Chapter 157
At one o'clock in the morning, when the sky was just getting light and the moon was still hanging in the sky, Li Da came out of the house. He glanced at the wet ground, and the depression in his eyes dissipated a little, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
It rained last night! Rain is good. It's not too cold yet, so the vegetables planted in the fields will grow a little bit after the rain.
Li Da scooped up some water and drank until he was full. Then he turned around, took the backpack and walked out, intending to dig up more wild vegetable roots.
The food at home was becoming increasingly scarce. Although wild vegetable roots were edible, there were too few of them. Almost all the food in the mountains had been dug up. Chen and Feng didn't bring back much when they went there yesterday. The atmosphere at home became much more depressing.
Li Da planned to get up early today to dig up more wild vegetable roots so that his wife could drink more wild vegetable soup.
When Li Da went out, the moon was still high in the sky, and a few stars could be seen sporadically. When he passed by a house with a dog, he could occasionally hear a dog barking.
This dog probably won't live long. The villagers don't even have food to eat now, so how can they take care of the dog? If this continues, the dog will be slaughtered and eaten in less than ten days.
Thinking of this, Li Da swallowed his saliva. The family also raised chickens. His mother said that they would keep them for when his wife gave birth and then slaughter them to make soup to increase milk production, so that she would have milk to feed after the baby was born.
Li Da, who was lost in thought, was walking when he suddenly caught a glimpse of green out of the corner of his eye. He suddenly stopped, looked up, and his eyes trembled slightly.
What…is going on?!
He seemed to see tender wild vegetables just growing out of the ground, their emerald green leaves trembling in the wind. Moreover, there were more than one such wild vegetable, but they were all over the mountains.
Li Da looked up at the sky which was not yet fully lit, and all kinds of strange thoughts popped up in his mind uncontrollably. Could it be that the sun had not yet come out and the yin energy of the night had not yet dissipated, so he was possessed by evil spirits when he came out at this time?
The more Li Da thought about it, the more panicked he became. He even had the urge to turn around and run away. However, thinking of his wife at home who had a big belly and was so thin that her cheeks were sunken, he hesitated and finally did not move.
Standing there, Li Da stared intently at the tender green vegetables. The newly grown vegetables didn't have much bitterness or earthy smell, and were even quite fragrant. Thinking of the wild vegetable buns his wife had made, Li Da couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
There were rumblings in his stomach. Li Da was so hungry that his stomach felt like it was on fire. He suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself. There was a crisp "pop" sound and pain came from his cheek. He looked up again and found that the wild vegetables had not disappeared. He gritted his teeth and strode over, digging up the wild vegetables frantically.
When you are extremely hungry, it doesn’t matter whether these wild vegetables are strange or not.
When Li Da returned home with a basket full of wild vegetables, everyone in his family was stunned.
"Oh my God! Boss, where did you get so many wild vegetables?!" Old Wang, who was drinking water to fill her stomach, was so shocked that the ladle in her hand dropped.
The three sisters-in-law, Chen, Feng and Zhao, who were mending clothes, hurried out when they heard the noise. When they saw the full basket of wild vegetables on the eldest sister's back, they were all shocked and stood there in a daze.
After coming to her senses, Chen quickly stepped forward, her surprise mixed with unconcealed joy: "Where did you get these wild vegetables?"
Several nearby states have suffered from locust plagues. Looking around, there is not a trace of green in the mountains and fields. Where on earth did the boss get so many wild vegetables?
Li Da put down his backpack and wiped the sweat off his face: "It rained yesterday, and all the wild vegetables in the village are sprouting up."
"That's impossible." Old Wang frowned. "These days, the villagers have dug up all the wild vegetable roots around here. They even dug up roots as small as a little finger. Even if it rained last night, it's impossible for wild vegetables to grow in just one night!"
Li Da looked at the mud on his hands and said, "I ate some wild vegetables before digging them, and I haven't felt any discomfort so far. Mom, these wild vegetables that suddenly grew can be eaten."
As soon as he finished speaking, the joy on Chen's face disappeared instantly. She reached out and twisted Li Da's ear hard, saying, "Has your brain been clogged with filth? You dare to stuff your mouth with anything you don't know, without even considering how we'd survive if something happened to you?"
Chen, who was already emotionally sensitive due to her pregnancy, couldn't help crying as she spoke.
Li Da grimaced in pain. Seeing Chen crying, he quickly stood up and tried to comfort her helplessly.
He just wanted to have more food to fill his stomach, but he was afraid that something might go wrong with these wild vegetables, which seemed a little strange. So he bravely decided to test the poison on himself.
Later he regretted it and tried to vomit it out by digging his throat with his fingers, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't vomit it out.
Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with the wild vegetables. Thinking of this, Li Da broke out in a cold sweat.
Although Li Da had tried this wild vegetable, Old Wang and the others were still cautious and did not dare to try it. While they were hesitating, other people in the village also discovered the wild vegetables emerging from the ground, and the whole village became lively for a while.
The village was suddenly filled with wild vegetables overnight. This was too absurd and outrageous. After discussing it with the village elders and the village chief, they adopted a cautious attitude and asked the villagers not to try it for the time being.
Most people in the village listened to the elders and the village chief and did not try it rashly, but there were also some families who had long run out of food and survived on wild vegetable roots every day. The poor families who were so hungry did not care about these things and secretly dug up wild vegetables and cooked them to eat.
By the time the village chief and clan elders discovered it, it was too late. These families had already been eating it for two days.
The village chief looked at the man in front of him, pacing back and forth in anger. "You are so stupid! If you had no food, you should have told me and I would have given you some. But you rashly went out to dig up wild vegetables to eat. If something really happened, your whole family would have been killed by you!"
Li Deyou raised his hand and wiped his tears. "Village chief, I'm at my wit's end. The half bag of beans we bought in exchange for two chickens more than ten days ago is gone. The kids are crying with hunger, and the grain jars at home are empty. I was thinking of throwing my reputation away and borrowing some food from you to keep myself afloat, but before I even reached your door, I saw Li Er flopping past me. Li Er is starving, and your three daughters-in-law are all pregnant. Thinking of all this, I really can't open my mouth to ask you for food. I figured I'd die anyway, so dying with a full stomach is better than starving. So I gritted my teeth and dug up some wild vegetables to eat. Fortunately, the Bodhisattva protected me, and the wild vegetables weren't poisonous, so our family of five survived!"
Li Gensheng silently took a puff of his pipe and sighed in his heart. If there was no way to survive, no one would be willing to take this risk.
He tucked his pipe behind his waist, stood up and said, "This wild vegetable is not poisonous. Tell the rest of the villagers as soon as possible. Even if it doesn't fill their stomachs, it will at least keep them alive!"
As he spoke, a fierce look flashed in his cloudy eyes. The goddess Hou Tu had appeared and made the fields and mountains full of wild vegetables. They had to survive this famine no matter what.
"Dad, Jiaojiao dug up a lot of wild vegetables." Jiaojiao, carrying a small backpack and holding a small hoe made of wood, looked at her father with bright eyes, obviously very happy.
Yin Zheng bent down and held him in his arms: "So happy?"
"Yeah." Jiaojiao nodded vigorously, and the little flesh on her cheeks shook up and down twice.
There were really a lot of wild vegetables growing. Tiedan stopped crying and said that whenever he was hungry his mother would cook wild vegetable soup for him. Although it was not very delicious, his stomach would not hurt from hunger anymore.
Aunt Chen, who was pregnant, no longer frowned all day long.
This made Jiaojiao very happy.
"This is the spirit of the Queen Mother Hou Tu appearing!"
"The Queen Mother Hou Tu couldn't bear to see us starve to death!"
"Thank you, Queen Mother Hou Tu."
Before digging wild vegetables, many villagers would kneel on the ground and kowtow reverently.
The wild vegetables in the field sprouted again within two days of being dug up, and their growth rate was unreasonable. This made the villagers believe from the bottom of their hearts that the Goddess of Earth could not bear to see them starve to death, so she showed her power.
Because of this, they sincerely believed that they and their families would not starve to death in this famine, and the atmosphere in the village changed from its previous dull and gloomy state to a more lively one.
Yin Zheng pinched Jiaojiao's chubby face, glanced at the villagers digging wild vegetables, who had changed from their previous lifeless and numb look, and realized that as long as people have a choice, they will not go to extremes.
Since this wild vegetable grew up, all the people in the village who used to look at Youyou intentionally or unintentionally and who used to appear around the yard late at night have disappeared.
Thinking of this, Yin Zheng's eyes moved, and he turned around and walked into the mountains with Jiaojiao in his arms, intending to see if he could hunt a wild boar.
Jiaojiao, who was in her father's arms, fed her father a berry before putting the berry into her own mouth.
Yin Zheng chewed the berries in his mouth, a little surprised: "There are berries?"
Why didn't he see it?
"Yes, Jiaojiao and Mianmian picked them there." Jiaojiao said, raising her little hand and pointing to the place where she had just dug wild vegetables.
Yin Zheng took a look and frowned slightly. That place was not far from the foot of the mountain and was not very hidden. If there were berries, they would have been picked long ago. How could it be Jiaojiao's turn to pick them?
Qin Mianmian, who was trying to keep up with Yin Zheng's pace by pulling at the corner of his clothes, nodded: "Yes, Jiaojiao, Youyou and I picked them together, but they are only on that bush, not anywhere else."
Yoyo raised his head and uttered "Yoyo" twice, as if agreeing with Qin Mianmian's words.
Yin Zheng, Qin Mianmian, and even Jiaojiao himself did not know that the bush produced berries specifically because Jiaojiao came to it. Those berries were produced because of Jiaojiao, and no one could pick them except him.
Maybe Jiaojiao was lucky. Thinking of this, Yin Zheng turned around and concentrated on looking for the wild boar's traces.
In the eyes of the villagers, Yoyo is just an animal, and an animal that has no other use except to be slaughtered and eaten. It can't plow the fields like a cow, nor lay eggs like a chicken.
Moreover, after discovering that Jiaojiao and Qin Mianmian had not lost weight and had even gained some weight, the villagers privately estimated that he had stored a lot of food. The increasing number of people wandering outside the yard during this period meant that the wild vegetables had suddenly appeared, otherwise...
Yin Zheng was absolutely confident that he could deal with them. Even if he faced the entire village, he was confident that he could escape unscathed. However, Jiaojiao was still young and could not withstand the hustle and bustle. She needed a stable place and environment.
In the past twenty years in the village, Yin Zheng had heard too many stories of children suddenly dying. Based on this, when facing Jiaojiao, he treated her with all his heart and care, and it still felt it was not enough.
So Yin Zheng wanted to hunt a wild boar, not to eat himself or sell it for money, but to give it to the whole village. Not everyone in the village could get a piece of meat, but at least they could have a sip of the broth. As long as they could stay alive, hanging on to their lives, they wouldn't focus on Youyou and wouldn't go to extremes.
"Dad, what are you looking for?" Jiaojiao, who was in her father's arms, looked around curiously following her father's gaze.
"Looking for wild boars."
"Wild boar?" Jiaojiao looked around and pointed to the left front with her little paw, saying, "The wild boar is over there."
Yin Zheng looked in the direction he pointed, but saw nothing but trees. However, he still walked over. After about a quarter of an hour, he saw the figure of a wild boar arching under the roots of a tree in the distance.
Yin Zheng paused, looked at Jiaojiao in his arms, and asked the question in his heart: "How did you know?"
Jiaojiao shook her head: "I don't know!"
I just feel like the wild boar is in this direction.
Seeing that Jiaojiao didn't know, Yin Zheng didn't ask any more questions. He held Jiaojiao and quickly patrolled the surroundings. He found that there was no other danger except the wild boar that was still burying its head in the tree roots not far away. Then he put Jiaojiao down, asked Qin Mianmian to watch over her, and strode towards the wild boar.
Yin Zheng did not move the sickle on his waist, for he was afraid that the smell of blood would scare Jiaojiao.
After her father left, Jiaojiao obediently turned her back and covered her ears. Qin Mianmian was not so obedient. Not only did she not cover her ears, she also quietly turned her head to look. Then she heard the wild boar's heart-wrenching roar and saw the brutal scene of the wild boar being beaten.
When Yin Zheng came over carrying the wild boar, Qin Mianmian looked at his expressionless face and shuddered subconsciously, recalling the fear she felt when she first saw Yin Zheng.
Jiaojiao was not affected at all. She stood up and ran towards her father happily with her short legs. Yin Zheng grabbed her and held her in his arms.
"Stinky." Looking at the wild boar on her father's other shoulder, Jiaojiao wrinkled her nose.
Smelly?
Yin Zheng glanced at the wild boar on his shoulder, put it down and dragged it away.
Qin Mianmian took a while to recover, but he still didn't dare to pull Yin Zheng's clothes as before.
The wild boar they hunted was unexpectedly fat, enough for each villager to have two pieces of meat and a bowl of broth. Yin Zheng dragged the wild boar directly to the village chief's house and handed it over to him.
When the villagers heard that Yin Zheng was going to share the meat with them, they rushed to the village chief's house. When they really saw such a big wild boar, they were so happy that they kept saying good things to Yin Zheng.
Seeing that such a big wild boar belonging to their family was about to be carried away, Yin Dazhu and Wu were anxious to stand up and make a scene, but were stopped by Yin Youcai and Yin Yuanzhi.
If my parents jump out to stop me from distributing meat to the villagers, wouldn't that make me a target of resentment?
The villagers distributed meat and broth to Yin Zheng and expressed their gratitude profusely, wishing they could offer him up as a sacrifice on the spot.
Some people noticed that after praising Jiaojiao, Yin Zheng's expression would relax a little. He immediately praised Jiaojiao in his arms again and again, and kept saying nice things. Jiaojiao pursed her lips and puffed out her chest not very obviously.
When Yin Zheng saw his little gesture, a smile spread in his eyes, which seemed almost gentle in the noisy and chaotic moment.
In the seventh year of the De Zheng era, there was a severe drought and locust plague, and the harvest in the north was completely destroyed. A large number of refugees fled to the south. Along the way, fathers sold their sons, husbands sold their wives, and there were starving people everywhere, and the wailing was unbearable to hear.
Several counties near the border even had the phenomenon of eating white meat. Among them, Lijia Village survived with difficulty and steadily because of the wild vegetables everywhere and the meat soup given by Yin Zheng from time to time.
The weather was getting colder, and the sun, with no warmth, was slowly coming in through the window. Jiaojiao was lying on her back in her father's arms taking a nap, her little belly rising and falling with her shallow breathing.
Jiaojiao turned over in his sleep and rolled out of his father's arms. He raised his head in a daze and instinctively crawled into his father's arms. After just two crawls, Yin Zheng reached out and held him in his arms.
Jiaojiao fell back into her father's arms, smacked her lips twice, and continued to sleep with her head resting on her father's chest.
I didn't succeed in reaching my goal again, but I'll keep working on it. I agreed that 6,000 words would count as two chapters~
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