Xia Manni returned to the village, but her sisters at the entrance were not there.
Although it is past noon, the weather is still very hot.
I don’t know how sad it will be in the summer.
Ever since the Taoist priest prayed for rain last time, Xia Manni has cleared out the jars for pickling pickles at home. Now there are three jars for storing water at home.
Xia Manni was afraid that the situation would get worse later and the water supply at home would suddenly be cut off and she would be caught off guard.
From the entrance of the village, you can see that every time you arrive at the door of a house, the yard door is closed and no one comes out. The only work is to queue up to fetch water.
This time when she went to the market, Xia Manni specially bought a few more water bags.
When they got home, the children washed their hands with the morning water.
Xia Manni called the four children over. Although Sanwa and Sinier were only three years old, they developed their intelligence at an early age in such an environment.
Besides, Si Ni'er had seen a lot from Doctor Sun and understood a little bit.
"You all know that our family has always received a pension from a noble person. That was earned by your father's life."
Hearing this, the four children nodded. Xia Manni had told them about this last time.
"But now that the noble man has left, our family can no longer go to the county to collect money."
Sanwa shook his head and said, "Mom, it's okay. We can go to the mountains to pick up mountain products."
Xia Manni touched Sanwa's head and said with a smile: "Sanwa is right."
If one does not flee from famine, then living in the mountains is the only way out, unless there is no water source in the mountains.
"One more thing. From now on, we have to save water. You know it's difficult to get water now."
Erwa patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, Mom. I'll fetch water for you next time."
Before this, the eldest child, Xia Manni, and the second child took turns fetching water. Since the second child wanted to take the responsibility, let him do it.
Xia Manni nodded and continued, "Then Erwa, remember that we should exercise every day before sunrise and after sunset."
Erwa nodded seriously, and the rest of the words were not suitable to be said to the younger ones.
Xia Manni asked Erwa to take Sanwa and Sinier to cook, and she asked Dawa to stay.
"Mom, tell me."
Da Wa knew that Xia Manni asked him to stay because she must have something to say.
He knew that Lord Zheng definitely said more than just this.
"Big boy, although you are only eight years old, you are already half an adult. I have to let you know what you should know."
Big Boy nodded.
Xia Manni continued, "We're experiencing a drought right now. If it gets worse, we'll run out of water, and over time people will die. Those deaths will turn into a drought disaster, and then we'll have to find a solution."
After hearing this, Da Wa's face became heavy.
"Mom, what can we do?"
"There are only two ways to survive. One is to go up the mountain. But there will be a day when there is no water in the mountains. It depends on when it rains. The other way is to escape the famine."
Xia Manni thought for a moment and added, "Of course, there is another possibility, and that is rain."
Speaking of this, Xia Manni felt a little hopeless. What Lord Zheng meant was to get some accurate information.
Although there was no weather forecast in this era, there were many astronomers who would predict the weather based on astronomical phenomena.
Perhaps the drought has become a nationwide disaster.
"Mother, how can we escape from the famine?"
Da Wa did not hope for rain, but since Lord Zheng had revealed this to his mother, it was possible.
"Fleeing famine is very hard. You have no fixed place to live and your home is everywhere. Your life is in danger at any time and you may not even have enough to eat."
"Mom, I think we should be prepared to escape the famine."
Xia Manni nodded. As expected of the eldest child, she knew how to prepare for the worst.
"Big Boy, you think the same as Mom does. We have a large family, and they're all children. It's right to prepare for the worst."
"Big boy, I have to explain something to you. We still have 40 taels of silver. These are the pensions and the savings from selling mountain products. We originally planned to renovate the house this year and then find a school for you and a teacher for the second boy. But now..."
"Mother, I plan to keep ten taels of silver. The remaining thirty taels will be used to prepare things for fleeing the famine. Fortunately, we have a cart at home, so we can carry more things."
"Besides that, we only have leftover food and provisions at home."
At this point, Xia Manni took out a jade pendant from her purse and said, "And this. I guess this is what Zhao Ziming and Daxiu are looking for. It should be related to your father's comrades."
All of this is Xia Manni's guess, or it may be related to Lord Zheng.
"Mom, Da Wa knows. When do we start preparing?"
Xia Manni looked at the still hot weather and said, "It's time to start now."
"Mom, should we tell the people in the village?"
Xia Manni shook her head firmly. "Not everyone is willing to leave their hometown, and without an imperial order, there can't be a large-scale migration."
She looked at Da Wa seriously and said, "Many times, good intentions don't always bring good rewards. Let's just take care of ourselves. Have you forgotten what happened last time?"
Da Wa also remembered the last time he burned charcoal, and he didn't want to experience that feeling again.
"The only people who are friendly with our family are Aunt Qiao's family, Uncle Li's family, and Doctor Sun's family. If it really comes to that, we can say hello before we leave."
"But..." Xia Manni changed the subject, "What if we only need to go up the mountain to survive? So we should prepare as much as possible."
"Mom, Da Wa knows, I'm with you."
He knew that the people in the village did not think their family was a family that could be looked up to, so they would not walk together if they could avoid it.
Xia Manni was touched by Da Wa's words. At an age when he should be learning and having fun, he had to shoulder so much responsibility like an adult.
But she couldn't help but joke, saying: "Big Baby has really grown up."
The eldest child scratched his head and said sheepishly, "Mom, I won't let you suffer like this forever."
Xia Manni touched Da Wa's head and said, "Mom knows that Da Wa is the most filial."
"Mom, what should we prepare?"
"You have to prepare food, supplies, and clothes. Anything can happen on the road, which is why mother asked you to keep exercising."
Da Wa nodded and said, "Mom, how about we write it down and prepare accordingly?"
Xia Manni smiled with satisfaction, "Okay, you can start writing after dinner, and I will add to it after you finish."
They don’t know what difficulties will face them in the future, but Xia Manni and Dawa are both optimistic people.
Just as Xia Manni was preparing supplies, bad news appeared in Shizai Village again.
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