Li Lanzhen led her family away quickly, and Li Erhan also felt that his family should leave as soon as possible.
What happened in Yejiawan just now was all because Li Lanzhen's outburst caught them completely off guard. Once the people of Yejiawan come to their senses and unite as one, there will probably be even bigger trouble.
Xue Laohu and Han Mingxiang stood among the rocks, peering out and watching the direction of Yejiawan. When they looked again, they saw Li Lanzhen and her group hurrying by.
Xue Laohu immediately shouted to everyone, "Everyone get ready, our in-laws are back. It looks like they've brought all the elders from their family. We're about to leave."
Xue Nizi and Han Yuemei ran towards Li Lanzhen and the others, while Han Mingxiang drove the big blue mule to meet them. They all saw that someone was injured and was walking slowly.
"Mom, quickly help Grandpa and Grandma into the car."
The brothers Li Lanzhen and Han Minghai and Han Mingjiang carried the stream water into the mule cart, and then turned around to help the two elderly people get into the cart and sit down.
Fortunately, the two mule carts were spacious, with all the goods loaded in the back and on both sides. Li Lanzhen's younger brother, Xishui, was lying in the middle, and the elderly couple could sit comfortably on either side.
At this moment, everyone arrived in front of Li Lanzhen and her family. Xue Laohu said to Li Lanzhen, "In-law, let's go quickly."
“Okay, okay, let’s go. The children can all ride in the car.” Li Lanzhen called out, and then saw her eldest daughter-in-law standing on the ground. She called out anxiously, “Yueniang, why are you still standing here? Hurry up and get in the car.”
Han Minghai knew that his wife was worried about her grandmother's family and that's why she didn't want to ride in the cart. So he said to her, "Yueniang, sit on the cart and I'll push you. It'll be faster that way."
Zhang Yueniang nodded and followed her husband onto the cart. She was worried that her pregnancy might cause her any trouble. Han Minghai picked up their little girl and placed her next to Zhang Yueniang, smiling as he said, "Sit tight, we're off."
Four-year-old Han Yinan refused to ride in the car, so he helped Gou Dan push it. Li Lanzhen was very impressed with her eldest grandson. Although the child was only four years old, he was brave, responsible, and kind. He was very helpful to his good friend and should be a good person when he grows up.
Han Mingjiang and Li Lanzhen: "Mother, sit on my cart, and I'll pull you along."
His two children were sitting on their father-in-law's donkey cart, and they called out as they looked at their mother's thin body.
Li Lanzhen was indeed exhausted. She looked up at the sky and saw the blazing sun. Her feet were covered in blisters, and her legs felt like they were made of lead, so heavy that she couldn't lift them. She thought to herself that she should sit in the car and let her son pull her for a while.
"Okay, Mom will sit in the car. You've had a hard time."
Han Mingjiang chuckled and said, "It's no trouble at all, Mom. You sit down, we're leaving now."
Leading the group was Xue Laohu's donkey cart, driven by Xue Bao. In a small hut on the cart sat Xue Nizi's two children, who were fast asleep.
Xue Laohu, Xue Nizi, and her mother followed closely behind.
Following closely behind was Zhang Deshui's donkey cart, and then Zhang Songshu's handcart, with Li Sanya helping to push it from the side.
Bringing up the rear was still Han Mingxiang driving the big blue mule cart, while Han Minghai and Han Mingjiang pushed a cart ahead. In front of them was the small cart pulled by Gou Dan and his grandson. Han Minghai's son, Han Yinan, pushed the cart with Gou Dan, while Gou Dan's grandmother held the rope in front.
Han Minghai followed behind them, pulling the cart, his eyes fixed on his son. Seeing his son bent over, using all his strength to push the cart, his face covered in sweat, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache. However, he did not stop his son from helping the Gou Dan grandfather and grandson, who were even weaker than his own family.
Sitting in the car, Zhang Yueniang looked at her 4-year-old son with heartache, glanced at her husband, Han Minghai shook his head, and stopped her from speaking.
The group walked until the sun set.
Arriving at a spot nestled against the mountain, Xue Laohu called out from the front, "My dear in-law, I think we should stay here tonight. This place is backed by the mountain and faces the official road, making it convenient to move forward or backward."
Li Lanzhen looked around and felt that this was a good place to set up camp and rest, so she nodded and said, "Okay, let's set up camp here."
The men went to unload the carts and feed the donkeys and mules, while the women cooked the meals.
Li Lanzhen looked around and figured that her parents, Zhang Deshui's family, and Gou Dan and his grandson must be having a tough time. They were fleeing famine, and if they didn't eat well, they would run out of energy due to the long and arduous journey. Since she had brought them along, she didn't want to leave anyone behind.
My parents and their family will definitely eat and drink with me, but what about the other families? This place is barren and desolate, with no wild vegetables or fruits to supplement our food shortage.
Thinking about her online store, Li Lanzhen pondered for a long time, but her biggest concern was whether these people would threaten her family's safety if they knew she had food. Even mixed black flour was a rare find these days. In the end, Li Lanzhen decided that they should eat and drink together for now.
She wasn't afraid that if these were all in-laws, they might pose a threat to her family. At worst, if they discovered any signs of trouble, she would simply leave with them.
Moreover, the journey to escape famine is long, and using this opportunity to see people's true colors is more worthwhile for me.
After thinking it through, she said to everyone, "Dear in-laws and Grandma Gou Dan, this is what I'm thinking. Right now, we need to speed up and catch up with the people in our village. When fleeing famine, we need a large population, and the more young and strong people, the better. Our families have many children, some are weak, and some are pregnant, so we still need to catch up with the main force of the Li Family Village Chief and his group."
My parents' family will be eating and drinking with us from the same pot, so for a while now we've been eating from the same pot. I just counted the heads, there are 30 people in total, haha, and one more is my eldest daughter-in-law's baby.
So, during our rest time each day, the cooking and boiling water work was assigned to Xue Nizi. You were in charge, leading the eldest daughter-in-law, Li Sanya, Tonghua, and Yuemei in cooking, boiling water, and preparing dry rations. The children gathered firewood.
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Xue Laohu didn't say anything. Anyway, he had enough food at home, which consisted mainly of chestnut flour, tree bark, wild grass powder, dried vegetables, and five dried pheasants and rabbits.
Zhang Deshui's family was in a bit of an awkward situation. They had already shown their immense kindness by fleeing famine with their in-laws. They had almost no decent food left, mostly just powder made from tree bark and licorice.
The best thing is that the eldest son and his wife found a place in the mountains with plenty of water and good grass, so they secretly planted pumpkins there.
When the pumpkins were ripe, not a single bit was wasted. Even the roots were pulled out, washed, dried, and ground into powder along with sliced and dried pumpkin. This powder was then mixed with tree bark and hay powder, and even then, there wasn't much left.
Then there were Gou Dan and his grandson. Just as they were about to speak, Li Lanzhen waved her hand to interrupt them: "Alright, don't feel embarrassed about not having enough food at home. Just do more work."
At this moment, Xue Laohu said, "My dear in-law, I will take Leopard and my son-in-law to keep watch, scout ahead, and arrange for guards to be on duty tonight."
Li Lanzhen nodded and said okay.
Xue Nizi, along with the few people Li Lanzhen had just mentioned, set up three large pots, one specifically for boiling water. Li Lanzhen had been emphasizing the need to drink boiled water all along the way, and everyone had already accepted it.
Before long, two large pots of dried wild vegetables, diced pheasant meat, and dark flour paste were ready. The aroma of the food drew the children to the pots, and they wouldn't leave.
Li Lanzhen felt heartbroken. These were just kindergarten-aged children, yet they had to travel with adults through desolate mountains and wilderness.
She walked over to the children and said, "Wash your hands and get your own bowls to line up for your meals."
Before long, Han Yinan took on the role of an order keeper, directing the children to line up from youngest to oldest, and even helping the youngest child find a place to sit while holding their bowl.
There was enough food for both adults and children. After rubbing their bellies, which hadn't been full in a long time, they lay down and went to sleep.
Early the next morning, they decided to continue chasing the large group of people fleeing famine from Lijia Village.
After loading the car, they were ready to leave when, unexpectedly, Xue Bao shouted loudly from afar:
"Dad~, something terrible has happened~~ they're conscripting! Run!"
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