After becoming a widow

141-150

Chapter 141

The room suddenly fell into silence. No one could accept that someone who had once known each other left in such a way.

Zhong Yan was particularly silent, and he showed a depressed look that he had never had before.

Wang Qin said, "We were lucky. We didn't encounter those violent bandits afterwards, but there was no water or food. We didn't even have the strength to dig tree roots. We could only eat wild grass on the road."

Just when they persisted for another four or five days, they were really desperate and had fallen to the ground waiting to die, and then they saw Lin Xiaoyao, who was only half dead, appeared.

Wang Qin could not forget the appearance of Lin Xiaoyao when he appeared. His eyes were lifeless, his neck and hands were covered in blood, and the shoulder straps of the backpack on his shoulders had been worn into his flesh because of long-term friction.

He didn't seem to see them, but he slipped while walking on the mountain path, fell from halfway up the mountain to the foot of the mountain, and fell into the bushes next to them.

Because of the little water and food in his backpack, the few people were able to generate extra strength and reached the Majin River.

Even without them saying anything, Lin Zhen roughly knew what happened next.

The Majin River was not dry, so they could replenish sufficient water there, and then set out again to return to Anyuan Town.

According to the time calculation, the refugee army had already arrived in the town at that time, and they were safe on the way from the Majin River to Anyuan Town.

Lin Xiaoyao asked him about the detailed topography and the places where the refugee army gathered, and he probably avoided the refugee army. But

because there were not many things that could be carried in the backpack, he must have saved and saved when he went there, so that he had some life-saving food and water left when he found Wang Qin, Zhong Yan and the others. However

, these were just his own guesses. How Lin Xiaoyao got to the place where Wang Qin, Zhong Yan and the others fell, only he knew.

They were all in very poor health, and they felt sleepy again after breakfast.

If Ma Min had not been unconscious last night and could not be moved, Aunt Ma, who wanted to take Ma Min home at that time, stood up and walked to Lin Zhen and said, "Brother Zhen, I will take the mother and daughter home first. When they are better, I will bring them to thank you."

Whether it was Lin Zhen and his men who rescued Ma Min from the bandits on the road, or Lin Xiaoyao who finally found them and gave the couple water and food to support them to the Majin River, it was the Ma family's unrepayable favor.

Aunt Ma and Ma the Carpenter liked the Lin family because of Lin Zhen in the past, and then accepted Lin Zhuzi as an apprentice. Now they are even more friendly and can't wait to go to the temple to light a few longevity lamps for the Lin family.

Lin Zhen looked at the haggard Ma Min and said, "Aunt, take Sister Ma Min back to rest quickly. We have plenty of time to reunite in the future."

"Yes, we have plenty of time, and there is still a long time." Aunt Ma was not dissatisfied. Compared with those poor children, Ma Min and the children had survived a narrow escape, but they still returned to her side.

Aunt Ma turned around and helped Ma Min up, while Carpenter Ma held the child who had just woken up and was looking around with his eyes open, without crying at all.

Ma Min, who was supported by Aunt Ma, suddenly said to Lin Zhen: "Brother Zhen, it's not easy for Xiaoyao to find us."

"..." Lin Zhen looked into Ma Min's eyes and trembled in his heart.

After a while, he nodded: "I know."

Most of Ma Min leaned on Aunt Ma, and the backs of the family of four quickly disappeared in the Lin family's yard.

After Wang Qin finished talking about what happened along the way, he slumped in the chair like Zhong Yan, completely lost his soul, staring at the roof with empty eyes.

No one can empathize with Zhong Yan without seeing the bodies of countless refugees lying on the roadside, and without seeing their own relatives beheaded in front of them.

At this time, any comfort is false. Lin Zhen asked Brother Lin to send Zhong Yan back to the house to lie down for a few days until his body functions recover a little, and then make plans.

Wang Qin was the same. He barely ate something and then leaned back on the chair in a daze. He was also helped back to lie down with Zhong Yan.

The joy of returning home was diluted by the death of the familiar people. Lin Zhen sat on the stool, and the figures of the dead Chen Niangzi, the two brothers and the daughter, as well as Wang Youli and others appeared in his mind.

After a while, Lin Zhen fetched some water and sat by the bed to wipe the sweat off Lin Xiaoyao's face and neck.

Since he woke up and fainted last night, he has not woken up. He frowned tightly in his sleep, and cold sweat came out layer by layer.

Lin Zhen reached out and touched his face, and took the dirty water out. Of course,

this water cannot be thrown away, but all poured into a bucket, boiled and used to wash feet, and water the vegetable seeds that Lin Zhen scattered in the broken pots and buckets.

Seeing that there were not many vegetables left at home and God had not rained for a long time, he could only recycle the waste water. If he could grow some vegetables, it would be an extra harvest.

Looking at the mountains in the distance and the fields nearby.

It has been almost half a year since the drought was discovered, and the Double Ninth Festival will be in half a month.

Although the weather is getting colder with the seasons, it is unknown when it will rain and when everyone's life will return to normal.

Lin Zhen put the basin in the corner and went into the house to discuss with Lin Dasao and Lin Ersao about making dry food for Gu Lin and others.

Because the Lin family asked Lin Xiaoyao to come back in advance to inform them of the possible drought, they stored a lot of food, but it was not a small consumption for so many people to eat every day, so he had to estimate the food.

Hearing his words, Lin Dasao and Lin Ersao said: "We didn't sell the grain we harvested last year. There are a total of 30 shi. We originally wanted to sell half of it for silver and save it. Xiaoyao came back with your words and kept it all."

"Later, I went to the town to buy 8 or 9 shi. Our family has a total of about 40 shi of grain in stock."

Once it is 160 kilograms, 40 shi of grain is more than 6,400 kilograms, not counting the black fungus, dried bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and salted vegetables made at home.

Compost played a major role in harvesting so much food. The original grain yield of more than ten mu of land was less than ten dan, but it has increased several times.

Lin Zhen couldn't help but wonder if other places in Dayu Dynasty used compost and cultivated intensively, would their ability to resist such natural disasters be greatly enhanced.

"How much food is left at home now?"

Sister Lin: "There are still about eighteen or nineteen dan, enough to eat."

Lin Zhen was relieved when he heard this: "So much food is enough to eat for a year and a half."

He said: "Gu Lin and his men will leave at noon, let's make some dry food for them to take with them, just like what my second sister-in-law and I made last time, sorghum buckwheat cakes, simple and easy to make, and can be stored for a long time."

"Okay." Lin Zhen made the decision, and Sister Lin and Sister Lin nodded without hesitation.

Apart from anything else, just say that the group of soldiers led by Gu Lin saved so many people in their Lin family, so this food is not worth mentioning.

Gu Lin and his friends were leaving at noon, and they didn't have much time. Sister Lin dragged out the food while calling, "Chunxiang, Xingxiang, and Zhuzi, come and help pick up the bad sorghum rice."

Sister Lin also called Huaixiang and Lin Shitou.

The children were all grown up and could work quickly. They helped drag the food and pour it into the basin, and then picked up the bad sorghum rice and buckwheat with worm holes and put them into the basin on the side.

These bad ones were disgusting to eat, but they could be kept to feed pigs and chickens in the future.

The Lin family had raised some before, but they had been slaughtered before Lin Zhen and his friends came back. The meat that could be seen occasionally was the smoked bacon at that time.

Suddenly, when Lin Zhen and his group were busy picking up bad sorghum and buckwheat, Gu Lin came over with a small stool, sat next to Lin Zhen, and started picking up the bad sorghum and buckwheat.

He was tall and had long legs, and he sat on the small stool with his long legs bent in grievance, picking up grains one by one with a solemn expression.

Lin Zhen paused and said nothing.

Sister Lin was a little scared of this nephew, thinking that he was hard to get close to and didn't talk much, but since he was right in front of her, she naturally had to greet him, and said in a tense voice: "Shuanzi, you are still injured, go and rest, we can do it here."

"It's okay, stretch your muscles."

"Oh." Sister Lin didn't know how to respond, and kept her head down and did her own thing.

Lin Zhuzi, Lin Shitou and Gu Lin were quite familiar with each other. The three of them had stayed at the Zhenyouwei Snack Restaurant in the town for almost a year, but Lin Zhuzi was familiar with Gu Lin's cold personality, and he worked silently like Sister Lin.

Lin Shitou used to be a rough-headed person, but after several years of experience, he became very outgoing. He asked Gu Lin: "Cousin Shuanzi, have you encountered many bad guys in the mountains?"

"Some are as few as the ones that appeared in the village that day, thirty to fifty, and some are over a hundred."

"All holding knives?"

"Yes."

"Aren't you afraid, cousin Shuanzi?"

Gu Lin's voice was flat: "If I'm afraid of them, I'll die. If they're afraid of me, they'll die."

Perhaps because he had killed so many people, Gu Lin's aura became colder and more difficult to approach than before. Lin Shitou, who dealt with all kinds of people every day in the shop, was a little overwhelmed.

Lin Chunxiang, Lin Xingxiang, and Lin Huaixiang didn't even come close to them, but quietly looked at this cousin whom they might see once a year.

They all knew that their third uncle was very capable. Everyone in the village praised him. They also knew that their third uncle had opened a shop in the capital city, and every year when he came back, he would bring them beautiful clothes, hairbands, and some novel gadgets.

In the eyes of Lin Huaixiang and the others, Third Uncle is the most handsome guy in the village. Many times they have secretly heard people asking Amo about Third Uncle's marriage, but Amo always blocked them.

Lin Huaixiang and the others hope that they can become a man like Third Uncle in the future, who is both capable and handsome, and is liked by people wherever he goes. With

so many people, several bags of sorghum rice and buckwheat were picked up quickly. They washed them and put them in the pot to boil until the cores can be crushed by fingers, and then put them in the wooden barrel for steaming rice.

The fragrance of grain diffused. Because Gu Lin was still injured, he did not carry the grain to the stove, but sat in front of the fire pit to add firewood.

Sister-in-law Lin, Sister-in-law Lin and a few children went out to wash the remaining grain. Lin Zhen was here stirring the second pot of sorghum rice to prevent it from sticking to the pot.