Looking at Gu Yuli kneeling before her and the thatched hut reduced to ashes, Li Lanzhen knew she really couldn't stay in this place any longer.
She turned to everyone and said, “Fellow villagers of Hanjia Village, I have made a decision. Yesterday, my in-law Xue led his sons to see the ditch that was carved out by the flood to the east. There is a narrow spout at the top, about five meters wide. If we put logs across it, we can cross it. Once we cross that mountain, we will reach the official road leading to Youzhou.”
We plan to go through there and then continue east. Those who want to follow me can continue, and those who don't can find another way.
Unexpectedly, everyone shouted in unison, "We are willing to follow you."
The village chief watched Li Lanzhen standing tall, speaking to everyone like a leader, and felt a pang of unease. But then he thought that he was getting old and couldn't work anymore, so he should hand over the power. Then he glanced at his eldest son, Han Shunde, standing behind Li Lanzhen. Sigh, it was all for his daughter's sake; his sons had already drifted away.
Li Lanzhen spoke again, "If you are willing to come, pack your things now, take care of your elderly relatives and children, and we will set off."
Han Mingjiang tugged at Li Lanzhen, "Mother, if the people from Han Family Village are to travel with us, we must choose someone to lead the way. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the elderly and children to move forward with so much stuff on their backs."
Li Lanzhen turned to Han Shunde and said, "In-law, you arrange this matter. Select a few young and strong men to take turns clearing the way."
Han Shunde nodded and said he would arrange it.
Li Lanzhen led her family at the front, while Zhang Yuniang was arranged to ride on a large blue mule. The mule's back was padded with thick blankets, and she gripped the reins tightly as she rode on it, with Han Minghai following closely behind.
Han Mingjiang's two sons were very young, and Xue Bao put them in baskets on either side of their family's big gray donkey.
Li Lanzhen's family also had a big black donkey, which was given to Li Guangyang. Li Xishui's injuries had improved a lot, and he was able to walk on his own with the help of a cane. Li Erhan had recovered long ago.
So the whole family doesn't need to ride a donkey; they can just pick up Miaomiao and put her on the black donkey.
The road was overgrown with thorns and bushes, and after several days of heavy rain, it was muddy and difficult to walk on. You could only slip and slide every three steps, making your pace very slow.
Despite this, the people of Hanjiacun would pick any edible wild vegetables and branches they saw along the roadside and put them in their baskets, or cut them down with a sickle or a woodcutter's knife and carry them on their backs.
Xue Bao led the donkey, while Han Yisong and Han Yibo, sitting in baskets on either side of the donkey, saw Li Lanzhen following behind, carrying a large bundle on her back and a basket in her hand.
The two grandsons called out, "Grandma, give me the basket, I'll carry it."
Li Lanzhen looked at her grandson with affection and waved her hand, "It's okay, Grandma can carry you. You two sit still and listen to your uncle."
As Li Lianzhen walked, she observed that the trees on both sides were very dense and thick.
She thought that if the log bridge was difficult to cross, there should at least be three trees along it. What kind of rope could be used to tie these three trees tightly? So she decided to search in the space's shop to see if there was any rope.
After looking around and not finding any ropes for exchange, she posted a small note saying that ropes were urgently needed and could be exchanged for grain.
There was no other way; all she had at the moment was grain, which she could exchange with merchants.
After hanging up the message, she continued walking, but her feet were slippery and difficult to walk on. Han Minghai then handed her a stick as thick as a child's arm. "Mother, take this and use it to walk. It will be easier. Mother, be careful, the ground is slippery."
Li Lanzhen still liked her sons quite a bit; they were all filial, not afraid of hardship or fatigue, and were all good children.
The deeper we went into the mountains, the less the rain fell. Perhaps it was because the dense trees here blocked some of the raindrops.
Similarly, wild vegetables and weeds have become more abundant in the mountains, and wild pheasants and rabbits occasionally dart out.
Whenever this happened, the people of Hanjiacun would rush off to chase after it.
Li Lanzhen didn't care about them. Anyway, they would definitely have to stay overnight after arriving at the mountain stream. Just logging would probably take more than two hours because they didn't have any suitable tools and could only use a woodcutter's knife.
There are two machetes in the space. If all else fails, we can take them out. The scapegoat will definitely be Jin Fulai's young master.
Li Lanzhen was walking on her head when she suddenly felt something hit her, causing a sharp pain. Looking down, she saw a spiky, brownish-red chestnut ball lying on the ground. Looking up, she exclaimed, "Wow!" There were probably dozens of chestnut trees here. Because they were tall and received a lot of sunlight, the chestnuts were now ripe, and many of them had cracked open, revealing their brown shells inside.
This is a good thing; we must collect it all. Li Lanzhen actually wanted her family to do it themselves, but then she thought better of it—at least she'd have something to eat. The people of Hanjia Village still had nothing to eat.
So she stood to the side and called out, "Xue Bao, Xue Bao, wait a moment. There's a patch of fruit here that can be eaten as food. Let's stay here for a while."
The people behind heard her, of course. They heard her words, "It can be eaten as food," even more clearly, and they rushed forward.
Li Lan looked at them, one by one, thin and dark-skinned, covered in mud, and felt both heartbroken and sad.
Pointing to the chestnut tree, he said, "As you can see, this thing covered in thorns is called a chestnut. After you open it up, you can eat the chestnut inside. It tastes better than the roots."
The second son, Hong Hanmingjiang, tugged at Li Lanzhen, "Mom, how do you know this is edible? If you tell everyone that eating this will make bad people, they'll start causing you trouble again."
Han Mingjiang didn't want his mother to meddle in his affairs and get away with it.
Li Lanzhen said, "These are chestnuts that I saw at Jin Fulai's young master's place. They had already been roasted. He gave me a long-lived hairy ball and showed it to me, saying that if I found something like this in the wild, I could eat it."
Everyone suddenly realized what was going on and thought to themselves how lucky Li Lanzhen was to have met Jin Fulai's young master and to have learned so much.
After Li Lanzhen finished speaking, people eagerly shouted, "Auntie, can we go pick them now?"
"Sure, sure, you can go ahead. You can split up and climb the trees to knock the shells, while the women and children pick them up below. You'll need to use a stone to crack the shell open, peel it open, and take out what's inside."
As she spoke, she held up the pompom, smashed it open with a stone, and then peeled out the brown chestnut inside. She said to everyone, "Look, this is called a chestnut. Open the shell, and the kernel inside is sweet and crunchy, very delicious."
As soon as they heard there was food, everyone perked up. They put their food on the grass so it wouldn't get wet in the muddy water, and then they took their baskets and machetes and headed towards the chestnut trees.
Li Lanzhen also went over, thinking that it would be great if she could put this chestnut tree into her space and plant it somewhere. But as long as she thought about it, the system had said that there wasn't an inch of land in her space that she could cultivate.
It's just a big warehouse for her to store things. Stop daydreaming. Sigh, well, one should be content. Having her own space and a mall to redeem things in is truly her good fortune.
Li Lanzhen quickly climbed a big tree. Standing on the branch, she was a little surprised that she had acquired such an ability. Then she thought, "Oh, this must be the original owner's skill. Climbing trees and digging for wild vegetables should be an essential skill for a country woman."
Sitting on a tree branch, she wondered if she could put all the chestnuts she had touched into the bag. So, she reached out and swept her hand across a patch of chestnuts, silently chanting "collect."
Sure enough, all the chestnuts on the branches were gone. Li Lanzhen laughed heartily three times, overjoyed. She quickly stood up and gathered up all the chestnuts around her, only putting a few into her own basket.
In less than half an hour, all the dozens of chestnut trees in the area were wiped out.
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