The bones of the two wolves were stewed into two large pots of soup. At Jiang Huaixu's suggestion, the wolf meat was pickled and planned to be smoked into jerky with pine and cypress branches the next day, which would be convenient to carry and could be preserved for a long time.
The bone soup was drunk by the whole village. Each family got some bones and meat. It wasn't much, but everyone had a smile on their face.
Two days passed, the garrison was not attacked by wild animals again, and the water level still did not drop. The villagers gradually began to become anxious.
“Why does it feel like the floodwaters haven’t receded?”
"I've marked the water's edge, but it hasn't dropped at all. How long do we have to wait?"
"We're hiding here, we have no idea what's going on outside. Since the bamboo raft is ready, how about we pick two people to go out and take a look?"
The village chief came over from behind them and said, "No need to choose. Let Second Cousin take Aliang out to check the situation. When they come back, we can decide whether to leave or stay."
Naturally, everyone had no objection.
No one wants to sleep outdoors in the mountains all day, but there must be a plan for whether to leave or stay. You can't make a decision on a whim.
Standing by the water, watching Second Grandpa and Boss Jiang rowing the bamboo raft away, Jiang Huaixu didn't want to go, but Qian Xiuzhu and Boss Jiang were worried about the danger and didn't let him go.
There should be news tonight, so let's wait for now, Jiang Huaixu thought.
But unexpectedly, even after waiting until dusk, the two people still didn't come back.
No matter how calm Qian Xiuzhu was, she couldn't help but worry as it was getting dark, and she looked into the distance from time to time.
"Don't worry, Mom. Dad said he would go to the town to inquire. At worst, I can just take a detour to the town to find them." Jiang Dalang whispered to comfort her.
"That's the only solution. It's very dangerous to walk on the mountain road at night. Let's wait a little longer. Maybe your father will come back."
Qian Xiuzhu said this as if she was comforting her children, and also as if she was comforting herself.
This wait lasted another half an hour. When the Jiang family members were completely impatient, they suddenly heard someone shouting, "Second Grandpa and Brother Liang are back!!"
Everyone was shocked and went to see.
Boss Jiang was carrying a lot of things in his hands, and Second Grandpa was walking steadily.
After everyone gathered together and took a sip of the water Jiang Dalang handed him, Second Grandpa spoke, "Two things. First, the flood outside has receded. Our Shili Village is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the only way out is through the road at the entrance. Now that road is blocked by rocks, the water can't recede."
"What?!"
"Then we can't go back to the village?"
"How can I do this?"
Everyone was stunned by the news, and some elderly people even shed tears silently.
Second Grandfather also sighed deeply, "Who could have imagined something like this would happen? I've lived for so many years and have never heard of this before. But right now, there's something important. Some people in town are saying that the imperial court has ordered a conscription, and our Huai'an Prefecture is conscripting men. I heard it's quite a big deal."
There was dead silence all around.
"Let's not talk about how many people died in the floods. Just this winter, many people will die due to lack of food. If we conscript more men, we will really have no way to survive." In a few words, Boss Jiang stated the cruel reality that no one wanted to face.
Seeing no one respond, the village chief had no choice but to step forward and say, "We are still in the mountains. No one can find us unless we go around in a big circle and go into the mountains. It's not that serious yet."
After these words were spoken, the heavy atmosphere eased a little.
"Ah Liang, are you hungry? How about you and Second Cousin eat something first, and then we can discuss what to do next?"
When Boss Jiang went out, Qian Xiuzhu stuffed him with a lot of food, and there was some left over after both of them ate, so they were not hungry.
"Brother Zhengmao, let's just discuss what to do next."
Boss Jiang was not in high spirits. He had always wanted to return to Shili Village. Even though he had suffered a lot here because of his stepmother, he had lived on this land for more than 30 years and it was hard to leave his hometown.
But in the blink of an eye, the village was flooded, his father was buried under the water forever, and his only sister was still missing. Now he only hopes to find his sister as soon as possible and settle down with his family.
Everyone was concerned about their future, and Jiang Huaixu was no exception. After listening to a few words, she knew that she had to flee from famine.
She was not surprised by the result.
Originally, she thought that even if the village was gone, she could still stay in the mountains for a while. However, when the news of conscription came out, this way was blocked.
Although it is not clear who we are fighting against, it is certain that Nanxia has evil ambitions. Now that the chaos has broken out, if they take advantage of the situation and sneak in, it will not be safe to hide in the mountains.
After some discussion, the village chief finally decided to flee to the north. Generally speaking, there are floods in the south and droughts in the north. Now we have only heard of floods in the south, and it is not yet known whether there is drought in the north. Since there is no news, there may be a glimmer of hope by going north.
Most importantly, the land in the south is fertile, with little wasteland. If they escape and don't get any land and are sent back, it would be a complete waste. It's different in the north, where the weather is colder and there's more wasteland. So many people need land to make a living. Without it, they wouldn't even be considered commoners.
The villagers naturally had no objection to the village chief's decision, but the incident happened suddenly and many people seemed to have not yet reacted to what they would face in the future.
"What are you all daydreaming about? We agreed to flee the famine, so we have to leave immediately. We can only stay here for one more day at most. The longer we stay in the mountains, the less food we will have, and the longer we will be able to survive on the journey!" the village chief said angrily.
Boss Jiang added loudly, "Since we're fleeing the famine, we're all in this together. We need to make everything clear. First, we must not be too kind. If we show kindness when we're short of food, we'll just be robbed. Second, we must keep everything we have to ourselves, just like keeping our wealth within reach. Finally, we're all from the same village, we know each other well, and we must stick together. Only then will others hesitate to steal our things."
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