Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

Chapter 255: The Family Who Didn’t Sleep All Night

Zhou Guo comforted her, "Mom, it's okay. Master has taught me so many skills. In fact, up to now, I am the best at running away. Don't worry, your daughter is very smart. If I can't win, can't I run away?"

Zhou Dacang suddenly said, "I'll go with you."

Zhou Guo looked at him and said, "Uncle, you are the pillar of the family. What will happen to the family if you leave?"

One of them must stay at home.

Li said anxiously, "What should we do? Just live your life as it should be. Your Aunt Qian next door is able to live well with two small children by herself. I am fine, but these are grown up. How can we not survive? If you want to go, just go with confidence. Anyway, I will not let you go alone."

He said it with a firm look on his face, leaving no room for change.

Everyone nodded, obviously not going to let her go alone.

Zhou Guo had no choice but to nod and looked around, "Then let's go with my uncle, and Master will stay to help look after the house."

With so many people at home, this area cannot be ignored.

The old man looked at the people who were gathered around him and had to nod. Although he really wanted to go with his young apprentice, the kid wasn't a master yet after all. How could he let a kid who hadn't finished his apprentice go out like this...but he also knew that he couldn't stop him. He just hoped that the kid would be smarter when he went out.

Zhou Mai and the others listened in silence. They all knew that they didn't have the ability to accompany their sister. Not only would they not be able to help at all if they went along, they would also be a burden. So they simply kept silent.

Li said with a serious face: "Since you have made up your mind, go to bed early and get enough rest."

Zhou Guo and Zhou Dacang nodded.

Late at night, the village was silent and Zhou Guo fell into a deep sleep.

There were still a few lights on in Zhou's yard, and several figures were busy under the lights. Apart from the occasional noise of something being bumped into, there was no other sound.

Busy pounding wheat, drying flour, kneading dough, and making pancakes.

Even the old man didn't sleep, he sat aside and roasted dried meat. He knew the child's temper. When looking for someone, in order to save time, he could go a whole day without looking for food. When going out, sometimes it is inevitable to walk into the wilderness where there is no one, and it is impossible to buy food, so he would bring his own to avoid being hungry.

In Zhoumai, some people were making fire, some were kneading dough, and some were grinding wheat.

The fragrance from the Zhou family courtyard gradually dissipated until dawn.

Zhou Guo woke up at the same time as before. Her first feeling was that something was wrong. The bed next to her was cold and quiet, with no sign of life. She stretched out her legs and felt a chill. There was no one there. She was the only one on the huge kang.

I listened carefully and heard some noise outside the house. I put on my clothes and went out to take a look.

Except for the three members of the Xu family, she and Zhou Dacang, all the family members were there. There were things everywhere in the yard and there was nowhere to step.

Grain bags, yellowish flour, kneaded dough, pancakes, a big pot, a chopping board...

Zhou Guo was stunned by the messy yard.

Looking at the huge piles of pancakes, you can tell that they must have not slept all night.

Someone walked out of the house and suddenly stopped when he saw this scene. A big and a small person stood under the eaves, watching their family silently prepare dry food for them to go out.

Zhou Guo glanced and saw the old man in the corner. He was leaning against the stone stand in front of him and flipping the meat strips with chopsticks in his hand. The big bowl next to him was already full. Wasn't that the bowl she used for eating?

This, won't let her take her own bowl away, right?

Li looked up and saw the two of them. She pointed towards the house and said, "Your luggage has been packed. Your clothes, shoes and socks are all packed in your bags. Your money is also in there. When you are out, don't leave your money in one place. Be careful with everything."

The two nodded.

Seeing the two of them like this, Li thought that the two children were about to go out and she didn't know when they would come back. Her eyes couldn't help but turn red again. She lowered her head and said in a muffled voice: "Come back if you can't find them for a while. I heard that the winter here is extremely cold. The snow doesn't melt for several months. If you walk outside and touch your ears, your ears will fall off. You must come back before winter!"

Zhou Mai and the others were all worried for a moment, but without thinking too much, they said, "If the winter here is so cold, then we won't leave. Let's go out in the spring."

Zhou Guo shook his head, "If we are cold, others will be cold too."

If Zhou Suli was still wandering outside, what would he do in winter? He would have a hard time getting through the winter without enough food to eat or warm clothes to wear.

Everyone understood. It must be very painful to think about such a small child starving and freezing outside and being looked down upon.

Zhou Guo didn't want them to worry so much, so he looked at the piles of cakes and changed the subject, "Are these for us? If you prepare so many, they might go bad and we won't be able to finish them!"

The old man looked at them and said mockingly, "You two have mouths like bottomless pits. These are only enough for you to eat for five or six days. If you leave, we will have to cook half as much rice at home, and a bag of food will last for half a month longer."

Zhou Guo: "...Master, you don't have such a big appetite, do you?"

It would take at least half a month to eat it, and it wouldn't be finished until it stinks. Seeing that everyone was still working, she hurriedly said, "Okay, okay, mother, sister, brothers, stop it. These are enough. If you keep doing this, the horses will protest."

Zhou Xing hesitated and said, "Is this enough? You might eat thirty pieces for one meal, and your uncle eats twenty pieces, so that means he would eat fifty pieces for one meal. That's three meals a day, how much does that require..." She began to count on her fingers.

Zhou Guo's mouth twitched as she looked at the pancakes that were as big as half a pot. How could she eat thirty of them? She only ate three bowls of rice at each meal. If she was very hungry and the food was delicious, she could eat one more bowl.

Zhou Dacang waved his hand and said, "These are enough. There are forests everywhere on the road. Can we still be short of food?"

Only then did everyone stop.

In order to let the two of them have a good meal in the morning, Li took out the remaining noodles and cooked a big pot of noodles, put some green vegetable leaves and a few slices of cooked meat in it. It was fragrant, beautiful and tempting.

Zhou Guo held the bowl and ate three bowls in one breath, and Zhou Dacang also held the bowl and started eating.

The whole family watched the two of them eat without picking up their chopsticks, feeling worried and reluctant.

The two of them ate half of the big pot of noodles with their stomachs opened.

Before leaving, the old man called Zhou Guo into the house and gave her several of his porcelain bottles. "These bottles are not worth much. They have been with me for most of my life and have accompanied me to many places. They are still in good condition. Now I give these things to you. I have filled them with seasonings. You can come back the same way you went out. Well, you have to return them to me!"