Chapter 10: and

When it comes to clothing, Qin Wangshu likely has the most in the entire Li family—five full sets. However, except for the silk set she was wearing when she arrived, the other four are merely fine cotton. Still, compared to most people whose clothes are covered in patches, hers are already quite good.

"Fourth Sister-in-law, over here. Yours and Fourth Brother’s should be dried here. These are ours. You keep watch here; I’m going to help Second Sister-in-law."

In an era where a woman’s undergarments must be dried away from prying eyes, only a disaster could make people’s eyes less critical. Even so, to Qin Wangshu, they were still being picky.

A father-in-law’s clothes cannot be placed next to his daughters-in-law’s, and a brother’s cannot be placed next to his sister-in-law’s.

Fortunately, the riverbank is wide enough and there are plenty of stones, otherwise, there really wouldn't be enough space to spread everything out.

"Alright, go ahead."

She had washed her shoes while wading in the water, and they were still uncomfortably damp. Sitting here guarding the clothes allowed her to dry her shoes a bit. As for washing her hair or bathing, she didn't even dare to think about it; she didn't want people to think she wasn't a decent woman.

It was a special time, and every family was busy. Aside from that gossiping woman, nothing much happened all morning. By the time it was nearly noon, the village chief returned with some men carrying the day’s rations. After they were distributed, things became even quieter; those who could sleep slept, and those who couldn't tidied up.

By dusk, there were far fewer people upstream, and the village chief, judging the time, told everyone to eat.

When the sky turned completely dark, a few people could still be vaguely seen upstream, but the people of Baitan Village began to move their luggage slowly downstream. Once they were completely out of sight, they quickened their pace.

After a night of rushing, everyone was exhausted by the time the sun rose.

"Let's rest for a bit," the village chief said, putting down his basket first.

In one night, they had traveled at least seventy or eighty li. For such a long distance, let alone the elderly and children, even the young and strong were exhausted. Yet, throughout the night, they had passed several villages and only now entered an uninhabited area where both sides of the river were empty; otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to stop.

"It’s such a pity to see this wasteland."

"Who’s to say it isn't? Any land near water is good land. In this weather, if you planted radishes or cabbage, you’d be able to eat them in two months."

"We don't have water where we’re from, so even if we wanted to plant, we couldn't. Here there is water, but no one dares to touch it." You can't just clear wasteland whenever you want.

While resting and chewing on dry wheat grains, the older folks couldn't help but sigh.

Many people had fled the famine back in the sixth or seventh month, but after arriving at the prefecture city, they just waited to be fed, stubbornly waiting for government relief.

And the government, aside from the headache of distributing relief grain, likely never thought about letting the disaster victims save themselves.

After resting enough, eating some wheat, and drinking their fill of water, everyone started moving forward again.

Now, they were no longer moving blindly. They were paying attention along the way, exploring mountain hollows and gullies, but unfortunately, after another half-day, they hadn't found a suitable place to enter the mountains.

"Dalin, this mountain gully looks deep. Should we head in there?"

Pan Dalin, upon whom everyone had pinned their hopes, was under so much pressure that his mind was in a state of high concentration. His eyes scanned the dead trees, withered vines, and even the dry grass in the gully like searchlights.

"Village Chief, this gully doesn't have much rainwater flowing down even in summer. There can't be a stream up there. It’s better if we keep walking."

After all, there was still water by the river to keep them full, right? Everyone immediately continued forward.

······

Heaven rewards the diligent. At dusk, Pan Dalin finally found a suitable mountain gully.

"The humidity in this gully is high, and these trees still have some green on them. Even if the stream has dried up, if we dig down, there should be water. If we enter the mountains from here, we can look for water on both sides as we go; our chances will be much higher."

The mountains were essentially Pan Dalin’s home turf. Whatever he said, everyone listened. However, upon hearing that there might be water in the gully and likely many animals—meaning they might be able to hunt—the danger factor would also be very high. Some people became afraid.

"Dalin, why don't you go in and scout the path first?"

Usually, no one liked to listen to Old Woman Ke, but today, her words hit home for everyone.

Suddenly, all eyes fell on Pan Dalin.

Pan Dalin, who had originally intended to take a few people into the mountains the next morning to take a look, immediately changed his mind under the weight of everyone’s gaze.

"Tomorrow morning, let each family send two people to go into the mountains with me." With more people, it would be safer. He had his own family to look after, after all.

Upon hearing that each family had to send two people, some people’s expressions changed.

But then again, no one was obligated to take risks for you.

For a time, who would go into the mountains with Pan Dalin became the topic of discussion in every family.

After a day of traveling and wading through stones, once the people for the next day’s expedition were decided, everyone slept along the riverbank.

It was a restless night. At the first light of dawn the next day, Pan Dalin led the men into the mountains. Old Li’s eldest son and fourth son both went.

After washing up, Qin Wangshu looked toward the sides of the gully, called out to Li Xiaoxia, and climbed up.

"Fourth Sister-in-law!"

"What is it?" The person who had just squatted down stood up immediately.

"I... I found chestnuts!"

"···Ah!"

"I found chestnuts, look, these are chestnuts." While pushing aside the dead leaves, she held up the dried chestnuts for Qin Wangshu to see, finding a few more in the process. "These must be from last year; the color has changed."

"Doesn't that mean they're spoiled?"

"Not necessarily, we have to open them to see." Saying this, Li Xiaoxia bit open a chestnut shell and ran excitedly to Qin Wangshu’s side. "Fourth Sister-in-law, it’s not spoiled, it’s perfectly fine."

The little girl immediately handed another chestnut from her hand to Qin Wangshu.

Qin Wangshu, who had only ever seen sugar-roasted chestnuts, how would she know if the thing in her hand was from last year or this year? But under the little girl’s hopeful gaze, she bit open the shell.

Hmm!

It wasn't spoiled. There was no taste of chestnut worms and no musty smell.

"Let's look for more."

"Mm."

Qin Wangshu, who had come to relieve herself, stopped worrying about that and began a carpet search with Li Xiaoxia. Before long, the two of them had gathered nearly a jin.

"Xiaoxia~, Xiaoxia~"

Old Woman Li’s voice came from the foot of the mountain. Qin Wangshu let Li Xiaoxia answer and then went down the mountain to finish her business.

"Mother, look." Li Xiaoxia, who quietly pulled open her pocket to show Old Woman Li, was incredibly cunning. But after seeing the chestnuts in her pocket, Old Woman Li didn't hide them away; instead, she pulled her over to the village chief’s side.

"Village Chief, look." It was just a handful of chestnuts, but the village chief stood up abruptly. "Sister-in-law, where did you find these?"

"I didn't find them, Xiaoxia did." Pulling another handful from the girl’s pocket, which made the village chief even more excited, Old Woman Li said, "No one has been to these places, and since it hasn't rained this year, maybe we can pick up some leftovers."

The village chief’s eyes brightened, and he quickly took the chestnuts to show everyone.

Chestnuts—they were all from last year. This year’s chestnuts had fallen before they were even ripe.

And because there was no rain this year, the chestnuts hadn't had a chance to rot. There were many animals in the mountains, so they wouldn't be able to find many, but even if there weren't many, they were still something to be found, weren't they?

Surrounding the elderly and women, the adults went up the mountain, and before long, everyone had a harvest.

"Eh~ a wild jujube tree." Someone whose clothes had been torn by thorns muttered as they looked at the dry branches covered in hooks, and after muttering, they subconsciously glanced at the ground: "Wild jujubes!"