"There are wild vegetables here!" Soon, a group of women discovered the wild vegetables and started shouting loudly.
Other women and children also rushed forward and started picking wild vegetables.
"Let go! I was the one who found this wild vegetable first!" Widow Wang shouted.
"Hmph, so what if you found it first? Whoever picks it owns it!" Mrs. Li pulled the wild vegetables hard, refusing to give in at all, and glared at Widow Wang fiercely.
Widow Wang was so angry that her face turned red. She grabbed the roots of the wild vegetables tightly, refusing to let go. "Can you please be reasonable? I clearly saw the wild vegetables here and was about to pick them, but you guys just rushed over and snatched them. Don't you have any manners?"
The women around didn't care about all this. They were just fighting for the wild vegetables in their hands. For a while, they were pulling and tugging at each other, and the place became a mess.
The children also joined in the fun, some helped their parents pull hard, and some jumped and danced beside them, shouting "Come on!"
"Hey, stop fighting. These wild vegetables will be torn to pieces. Just share some among everyone." The village chief's wife couldn't stand it anymore and tried to persuade them.
But at this moment, everyone's eyes were red with anger, and they could no longer listen to what was said. They were still arguing and fighting. Many of the originally fresh wild vegetables had been torn to pieces, and broken stems and leaves were scattered on the ground. However, this group of people still had no intention of giving up and continued to make a big fuss next to this small wild vegetable field.
The village chief was leading the team in front, exploring the way with difficulty, when he suddenly heard a burst of louder and louder noises coming from behind him. The sound was particularly harsh in the silent mountains.
His heart skipped a beat and he quickly dropped the hatchet he was using to clear the way and ran back.
When I ran over to the group of women, I saw that they were arguing fiercely, their faces were red and their necks were thick. Some of them were pulling each other's clothes, and their hair was messy.
The village chief frowned, his face full of anxiety and helplessness. He took the gong from his waist and struck it twice with great force.
The sound of the gong echoed in the mountains, finally bringing the women back to their senses and temporarily stopping their quarrel.
The village chief was so angry that he was breathing heavily. He glared and shouted, "It has come to this, why are you still arguing? All our villagers, young and old, are hoping to find a safe place to stay as soon as possible. Don't you have any idea how much hardship and suffering we have endured along the way?
Now that we've finally found some wild vegetables here, you're all busy snatching them up. What problem does snatching solve? If there are wild vegetables here, there must be wild vegetables elsewhere in the mountains. Why do you have to hang yourself on this one tree and snatch these few wild vegetables? Is that fun?
"Don't dawdle any longer, hurry up and get going! If we delay any longer, we won't be able to reach a safe place before dark. If we encounter wild animals or other dangers, we'll be finished!"
After hearing what the village chief said, everyone, although somewhat reluctant, gradually let go of the remaining wild vegetables in their hands, but they were still muttering softly.
Widow Wang's eyes were red, and she said aggrievedly: "Village chief, we don't have to steal these wild vegetables. We are just scared of being hungry these days. Now we finally see something edible, and we can't help it..." As she spoke, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
The other women also echoed, "Yes, Village Chief, the children are crying out in hunger, and we are worried."
The village chief looked at the group of sallow-faced women and children, feeling a pang of sadness. He sighed and said in a slow, gentle voice, "I know it's not easy for everyone, but we have to hurry and find a safe place to stay. If we linger here for too long, what if we run into danger? It's almost noon. After dinner, let's rest for an hour. Then we can go find some wild vegetables!"
After hearing the village chief's arrangements, everyone calmed down and continued walking.
They walked for another half an hour on this rugged mountain road. Their feet felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and every step required all their strength.
Fortunately, everyone finally found a relatively open and flat place to stop and rest.
As the sun rose higher, it was lunchtime, and everyone took out the dry food they had brought from home and had a simple meal.
After lunch, a group of women and children could not contain their excitement and enthusiastically planned to go look for wild vegetables in the surrounding area.
As they walked, they chattered and discussed, thinking that if they could find a lot of wild vegetables and dry them into dried vegetables, they would have more food in the days to come.
The men had a clear division of labor. Some chose to stay in the camp to look after the luggage, the elderly and the children in case of any emergencies.
Another group of strong men took on the task of finding water.
After all, the water they brought from home was almost gone after all this journey. Many families were cautious and did not dare to use too much water. They only dared to take a small sip to moisten their thirsty throats when their throats were dry as smoke.
At this moment, seeing that there were actually wild vegetables growing in the mountains, everyone couldn't help but feel hopeful. They thought that since wild vegetables could grow there, there was a high probability that there was water nearby. If they could really find a water source, it would be a great solution to their urgent problem.
Yao Qingshuang also pretended to be lively and joined everyone in looking for wild vegetables. She also laughed and talked with the women beside her about where there might be more wild vegetables.
However, when everyone dispersed and went in different directions to search for wild vegetables, her expression immediately became serious. She took advantage of a gap when no one was paying attention and ran away quickly alone.
It turned out that just now, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the faucets in the supermarket could be used normally, which was undoubtedly great news.
So, she was thinking about finding a place to get water as soon as possible so that everyone could replenish their water supply and no longer have to worry about water shortage.
She jogged along the winding path for nearly a quarter of an hour, exhausted and out of breath, when she finally found a dry pond.
Yao Qingshuang stopped and became extremely alert. She first looked around cautiously with her eyes wide open, not missing any movement, and carefully observing the situation around her.
After confirming that there was no one around and no potential danger, she calmly released the water from her mysterious space.
As time went by, the pond that had been dry for a long time gradually became moistened by water. Half an hour later, the pond was finally full of water.
Yao Qingshuang stood by the pond, looking at the clean and clear water. In the sunlight, the water surface shimmered like a huge mirror, reflecting the surrounding green mountains and trees.
The corners of her mouth couldn't help but rise slightly, her eyes full of relief and satisfaction, and then she nodded heavily.
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