“There shouldn’t be any fish or shrimp here right now. The drought was so severe before, it will definitely take some time to recover,” Yun Liping advised Yun Qi as she saw her weaving fish traps again.
“These things are often so magical. Even if the water flow stops, they reappear from who knows where once it resumes.” Yunqi answered while weaving. “You should make one while you have time, so you can improve your meals tonight.”
"Then I'll give it a try. Otherwise, I'll get tired of eating all kinds of meat every day." Although Yun Liping was not very convinced, she did not want to spoil Yun Qi's mood. Besides, it was not a big deal. She could sit down and rest while finishing the task.
With their guidance, other women in the village joined in, and soon every household had made their own unique fish traps.
After Sicheng and his team finished clearing the nearby land, they took the woven traps and the reptiles they had just caught to the previous water source to set traps.
Gu Mili and his friends also brought back several large bundles of sweet potato vines and perilla leaves.
"Looks like we can improve things tonight," Yunqi said happily as he led his men to take the things. "I didn't expect so much could grow from the land we had before. It seems we'll have to visit the fields when we go back in the future."
Along their journey, they passed many abandoned villages, but they didn't bother to check them out because they were in a hurry. Now they know that even after a drought, some crops will still grow in the fields, so they can go and pick up the leftovers.
“Leave these things to us then, after all, we have experience,” Yun Qiao quickly volunteered.
"You've only picked such a small amount, yet you dare to boast that you're very experienced? Don't get slapped in the face next time." Yun Qi mocked him without any politeness.
Yun Qiao said, "No, we still need to look for it later. There are so many farmlands here, there can't be just this little bit of stuff. We brought it back first because we couldn't carry it all."
Gu Mili and the others nodded in agreement, "We have a lot of farmland in this area, and we only found one spot to harvest."
Yunqi said, "Should we go with them? It'll be harder to find them once it gets dark."
Gu Mili and the others were not arrogant, because it was indeed getting dark soon, and more people would mean more things could be found.
Seeing what they were doing, several other villages joined in, since everyone wanted to improve their lives.
That evening's dinner was the most lavish they had on their trip. In addition to the sweet potato leaves and perilla leaves they had found at the beginning, they also found chili peppers and some ginger.
These seasonings are perfect for pairing with river shrimp and various kinds of fish caught from the water.
"It's so comfortable. It's always so nice to be at home, but everything is so difficult when you're out. After so many days, I can finally have a decent meal." Yun Heng burped, his belly protruding.
Since the climate returned to normal, everyone has been eating wild vegetables all the time, but a meal with all the ingredients is truly a rare treat.
To prevent them from going back without seeds, Village Chief Zheng specifically asked them where they had found sweet potato vines, as he wanted to harvest some to take back and plant.
Yun Qiao and the others went out mysteriously several times at night, but they all returned empty-handed. They didn't know where the wild rabbits that used to be abundant in this area had gone.
They didn't even consider that after a drought, even animals need to survive and will definitely migrate to places with more abundant water.
According to the original plan, everyone set off early the next morning and arrived at Yancun in the afternoon.
They blocked the entrance to the high wall surrounding the salt village with stones. It took them some time to clear the stones before they could enter the village.
"This is so different from when we left. Why have all those houses collapsed?" Old Liu, the accountant, looked at the dilapidated wooden houses and the overgrown roads and almost couldn't recognize that this was his former village.
Village Chief Zheng put down his things and ran towards the village's warehouses, which were where the village would settle down and make a living in the future. He couldn't let anything go wrong.
He hasn't forgotten that after the house collapsed in the earthquake, although the bricks were put back together and glutinous rice was added, the roof was made of wood and covered with straw, so it might not survive the rainy season.
"Village chief, let's slow down." Ah Xiang and Ah Jiang followed him closely, afraid that he would fall.
"Uncle Village Chief, didn't we cover it with a thin film? Even if it rains, it won't have much of an impact," Ajiang reminded him as he ran.
“Even if there is a thin film covering it, we have been away for so long, and anything can change. I can’t rest easy until I see it with my own eyes,” said Village Chief Zheng, expressing his worries along the way. “By the way, don’t all follow me. Go and check on our salt wells. We can’t afford any mistakes.”
After Ah Xiang turned and ran towards the salt well, Village Chief Zheng continued running towards the warehouse.
Looking at the warehouse that was still standing there, Village Chief Zheng felt much relieved. However, when he saw that some green weeds had sprouted on the roof, his heart skipped a beat.
He tried to take out the key he had always kept from his pocket, but was stunned by what Ajiang did next.
Ah Jiang gently pried open the door latch, and the bolt connecting the key was completely removed.
"This door is rotten, Uncle Village Chief, please stand back a bit." A-Jiang was afraid that the rotten door would fall on the old village chief, so he quickly pulled him back a little.
"You be careful too," Village Chief Zheng said, then looked around.
"Ajiang, there's an iron bar over there. Use it to push the door open, but don't let anyone get too close." Although Village Chief Zheng was anxious to find out what was going on inside, he valued the safety of his villagers even more.
Sure enough, Ah Jiang only nudged it lightly with an iron rod, and the entire wooden door crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
Once the dust had settled, Village Chief Zheng held onto Ajiang's hand, refusing to let him go inside.
We don't even know what the roof looks like. If we rush in like this and something goes wrong, it will be a big problem.
Although people couldn't go inside, the two of them still stood outside the door and peered inside. The piles of salt seemed to still be there, but the wooden shelves that had originally held the salt up were now flattened on the ground, and the bottom packaging was tinged with yellow.
Ah Jiang said, "Luckily, our reserves are table salt, otherwise we definitely wouldn't be able to use anything else."
Village Chief Zheng stood at the door and peered inside. Fortunately, when they left the village, they had covered the salt with an extra layer of plastic film. This was something they used when they had surplus salt and stored it in the open air. For safety reasons, they had covered all the warehouses with an extra layer, and now it seemed like the right decision they had ever made.
Thanks to this protective layer, the salt on top seems to be well preserved. However, the ground may have been soaked by rainwater, and now there is a layer of yellowish-white crystals on the entire ground, which should be the dissolved salt that has solidified again.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com