Chapter 57: Food Crisis
umber of outrageous conditions.The village head, Qi, couldn't eat his meals every day. Now he also had to deal with the old man Zong."Uncle Zong, how could you possibly exchange that little grain seed...The elder headmaster kicked Zong Pingkang angrily.
"I've also signed you up. You're the only one from our family going up the mountain to dig the irrigation canal!"
When Zongping Kang heard the news, he felt like the sky was falling.
"Father! You are my own father."
"That mountain is so dangerous, with wild beasts roaming about. I wouldn't dare to go up there."
"Why don't you let the third one go"
The old man was so angry at his words that he wanted to die, “Let the third child go up the mountain and you chop wood and buy wood!”
Zong Pingkang scoffed, "Relying on Lao San chopping that bit of firewood to earn a few copper coins"
He had just earned five ounces of silver for his family, of course, he secretly hid the other five ounces and didn't tell anyone.
And I can immediately go find that Zong Yulian again and ask for more money.
As soon as he thought of this, Zongping straightened his back immediately.
In the end, this family still depends on him.
The old man kicked him hard with another foot.
"I'm letting you go so you can get out of the house, instead of being around all day. You have grandchildren now, for heaven's sake! Stop acting like a vagabond and start acting your age."
After being scolded by the village elder, Zong Pingkang could only reluctantly agree to go up the mountain with the villagers tomorrow to dig a water channel.
The sun is about to set again, and the old master won't let him go out.
Fang Jinxiu said goodbye to Mu shi and, taking a shovel, went out with Zong Bai to look for wild vegetables.
Thinking that Zongyu was sleeping at home anyway, if something really happened, he would definitely be able to hear it, and mother wouldn't be completely alone.
The herbs in the little herb garden all survived, even if they weren't watered every day, just a sprinkle of spring water was enough to keep them alive. The only downside was that there were only a few types of herbs.
If this drought continues, the plants on the mountain will die sooner or later. If she could take some time to transplant more herbs back, she wouldn't have to buy medicine from the town in the future, that would save her money.
This trip foraging for wild vegetables really allowed Fang Jinshu to discover several different kinds of herbs.
What surprised her most was that she also found a good number of herbs that could treat wounds and remove toxins. Zong Yu had been dealing with wild beasts and venomous insects in the mountains for years, so he must have needed these kinds of herbs.
Zong Bai focused on digging for wild vegetables. The two of them searched for a long time before finding a small handful of edible ones.
The villagers have trampled all the safer areas in the wild mountains, so finding these pine trees is considered lucky. Usually, he couldn't find this many wild vegetables on his own when he went out alone.
"Sister-in-law, the sun is about to set, let's go back."
"Well, I guess your older brother should be awake by now."
When they returned home, they saw Zongyu standing in the yard, chopping wood.
Now, there is an abundance of firewood in the mountains. You can just chop down dead trees and collect a large bundle of firewood.
Zong Yu saw Fang Jinxiu had come back, a visible sigh of relief passed his lips. Knowing she wouldn't run, he still couldn't help but feel slightly irritable.
"I'm back."
Fang Jinshi nodded at him and, holding her herbs, went to the medicine field to plant them.
Zong Bai sat on the side processing the freshly picked wild vegetables, while he said worriedly, "Big brother, the wild vegetables in the mountains are getting scarcer and scarcer."
"Looking at autumn almost gone, by winter we won't even have wild vegetables to eat."
"There isn't enough food at home to last us through the winter, I'm afraid."
The town's granary has started to limit the weight of grain that people can buy, not to mention the soaring prices. Each person is only allowed to buy ten kilograms of grain.
This happened after Zongyu bought his groceries. He heard about it on his way back home.
This means that the town will soon face a food crisis, with no grain left to eat.ered at home. As soon as news of her fainting spread, many other members of the Zhao family rushed to the courtyard.That includes Zhao Xingzhou.The servant, having received orders to go find the maste...