latelenovela Chapter 114 Cave Life
Chapter 114 Cave Life
Inside the cave, the children were laughing and playing, while the adults were busy with their own things.
A warm and peaceful scene!
Mrs. Tan and Mrs. Zhao placed pots on the three stove holes made of stones. They used two pots to cook food and one pot to boil water. They only had three pots, and they used all of them. After dinner, they would have some hot water to wash up.
After a while, the wild vegetable porridge was steaming. A dozen people gathered around the fire, and the gurgling sound of two pots of wild vegetable porridge made people drool.
The firelight reflected on everyone's face, adding a bit of warmth and anticipation.
The air is filled with the unique freshness of wild vegetable paste and the scent of the earth, which is a simple yet soul-stirring sense of satisfaction.
"It's almost time to eat. Be careful with the heat, kids!"
Everyone was either sitting or squatting, their eyes focused on the two pots of boiling porridge. Mother Liu skillfully picked up the wooden spoon and scooped a full spoonful of wild vegetable porridge into each bowl. Her technique was quick and even, ensuring that everyone could get the same portion.
As bowls of hot porridge were handed to the hands, soft cheers and the sound of people blowing and drinking the porridge were heard all around.
Everyone began to enjoy the food with their heads down, occasionally looking up and smiling at each other. No words were needed, and the tacit understanding and warmth were quietly transmitted in the firelight.
Although wild vegetable porridge is simple, it has become their most precious delicacy in this wilderness.
While eating porridge, Liu's mother said, "We don't have many wild vegetables left, and there are not many chestnuts and sweet potatoes left. The total amount of coarse and fine grains is less than 100 kilograms. There is relatively more dried meat, probably about 50 to 60 kilograms. With so many of us, these things can last for more than half a month if we eat them sparingly. I don't know when the rain will stop. In any case, we can't just sit there and eat up all the food we have."
All the food at home is managed by Liu's mother. She decides what to eat and how much to eat every day.
Looking at these things, she had no choice but to bring them up and let everyone think of a solution together as to what to do next!
Father Liu nodded and continued, "There are fifteen of us in our group now. Even if we eat frugally, we still have to have four or five kilograms of food every day. A mixture of sweet potatoes and chestnuts can barely keep us half full. When wild vegetables and these two are gone, the staple food will be consumed even faster! After we settle down, we still have to arrange for people to look around during the day and try to find some food to replenish our supplies."
Father Liu told them about their situation. They had never expected to encounter such heavy rain, and it lasted for so many days at a time.
Luo Hong: "It's okay, we'll save some money later. It can't rain this hard every day. It will get lighter sometime. When it gets lighter, we can walk around. After the rain, there will surely be a lot of fresh wild vegetables and mushrooms. Maybe we can even pick some chestnuts and other fruits."
Liu Caixia: "Yes, mother, don't worry! Let's settle down. We will take turns to send people out to look for food during the day. We won't starve to death in this mountain!"
In fact, except for the two old women and Liu Xiaomei who were a little worried, the others were not worried at all and would quietly add some coarse grains and fine grains into the porridge when the time came.
The half month mentioned before was just an estimate. If we delay it for another ten days or half a month, it won't be a big problem to hold out for more than a month. I'm just worried that if I hold out for too long, the two old women will find out.
Although the two maids were bought, people’s hearts are hidden, and once they know some secrets, they can’t be stopped from doing bad things.
It would be bad if the loss outweighs the gain!
After eating, Father Liu began to arrange things: "How about this, a few adults with good physical strength will take turns to go out to collect firewood and find food every day. The mountain is so big, you won't starve to death. When you cook tomorrow, add a little more water. You can still eat for many days, don't worry too much!"
Mother Liu also said quickly: "Yes, yes, that's what I said. There are still about 100 kilograms. Add more water and wild vegetables later, and you can eat it for many days. The food was thicker before, so add more water now. As long as everyone works together, we will definitely find a solution. This rain can't keep falling, it will stop eventually!"
After dinner, the kettle was already boiling full of hot water.
Everyone came forward one by one and wiped their faces and hands with clean cloths dipped in hot water. The freshness and comfort at that moment made people feel like they were reborn.
At this time, although the hot water was limited, the group could only simply wash themselves. When they had time later in the day, those who needed to wash their hair and take a bath could take turns to do so.
Everyone installed a fence door at the entrance of the cave where the water flowed out. There were gaps on the fence door, which could block some wind and rain while allowing ventilation so that people would not be suffocated by the fire in the house.
As the night deepened, the conversations around the fire gradually became quieter, replaced by bursts of even breathing.
On this quiet night, the starry sky is exceptionally bright, as if silently guarding these tired but strong travelers.
Although they were in a foreign land, they had each other's company, so they felt more confident and courageous.
The men slept outside, the women slept inside, and the children slept in the middle, with a simple fence gate made of stones in the middle.
The two maids followed Liu's mother's instructions and helped to make the bed, feed the mule with hay, and prepare the firewood.
On the first day, two old women took turns to keep watch at night. Now this cave is relatively safe. All they have to do is watch the firewood and prevent it from going out.
None of them had expected that what the crow had predicted would come true, and the group stayed in the cave for a whole month.
On the second day after arriving at the cave, the rain became a little lighter, and occasionally stopped for an hour and a half.
However, the sky never clears up. After a short break, it will soon start to drizzle again.
In this situation, we cannot continue our journey and must wait until the weather clears up completely. Otherwise, it will rain after walking for a while, and we may not be able to find a good place to shelter from the rain later.
The next day, Liu's father and his group cleaned up the cave.
Starting from the third day, everyone started to walk around the woods around the cave in groups of two during the day as planned. Even if they didn't find anything to eat, they would pick up some firewood and take it back to dry.
It's even colder in the mountains.
Liu's mother remembered the leather she had saved before.
Liu Caixia found the wolf skins and pig skins that she had hunted before, washed them with rainwater, and dried them over a fire. They had all been processed before, but they had not been washed with water, so the skins were still a little dirty. After washing and drying them, she arranged for two old women to start making leather clothes.
Liu's mother, Qi Xin and the two maids don't have to go out to pick wild vegetables and collect firewood for the time being.
They stayed in the cave to sew leather and cotton clothes for everyone. Liu's mother found an excuse to take out a bunch of cotton wool and put it in a coarse cloth bag, which was a bunch of cotton that was pressed tightly. But she didn't dare to take too much.
Fortunately, the cotton can still be made into some clothes after being compacted and spread out. Make thinner ones first to ensure that no one has a thin leather cotton coat to wear.
At present, it is completely sufficient. If it gets colder, it will not be enough. We will have to make plans later.