This trip means leaving home and the family business that has been built up over decades. Who can bear to give up?
Gu Xinran had only lived here for a few months, but she had already developed feelings for this peaceful and harmonious little mountain village.
If a tree is moved, it will die; if a person moves, he will live. There is no other way, he has to move.
She couldn't bear to see her grandfather's sad face, so she comforted him warmly:
"Grandpa, why are you talking nonsense? You and grandma are the pillars of our family and the guiding light.
Brother Yunchi said that in order to prevent the disaster victims from going north to the capital, the emperor will soon issue an order for the three western states to move south. They must go, the sooner they leave, the better.
My family has money and food, and we are well prepared. Don't worry, just treat it as a trip."
Brother Gu also spoke up: "Grandpa, saving your life is more important. It will be fine once we get to Yunzhou."
After saying that, he asked Gu Xinran to take out the letter given by Duan Yunchi and told her the contents.
"Good! Good! Good! Now that I have a place to go, I feel much more at ease."
With the comfort of his grandchildren and a destination in mind, Grandpa Gu's mood improved.
"Grandpa, let's not make this public for now. The whole journey is over 2,500 miles, and we're worried about any unexpected changes."
The vast majority of people in Qingshan Village are honest and reliable, but people's hearts are hidden, and no one can predict what will happen on the road, so don't get blamed.
Grandpa Gu, who had recovered his spirit, nodded in agreement and continued to work, instructing Xiaoba Gu Yuchen to load the large water tank and grain onto the car first.
Seeing how many things there were, Gu Xinran reminded him, "Grandpa, we can separate the fodder and pile it on the roof of the car. This will save space and keep us warm. How many cars does our village have now?"
"That's a good idea," Grandpa Gu replied as he worked. "After the money was divided, Uncle Wang and Carpenter Li each bought an ox cart. Today, your Uncle Chang Fu brought back a donkey cart from the county town. That makes nine carts in total. We have three, and Xiao Ba has a horse."
Grandpa Gu counted the livestock at home and couldn't help laughing. Then he remembered the lack of water and began to worry that he wouldn't be able to take care of too many livestock.
"Ranran, Grandpa is worried about the lack of water on the road. I'm afraid these two jars and one bucket won't last long."
Gu Xinran assured her grandfather that the drought in Chengzhou was less severe than in the other two states, and that if they set off early, they should be able to find water on the way.
Seeing that Grandpa and the others could handle the situation here, Gu Xinran said something and went to help Grandma Gu and Mother Gu prepare dry food.
She brought two braised meatballs to the kitchen and fed one to each person.
"Grandma, Mom, Brother Yun Chi left us a lot of food, we just need to prepare some."
Mother Gu, who was busy baking dough pancakes, chewed the meatballs and said, "These meatballs are good, but pancakes are still the best way to fill your stomach."
Looking at the two baskets of pancakes on the ground, what should I do if I don’t want to eat them?
"Mom, let's make more meat sauce. It goes best with pancakes and it keeps well."
After saying that, he ran to the yard and called Brother Gu to bring wild boar meat and a bucket of oil.
Grandma Gu was very happy to see the meat and oil. "You greedy girl, you won't need so much. Make some into meat sauce and marinate the rest to eat slowly. You must have had a hard journey. Go and rest. Your mother and I can handle it."
Gu Xinran didn't move. She was about to start a life of trekking through mountains and rivers, sleeping in the open air, and she had to have a good meal at night.
"I'm not tired, I'm about to leave. I'm going to improve the food tonight and make a big meal. I'll have enough energy to travel."
Mother Gu laughed and scolded: "It's as if I abuse you every day. Fine, you do as you see fit."
Gu Xinran hugged her mother and acted coquettishly, "My mother is the best!"
For dinner today, Gu Xinran prepared rice, braised pork ribs, fried meat with yam, bone and radish soup, and stewed cabbage, all in large bowls. She also took out a jar of tiger bone wine with spiritual spring water.
The adults ate the delicious food and drank the fine wine to their heart's content.
Xiaoxuanxuan ate two bowls of rice.
Tingting ate with her little mouth covered like a cute hamster.
The last bit of the sauce was not wasted; Brother Gu and Xiao Ba dipped the steamed buns in it and ate it.
After the meal, everyone continued to pack their luggage. Pots, pans, kitchen knives, hoes, quilts, clothes, etc. were all stuffed into the mule cart loaded with fodder, and two large jars of water were also put in.
The best mule cart had the least amount of things on it, just a large bucket and some slightly more expensive items such as oil, salt, sugar, meat, cooked food, cloth, etc. It was mainly for family members to ride.
The ox cart was full of food, which should be enough to feed the Gu family for half a year.
A broken home is worth a fortune! Grandma Gu and Mother Gu were reluctant to throw anything away. They cried bitterly as they touched the tables, chairs, benches, beds, cabinets and furniture they were used to. They could only bear the tears and let go of them because people were more important.
Except for Tingting, everyone had a personal bag containing two sets of inner clothes, dry food and water bags. The clothes they wore were sewn with golden peanuts and melon seeds.
The same goes for Xiao Ba, this was prepared by Gu's mother.
Gu's mother really treated Xiao Ba as her own nephew and made a lot of new clothes for him. He had everything that elder brother Gu had. He followed the local customs and never wore the black clothes he wore when he was a guard after coming here.
Gu Xinran always felt that she had forgotten something, and suddenly remembered the pile of furs.
He quickly entered the carriage, carried out a pile of furs and shouted, "Grandma, Mom, come and help us, we need to give everyone a set of hats, scarves and gloves. It's so cold, we need to cover ourselves tightly."
Grandma Gu touched the wool material and said, "What a good thing! It's so soft and supple."
Mother Gu admired it for a while and then started working. The three of them worked for more than an hour and finally made a simple protective suit for each person.
There were still a lot of skins left, and they sewed them as they went along the way to escape the famine.
The whole village was making intensive preparations.
Few could sleep well that night, with an uncertain future, a hard time leaving home,...
At night, Gu Xinran put all the useful things in the house into the space and slipped in.
Alas! This plot of land is still too small. The tables, chairs, beds, and other furniture that we collected today are all placed in the medicinal herb plot, with quilts, clothes, cloth, tools, and other daily necessities piled up layer by layer on top.
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