The two chatted for a while longer, inevitably touching on the drought and future plans. Lu Chuan said the same things he had said to Uncle Li.
Whether Uncle Zhang understood or not, or whether he would take action, was his business, and I had no right to interfere.
The two chatted for a while longer before Lu Chuan said goodbye. He knew he couldn't go home today, as there was no way to travel tonight. He would stay overnight and set off home early tomorrow morning.
I found a guesthouse to rest for the night, and while staying there, I discovered that the price had doubled compared to before.
But he couldn't stay there, so he had no choice. Lu Chuan didn't want to cause trouble for others by staying at their homes, so he reluctantly paid the room rate.
It was still early! He couldn't sleep now, so Lu Chuan decided to go out for a stroll and check on the situation.
As I walked along, there were hardly any people on the streets. The once bustling night market had closed down at some point, and even the shops on both sides were mostly closed.
Only some daily necessities are still being sold; most food businesses are closed, with only a small number still open.
As they walked, they arrived near the grain store. After thinking for a moment, Lu Chuan decided to go straight in.
"What would you like to order, sir?" the shop assistant asked.
"I'll just look around for now," Lu Chuan said, and started wandering around.
The waiter stopped attending to customers; lately, many people had been just looking without buying, so he was used to it. The consequence was that the next time they came back, they found the prices had gone up significantly…
After taking a walk around, Lu Chuan discovered that grain prices had increased two or three times compared to before. Not only had the price of white flour and white rice risen, but even the price of miscellaneous grains had increased. What used to buy a pound of white flour could now only buy a pound of black flour. And this was after the county magistrate had issued an order.
I wonder how outrageous the food prices must be in other cities. In this day and age, it's so incredibly difficult for ordinary families to survive.
After wandering around for a while, Lu Chuan returned to the inn and ordered the cheapest meal. It wasn't tasty at all, but he couldn't waste it, so he forced himself to eat it.
At this moment, Lu Chuan really misses the delicious food his wife used to cook!
Thank goodness, I can go home tomorrow and hug my soft, sweet little wife.
It was getting late, and in order to make a better journey tomorrow, Lu Chuan decided to rest early so he could hurry home as soon as the city gates opened tomorrow morning.
Meanwhile, Xu Han continued to do the same work. When she went to bed at night, she would think about how Lu Chuan was doing while she was away, and fan herself with a palm leaf fan.
The two of them hadn't been apart for the past six months, so they really missed each other when they suddenly separated.
I wonder how things are going with Lu Chuan, whether things are progressing smoothly, and whether he can come back tomorrow. Thinking about all this, I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Xu Han got up and started cleaning the house and feeding the livestock in the backyard as usual.
By evening, it was completely dark, and there was still no sign of Lu Chuan. The county town was quite far from home, and traveling by land was very inconvenient. I wondered if I would be able to get home today.
Xu Han waited until around 10 o'clock but Lu Chuan still hadn't returned, so she had no choice but to go to sleep. It was probably too late to travel, so she would come back tomorrow.
Xu Han didn't sleep well that night, constantly thinking about Lu Chuan.
Lu Chuan also had trouble sleeping; there were too many mosquitoes in the cave, buzzing so loudly that it was impossible for anyone to sleep.
After lighting a fire to scare away the mosquitoes, it got too hot. It was really too difficult.
After a night of half-asleep, I set off for home as soon as it was light the next day.
When I got home, Xu Han had just finished breakfast and was picking vegetables in the backyard!
Hearing the dogs barking incessantly, Xu Han was terrified, thinking something had happened!
She hurriedly ran from the backyard, only to find Lu Chuan knocking on the door outside.
Xu Han quickly opened the door from the inside and said, "When I heard the dogs barking, I thought something had happened! It scared me to death."
Lu Chuan chuckled and said, "It's my fault, it's all my fault. I scared my wife. You can do whatever you want with her tonight."
"You're always up to no good. I thought you'd be back last night!"
Lu Chuan hugged Xu Han and said, "I couldn't make it back yesterday, so I rushed home early this morning."
"Ugh, it stinks! Don't touch me!" Xu Han said with disgust.
Lu Chuan sniffed himself. Well, he really did smell bad. No wonder his wife was disgusted; even he couldn't stand the smell.
Then he said, "I'm going to take a shower first, it really does smell bad."
After saying that, he carried the water that had been drying in the sun into the bathroom.
"Hand me your clothes, I'll wash them for you first," Xu Han called from outside.
"Come and get it yourself! I'm washing my hair!" Xu Han didn't hesitate and went straight inside to get the clothes.
We've been married for so long, everyone knows what each other looks like! What's there to be shy about?
After Xu Han took the clothes, she went to the backyard and started soaking Lu Chuan's clothes. Then she went back to the main room to get Lu Chuan some clean clothes to change into.
She also set out the food so Lu Chuan could eat it right away after his shower. She then went back to the backyard to wash her clothes.
After Xu Han finished washing the clothes, she hung them up to dry. Meanwhile, Lu Chuan had finished eating breakfast.
"How is it? Is the situation down the mountain alright?" Xu Han asked.
"The situation isn't too bad right now, but it's hard to say what will happen later. The grain production down the mountain has decreased by 40%, which is more than ours!" Lu Chuan said.
"We originally thought that if we reduced production by 20%, or even 30% if things got really bad down the mountain, that would be fine. We never expected that production would be reduced by a full 40%!" Xu Han said.
“We water the plants every day without interruption, which is why our yield has dropped by 20%. The water resources down the mountain are definitely not as good as ours. The old man who sold persimmons last time told me that some places have experienced a 60% reduction in yield due to insufficient water!”
"Ah! So many? What's the situation down the mountain now? Has the river dried up? It can't be this fast!" Xu Han asked in surprise.
Then Lu Chuan told Xu Han in detail about his trip down the mountain.
After listening, Xu Han didn't say anything more. In fact, everyone had a pretty good idea of what was going on. If the situation in the mountains was like this, it could only be worse down below.
But life goes on as usual; you can't just give up completely and quit! That would only make things worse.
After chatting for a while, it was lunchtime again. After finishing their lunch, the two immediately went to take a nap.
Xu Han and Lu Chuan didn't sleep well last night, so they should go to bed early! They still need to water the vegetables this afternoon!
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