Bai Chuan brought over some roasted donkey meat and said, "Chen Nong, let's trade some beef."
On the other side, the three village chiefs discussed for a long time and finally decided to kill all the donkeys that belonged to their villages and roast them into jerky for future use.
Lotus Village has six public donkeys, while Dashan Village only has four.
Anping Village decided to keep the three horses, but slaughtered all the other cattle and donkeys.
When everyone heard that the village donkey was to be slaughtered, they were all overjoyed. They all had a share of the village donkey, and when it was slaughtered and the meat was divided, they would each get a small portion.
In the evening, the village chief, worried that the smell of roasted donkey meat would attract thieves, found a secluded mountain hollow to rest.
"Slaughtering the donkey! Slaughtering the donkey! Eating donkey meat! Eating donkey meat!"
Children are happy when they have food, but they don't know that this is the last time they will have a good time.
The Chen family slaughtered another cow, which is now roasting, with several children helping to add firewood.
The village chief was watching everyone roast donkey meat when a member of the guard team walked over.
"Village chief, the old woman we rescued in the mountains has come with her family. She says she wants to go to Youzhou Prefecture with our team."
"I'll go take a look."
Just now, when the villagers went into the mountains to find food, they found an old woman who had fainted. They checked her breathing and found she was not dead. The village chief's son called a doctor to take a look.
After the doctor examined her and gave her a few acupuncture needles, she woke up.
Later, everyone learned that someone in her family had fallen ill, and they had gone into the mountains to find medicine. They had been on this mountain for two days when she accidentally fainted from hunger.
Not long after, her family came looking for her: her husband, two sons, a daughter, and three granddaughters. The one who fell ill was her youngest son.
Their family was from the next county; they had also fled to Youzhou Prefecture due to famine.
More importantly, her youngest son passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. Farmers generally have great respect for scholars, so the doctor examined her youngest son and prescribed some medicine for him.
There were several packets of medicine that needed to be decocted in water, but they couldn't do that because they didn't have any water. So many sick people in the team were eagerly waiting to find water to decoct their medicine.
When the village chief arrived, he saw that the young scholar, who looked to be in his early twenties, had a sickly appearance and was very thin.
The whole family was in poor condition; they were so hungry that their faces were swollen and their eyes were bloodshot.
Upon seeing him, the young scholar bowed and said, "Thank you for saving my life. I am deeply grateful. If there is anything I can do to help you in the future, I will do my best."
The village chief said, "It was nothing, not worth mentioning."
The student's father spoke up, "Could we travel with you? We won't cause you any trouble, and we can help if you need anything."
Village Chief: "Okay, but you're not allowed to cause trouble, and don't go against anyone in our group."
The student's family expressed their gratitude, saying, "Thank you, thank you!"
Chen's wife was helping to grill beef when suddenly a girl she didn't recognize walked over.
"Hello, is there any chores you need me to do? I can help you with the work, just give me a small piece of meat."
Chen's eldest daughter-in-law said impatiently, "Go away, go away! We don't even have enough meat for our family!"
Da Ya put her hands on her hips and said, "If you don't leave, we'll beat you up!"
A woman nearby saw this and quickly pulled the girl away.
“They really do hit people, I’m not kidding. I’ll try to avoid them in the future.”
The girl shuddered. "Wow, he's so fierce!"
After the person left, Er Ya asked curiously, "Who was that person? He wasn't one of our team, was he?"
Chen Laoda's wife: "We met them when our people went into the mountains to find food. They were a family of eight. We heard that one of their children had passed the imperial examination and was sick. They went to our village chief and wanted to come with us. The village chief agreed."
Chen Nong said, "As for the young scholar, Brother Bai Yu will also be able to take the exam in the future."
At night, Xiao Bao was sleeping soundly when suddenly his mother shook him awake, "Xiao Bao, wake up, wake up quickly, it's time to gather hay and change the water."
Xiao Bao woke up groggily, "Candied hawthorn~".
The display panel turned on, illuminating the dimly lit carriage; only Xiao Bao could see this.
Xiao Bao took out two watering cans and then went back to sleep.
Chen Xiaohua shook Xiaobao and asked, "Xiaobao, have you planted the last batch of pasture seeds yet?"
Super sleepy little Bao: "Planted...it's done."
The next morning, Chen Nong and the others came to find Xiao Bao very early.
"Xiao Bao, Xiao Bao, wake up! Time to pack up and change the water!"
"I...I'll sleep a little longer."
Do you want some water?
"Yes!" Instantly, Xiao Bao woke up, coughed a few times, his throat was very dry.
Chen Nong: "Then hurry up and collect the hay."
Xiao Bao opened the panel and saw, "It's not time yet, we have to wait a while."
Xiao Shi: "Let's wait a bit then. Come on, let's go find grasshoppers."
Although they now have beef to eat, no one can complain about having too little food.
On the way, Chen Nong said happily, "Xiao Bao, I calculated this morning that we can get six bottles of water from your candied hawthorn every day. Let's save them up slowly, and in the future, we'll have enough for each of us to have one bottle."
Xiao Bao exclaimed in astonishment, "Wow! So many!"
They searched for water all the way but couldn't find any. Meanwhile, his candied hawthorns could give him six bottles of water a day. That's amazing!
Xiao Shi exclaimed in amazement, "Candied hawthorns are amazing!"
The children had gone to the fields to find grasshoppers when they suddenly discovered a rotting corpse and ran back in fright.
"That was...that was terrifying," Xiao Bao said, still shaken.
Suddenly, the candied hawthorns reminded him that it was time to harvest.
The baby quickly ran back to the carriage, gathered hay, and then made two bottles of water.
After receiving two more bottles of water, Zhou took out one and shared it with everyone, saving the rest.
Early in the morning, Da Ya and the others were mending clothes when they accidentally tore them while searching for food in the mountains.
Daya frowned and said, "My dad's clothes have a big hole in them, they need to be patched up."
They had some leftover fabric scraps from the last batch of curtains that they could use.
The village chief's wife happened to come over to see Zhou Shi. When she saw the scraps that Da Ya and the others had brought out, her eyes lit up and she went up to them and said, "Da Ya, can I borrow some of your scraps? I'll pay you back next time."
Then he winked at her. Everyone knew what he meant—he was waiting for their ancestors to bestow this kind of fabric upon them before returning it.
Daya refused, saying, "Grandma Village Chief, there's not much left. Look, I still have several pieces of clothing that need patching. I don't even have enough for my own family."
Seeing that the girls were all wearing denim shoes, the village chief's wife said, "Your family really has a lot of fabric, you're even wearing denim shoes."
Daya: "Our Chen clan has fewer members, so naturally we get a larger share of the spoils."
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