During the famine, most people ate only one meal a day.
It wasn't that they didn't want to eat, but that there wasn't much food left at home.
One meal eaten meant one less meal.
Among the people of Dahe Village, only Li Zheng's family was well-off, carrying over a hundred catties of coarse grains on their journey to escape the famine.
Most families had only a dozen catties of coarse grain reserves.
Some didn't even have five catties of grain.
Xia Ren took out a ceramic pot from the cart, opened the wooden lid, and a sweet scent of roasted chestnuts wafted out from the pot.
"Wife, spread out the cloth."
Xia Ren instructed Jiang Wan'er, who was in front of him.
Soon, Jiang Wan'er spread out the pre-prepared coarse cloth on the ground as a tablecloth.
When Xia Ren poured out some roasted chestnuts from the ceramic pot, the three little girls sitting cross-legged stared wide-eyed, their mouths involuntarily making swallowing motions.
This time, only about a catty of roasted chestnuts was poured out; he distributed them equally, with each family member receiving seven roasted chestnuts.
"Daddy, you work harder, eat more."
Da Ya took two roasted chestnuts from her own share and gave them to Xia Ren.
Er Ya, not to be outdone, also gave two roasted chestnuts: "Yes, Daddy, eat more."
San Ya said softly, "San Ya will also share, Daddy eat more."
Even Jiang Wan'er wanted to give two roasted chestnuts to Xia Ren, but he declined.
"Daddy has enough to eat, none of you need to do this."
Xia Ren felt very warm inside; with such daughters and wife, his life was not in vain.
While saying this, he returned the roasted chestnuts his daughters had given him.
"But..."
Da Ya felt sorry for Xia Ren and wanted to say more.
But she was quickly interrupted by Er Ya, who said, "Daddy is also doing this for our good. If we are full, we will have the strength to push the cart and travel, so let's listen to Daddy."
Xia Ren smiled kindly and ruffled Er Ya's head.
Only then did the family stop talking and begin to eat the sweet roasted chestnuts.
A nearby family, who had only drunk water to fill their hunger at noon, saw Xia Ren's family eating fragrant roasted chestnuts and were so envious that their mouths watered.
But Xia Ren did not give them food because he knew that once he opened that door, more and more people would come to him asking for food.
Er Ya also knew this principle.
So, while eating the roasted chestnuts, Er Ya brought it up, and the family all agreed it made sense, so they unanimously decided not to casually give food to others.
After resting for half an hour.
Most of the people in Dahe Village took a short rest on the spot.
The wilderness, however, was a place where mosquitoes ran rampant.
As a result, many people were bitten by mosquitoes, causing their bodies to swell with small bumps, and even Xia Ren's family was not spared.
With a 'smack'.
San Ya slapped her arm, and when she lifted her hand, there was a flattened, blood-stained mosquito on her arm.
"Damn mosquitoes, San Ya and mosquitoes are sworn enemies."
San Ya puffed out her cheeks in anger, then scratched at the other small bumps on her arm.
These red, swollen bumps were all from mosquito bites.
Xia Ren grabbed San Ya's reddened arm, feeling a pang of heartache.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he immediately thought of a solution.
He stood up and quietly said to Jiang Wan'er, "I'm going to look for something nearby. You watch the children and stay here, don't wander off."
There was still some time before departure, and while looking for food, Xia Ren planned to find an uninhabited place to collect today's sign-in supplies.
As for the sign-in reminder, it had already sounded in his mind at noon, twelve o'clock.
"Okay."
Jiang Wan'er didn't understand what Xia Ren was going to look for, but she trusted Xia Ren completely.
In a short while.
Xia Ren arrived at a rocky area, and seeing no one else around, he quietly said, "Sign in."
Immediately.
A small wooden box appeared in front of him.
After Xia Ren used a hatchet to open the box, he saw an oval fragmentation grenade in a white plastic bag.
"A fragmentation grenade! This sign-in supply isn't bad!"
Xia Ren secretly sighed with emotion.
Although there was only one, its lethality was not to be underestimated.
Once it exploded, it could release thousands of fragments, causing widespread and effective damage.
It was primarily for causing chaos and making a loud noise.
He had been a mercenary for ten years before, so he was very familiar with this thing.
This fragmentation grenade could be used as a trump card.
So, he put the fragmentation grenade away.
He also put away the white plastic bag, as it had many uses.
Afterward, Xia Ren began to search for what he was looking for.
His efforts paid off, and he finally found it after five minutes.
A pine tree nearly ten meters tall.
He quickly picked pine needles, or pine leaves, and placed them into a basket, stopping only after collecting three or four catties.
When he returned, the three little girls eagerly came before Xia Ren, thinking he had hunted some prey.
But seeing that the basket contained pine needles, the three little girls' faces showed some disappointment.
"Daddy, what are you going to use these pine leaves for?"
San Ya tilted her small head up and asked, puzzled.
"You'll know in a bit."
Xia Ren kept them in suspense.
After sitting cross-legged beside his cart, he grabbed some pine needles and rubbed them vigorously with both hands, quickly producing a green liquid.
"San Ya, come here."
Xia Ren called to San Ya.
San Ya looked surprised but still walked over.
So, Xia Ren applied the green liquid from the pine needles to San Ya's arm.
He applied more green pine liquid, especially to the swollen areas.
Er Ya stood there watching for a while, then suddenly understood, saying, "I get it, this pine needle juice can relieve itching."
"Not only can it relieve itching, but it can also repel insects."
Xia Ren calmly added.
San Ya was initially confused, but gradually, she felt that the itching on her arm was not as intense as before, and she joyfully said, "It's working, it's not as itchy anymore. Daddy, San Ya's neck also has bumps."
"Okay."
Xia Ren smiled slightly, rubbed the pine needles into juice, and applied it.
Er Ya personally took action, grabbing a handful of pine needles from the basket, and imitating Xia Ren's earlier actions, rubbed out the pine needle juice and applied it to her own body.
Jiang Wan'er and Da Ya also joined in, rubbing pine needle juice with their hands.
When the surrounding villagers of Dahe Village saw that pine needles had this effect, they searched for pine trees, then expertly rubbed out the juice and applied it to the mosquito bites.
Everyone who used it spoke highly of it.
Word spread like wildfire.
In a short while, all the Dahe Village people escaping the famine knew that pine needle juice had an anti-itch effect, relieving them of the pain of insect bites.
And when they learned that this was revealed by Xia Ren, most of the Dahe Village people felt grateful to Xia Ren.
Soon, the hour-long rest period ended.
Li Zheng struck the bronze drum.
"Dong dong dong--"
"Gather your things, prepare to depart."
Li Zheng shouted loudly, and the Dahe Village Patrol Team members walked around to inform everyone.
The procession once again formed a long line, walking on the main road leading south.
The afternoon temperature was even higher than in the morning.
Xia Ren could clearly see the heat rising in the air.
The Dahe Village people fleeing the famine sweated even more in the afternoon than in the morning.
Some villagers with weaker constitutions suffered heatstroke and fainted.
For these villagers with heatstroke, they were either carried to their own carts to rest, or their families would stop first, rest for a while, and then catch up with the group.
It was not until sunset that Li Zheng struck the gong, allowing the Dahe Village people to camp in an open field.
Xia Ren's family camped under a tree, and before nightfall, the family quickly picked up branches from the ground and lit them with a fire starter.
At this time, many Dahe Village people were preparing dinner.
San Ya watched a nearby family making millet porridge; she hadn't eaten millet porridge in a very, very long time, and she licked her lips, craving it.
The child from the family opposite, seeing this, immediately scolded San Ya, "What are you looking at? You won't get any even if you keep looking."
The adults of that family, seeing that it was Xia Ren's family opposite, were startled and quickly apologized respectfully to Xia Ren, "Xia Ren, it's just a child who doesn't know any better, please don't take it to heart, I'll teach him a lesson right away."
The little brat was immediately beaten by his own adults, howling.
Xia Ren's reputation for killing two thieves yesterday was completely established.
Therefore, most of the Dahe Village people were unwilling to offend Xia Ren.
"It's nothing."
Xia Ren responded calmly.
San Ya looked up, hugged Xia Ren's leg, and said, "Daddy, San Ya isn't craving it."
"Hmm, Daddy believes you." Xia Ren ruffled San Ya's head, then took out the compound crossbow from his back and said to Jiang Wan'er, "Wife, you chop some firewood nearby. I'll go scout around and see if I can hunt some wild game."