When Chen Kai and his group returned to the Strange Stone Pool, three trips of water had already been transported back.
The next morning.
After breakfast, the village children came over and invited them to go up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables, and Daya and the others went with them.
Actually, there aren't many wild vegetables on the mountain now; people just bring back whatever they can eat. In autumn, you can find some berries and nuts on the mountain.
In the backyard, a donkey was pulling a millstone, but it wasn't grinding rice, flour, or beans; it was grinding saltpeter.
Old Man Chen held Chen Kai on a small stool, looking at the saltpeter that was being used for playing with. He felt a pang of heartache; it was meant to be used to make ice.
Old Chen sighed, "I'm getting old. You young people really know how to have fun. I can't keep up anymore."
Chen Kai hugged his father's neck and said sweetly, "Father isn't old."
Old Man Chen happily rubbed Chen Kai's little face against his cheek, and the father and son laughed with joy.
However, Chen Kai wasn't grinding saltpeter for fun; he was preparing for his escape from famine later, which would definitely be quite dangerous, so he wanted to develop homemade explosives.
Homemade explosives, or gunpowder, are dangerous things, and he didn't want to bring such a destructive substance into this time and space.
Gunpowder is composed of sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal.
Chemically speaking, these three components are potassium nitrate (from saltpeter), carbon (from charcoal), and sulfur.
Okay, they have all three of these materials.
Charcoal was the most abundant material, found in every household; saltpeter was not plentiful, used for making ice; and sulfur was scarce, used to repel snakes.
That ratio and those traditional methods... if I could, I really wouldn't want to use that stuff.
Da Ya and her friends actually managed to find some mountain produce on their trip up the mountain.
Looking at the chestnuts they had collected, Chen Kai said happily, "Let's make chestnut chicken today! Are there any more chestnuts on the mountain?"
Daya said, "That's all. We only found one, and we've picked them all."
Er Ya handed a handful of fruit to Chen Kai, "Uncle, want some?"
Chen Kai shook his head and said, "No, you guys eat, I want braised chicken with chestnuts."
He's not really a child.
The biggest harvest for Daya and her friends on this trip up the mountain was chestnuts; the rest were just some wild fruits.
On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the county magistrate sent people to transport the grain that had been exchanged for the ducks requisitioned earlier to Anping Village.
Looking at the truckloads of grain, the village chief was relieved, but it was far from what he had expected. The villagers all asked questions, and he had no choice but to withstand the pressure and ask, "Master, this grain... we sent out quite a lot of ducks before."
Although grain prices have gone up, ducks are meat, so their prices have gone up even more. The amount of grain they get in return shouldn't be this much.
The clerk sighed, "There's nothing we can do. The higher-ups took a portion, and the rest is what we agreed on before. If the magistrate hadn't personally intervened, this matter would still be delayed, and the grain wouldn't have been delivered."
Besides delivering food, the advisor also brought good news: the north had signed a two-year ceasefire agreement, which would bring some peace for a while.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, those who went to serve in the army last year will soon be returning to their hometowns.
After entertaining the officials, the village chief quickly organized people to patrol the village. He was worried that bringing back so much grain would attract thieves.
The Chen family.
Everyone was overjoyed to hear that those who had been conscripted last year would be returning soon.
Chen Nong asked excitedly, "Is Seventh Uncle coming back soon?"
Grandma Liu said happily, "Yes, Ma Zhen is coming back."
Old Man Chen said, "After Ma Zhen returns, we will go to Youzhou Prefecture."
Outside the village, as soon as the government officials left, refugees poured in.
"Auntie, please give me some food. My child hasn't eaten for days. I'll help you with chores, anything will do," a woman said.
Beside the woman was a skinny little girl. Some villagers, seeing how pitiful the mother and daughter were, went home and brought them a flatbread and five vegetable dumplings.
The villagers handed her the food and said, "Our village is short of water. If you want more food, you can trade it with other people for water."
The woman said gratefully, "Okay, thank you, thank you!"
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, all the wealthy people in the county moved their families to Youzhou to seek refuge.
News of a truce at the border also spread.
Upon receiving the news, the village chiefs immediately began discussing the matter of fleeing the famine.
Some people say we should leave early and follow the wealthy families in the county. They say rich people are most afraid of death and run faster than rabbits when trouble comes. Following them will help us live longer. Once we've settled in Youzhou, we can then find the people who have returned from exile.
Some people suggested that half of the people should go first, following the wealthy families, while the other half should wait for the conscripted soldiers to return before going together.
Many people wanted to wait for those who had been conscripted to return so they could leave together.
As for how to get there, the journey from here to Youzhou Prefecture is fraught with difficulties, so they have to find a village alliance to cooperate with.
In Anping Village, everyone gathered together to discuss this matter.
The village's decision is definitely to wait for the people who were sent to the army to return before they leave.
As for the villages in the alliance, two have been identified: Lotus Village and Mountain Village.
The people from Hehua Village and Dashan Village are easy to get along with. Many people from both villages used to work for the Chen family. They were good at their jobs and got along well with the villagers.
Peach Blossom Village also brought up the matter of an alliance with the village chief, but the village chief refused.
The people of Peach Blossom Village planned to leave half of their village first, leaving the other half behind. Half of them had already left to catch up with the wealthy families ahead. The remaining half would wait for the conscripted soldiers to return before leaving.
Peach Blossom Village proposed to leave with the people who stayed behind.
The people from Anping Village who were going to serve in the army clashed with the people from Taohua Village. The village chief knew about this, and given the existing rift, he would never agree to cooperate. Even if he did agree, the villagers would not.
He rejected all the other villages that approached him for cooperation, not only because the remaining villages had too many people and too much trouble, but also because the village chiefs were arrogant and difficult to get along with.
Cooperating with these people is a recipe for disaster; it's better to just refuse them all. The combined population of their three villages is considerable.
As Old Man Chen listened to their discussion, a strange sound suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Host successfully locked, 'Garbage System' binding in progress... Main system binding successful, secondary system binding error..."
Old Man Chen looked around in confusion and whispered, "What is that?"
Then I stopped paying attention.
Back home, the voice suddenly echoed in my mind again.
"'Garbage System' successfully bound. Would you like to activate it?"
"Who's talking over there? Come out here!" Old Man Chen looked around and then pulled Zhou Shi behind him.
Zhou asked in confusion, "Old man, who are you talking to?"
Old Man Chen frowned and said, "Did you just hear a strange sound?"
Zhou asked in confusion, "No, I just heard you talking."
Then, the voice rang out again, "'Garbage System' successfully bound. Would you like to activate it?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com