Lin Xueqing and Lin Shucheng were also sleepy, but they couldn't sleep yet. They could only sleep later when the tent was set up.
Lin Xueqing took out the small knife again and started to sharpen the arrowhead with a wooden stick, while Lin Shucheng helped her.
However, he couldn't help much, and Lin Xueqing had to process it again. Seeing that his wife and daughter were sleeping soundly, he simply set up two fires in the open space next to him, one to cook porridge and the other to boil ginger soup.
The villagers were so busy they barely had time to breathe. They couldn't weave the vines properly, so they simply draped them all over the ground, hoping to at least keep out some of the rain.
The weather in early May wasn't cold; when they left in the afternoon, they were still sweating from the heat. But now that it's raining, the temperature has dropped sharply, and they're still soaking wet and feeling a bit cold.
It's unclear how long this rain will last, and some households don't even have bedding.
After the ginger soup was ready, Lin Jinyue woke up from her afternoon nap.
When she saw her father about to call everyone over for ginger soup, she quickly pushed him aside, saying, "I'll get the soup for them."
When Lin Jinyue woke up, she saw her grandfather's family peeking in their direction, probably wanting to take advantage but not daring to come closer.
The villagers came over with bowls, expressing their deepest gratitude.
Lin Jinyue scooped a spoonful for everyone. Lin Youliang's family waited until the end. Everyone else came one person from each family, scooped up some ginger soup, and then went back to share it with the others. But Lin Youliang's family was different. The whole family came with bowls, even the toddler who couldn't walk yet had a small bowl in his hand.
She wouldn't let her father share the money because she was keeping an eye on her grandfather's family.
Even if the blood ties have been severed, it would be unreasonable not to give her anything. But she is different. Lin Youliang's family almost sold her to others as food reserves. Her body is still that of a child. Even if she doesn't receive anything, no one will say anything.
Lin Jinyue rolled her eyes as she watched Lin Youliang's family of nine, young and old, line up and shove their bowls in front of her. She then took away the rest of the ginger soup.
Lin Youliang was unhappy, but out of consideration for the village chief, he lowered his voice and scolded, "You brat, why do you give to everyone else but not to your own grandfather?"
Lin Jinyue retorted directly, "What did you say? Speak louder, I'm calling for Grandpa Village Chief!"
Lin Youliang choked, his anger rising. This brat dared to ride roughshod over him!
Wang Chunmei stepped forward, about to say something, but was glared at by her husband and immediately fell silent.
This fire is burning inside; do they dare to challenge it?
Their family was already disliked by the villagers and could be driven away at any time. If they started arguing again, the village chief would probably kick them out on the spot.
The whole family dared not retaliate; their anger was seething inside them, and they almost suffered internal injuries from holding it in.
In particular, the differential treatment shown by villagers.
They no longer dare to occupy the good middle positions, but only dare to squeeze onto the edges.
The family was whispering amongst themselves, who knows what mischief they were plotting.
Lin Youcai was still shouting loudly, "Quickly, take advantage of the rain and collect more water."
After giving his instructions, Lin Youcai walked around with his tattered umbrella. Seeing that Lin Jinyue's family was not moving, he went over to them.
Lin Jinyue hurriedly said, "Grandpa Village Chief, come in quickly. You're getting old, so don't worry too much. You'll catch a cold."
As he spoke, he handed over a bowl of ginger soup.
Lin Jinyue still quite liked Lin Youcai; he was reasonable and had prestige in the village.
Lin Youcai took the ginger soup and drank two big mouthfuls; it was too spicy for him.
He paused for a while before saying, "Third brother, why don't you collect some rainwater? Do you not have enough containers? Remember to collect the rainwater after you wash this porridge pot later."
Lin Shucheng was puzzled and asked, "What? What's the point of collecting rainwater?"
Lin Youcai sighed, "Ah, you don't know, not every water source is drinkable. Ten days ago, not long after you left, the villagers got lost and couldn't find clean water. They were dying of thirst, so they drank from the pond. Soon after, they started vomiting and had diarrhea, and they died that very night..."
Lin Jinyue shuddered. No wonder there were only a third of them when she saw them at the entrance of Nan'an County. They had drunk unclean water.
Lin Youcai continued, "This rainwater is clean. We should collect as much as possible so that we won't be unable to find a clean water source later."
Lin Jinyue hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.
I'd say rainwater isn't clean either.
But considering that there might be some dust in the rainwater, it's still much cleaner than the rainwater from the heavy industrial pollution of later generations.
Lin Jinyue nodded: "Okay, we'll take it."
They drink water from the farm, which is clear and meets drinking water standards, so they don't have this problem.
But Lin Jinyue still obediently took a clay pot to fetch water, so as not to arouse suspicion.
At this moment, Lin Youcai noticed the arrowhead that Lin Xueqing was constantly sharpening in her hand and hurriedly said, "Tiezhu, don't overwork yourself. You barely slept yesterday, and you've been busy traveling since early this morning. Why don't you take a nap?"
Lin Xueqing shook her head: "No, Yueyue said the journey is dangerous, so we need to make more weapons for self-defense."
Alarm bells rang in Lin Youcai's mind, and he turned to look at Lin Jinyue: "Er Ya, tell me quickly, how is the journey so dangerous?!"
Lin Jinyue's expression was serious: "I'm not trying to scare you, it's true. I only figured this out recently. Our place is probably not far from Song'an County, which is Prince Jing's territory. If we walk for another ten days or so, we can reach Songlin County near Yangzhou. Do you think our journey won't be dangerous?"
"The main concern is that they might go into the mountains to find food. If we run into them, we're all doomed."
"Who is Prince Jing? He's the kind of person who can seize refugees to serve in the army and as grain reserves. If we're discovered by his men, do you think we'll be in good shape? Even if they don't, with only a few dozen of us, if we encounter people running from the south to the north, can we possibly defeat hundreds of them? If they only want to steal some grain, that's fine, but what if they eat people..."
Upon hearing this, the group shuddered.
This is really terrifying.
When people are starving, they're capable of doing anything.
Lin Youcai's legs went weak, and he sat back down. "Then... these weapons, will they be enough?"
Lin Jinyue shook her head: "It's hard to say. None of us have practiced with it, and besides, the crossbow is unreliable."
Thinking of this, Lin Jinyue felt a headache coming on. Sometimes, if the killing power wasn't strong enough, it would be difficult to even encounter a ferocious beast, let alone an armored soldier. It definitely wouldn't work.
Lin Youcai took a deep breath.
Seeing that the rain was letting up, he shouted, "Come on over here! If you want to survive, come and squeeze in. I have something to say."
Some villagers were still unhappy.
"Move over a bit, half of my body is outside and I'm soaked."
"What's all the noise about? My roof's leaking too!"
"Village chief, why did you call us over in this rain? We're so tired and hungry, we really can't take it anymore."
Lin Youcai shouted again, "If you want to live, shut up and listen to me."
Seeing the village chief's serious expression, no one dared to say anything more, no matter how much resentment they had.
After all, whenever anyone encountered a problem along the way, they would ask the village chief's family for help.
Lin Youcai then repeated Lin Jinyue's words to the villagers.
They were immediately terrified, their faces turning deathly pale.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
