Xiao Bao yawned as he took the sugarcane out of the warehouse.
Just like yesterday, there was a huge pile of them, towering high, and everyone was having a blast.
Zhou counted them and found there were still thirty, making him grin from ear to ear.
The group first moved the sugarcane outside, removing the leaves and roots.
Many people who fainted from hunger yesterday have woken up. So, early this morning, seeing so much sugarcane at the Chen family's house, many children gathered around, drooling.
After removing the leaves and roots, Zhou took out five stalks and asked his eldest daughter-in-law to hand them over so they could be juiced for the baby in the team. She also took out five more stalks and handed them over to the team. This was the amount that several families had handed over that day. She also took out the amount of sugarcane roots for ten stalks and handed them over to the team.
This huge pile of Napier grass stalks and roots made the kids next to me drool.
The eldest son's wife, the second son, and Chen Nong were left to watch the house, while the others went out to find food.
Before setting off, Zhou took out the sugarcane from yesterday and gave one to everyone, adults and children alike.
The eldest son's wife did the work that Da Ya did yesterday, straightening the grass roots, cutting them into sections, and tying them into bundles. In addition, she also had to cut the sugarcane into sections.
The eldest son's wife was strong; she easily broke the pile of Napier grass stalks into sections with her bare hands, as if it were a small twig.
After that, she started to deal with the roots. She cut them while Chen Nong tied them up.
Chen Nong's stomach was already growling with hunger, but he couldn't bear to eat the sugarcane he was given, planning to eat it after he finished his work.
Now they're working while eating grass roots.
Seeing the children next to him drooling, Chen Nong grabbed a handful of chopped grass roots and gave them to them to share.
The children were very happy to receive the food.
"Thank you, Brother Chen Nong!"
Chen Nong asked, "Aren't you going to help find food?"
If he doesn't go find food, he'll go hungry, and being hungry is very uncomfortable. Last night he was so hungry he couldn't sleep, and it was also cold. Being both hungry and cold, he didn't fall asleep until very late.
One of the children said, "My mother said that I'm just recovering and can't run around, so she told me to stay in the resting area. Brother Chen, could you let me help tie up the grass roots? Don't worry, I won't steal any food. Just give me a small piece of sugarcane later, just a small piece."
Seeing the child looking at him pitifully, Chen Nong softened and said, "Alright!"
The child next to him also chimed in, "Brother Chen Nong, I want to help too! I want to help too! Just give me a small piece of sugarcane!"
Annoyed by the noise, Chen Nong could only agree, "Okay, okay, I'll help you all!"
Afterwards, the children were divided into rows, with one row squatting to the side. Three children helped distribute the chopped grass roots to the squatting children, who then tied the grass roots together. Two more children were then sent to collect the tied grass roots and put them into baskets.
With many hands making light work, they quickly caught up with the speed at which the eldest daughter-in-law was chopping grass roots.
The little ones were very well-behaved; they said they wouldn't steal food, and they really didn't, just quietly drooling.
Chen Nong couldn't bear to see this, so he took out a box of small, fine grass roots and gave them to eat.
"Thank you, Brother Chen Nong. You're so kind."
The children chattered away as they worked, discussing which roasted insects were the best and planning to dig for insects next to their rest area later.
The donkey ate the leaves of Napier grass nearby, occasionally braying happily.
The dogs were all scrambling to grab the food.
With so many ordinary people working for them, it took them quite a while to finish.
As agreed, Chen Nong took out three sweet stalks of Napier grass, peeled them, cut them into small pieces, and gave one piece to each child.
They also brought a bundle of grass roots and a box of small pieces of grass roots for them to share.
Anyway, he was prepared to get a beating today.
The children were eating sugarcane and had grass roots in their clothes; they were overjoyed.
Daya cut the sugarcane she was given into five sections. She ate three sections and saved the other two to eat later.
After leaving their resting place and crossing a mountain, they encountered other refugees who had all come out early in the morning to find food; the early bird catches the worm.
Everyone went their own way; no one had the time, the mood, or the interest to chat with each other.
Because they didn't have enough tools, Daya and the others could only dig up grass roots with tree branches.
Er Ya broke the branch in her hand because she used too much force. She threw the branch away and complained, "When will I be able to get a decent tool?"
Sanya handed her a thick tree branch and said, "Sigh! When will this ever end!"
When they dug down to the roots, they found that they were rotten and muddy, so they had to abandon the pit and continue looking for edible grass roots.
Sanya: "If only it could rain, then plants could grow, and we could dig up wild vegetables, eat the leaves, have enough to eat, and not die of thirst."
If there are wild vegetables, she can dig up a lot; she's really good at digging for wild vegetables.
Daya sighed, "If it rained, we wouldn't have to leave our hometown."
As Sanya searched, she found a withered Smilax glabra and exclaimed happily, "Da Ya, come here quickly! There's a Smilax glabra here. Let's dig it up together!"
Just as Da Ya and the others had followed the clues and found the root of the melon, and were about to start digging, two little girls suddenly appeared.
One of them pointed at the Smilax glabra and said arrogantly, "We found this Smilax glabra first, but we were busy and didn't dig it up. You are not allowed to dig it up; it's ours!"
Another girl: "Yes! These are our things, you're not allowed to touch them!"
Daya scoffed, "So what if I moved? What can you do about it?"
A girl said fiercely, "If you dare to steal our things, we'll beat you up!"
Another girl said, "Yes! I'll beat you until you cry!"
The children from Anping Village, who were busy looking for food nearby, seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world and couldn't help but laugh, and they kept laughing.
Want to fight with Da Ya and the others?
And beat them until they cried?
Stop joking, okay?!
Da Ya and her friends are the little tyrants of their village, bullies who walk sideways, and fighter jets in a brawl!
They were willing to guarantee that Sanya alone could beat the two of them until they were crying for their parents.
Da Ya laughed, "Heh, fighting? I don't have time to fight today, I'm busy. Let someone else play with you!"
Daya took out a small piece of sugarcane from her basket and said, "Whoever beats those two down today, makes them cry for their parents, and beats them until they submit, gets to keep this sugarcane!"
As soon as Da Ya finished speaking, the other teams were shocked. Edible! Sugarcane? Sweet?
Then the children all swarmed around them and ganged up on the two of them; even the kids from their own group rushed in.
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