Mrs. Li quickly carried her granddaughter out, and sure enough, Mr. Li came in from outside the courtyard in a dusty state.
His clothes were extremely dirty, his hair was a mess, and his lips were chapped and peeled.
This is much more embarrassing than when I went out before.
Tao Hongying took the luggage distressedly and asked.
"Is it hard to be a escort this time? Why are you so tired?"
Li Laosi waved his hand, "Bring me two pots of herbal tea. I came back quickly!"
Tao Hongying knew something was wrong when she heard this and quickly threw away her luggage. Go to the kitchen.
Jiayin also felt sorry for her father's suffering, but she was more curious about what was going on in the south. She didn't bother to give him a hug, and just nestled on her grandma's shoulder, honest and well-behaved.
Li Laosi entered the house and was surrounded by everyone. He drank two pots of herbal tea before he said.
"Mom, it's not good in the south. We traveled a thousand miles this time, and it didn't rain in all the prefectures and counties along the way.
I heard that in some places, there hasn't been any rain or snow since the grain harvest last year. We were farming before It was all forced, and now there are no seedlings at all."
Everyone looked ugly when they heard this. If the drought was only around Kyoto, it would be okay.
After all, it was at the feet of the Emperor, and the Tianwu Dynasty had a huge territory.
Those southern state capitals have a good harvest, so just sending some food over is enough.
But it seems that the south is too busy to take care of itself. It is even drier than near Kyoto. It is foreseeable that the production will be cut off this year.
"I heard that it hasn't rained here before?"
Li Laosi sighed and said that he had thought of a way.
"Mom, our family needs to buy food quickly. We have just settled down and don't have the food foundation we had last year. We can't be afraid of spending money and we need to stock up on food quickly."
Li Laoer nodded and responded quickly.
"Mom gave me the money, and we are going to the city to buy food."
Li Laosi was pleasantly surprised. He originally thought he would have to persuade her a little more. After all, the family didn't have much money, so it would be too difficult to spend all of it to buy food.
Fortunately, my mother is sensible.
Mrs. Li touched Jiayin's little hair, took a deep breath, and suppressed the panic in her heart.
"Hurry up and buy food. Don't be afraid of spending money. Buy as much as you can! Remember to buy it in separate places and bring it back quietly after dark."
"I understand, don't worry, mother."
The strongest brother is back, Mr. Li Er and Li Laosan are more confident.
Li Lao Er hitched a mule cart and left the village, while Li Lao San and Li Lao Si went around from the foot of the mountain behind.
Try to avoid human eyes, otherwise the villagers will be suspicious if all three brothers are involved.
It was not that the Li family planned to live alone and refused to share the news.
First of all, every family has stored food, which is almost enough to eat until autumn. Secondly, it's hard to say about the weather.
What if everyone goes to buy food and then it rains. Then the Li family's good intentions may very well turn into a donkey's liver and lungs.
Tao Hongying and Zhao Yuru took their Jia Huan and Jia Xi Jia An up the mountain together.
Pig's ear vegetables, small roots of garlic, mother-in-law's dices, lisianthus, in short, everything that is edible must be picked and taken home.
Pickle them to make pickles, or dry them and store them in the sun. They can fill your stomach at critical moments.
Jiayin is not optimistic about such preparations, because both pickles and dried vegetables require water to eat.
The drought was really extreme, and the most lacking thing was water...
But she couldn't persuade her, and she couldn't persuade him.
She could only pretend to sleep, and then went into the small courtyard to work hard.
The various rapeseeds that Mrs. Li had begged for earlier came in handy now.
Plant wherever there is room in the fields.
Especially some side dishes can be eaten after a month.
Of course, what Jiayin pays most attention to is the well in the front yard.
When I returned to my hometown, the village also used electricity to pump water.
But she just liked the pressure well at home and insisted on not modifying it. Now it has become a life-saving straw!
Pour a ladle of water in, quickly press the handle, and soon the well water will gush out.
But the good news is still small, and I will be exhausted after a while.
The little lamb that had lost its mother has now grown into a half-grown sheep.
It came and bleated, waving its little tail happily, and drank the sweet and cool well water.
Jiayin added some water to the four little pigs, chickens, ducks and geese, which made me feel much more at ease.
The small courtyard is her greatest confidence.
Not seeking wealth, but just keeping the family fed and clothed.
The family was so worried that they finally returned to the mule cart at nightfall.
Bags of sorghum rice and millet were carried from the car, along with fifty pounds of white rice and fifty pounds of fine noodles.
Li Laosi bought this for his daughter with extra money.
On the way to escort, he went hunting several times and exchanged the leather for some silver.
I originally wanted to buy some gifts for my family, but I really missed my family, so I told escort Liu and rushed back early.
Jiayi is still in the escort team, so he is not worried that the escort team is short of manpower.
The wing that was temporarily used as a warehouse was half filled in no time.
The young and old of the Li family stood at the door, looking at the sacks and cloth bags. No one said anything, but there was less panic in their eyes.
There is food at home and there is no panic in the heart.
"Keep your mouth shut, and don't tell anyone that our family has food. Think about all the food that was taken away on the way to escape from famine. People are so hungry, anything can happen!"
Mrs. Li whispered to her family, especially It's a happy home.
Children have no control over their mouths and are prone to showing off to others.
Jia An's family was happy to see everyone looking at them, so they quickly covered their mouths, as if they would kill them without saying a word.
This made everyone laugh.
Jiayin wanted to put all the food into the small space courtyard, but she was too small to move around to get the food.
Moreover, if the family members saw that they had returned to the warehouse, they would be suspicious if they could not find him...
Within two days, Jiayi finally came back.
He took three taels of silver, which was the wages for this escort trip.
Li Laosi came back early, but Liu Biaotou still gave him two liang. Because Jiayi is young, he has always received half of his salary, one tael.
The uncle and nephew are in the escort agency, and now everyone knows it.
Anyone who works as an escort would want to take them with them, because they are really helpful.
There's a lot of work to do on the road, so there's no need to worry.
Especially this time, there were bandits who wanted to rob without opening their eyes, and Li Laosi was the first to find out.
He shot an arrow and pierced the bandit leader's hat, frightening all the bandits so hard that they didn't dare to take a step forward.
The convoy passed smoothly without any surgery or wasted money on the road.
For this reason, Captain Liu made a special trip and brought two boxes of snacks and a piece of meat for Mrs. Li, and bought a pack of sesame candies for Jiayin.
Unavoidably, Tao Hongying cooked food and wine and had a meal.
As the days passed, it became hotter and hotter.
The sun is steaming and baking the earth, like a hot pot, and everyone is an ant on the hot pot.
The village chief went back and forth to the fields, and when he saw the seedlings wilting and lowering their heads, he also got angry and yelled at the villagers.
"Hurry up and water the crops. We can't wait any longer."
The villagers all had a sad face. Carrying water to water the fields is the most tiring job.
Originally, each family had few strong laborers, and some of them were from remnant soldiers, so it was difficult for them to farm.
Now that such a big job has been added, it's really killing me.
Those who were lucky enough wanted to wait a few more days, but the Li family acted quickly.
The family's mule cart was hitched, and all the barrels and basins were moved out.
Mule carts hauled water, and Mrs. Li and her children were responsible for watering.
The second brother Li and his brothers brought family joy and had to carry water.