh from time to time.
We walked like this for two days, resting in the open air at night. However, there were many people around, so it was relatively safe.
Anyway, as long as it doesn’t rain, the road will be easy to travel on. At this rate, we will be able to reach Jeju in ten days at most.
Moreover, after seven or eight days of trekking, they had already walked out of the earthquake-stricken area. There were more and more towns ahead. Their homes were still there, but because of the severe drought, there was a shortage of food everywhere.
The imperial court's disaster relief grain had already arrived in Jeju. It was transferred from the granaries of two neighboring prefectures, but the quantity was small and insufficient for emergency relief.
The grain has just arrived in Jeju and is not enough to stabilize the market. Those criminals at the top are getting anxious. If this continues, once the matter reaches the court, only small officials like them will be implicated, while those high-ranking officials will all protect each other and sleep soundly.
In order to prevent their official hats from being taken off, some officials have begun to use their own grain to fill the gap, or even spend high prices to buy grain on the market. What's worse, some officials have directly led troops to rob grain from the homes of wealthy merchants who have stored grain.
This is also a case of tit-for-tat. Officials usually make a lot of money through corruption, and now they have to give it all back if they can't make up for the loss when something happens. Those unscrupulous wealthy businessmen wanted to make money from natural disasters, but in the end they were powerless, and all the food they bought with their own money became donations, and they might even have to pay a lot of money.
Because the emperor required that the two states must provide no less than 100,000 shi of grain, but what they collected only met half of the requirement.
We originally planned to deal with it for a while, but a serious earthquake occurred in some areas of Jeju, and a large number of refugees began to flee to Jeju.
Now the situation was getting worse, so they had no choice but to write another letter to the court to explain the situation and request the issuance of disaster relief funds to be used to appease the refugees and for reconstruction.
However, it will probably take another month for the relief money to arrive in full. By then, the New Year will be approaching and the people will still be homeless. The court will surely hold them accountable, and it will depend on which unlucky ones will have their property confiscated or be exiled.
The closer we got to Jeju, the better the road conditions became. There were no more bumpy and uneven roadsides. The weather also improved. The sun was out for two days in a row, making it increasingly convenient to rest at night.
That night, Xiao Hechuan and his two brothers found a small cave to rest. The cave was just big enough to accommodate their entire family.
With this cave, at least everyone doesn’t have to sleep on the open lawn tonight, but has a place to shelter from the wind.
In the past, we were afraid that it would rain at night, so the whole family would not sleep well and would wake up several times a night. But tonight, with this cave, we can finally sleep well.
During the ten days of fleeing, the whole family looked visibly haggard. They couldn't eat or sleep well, and they had to walk all day long, so blisters appeared on everyone's feet.
Xiao Lanlan, Jiang Sui and Zhou's feet were all swollen and blisters appeared on the soles of their feet. After being rubbed and broken, the burning pain was very painful.
There was no way. Jiang Sui and Xiao Lanlan both had tender skin. They were young and delicate girls. Zhou was only twenty years old and spent most of her time at home. She was not much better than Jiang Sui and Xiao Lanlan.
Xiao Hechuan remembered this place. In his previous life, he and Lanlan took shelter from the rain in this cave for several days on their way to escape. If it weren't for this cave, they would have had a hard time surviving.
So he remembered this place clearly and came here with ease.
Fortunately, no one in the family was suspicious, but was happy to find such a good place to rest.
He dug some herbs in the mountain and brought them back. He boiled some medicine in the evening and everyone soaked their feet in it. Some herbs can be ground into mud and applied directly to the ulcerated blisters, which has a very good effect. The feet will feel much better after a good night's sleep.
This is also due to the experience accumulated in the previous life.
It gets dark early in autumn and night falls quickly. After dinner, they went to the nearby river to fetch water and boiled several pots of hot water. Everyone took turns soaking their feet in the medicine. Xiao Hechuan wrapped the herbs in rags and mashed them into a paste, which he asked the three sisters-in-law to apply on the blisters on the soles of their feet.
"Fourth brother, will this really work if applied?" Xiao Lanlan expressed her disbelief.
"I read all of this in a book. I'll give it a try whether it works or not. There's no harm in it anyway!" Xiao Hechuan answered naturally.
"Are you still reading medical books?" Jiang Sui couldn't help but ask.
Xiao Hechuan heard this, but explained disapprovingly:
"Medical books are also books. You can always learn something from everything written in them."
What he said made sense, and Jiang Sui agreed very much.
As the saying goes, reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles, it seems that I have to read some books quietly in the future to enrich my knowledge reserves.
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