Li Lanzhen watched as her son and daughter-in-law quickly found a spot, tidied up the house, and prepared to go up the mountain to take a look.
The Xue and Zhang families had gotten used to it. Whenever they needed to stay somewhere, they would first look at where Li Lanzhen's family had booked a place, and then they would stay on either side of their house.
Dog Egg and his grandson lived next to Xue Laohu's house, Han Dazhong's house, and Ma Dazui's house.
Han Shunde is staying with his parents this time, as he needs to keep an eye on his sister Han Yanyan, who has gone mad.
The children were exhausted after tumbling down the mountain. As soon as they arrived, Han Yuemei laid out straw mats, and the children lay down to sleep one after another.
"Yueming, you stay here and watch over the children. I'm going up the mountain to check on things. The further down you go, the drier it gets."
When Zhang Yueniang saw that Han Yuemei also wanted to go up the mountain, she said, "Yuemei, if you want to go, then go. I'll take care of the children."
Seeing that Zhang Yueniang looked unwell, Li Lanzhen asked her, "Yueniang, is your stomach upset?"
"It's alright, Mom, I'll just have some water."
Li Lanzhen took a pinch of brown sugar from her basket and put it in a bowl. "Here, pour boiling water over it, drink it, and sleep with the children for a while."
Zhang Yueniang's eyes reddened with emotion. She took the bowl and nodded, "Thank you, Mother." Zhang Yueniang's mother, Zhang Li, standing beside her, felt even sweeter than if she had drunk brown sugar water herself, seeing how kind her daughter's mother-in-law was to her.
I quickly added some grass to the stove to boil water so I could make brown sugar water for my daughter to drink and rest.
Li Lanzhen brought Han Yuemei along, and then Xue Bao's mother, Wu, also came carrying a basket on her back. "In-laws, I'll go up the mountain with you too."
"Alright, let's go." Li Lanzhen knew that her in-laws were worried about her and her daughter going up the mountain, so Wu had come along.
The three of them slowly climbed the mountain, digging up any edible wild grass they saw along the way and throwing it into their baskets. Li Lanzhen stayed a little distance away from them, and whenever she saw a sapling or any wild grass, she threw it into her spatial storage, roots and all.
Because Li Lanzhen always remembered that the first merchant who exchanged a few horsetails for a cornbread bun with her liked plants with roots, whenever she had free time, she would dig up plants with roots and throw them in to exchange with that merchant.
Firstly, Li Lanzhen was grateful for the kindness shown to her. Secondly, the merchant was exceptionally generous, exchanging items for grains, coarse cloth, and other necessities that Li Lanzhen would need during her escape from famine or even after settling down.
The three of them walked uphill for a while, but they didn't find many wild vegetables. Moreover, the mountain was muddy and difficult to walk on, so Li Lanzhen said to them, "Let's go back."
Mrs. Wu chuckled, "Alright, let's go back. There's very little fresh grass and wild vegetables here; they're all withered. Sigh, I wonder what the situation is like down at the foot of the mountain."
Li Lanzhen looked up and gazed into the distance. Below the mountain was the official road leading to Youzhou, but she had no idea what the situation was like there.
She turned her head to look in the direction where Han Mingxiang had fallen into the floodwaters, her heart filled with worry.
She thought to herself that Han Mingxiang had studied in the private school for more than four years and was a little thinner than his two older brothers. Fortunately, the child would go up the mountain to chop firewood and dig wild vegetables and work in the fields whenever he had free time, so he was quite sturdy.
I don't know if he can keep the bag I gave him. I hope Han Mingxiang is smart enough to let go if he can't keep it. As long as he's alive, that's all that matters.
What Li Lanzhen was really worried about was that Han Mingxiang was with Han Shulan, and what was even more worrying was that Han Shulan was a beautiful girl.
In this chaotic world, being beautiful is the most dangerous thing for a girl to do, and for her family to die.
Hopefully, things will go smoothly for the two children, and I also hope they can reunite with their family soon.
The three returned to the mountain valley, where Xue Nizi had already prepared a meal: wild vegetable porridge and wild vegetable pancakes.
They still included both Xue Laohu and Zhang Deshui's families.
Li Lanzhen was carrying a bowl when Linglong came over and sat down next to her. Miaomiao also came over and sat down on the other side. The two little girls giggled.
Han Yibo also wanted to sit next to Li Lanzhen, but he had short legs and walked slowly. By the time he got to Li Lanzhen, there was no seat left for him.
Looking at Li Lanzhen's aggrieved little face with his big eyes, Li Lanzhen felt extremely sorry for him.
She pulled him to sit in front of her, saying, "Oh, Grandma's little grandson is here. Does he want to eat with Grandma? Come sit in front of Grandma."
The meals in Hanjiacun tonight are pretty much the same: wild vegetable porridge and wild vegetable pancakes. Of course, the porridge is mostly mixed with tree bark powder, and the wild vegetable pancakes have a little chestnut powder added.
And so, everyone was very happy; being able to eat until they were about 80% full was already a blessing.
Seeing that everyone had finished eating, the village chief coughed a few times and began, "Han Family Village, listen to me. Our whole village came here to escape famine, and we all volunteered to go to Youzhou in the east with Lanzhen. The road is still long, and it won't do without a leader. I'm getting old, and my energy isn't what it used to be, so I was thinking that Lanzhen would lead the way. What do you all think?"
Before anyone could speak, Li Lanzhen said, "I've chosen Han Shunde as our village chief. The old village chief can keep an eye on things and offer some guidance; having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. You have experience, so you should keep an eye on the new village chief. I wish us a smooth journey and that we find a good place to settle down and live a good life."
Li Lanzhen's words gave the old village chief face, boosted everyone's morale for fleeing the famine, and gave everyone hope and a goal.
That's what she needed, and that's why she said those words.
The road to escape famine is still long, and there are many people in Hanjiacun. If there is no one who can lead them and whose words are effective, then the old village chief is the only one who can do it.
However, the old village chief disappointed Li Lanzhen in the matter of Han Yanyan, but she could understand it; her own daughter was closer to her than an outsider like herself.
Even if the old village chief hadn't said anything today, she would have insisted on choosing a leader, and the old village chief's son was the most suitable candidate.
The people in Hanjiacun who elected him were all from small families, and they would listen to him. This was because even in Hanjiacun, when the old village chief resigned, his sons and grandsons would take over, and in the end, they would just go to the town to report to the village head.
The old village chief wanted her to stay in Han Family Village, but that was impossible. Firstly, Li Lanzhen didn't like to manage others, nor did she want others to manage her. She only cared about her own children, grandchildren, and parents.
So she voiced her opinion, and sure enough, the people of Hanjiacun wanted Han Shunde to succeed the old village chief as the new village chief, to lead them out of the famine and find a place to settle down and live a good life.
Han Shunde glanced at Li Lanzhen. He understood what Li Lanzhen was thinking. His father was indeed getting old, and his sister had been causing trouble all along the way. He was exhausted.
He stood up, looked at everyone, and said, "Okay, as long as everyone agrees that I should be the village chief of Hanjiacun, I will take on this responsibility and lead everyone to find a place to live and settle down by the river."
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