Bianshanhan [farming]

After traveling north for more than ten days, there was almost no food in the fleeing team.

Jiang Cong traded his prey for some sorghum at passing post stations, and he managed to keep cooking.

In this season, the vegetation is flourishing, and there are wild vegetables to play with, so it is not necessary to go hungry, but pushing the cart is exhausting, and both adults and children are sallow and emaciated.

Li Qingwen and the others still had dried meat in the cart, not too much, and they were distributed to the carts and the men carrying the load first, and then to the women.

"Grey mouse, there's a hamster!"

Rushing in the sun, the originally lifeless team heard someone shouting this voice, so they just turned their heads and looked blankly.

Mice can be eaten, but they can't catch up, so what's the use.

Li Qingwen was guarding the water bucket, so he immediately ran after him, shouting, "Big Brother, Big Brother!"

Li Qingrui's legs were longer than his, and he stepped over in three or five steps. The two brothers chased the mouse and ran for half a mile.

Li Qinghong was stunned for a moment, the mouse can have half a catty of meat, so why waste this effort?

Moreover, father has told them before that they should not eat rats unless they starve to death. That thing has dirty things on it, and if they are not careful, they will be infected with the disease, which is not only fatal, but also contagious...

He felt uneasy, and saw Li Qingwen running back with sweat on his face, his voice was full of excitement, "Third brother, give me the shovel, my eldest brother and I found the hamster hole."

As soon as he heard that he was going to dig a hole, Li Qinghong understood, and hurriedly handed over the shovel. Li Qingwen took two more sacks, and swished back with them.

Li Qingrui walked around the mouse hole, and found another in an inconspicuous place. After Li Qingwen brought the shovel over, he immediately started digging.

The hamster's hole is not straight up and down, twists and turns, crooked and slanted, it took a long time to dig to the place they want to find - several soil holes of different sizes, some are matted with grass, it looks like a hamster In the sleeping place, there are wild vegetables in some holes, and the biggest ones are grain.

There is a pile of grain, including grass seeds, sorghum grains, wheat grains, beans with pods, and some unidentifiable fruit stones, so he didn't care to pick them. Li Qingwen put the grain in the sack with both hands, and Li Qingrui went to dig the other a hole.

The people in front had all arrived at the station, sitting on the ground one by one panting and fanning the wind, Li Qinghong came back with water, saw that the elder brother and younger brother were still there, so he picked up the shovel from the car and went to find them.

When others asked him what he was going to do, Li Qinghong said to dig a rat hole, and those who still had strength followed him.

When a group of them arrived, they saw Li Qingrui first. He was sweating profusely digging with shovel and shovel. He couldn't find Li Qingwen everywhere. He was just wondering, a few hundred steps away from them, squatting in the weeds after harvesting grain. Li Qingwen just stood up.

Li Qinghong ran over to help Li Qingwen, looked at the sacks containing grain beside him, and exclaimed in surprise, "There are so many!"

The two brothers ransacked several hamsters' homes and got half a sack of grain.

Here is close to the post station, and the postmen opened many acres of land outside, planting sorghum, beans, and wheat, and these hamsters packed the particles back and stored them in the hole.

In fact, winter is the season when hamsters store the most food, and now they have consumed it.

Seeing this, the others immediately started looking for it in the weeds.

On the other side, Jiang Cong carried the wild boars to the post station. They were lucky today. They encountered a litter of wild boars, and they all fell down. There were a dozen of them in total, and they couldn't bring them all back for a while. Come back and find someone.

Hearing that so many wild boars were hit, the big guys were so happy, the men rolled up their sleeves and ran west.

Several people came to pick up the wild boar from Jiang Cong's body. Jiang Cong looked around and asked without seeing Li Qingwen.

A group of men were digging around in the weeds. The two sacks Li Qingwen brought were almost full, and he was praised by everyone again, and the sweat on the tip of his nose was glistening with joy.

These grains, put more water, can cook a lot of porridge, and it can last for a while.

When Jiang Cong came, he saw Li Qingwen's high spirits, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up.

Li Qingwen was still thinking about going to Datian, the post station, when his head suddenly sank, and a straw hat was added, and when he turned his head, he saw Jiang Cong standing behind him, and said happily: "Brother, we dug up a lot of grain here. come out."

"Our boy is doing well." Jiang Cong nodded, picked up the sack beside him and carried it back.

All the wild boars were brought back, sixteen big and small, and everyone was drooling around the dark and ugly wild boar. No matter whether it was delicious or not, this thing was meat, and one bite could hold up a pile of wild vegetables!

Li Maoxian first asked the postmen to choose, and exchanged three wild boars for several bags of sorghum, which were more forbidden to eat than pork.

We had a lot of harvest today, and everyone was very tired, so we rested here in the afternoon. Some people were busy slaughtering pigs and cooking meat. Li Maoxian, Li Benshan and others went to the field behind the station to see that the crops here were growing well.

The sun is poisonous, and the wind is hot, but looking at the green seedlings of the crops, everyone feels refreshed.

It's so good here, any place that can grow crops is a good place, and it's not far away!

A group of crops walked from the head to the end of the field in the old way, and the pain of the journey was gone.

They were about to go back to the post station when they suddenly saw a pile of black heads in the grass in the distance. They yelled, and the black heads raised their heads one by one. The leader was Li Qingrui. They dug rat holes all the way to here.

The elders came over and looked at the food in their hands, and they were all overjoyed, but there is no unparalleled road!

Then, all the elders also went back to get the iron shovel.

There was a lot of commotion here, and the people behind also knew that they were digging mouse holes to get food, and they all followed. Soon, the mountains and plains were full of people.

This post station is the largest one around, and there are many postmen, there are 30 people, Li Qingwen and others have walked and passed here, so they are somewhat familiar with them.Jiang Cong brought the leather from the cart and the medicinal materials he got from hunting, and exchanged them for food.

The postmen are willing. They are much more leisurely than the officers and soldiers in the border towns. Apart from farming, they feed the horses. Every year, they are afraid that the people who will supply them will not be able to come due to the heavy snow, so they have saved a lot of food.

There is no firewood for a hundred miles, and no firewood for a thousand miles.

The mountains are high and the rivers are long, and the grain cannot be sold, so it is natural to be happy to replace it with medicinal materials and leather. These are so brisk, and when I can go back, I will leave with my back.

Jiang Cong talked with them for a long time, and exchanged a lot of food, some of which were owed on credit, and when they went this way again, they brought the money along.

These postmen knew that Jiang Cong was very good at hunting, and they were not afraid of his slip-up, so they readily agreed.

It was rare to have a longer rest. The fleeing crowd set up a pot outside, some shook the grain bags on the cart, and some dug wild vegetables and leaves.

When the evening glow came up, the wild boar was finally cooked, and the aroma of the sorghum rice porridge became stronger, so Mrs. Chen went outside to invite people to come back for dinner.

Li Qingwen and the others came back from outside reluctantly at this time, and they did not work in vain, bringing back several bags of food.

We all know that the Li family got a lot of food today, but those people who had been empty for several days couldn't bear it any longer, so they bit the bullet and borrowed it, vowing that when they arrived in the border town, they would definitely grow crops and pay back the food.

Li Qingwen agreed, but he refused to let these people return his food in the future, and asked them to help.

They have a lot of food in Bianshan, which is not bad, but they have been short of manpower.

This helper does not necessarily grow crops, he may plant trees, he may grow medicinal materials, or he may pick fruits.

Of course, it is not compulsory to work. Half a bag of grain is exchanged for 20 days of labor. Whether it is done in one go or done one after another, it is sufficient.

A bag of food at this time is life-saving. Just a few dozen days of help can save the lives of a family. Only a fool should not do it!

As soon as Li Qingwen opened his mouth, a bunch of people rushed forward, and they all said they were willing. Some people said on the spot that they wanted two bags of grain to help eighty days.

Save two bags of grain, it will definitely be enough for their family to eat all the way to the border town.

After Li Qingwen finished speaking, he raised his head to look at Li Maoxian, and asked with some trepidation, "Father, do you think this is okay?"

Li Maoxian nodded in agreement, he has been silent, he agrees with his son's approach.

Some of the people behind him knew each other, and some didn't. No matter what, his family got a few carts of grain today, so there was no need to worry about the road ahead, but could they just watch others starve to death?

When I have the energy to spare, of course I can't wait to die, but the food is not blown by the wind, it is best to borrow and pay back.

Li Maoxian nodded, and the others came forward to help. No matter how much others wanted, they only promised their family to exchange half a bag first, so that more people could get food, and the big guys could go forward together.

Half a bag of grain is not much, but what it brings is the vitality of survival.

This evening, the inn on the wilderness was bustling like a once-in-a-century. There were finally rice grains in a pot, and there were smiles on the faces of adults and children.

Jiang Cong got a lot of food today, but in the end there was only a little more than a sack left, and then there was wild pork. After sharing it with the elders in the village, Chen Shanhe, and Li Qingyun's family, there was still a lot left. Let cool, then cut into slices.

Many people came to beg for the broth, and Mrs. Chen filled it up. If there were a small number of people in the family or a lot of elderly people, they would add a few slices of meat to the broth.

She counted the additions, and didn't think it was too much, but there were quite a few people coming, and finally the soup was gone, and the meat slices were also gone.

Mrs. Chen sighed in her heart, well, their family is using Jiang Cong's things as favors!

It was rare to have a full meal and sleep comfortably. When we walked north the next day, the adults and children in the fleeing team were a little more energetic.

Although it was a long way to escape this time, I always felt that there was hope, and their family would definitely make it to the border town!

Their expectations did not come to fruition. A few days later, they arrived at the newly built post station. There was not only a warehouse of grain here, but also Jiang Cong's companions, young and old from Lijia Village!