Chapter 240 Heavy Snow

The first to know the news was Lijia Village, followed by Zhoujia Village. Zhou Laoer went to Zhoujia Village to spread the news, and Xuemei went back with him, bringing back some dried ferns, day lilies, etc. that had been dried at home.

Xuemei would dry whatever her mother dried. The rented house had a big vegetable garden, so she planted a lot of spinach and radishes and dried a lot of vegetables.

After Zhulan weighed the food for the eldest daughter's family and calculated the money, she found out that the eldest daughter had nothing to do at home, so she dried a lot of food. She brought five pounds of fungus and mushrooms, one pound less of monkey head, and two pounds of dried spinach, which looked large but not very heavy. There were two pounds of day lily, eight pounds more of fern, two pounds of dried dandelions, and more than thirty pounds of dried radish.

After calculation, it came to 650 coins, more than half an ounce of silver, a considerable income. If Xuemei had not still remembered the child, she would have sold it all so that her mother could support her in the future. She wanted to sell everything she had at home.

The next morning, the door of Zhulan's house was not open, and those who knew the news came to guard it early.

Zhou Laoer was good at accounting and helped with the accounting. Li's family also sold a lot. Originally, they bought more vegetables for the winter so that they could save some food, but now they have exchanged them for silver. Although they were all mushrooms, black fungus, and dried radishes, the quantity was large and they sold for more than six cents.

There are many boys in Lijia Village, and every household has a lot of dried radishes. There are no high-priced ones, but every household has a lot of low-priced ones, especially dried radishes.

Zheng Yang did not reject them and accepted all the gifts that were sent to him. He took them back to eat or sent them to the military camp as a favor.

We stopped harvesting after two days in a row because the dried vegetables took up too much space. The quantity in two days was a lot. We couldn't transport them by water to prevent moisture, so we could only transport them by land. We also had to build a shed to avoid snow and water. There were too many to move.

If the Zheng family was not useful and had money, ordinary merchants would not do such a loss-making business. The tolls were too expensive, and the losses would be even greater if they took the water route and were affected by the tide.

Moreover, people in the south can eat green vegetables in winter. People in the south don't care about dried vegetables. It is much better to eat green vegetables. Dried vegetables are only popular in the north, northwest and border areas.

When Zheng Yang was leaving, Zhulan took out half of the monkey head and dried dandelions and gave them to Zheng Yang. As for how the negotiation with Mr. Lu went, Zheng Yang's good mood showed that it must have been a deal.

A few days after Zheng Yang came back, he left in a hurry again in order to return to the northwest before the New Year.

As for Jiang Sheng's mother's illness, Zhulan didn't even need to ask. From Jiang Sheng's stiff face, she knew that it was very likely that she was pretending. The old couple of the Jiang family felt unwilling to raise her for so long without getting any benefits, but they also regretted what they had done. The alternation of these two thoughts was a bit exaggerated. As long as her daughter was not bullied, she didn't bother to care.

Half a month after Zheng Yang left, it snowed for the second time this year. It seemed like there was a leak in the sky and it snowed without end.

Zhulan looked at the boy from Li's family helping to clear the snow outside and said worriedly, "Although it's not a heavy snowfall, it has been snowing for two days and one night. The snow is up to my waist. When will this snow stop?"

Sun was worried, "Good years only last a few years. If there is a snowstorm this year, life will be hard again."

In the winter, when there is a snowstorm, houses are crushed and there is no place to live. It is not a problem if there is extra food at home, but it is a problem if there is no extra food and not much firewood. Many people die every time there is a snowstorm.

Moreover, wild animals will come down the mountain, and we are afraid of the hungry wolves!

Zhulan was thinking about Xuemei, "I don't know what's going on with the old house. Jiang Sheng is the only one in charge of the family. It's hard for him to go up to the roof and sweep the snow."

Mrs. Sun comforted her, "Your old house is strong and won't collapse. Besides, Jiang Sheng is also a capable person. With Mrs. Zhou's help, everything will be fine."

Zhulan is no stranger to various disasters in modern times, but with modern mechanization, rescue efficiency is high, and medical facilities are complete. This was not the case in ancient times. When there were refugees, they would only take it seriously. Moreover, local rescue relied on the yamen runners of the county government. Dream on, who cares about you?

The disaster is serious. It has been reported to the capital at all levels. The funds allocated for disaster relief are corrupt at all levels. It is good enough that the remaining funds can set up a soup kitchen. Don't expect anything else.

Zhulan doesn't want a snowstorm to happen. In ancient times, no matter what kind of disaster it was, there would be a lot of deaths, and the largest proportion of deaths were among the elderly, women and children.

The heavy snow fell for another day before it stopped. That night, Zhulan heard the howling of wolves. Lijia Village was close to the mountains, and the heavy snow blocked the mountains and there was no food, so the large wild animals came down the mountains to look for food.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren lit candles and stood in the yard in their clothes. The dog at home kept barking, and the sound of wolves howling outside was particularly close. They were entering the village.

Zhulan's family was not afraid because the courtyard wall was high and the snow outside the wall had been cleared. The snow half a person's height was gone, so there was no need to step on it to gain strength and there was no need to worry about the wolves jumping up.

After a while, Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er came over with torches, followed by Zhou Lao Da and Li and Zhao, both holding their children. Mingyun was holding Mingteng and Yushuang. Li sent the child into the house and came out with a worried look on her face, worried about her parents' home. But no one dared to open the door and go out at this time, who knew how many wolves would come down.

Zhulan held Zhou Shuren's hand tightly, she was scared. These wolves were not domesticated in the zoo. The ancient wolves were extremely wild and really ate people.

Zhou Shuren could still hold it together, but he felt heavy in his heart. No matter how many men there were in Lijia Village, there would always be places that they could not take care of. If they really rushed into the yard and broke in through the window, there would definitely be casualties. In the heavy snow, if the roads to the county were blocked, the injured would be infected and have a fever, which would be fatal.

Now all the doors in the village are closed, and shouts and wolf howls can be vaguely heard.

Zhulan said worriedly, "There are many men in Lijia Village. Will the wolves go to Zhoujia Village?"

The journey of a quarter of an hour is not far. Zhoujia Village is not like Lijia Village, which has high walls. Some houses have no walls but only wooden fences.

Zhulan expressed her gratitude again. Last year, a new wall was built around her home. The wall was not short, so it was safer.

Zhou Shuren could hear the wolf's screams and was a little unsure. Wolves are very smart animals. "There's no point worrying now. We'll know tomorrow morning."

Yang Dayong squatted and smoked a cigarette, "Animals have the most accurate intuition. It's only been a few days since the snow closed the mountain, and the wolves have come down the mountain to look for food. It looks like there will be a snowstorm this year."

The current situation cannot be considered a snowstorm. In his memory, the real snowstorm that occurred when he was a child was a big snowstorm that killed many people.

Zhou Shuren said, "Zheng Yang's luck is really good. According to the distance he traveled, he should have passed the capital by now. At least he is not stuck on the road."

Zhulan hummed.

Zhou Shuren saw it but didn't divert his attention. He said to the eldest and second eldest Zhou, "You two hold the dog and watch the first half of the night. Chang Lian, Chang Zhirongchuan and the other two will watch the second half. The others can go back to the main house and rest. It's safer for the whole family to stay together."

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren stayed awake all night. When it was daybreak, Zhou Lao Da and Zhou Lao Er took the four dogs out to check.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren waited for news, and they came back soon.