After paying for the medicine, Lin Momo helped Lin Daya into the car, and the group headed towards the house in town.
The two hadn't originally planned to return to town on their trip down the mountain, but after visiting the Cai family, they had to change their plans.
Since she had been brought into this situation, Lin Momo absolutely could not abandon the Cai family and let them torment Lin Daya. Besides sisterly affection, it was also a mutual sympathy between two women.
The Li family was overjoyed at the couple's return.
Time and Lin Momo moved back to the main house, while Lin Daya was placed in the west wing, the room closest to the main house.
Lin Momo told Lin Daya to settle down and take good care of her health, leaving everything else to the couple.
"Okay, I'll listen to you, eldest sister." Lin Daya readily agreed. She was a little nervous after hearing what the doctor said earlier, which suggested that the baby in her belly was not very stable and needed to be rested for a while.
Fortunately, she listened to her sister, otherwise the baby she was carrying at her husband's house might not have survived.
The reason the Cai family allowed her to stay on the kang for three to five days was twofold: firstly, they were in the wrong, and secondly, they wanted to squeeze money out of her to help Cai Erlang get married. Otherwise, her mother-in-law would have already made veiled accusations and forced her to get off the kang to do laundry and cook.
Besides taking her pregnancy-preserving medicine on time every day, Lin Momo had nothing to do, so she discussed with Granny Li what kind of nourishing meals and soups to make for her eldest sister.
With her in a good mood, Lin Daya's complexion visibly improved over the next two days.
Meanwhile, for some reason, the heavens did not send down a single drop of rain, and the early summer weather grew increasingly hot.
Under the relentless scorching sun, the parched fields gradually began to crack, and the wheat and rice in the fields, which were in the grain-filling stage, were already showing signs of yellowing.
Farmers all know that if the crops don't get the nourishment of rain, this season's harvest will be in jeopardy. They all sigh and lament, anxious and worried, hoping that when they wake up, the heavens will send down a heavy rain.
But no rain fell, no matter how much they waited.
Since we can't rely on nature, we can only rely on human effort to combat drought and provide disaster relief by carrying water to irrigate the fields.
However, the river either dries up or enters the dry season early, with water volume less than one-third of the usual amount. In order to meet the irrigation needs of their own villages, the upstream villages intercept most of the river water, leaving the downstream villages without water.
Inevitably, armed clashes broke out between villages over disputes over irrigation water.
Even among villagers, it's not uncommon for fights to break out over a single extra bucket of water.
At this time, several bloody conflicts also occurred in Linjia Village due to disputes over water.
The signs of drought are becoming increasingly obvious. People in the countryside are suffering terribly, and the situation in the city is not much better. Essential daily necessities such as rice, oil, and salt have all experienced varying degrees of price increases, with grain prices rising the fastest.
Prices rise every two or three days. Brown rice has gone from five coins a pound to ten coins a pound, and dark flour has gone from three coins a pound to six coins a pound.
The town's residents complained bitterly, saying, "Heaven is not giving us a way to survive. If it doesn't rain soon, and food prices keep rising at this rate, we'll be eating dirt."
Uncle Li felt incredibly fortunate whenever he heard these words.
That day, after returning from outside, he couldn't help but run up to Shi Guang and ask in a simple and honest manner, "Young Master, did you know in advance that there would be a drought this year, so you asked me to buy more rice and grain to keep at home?"
While people outside are panicking because of soaring grain prices, the Shi family is at ease because they have enough grain at home.
Who understands this sense of superiority that others don't have?
However, despite his cheerful demeanor, Uncle Li felt quite heavy-hearted about the impending natural disaster.
Because in the face of natural disasters, no one's life is any better.
Shi Guang naturally couldn't tell him the whole truth, but he smiled and instructed him: "Right now, things are chaotic outside. You must keep quiet about the food stockpiled at home. You also need to keep a close eye on the gates and make sure you know who the Celestials are before letting anyone in. In short, you need to be more careful than usual."
He was also instructed to pass on these words to his entire family, so as not to cause trouble for them later.
"Don't worry, young master, I understand, I understand!" Uncle Li assured him repeatedly.
In his childhood, he witnessed firsthand the famine years, when people with no food rushed into the homes of wealthy families to steal their grain. Decades have passed, but he still remembers it vividly.
Naturally, they didn't want others to know that their family had stockpiled food in advance, as it would surely attract envy, and those people would definitely try to rob them if they got desperate for food.
He thought to himself that he should give his wife and two children a good talking-to, telling them not only not to talk nonsense outside, but also not to be blindly kind and bring trouble to the family.
After time had passed, he and Lin Momo discussed the Cai family's affairs.
If the Cai family still wants Lin Daya as their eldest daughter-in-law, they will definitely send Cai Dalang to apologize and take her back within the next day or two.
Lin Momo would not let the Cai family take her back so easily. Besides, Lin Daya's health condition was still unstable and the drought was getting worse, so she could not be allowed to go back.
“When Cai Dalang comes, just send him away. We’ll talk about everything after Eldest Sister’s health and the baby in her belly have recovered. Anyway, we absolutely cannot go back to the Cai family now. They can’t even take care of themselves. Even if they have food, they’ll prioritize their own family members’ needs. They won’t care about the lives of others.”
Shi Guang readily agreed: "Alright, when Cai Dalang arrives, I'll take care of him."
After arranging things for Lin Daya, Lin Momo thought of something else: "It's just that we won't be able to go into the mountains for a while, and I don't know how the crops we planted and the vegetables in the garden will grow."
"If all else fails, we can go into the mountains again in half a month. Otherwise, all the hard work we've put in so far will be for nothing. Besides, this is a year of famine, and food is becoming increasingly precious. Wasting it is really not advisable."
If it weren't for that huge rock blocking the cave entrance, Time could have gone back to the valley to water the crops and weed the fields.
But it didn't matter. During the few days the couple went into the mountains, they entrusted Lin Daya to Aunt Li and Xiao Miao and her daughter to take care of. They would be back in two or three days anyway.
"There's no rush. We just thoroughly watered the crops before we came down the mountain. Let's deal with the Cai family first."
Shi Guang had no objection to this. It was just a bit tiring traveling back and forth, but as long as his wife was happy, he didn't care.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he suggested, "The weather is getting hotter every day. Let's bring back two truckloads of ice to keep on hand. Putting ice basins in the house will help cool things down."
It's not even June yet, but the weather is hotter than midsummer, probably over 30 degrees Celsius. I never imagined that summers in ancient times could be this hot.
Fortunately, the two of them had stored up a lot of ice last winter, and it was time to put it to use.
Reminded by Shi Guangyi, Lin Momo also remembered the ice in her space. She was also intolerant of heat and was about to agree when she was interrupted.
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