Oak trees are widely distributed throughout Yunzhou, including in the mountains near Xiaoshi Village and in Suijin Town.
Acorn flour can stave off hunger, but it tastes bitter and astringent and is difficult to swallow. Families with scarce food supplies would prepare some to get through the famine months.
In the past, Song Zhenping and Xiao An would often burn acorns to fill their stomachs.
Now that Song Liyun is going to collect acorns, he also thinks it's a good way to store food, but it's already a bit late.
The main concern was the danger of going up the mountain. He preferred to carry more stones himself rather than let his younger siblings take the risk.
“Collecting acorns is good, but there are many wild animals in the mountains around Broken Gold Town. You and Xiao An should not go. If you have time, gather some grass by the river. I will weave a few pairs of straw sandals tonight.”
It's already cold, and Xiao An is wearing ill-fitting cotton shoes, while Song Zhenping is still wearing cloth shoes with exposed heels.
He had to work on the construction site, and he couldn't even bear to wear his worn-out cloth shoes more often.
When ordering clothes from the needlework lady in town, Song Liyun also ordered shoes for the three of them. However, making the shoes would take time, and it would take two more days to pick them up.
Song Liyun responded lightly and didn't say anything more, since she was just making a brief statement anyway.
As long as Song Zhenping goes out tomorrow, I can just take Hei Jin and Xiao An up the mountain.
Knowing that his family would also be eating acorn flour soon, Song Zhenping looked at the white flour buns and eggs on the table early the next morning and hesitated:
"Yun'er, we can buy grains now, so let's not take anything from there anymore. We won't eat these steamed buns and eggs."
In five days, the construction site will be completed, and I will be able to collect my wages and buy some coarse grains to get through the winter.
Uncle Qin said, "Military households like ours can take on jobs at the barracks and earn a little money. I can also chop firewood and sell it to the barracks."
In his calculations, even if the work stopped, he could go up the mountain every day to collect firewood and sell it to the army camp. As long as he could get a pound of cornmeal in return, he and his siblings could survive the winter.
When spring arrives, we'll plow the land and plant millet. We'll also raise chickens so we can have eggs to eat.
Every day they cut grass and raise pigs. After a few months, when the grain is harvested and the pigs are slaughtered, Xiao An and his second sister can buy themselves a few nice clothes.
The more he thought about it, the happier he became, his eyes slightly reddening, as if he could already see golden grains filling the granary and pigs and chickens running around in their pens.
Xiao An slurped down his millet porridge, then took a bite of a boiled egg yolk. When Song Zhenping said he wouldn't eat eggs anymore, he quickly put down his bowl and pushed his steamed bun over, saying, "Brother, eat!"
Song Zhenping waved his hand: "Brother has some here, Xiao An can eat it herself."
Xiao An refused.
He was terrified of hunger, and now that he was finally eating such a delicious meal, he was worried that if his brother refused to eat, he would never be able to eat it again.
At this moment, someone kept stuffing steamed buns and eggs into Song Zhenping's mouth, causing Song Zhenping to choke and roll his eyes back.
Song Liyun watched the two brothers interact with a smile.
Song Zhenping said she wouldn't boil the eggs, and she didn't; indeed, she didn't have many eggs left in her storage space.
Now, besides grains, the only meat available is two chickens, a pound of pork, and a pig. We need to find other ways to supplement our protein intake.
Song Zhenping swallowed the steamed bun and egg in his mouth with difficulty. He knew that Xiao An loved him, so he couldn't blame her.
When Song Zhenping, who was looking forward to the future, left home to work, Song Liyun took Xiao An up to the attic.
Black Gold held onto the iron chain with one hand and gripped the door frame with the other, hanging in the air in a stark pose, his eyes staring straight at the yard through the gaps in the wooden planks.
When Xiao An came into view, he jumped up and down excitedly, making the iron chains clang.
The next second, it saw the woman appear behind Xiao An, as if it had been hit in the face with another stick.
Black Gold grinned and made a face, then somersaulted back into its den, covered its head with its hands, and pretended to be asleep.
With a "bang," Song Liyun kicked open the wooden door to the attic, looked at the black gold dog pretending to be asleep, and sneered: "You can't even pretend to be asleep properly, your tail is still wagging."
Black Gold was taken aback and instinctively reached for its own tail, but it missed.
Its tail had been chopped off in the disaster five years ago, and as a result, it accidentally rolled its whole body out of its den.
Seeing Black Gold lying sprawled on the ground, Xiao An burst into laughter.
Song Liyun was both annoyed and amused.
No one knows how Hei Jin made Xiao An laugh. The shy Xiao An was originally very timid, but after being with Hei Jin for only half a day, she burst out laughing.
After a short while, Song Liyun left the house with Hei Jin and Xiao An.
The town of Suijin has a small population, and most of the people are concentrated in the central area of the town.
Song Liyun brought out the black gold without anyone noticing.
The two people and the monkey passed through the thicket outside Baolinju and headed straight for the Huangsha River, which is located upstream of Suijin Town.
The mountains near Broken Gold Town have been completely looted by the townspeople. To find the best acorns, one must wade across the Yellow Sand River.
This was Song Liyun's first time at the river, and she didn't know where the river was deep or shallow, or where it was suitable to cross.
But she had the most experienced guide, Black Gold.
The withered reeds along the riverbank were taller than a person's head, making it difficult to move.
With Xiao An on her back and led by Hei Jin, Song Liyun accurately found a narrow path, barely wide enough for one foot, through the grass and deftly navigated around patches of reeds.
After walking about two miles, a wide riverbed with slow-flowing water came into view.
This place must have been a gold rush site.
It is one mile long and five hundred meters wide. Piles of sifted sand and stones are piled up like mountains, arranged in a staggered manner, undulating along the riverbed. If one can use these piles of stones, one can cross the river during the dry season.
But... things didn't go as expected.
Five years later, these abandoned stone piles are now overgrown with weeds, and due to the erosion of the river, the distance between some of the stone piles has reached three meters.
It would be difficult for a person to jump across such a distance.
Upon reaching the riverbank, Song Liyun untied the black gold iron chain.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
