Famine and Chaos: Weaving Cloth in Exile to Escape the War

Upon hearing Jing Zhichun's words, Yang Erniu's eyes lit up immediately. "Madam Shen, your idea is excellent! In previous years, when the snow was heavy in winter and we were too lazy to fetch water, we often melted snow to drink. I'll do as you say!"

Before long, the Yang family's courtyard was filled with wooden buckets, ceramic basins, and earthenware jars of all sizes.

The three children of the Yang family were also assigned tasks. They squatted under the eaves, keeping a close eye on the wooden buckets and earthenware basins in the yard, afraid that more rats would sneak in and crawl into them.

Jing Zhichun also handed over the quicklime and realgar he had brought to the Yang family, instructing them to carefully sprinkle them around the base of the courtyard wall.

By noon, the Yang family members had also started drinking the heat-clearing and detoxifying tea.

Jing Zhichun then had Yang Erniu carefully examine the other members of the Yang family to see if they had blisters or if anyone had symptoms of chills or fever.

Fortunately, apart from Yang Dawang, none of the others showed any obvious signs of illness.

Jing Zhichun returned to Yang Dawang's room and took his temperature again.

38 degrees Celsius.

The high fever has finally subsided considerably.

Only then did Kyoto Haru dare to relax a little.

However, she herself had not slept for two days and one night, and had not eaten or drunk a single drop of water.

The Yang family had just prepared a meal and brought it to her, but she wasn't hungry and didn't eat it.

I'm not hungry right now, but I'm so tired that I can barely keep my eyelids open.

Seeing that Yang Dawang was still unconscious, Jing Zhichun moved to the door, sat down with her back against the wooden door, closed her eyes, and used her mind to look at the space.

Inside the space, Xiaoman was sitting on the quilt, eating a steamed bun in one hand and holding a large milk bottle in the other, feeding her baby brother in swaddling clothes.

That baby bottle was bought by Jingzhichun specifically for the baby because she felt it was too inconvenient to feed the baby with a bowl.

Now both children are doing well.

Jing Zhichun relaxed and leaned against the door to doze off.

I don't know how long I slept, but a series of indistinct voices woke up Kyoto Haru.

She opened her eyes abruptly and saw Yang Dawang lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), muttering incoherently in his sleep.

Jing Zhichun immediately got up and took Yang Dawang's temperature again.

39 degrees Celsius.

The temperature has rebounded!

Without delay, Jing Zhichun immediately summoned the Yang family and ordered them to cook more rice and prepare salt and sugar water again.

After Yang Dawang managed to eat something, more than four hours had passed since he took his medicine in the morning, and it was time for him to take his second dose.

Immediately, Jing Zhichun began to prepare the medicine again, increasing the amount of antipyretic herbs in the previous prescription, and handed it over to Gao Xiuqin to brew.

By the time Yang Dawang finished drinking the bowl of medicine, it was completely dark outside the window.

Jing Zhichun was worried about the two children in the space. She felt she had to go back and see them, and also prepare some food for them again.

Immediately, she picked up her basket and opened the door.

Yang Erniu had been sitting under the eaves of a house not far away, hugging his knees. When he saw Jing Zhichun come out, he immediately stood up.

"Madam Shen, what are your orders?"

"Brother Erniu, your father just took his medicine and went to sleep. Listen carefully for any noises. If there's anything urgent, go find me at the thatched hut. I need to go back and check on the two children."

"Oh, alright, alright! You've worked so hard, Madam Shen," Yang Erniu nodded repeatedly, then took out a small piece of silver from his pocket and handed it over with both hands. "This is one tael of silver, Madam Shen, you must accept it. You saved my father's life and guarded him all day, it's really too much trouble for you."

As Yang Erniu spoke, he subconsciously walked towards Jingzhichun.

"stop!"

Jing Zhichun quickly called for a stop and took a half step back herself. "Brother Erniu, don't come near me! I'm covered in sickness."

Yang Erniu then remembered and quickly stopped, placing the silver on a stone beside his feet. "I'll leave it here. Madam Shen, take it with you when you leave."

Jing Zhichun shook her head. "Saving your father was something I should do. After all, you were the ones who dug up those Cistanche deserticola plants, so we've essentially exchanged benefits. Don't say things like that again. By the way, I asked you to take stock of the family's food supplies yesterday. Did you count them correctly?"

"I've counted them all," Yang Erniu quickly reported. "My family still has about a hundred catties of brown rice and about fifty catties of wheat flour. According to what you said, Madam Shen, if we want to prepare enough food for a month, my family will probably need to add another three hundred catties."

Jing Zhichun calculated that, excluding Yang Xiaoniu who was in the army, the Yang family now had eleven members. Apart from a baby, the rest were adults and children who were still able to eat.

In ancient times, when meat and vegetables were scarce, this amount of grain would not be enough for eleven people to eat if they only ate staple food; they might even go hungry.

"Three hundred catties might not be enough. If you all get sick, your bodies will wear down even faster, and you'll need to eat well to have the strength to fight off the illness."

Don't let illness kill you before you starve.

Right now, having enough to eat is the most important thing.

Therefore, I suggest you buy more food so that everyone in your family has enough to eat.

Before Yang Erniu could speak, Old Madam Yang came out of the main room and said, "What Madam Shen said makes sense! If we can't even get enough to eat, how can we have the strength to snatch people from the King of Hell?"

"Then... let's prepare a thousand catties of grain first! I need to make sure my children and grandchildren have enough to eat!"

When Old Mrs. Yang said this, Yang Erniu was startled.

Although their family was considered to be doing relatively well in the village, they never dared to imagine that they would consume more than a thousand catties of grain a month!

"Mother, isn't this... a bit too much?"

Grandma Yang wiped away her tears and shook her head again, "Not much! Just a thousand catties."

Listen to Madam Shen, you all need to eat your fill, only when you're full will you have the strength to fight this deadly disease!

What if we get so hungry that our hands and feet go weak and we can't hold on, and we die? What use would all this money be then?

Furthermore, the number of sick people in this village is only going to increase, and we don't know when the plague will end. What if things get chaotic in the city and they won't let us in? Then we'll really starve to death.

Upon hearing his mother's words, Yang Erniu immediately realized that she was right. "Mother, then I'll listen to you."

Old Mrs. Yang turned to look at Jing Zhichun again: "Madam Shen, thank you for your trouble. We only need 1000 catties of grain."

"Alright, then let's prepare 1,000 catties of grain for now." Jing Zhichun nodded, then asked, "What about your family's oil and salt? Do you have enough?"

Grandma Yang said, "There's still half a jar of lard left, enough to last for about half a year. The salt is almost gone."

"How much salt do you want?"

"Give me two pounds first."

"Okay. I'll let you know when the grain arrives."

I'm going home first today and will come back later. But if Uncle Yang needs anything, Brother Erniu, just come and get me from my thatched hut.

Old Mrs. Yang nodded repeatedly, "Oh, very well, thank you so much, Madam Shen, for today. Oh, and please remember to keep this tael of silver, Madam Shen, otherwise I'll feel embarrassed to let you treat my illness..."

As she spoke, she picked up the silver from the ground and threw it at Jing Zhichun's feet.

"Quickly, Madam Shen, you should keep it."

Yang Erniu chimed in, "Madam Shen, please accept this money. It will put our minds at ease."

Seeing how stubborn the Yang family was, Jing Zhichun didn't refuse and picked up the silver: "Alright, then I'll accept it."

To be honest, she felt that the Yang family members were really good people.

Seeing Jing Zhichun accept the money, Old Madam Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

On this day, Mrs. Shen stayed by her husband's side, not drinking a drop of water or eating a single grain of food, busying herself with other people's medicines.

Old Mrs. Yang saw this kindness and always felt indebted to it, but now she accepted the money.

From then on, she wouldn't feel so embarrassed if she had to trouble Madam Shen again.

After saying goodbye to the Yang family, Jing Zhichun returned to the back of her thatched hut about an incense stick's time later.

She immediately took out disinfectant spray and carefully sprayed herself from head to toe, inside and out, the basket on her back.

Then, he quickly took off his protective suit and black gown, along with his gloves and mask, and threw them all on the ground and burned them.

After burning all the things, Kyoto Haru disinfected himself again before entering the thatched hut.

The room was cold and damp, but thankfully she had left her two children in the space.

Otherwise, if we don't light a fire in this dilapidated hut, we'll freeze to death.

Jing Zhichun immediately bought a pot, several bottles of water, and a thermos from the system store.

I plan to boil some water to make formula for my baby later.

When preparing to boil water, seeing that there was no firewood in the house, Kyoto Haru went straight to the woodshed.

Just as she stepped out of the hut and took a few steps, she heard a series of voices.

Jing Zhichun quickly looked in the direction of the sound and saw several flickering torchlights not far from her thatched hut, slowly approaching it.

Just then, a loud-voiced man's voice came over.

"Brother, does that woman really have food at home?"