Xu Han went to the backyard and started picking vegetables. The tomatoes didn't grow well this year because of the hot weather; they were all crooked and looked particularly bad.
Even if they don't look good, we can't just discard them! Xu Han still picked all the ripe ones, and then went to the wasteland to pick chili peppers and green beans.
The hot weather means fewer fruits are produced. Peppers and tomatoes tend to produce more fruit in the fall than in the summer, while pumpkins and winter melons haven't produced much fruit yet!
There's no way to wash things now because the weather is too hot. The stream in front of my house has almost completely dried up. Now it's just a small trickle of water flowing every day.
Recently, the water we drink every day is from the water pipes in the backyard.
The water supply in the backyard had been shut off, but later Xu Han and Lu Chuan started drawing water directly from the waterfall for easier access to water.
Lu Chuan hollowed out the middle of a super thick tree trunk and made a water pipe, which led directly into the bamboo water pipe, ensuring that the water in the backyard never stopped flowing.
Otherwise, we would have to go to the waterfall to fetch water every day to drink.
After Xu Han finished all the housework, she began to hide in the main room making clothes and shoes.
Since the beginning of July, the weather has been getting hotter and hotter every day, and it's impossible to stay outside.
But she was bored with nothing to do, so Xu Han had no choice but to start making clothes and shoes for the two of them.
Fortunately, Lu Chuan and Xu Han haven't grown much taller, and they're not considered short for this era. Lu Chuan is about 1.8 meters tall, and Xu Han is about 1.65 meters tall.
The two are definitely on the taller side. Lu Chuan mainly grew taller in the past year, and he has been growing rapidly throughout the year.
Seeing that Lu Chuan was getting taller and taller than her, while she herself wasn't much different, Xu Han started drinking milk and soy milk like crazy. She didn't start growing rapidly until August or September of last year.
As she watched herself grow taller, Xu Han finally felt relieved.
Neither of them has grown much this year; their height is pretty much set, so they don't need to keep their clothes as long as before.
During the few days that Lu Chuan was away from home, Xu Han planned to piece together all the clothes they had worn out and paste them into shoe soles to make new shoes.
Without hesitation, Xu Han immediately found her clothes and started pasting the soles of her shoes...
Meanwhile, Lu Chuan is rushing to get here! He hasn't been here for over two months.
The situation here has changed drastically. As far as the eye can see, everything is yellow, and every step you take kicks up a thick layer of dust.
The man and his dog kept traveling without stopping, and even under the blazing midday sun, they didn't rest, instead choosing to walk in shady areas with trees.
Finally, it got too hot, so we had to stop and rest.
Lu Chuan found a place with water, washed his face, and seeing that no one was around, he simply took a shower. It was so hot that his clothes were soaked through.
When Hei Feng saw the water, he plunged straight in, not even bothering to check on Lu Chuan.
After taking a shower and cooling off for a while, the man and his dog ate something and rested before continuing their journey.
Seeing that we wouldn't be able to reach the county town today, we'd have to make do with spending the night at a farmer's house.
We can't just make do! We can't live in the middle of nowhere, since there are so many mosquitoes that they could swallow you whole.
Lu Chuan had anticipated this. The family that sold persimmons before was not far from here, so Lu Chuan planned to walk in that direction.
"Bang bang bang, is anyone home?" Lu Chuan shouted.
A short while later, a man came to open the door. He didn't recognize Lu Chuan at first, but he did until the old man came out.
"Do you remember me, sir? I bought persimmons from you before," Lu Chuan asked.
"Oh! I remember, I remember, come in quickly." The old man hurriedly led the person into the house.
"It's like this, sir. I was passing through here today, but I got delayed on the way. Now the city gates are closed and I can't get in. I was wondering if I could stay in your woodshed for the night. I won't stay for free; I'll pay for the room," Lu Chuan said, rubbing his hands apologetically.
"What are you saying? If you hadn't bought my persimmons, my family wouldn't have made so much money. It would be too formal to offer money," the old man quickly replied.
Then he turned to his eldest daughter-in-law and said, "It's so late, they must not have eaten yet! Eldest daughter, hurry up and go make some food."
"Yes, Father, I'll go right now." The woman said and was about to leave.
"No need to trouble yourself! I ate some pancakes on the way, I'm really not hungry," Lu Chuan quickly replied.
"Don't be shy. It must be tiring traveling in this hot weather. You can't go on without eating." Then he said to the woman, "Go quickly."
Lu Chuan could no longer refuse, so he could only let the woman go into the kitchen.
"How have you been lately, sir? How's the summer harvest going? Our grain production has dropped significantly." Lu Chuan asked, trying to get information out of the old man.
"Hey! My health is not bad. It's just that God! It hasn't rained for more than half a year, and the grain yield in the fields is not good. Our grain yield is 40% less than before, and this is only because we water it every day."
"We have plenty of water here, and we haven't experienced any water shortages. I heard that Yangjia Village, ten miles away, has lost 60% of its grain because of the lack of water!" the old man said with a worried look on his face.
"That much less? Our situation is similar to the old man's, with a 40% reduction compared to previous years. We thought that was already a significant reduction, but we didn't expect a 60% reduction." Lu Chuan sighed.
"God doesn't leave people a way to survive! During the summer planting season, everyone planted sweet potatoes and the like. No one planted corn or soybeans. Even if they did, there was no water to irrigate them, so there was no harvest."
The old man sighed and continued, "Now there's no water in many rivers, even the big river near the official road is almost dry. If it doesn't rain, there won't be any harvest at all during the autumn harvest."
"Who can argue with that! Life will be even harder without food."
“There’s a family in our village that’s so desperate they’ve started selling their children. If this continues, I’m afraid this situation will only get worse.”
“Yes! Selling it might allow us to survive, but without food, we're doomed,” Lu Chuan replied.
"If things continue like this next year, the world will probably descend into chaos. If it doesn't rain soon, there won't even be enough water to drink, and many people will likely start fleeing south."
"At least if we escape to the other side, we'll have a drink of water. If we stay here, we won't even have water to drink," the old man continued.
"Escaping is not easy; how many people actually make it to their destination alive?" Lu Chuan said.
"Yes! If we escape, we might survive; if we don't escape and it doesn't rain, we really won't survive. Who would want to take this step unless it's the very last resort?" the old man said.
"I hope it rains soon!" Lu Chuan said.
Seeing this, the old man also said, "Let's hope so!"
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