Chapter 27 Drought
"This year's harvest is probably not good. If things continue like this, grain prices will inevitably remain high." The academy's teacher realized the seriousness of the situation and couldn't help but worry.
"The academy should also prepare early," Xue Huai'an reminded them. There have been many droughts in this dynasty, and even though the court sends people to provide disaster relief, the impact is always extremely severe.
After returning from the back mountain, everyone was in a bad mood. After all, a disaster was about to occur, and there was nothing that could be done to stop it. They could only hope that the drought would not be too severe.
However, even with mental preparation, by the end of August, the crops in the fields, due to the severe drought, yielded less than 30% of their original output. Forget about paying taxes, even having enough to eat was a problem.
Fortunately, the county magistrate cared about the people and submitted a memorial early on, stating that the drought was severe and requesting that this year's taxes be waived. However, the area was remote, and it would take quite some time before the memorial could be delivered to the capital.
Nowadays, the grain shops in town are crowded with people buying grain every day, with long queues forming before dawn.
"One hundred coins a catty? Why don't you just rob us? Didn't we say yesterday it was only eighty coins a catty?"
"That was yesterday's price. Now that no grain is being transported from outside and the harvest is poor, the price will be different after today!"
The owner of the rice shop wasn't worried about not being able to sell his grain or that customers wouldn't buy it. While other grain merchants in town were still observing and trying to stockpile grain to make a big profit, the fact that his shop was still selling grain was already considered a sign of conscience.
The people queuing to buy grain dared not speak out against their anger. Nowadays, there are hardly any grain shops open in the town, so even if the price of grain is high, they still have to buy it.
Upon hearing the news brought back by Wei Ersao, who had gone out to buy supplies, Song Yushu promptly closed the restaurant ahead of schedule.
For a time, apart from the families who came out to buy grain and those still looking around on the street, the town had become much quieter.
After the Wei family secretly delivered several jars of pickled vegetables at night, they told Song Yushu to be careful with her two children. Wei's mother was even worried and wanted Song Yushu to take her two children back to the village with them to avoid trouble.
Song Yushu also felt that it was not safe for her and her two children to stay in the town, but she still needed to take Zhou Chengyu to the academy to ask for leave and would not be able to return to the Wei family for two days. So she asked the Wei family to take Zhou Chengzhu and the food from the restaurant back first.
The next day, Song Yushu took Zhou Chengyu to the academy to explain the situation.
Xue Huai'an quickly agreed to the matter and discussed it with the other teachers. They decided to let the students of the academy go home and let them return to the academy after the drought was over.
Unexpectedly, on the day Song Yushu drove the oxcart back to the Wei family with Zhou Chengyu, a grain looting incident occurred in the town. If the county magistrate had not reacted in time and sent many officials to suppress it, it would have caused a great disaster.
Song Yushu was also alarmed, feeling that their departure was the right thing to do. The disaster had only just begun, and the town's order had already been disrupted. If the mother and her two children had stayed in the town, they would have become easy prey for others and would have brought trouble upon themselves sooner or later.
Fortunately, their journey to the Wei family went smoothly without encountering any obstacles.
"You're back! Was the journey smooth?" Mother Wei was finally relieved to see them return.
“The situation in town is not good. Fortunately, we came back early. However, the situation may get worse in the future, so we should make some preparations as soon as possible,” Song Yushu explained to the Wei family after entering the house.
The Wei family now has quite a few members, plus Song Yushu and her two sons, making a total of fifteen people. It is indeed a bit crowded, but living together now at least gives them a sense of security.
"Let's build a wall and get two more dogs. That way, at least we can keep an eye out for anyone sneaking in at night," Mr. Wei said, thinking of things more carefully for the sake of his family.
"Tomorrow, my second brother and I will go to the other side of the riverbed to collect stones," said Wei the eldest, naturally agreeing to build the wall, knowing his wife and children were worried.
Song Yushu didn't just sit there; the next day he went with Wei's father to collect stones.
Many villagers came to the river to fetch water. When they saw them, they couldn't help but ask a few more questions. After learning that they were going to build a wall, many people were interested.
After all, human nature is most vulnerable during times of severe disaster, and building a wall can provide more protection.
The river in the village is almost dry; only a thin stream flows through the cracks in the rocks. It takes a long time to fill a bucket, and the bucket is full of mud and sand. It is likely that the river will dry up completely in a few days.
Song Yushu stood on the exposed riverbed, searching for some flat-looking stones and putting them into his basket.
Song Yushu turned over the stone, and the soil under the cracks was still damp. A thought struck her.
She waited quite a while until the villagers who had gone to fetch water returned before she began her operation. Reaching the water source, she turned over a large rock and found a nest of loaches underneath. With lightning speed, she caught them all in one net before they could escape.
Song Yushu flipped over several stones and not only caught eels and loaches, but if he was lucky, he could also catch a few crayfish in the grass.
After noticing what was happening on her side, Brother Wei and Brother Wei Er quickly joined in. Food was precious these days, so it would be good to gather as much food as possible.
“Let’s go back. We don’t lack food right now. Catching these is just a taste. We shouldn’t go too far,” Father Wei told his children, and they carried the stones and the half-basket of river fish back.
Mother Wei was surprised that they could find so many river delicacies while moving stones. She quickly drew water from the well and put the river delicacies in to expel the sand.
Nowadays, only families with their own wells are better off, as they don't have to travel long distances to fetch water.
With the stones they carried back as a base, the Wei family father and sons built the wall in just a few days. Since it concerned the safety of their family, the wall naturally had to be built higher, so they put in a lot of effort.
Many families in the village went to collect stones to build walls, but they didn't put as much effort into building high walls as the Wei family; they just wanted psychological comfort.
After the river completely dried up, villagers started coming to fetch water.
Besides the Wei family, only Lizheng and another family in the village had dug wells, so there were quite a few people lining up to dig wells at the Wei family's house every day.
People came and went, some grateful to the Wei family for coming to fetch water for them, while others felt resentful and would often make sarcastic remarks while fetching water.
"If you ask me, the Wei family is really rich. Digging a well can cost more than ten taels of silver!"
"No, their family is the most comfortable in the village now, unlike us, who have to get up before dawn to fetch water."
The originally harmonious scene became awkward because of the man's dissatisfaction.
“Li Erniu, when my husband suggested to the village head that we dig a well in case the village was short of water due to a severe drought, I remember you were the one who objected the most, right? How come you have the nerve to complain about us now that we are willing to provide you with water?”
Mother Wei retorted without any politeness.
"That's right, Li Erniu, if you don't want to fetch water, then get out of the way. There are still quite a few people behind us in line!"
"If it weren't for people like you objecting, our village would probably have already dug a well long ago, instead of waiting for so long."
The people behind were afraid that Li Erniu would anger the Wei family and then stop fetching water for them once the gates of their courtyard were closed, so they all denounced Li Erniu.
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