Shen Huaikang no longer refused and immediately ordered his sons and grandsons to work harder and lend a hand.
At that moment, the Shen family courtyard was packed with relatives—more than thirty people in all. Quite a few of the Shen family’s daughters-in-law and young girls had come as well.
The men were responsible for slaughtering and butchering the pigs, while the women cleaned the meat and made cured meat and dried meat.
Before long, the entire courtyard was filled with the sharp stench of blood.
Yet no one found it unpleasant in the slightest. Every face was filled with barely contained joy.
This was meat!
They couldn’t even remember how long it had been since they had last eaten meat.
Fortunately, the Shen family’s house was at the edge of the village, with some distance between them and their neighbors. Otherwise, there was no way they could have kept this secret.
Old Madam Shen busied herself directing everyone around the courtyard.
When she saw that Shen Yuehua and her daughter wanted to help, she immediately shooed them back into the room to rest.
“Ah-Li, I didn’t get a chance to ask you properly just now. Are you hurt anywhere?” Shen Yuehua looked her daughter over anxiously, her eyes full of concern.
Shen Shuli spun around once, letting her mother inspect her carefully.
“Don’t worry, Mom. My dad personally taught me how to fight, and I even have a secret weapon. Dealing with a few wild boars is no problem.”
Shen Shuli raised her hand and made a finger-gun gesture for her mother to see.
Only then did Shen Yuehua finally relax.
“So, Mom, did Grandfather and the others agree to leave with us?” Shen Shuli asked.
“Mm, they did. Today, your eldest uncle and I went to Qingyun County. There was only one grain shop still open in the entire county town, and the line stretched for two whole streets. Worse, they refused to sell grain to people from the countryside. They were only selling to city residents who didn’t own any farmland.”
Shen Yuehua’s expression was filled with worry.
“But we managed to find out quite a bit by asking around. Many wealthy families in the city have already moved away under one pretext or another. There are also far more refugees begging in the streets now, and we learned a lot from them. Your grandfather has agreed to leave with us.”
“Also, although we couldn’t buy any grain today, we did manage to get some salt and sugar. The prices were ridiculously high, though.”
Just thinking about those outrageous prices made Shen Yuehua’s heart ache.
“That’s great.”
Shen Shuli finally let out a sigh of relief.
From what she could tell, her maternal grandfather’s family were decent people. If they left with her family, they could avoid the terrible events that were supposed to happen to them in the novel.
In the main room, Old Master Su told his younger brother about everything his sons and grandsons had seen and heard in the county town that day.
“My eldest son went to the county town today and found that there were many more refugees than before. He managed to learn quite a bit from them.”
“Many of those refugees came from Hanshan Pass. The feudal lord of the northern border has already issued conscription orders to several prefectures closest to Hanshan Pass.”
“Every household with a ten-year-old boy or older is required to send him into the army. Anyone who refuses will be forcibly taken away. On top of that, they’ve increased the grain tax by thirty percent. They’re driving ordinary people like us to our deaths!”
“There is another terrifying piece of news. Hanshan Pass has already fallen to the Northern Barbarians. It won’t be long before they invade Qingzhou!”
“My son-in-law plans to take his entire family south to escape the disaster. I want to go with them. We should be leaving in about two days. Think it over carefully these next few days and decide whether you want to come with us.”
Old Master Su’s expression was grave.
“This isn’t something you can take lightly. Discuss it with everyone in your household. Even if you don’t want to leave, you should still prepare for the possibility. Stock up on as much grain as you can, and if possible, go into the mountains and hide for a while.”
Hearing this, the joy Shen Huaikang had felt after bringing home such a large haul of game vanished instantly. He stared at his elder brother in horror, desperately hoping he was only joking.
“Big Brother, is this really true? Don’t joke with an old man like me about something like this!”
After all, this meant abandoning their homes and farmland and becoming refugees in a foreign land with nowhere to go. No one would willingly take such a step.
Shen Huai’an gave a bitter smile.
“Little Brother, how could I possibly joke with you about something like this? This is a matter of life and death! Think it over carefully and make your decision as soon as possible.”
“Let me think about it…”
Shen Huaikang closed his eyes and leaned back against the chair, his entire demeanor sinking into dejection.
Outside, the courtyard was still bustling with activity.
The contrast with the deathly silence inside the house couldn’t have been greater.
The men and women of the Shen family worked quickly and efficiently. In just two hours, they had finished processing all the game.
Before the sky began to lighten, Shen Huaikang’s family quietly carried their share home.
The two families also loaded a cart with meat and took it to the county town to sell, hoping to exchange it for some grain and salt.
In years of famine, silver was nowhere near as useful as food.
Shen Huaikang also had his sons and grandsons inquire about the situation in town while they were there.
As for the difficult-to-process organs and offal, they were all thrown onto the barren fields to be used as fertilizer.
After all, every household was desperately short of water right now. Cleaning intestines consumed far too much water, and no one wanted the trouble.
And there wasn’t much difference in taste between wild boar offal and that of domesticated pigs.
Shen Shuli secretly moved all of it into her spatial storage and sealed it in airtight containers. Once she had the chance to process it properly, she could even make braised dishes from it.
The day passed in the blink of an eye.
In the end, Shen Huaikang’s family made their decision.
They would flee the famine together with the Su family.
As for the other clan families in the village, they were still hesitating. Some had even made it clear that they absolutely refused to leave.
There was nothing the Shen family could do for those households except urge them to reconsider.
Over the next two days, everyone who had decided to flee the famine began frantically preparing supplies.
Chimney smoke rose almost continuously from their houses.
They were all making various foods that could be stored for a long time and carried on the journey—steamed cornmeal buns, mixed-grain and wild-vegetable cakes, cured meat, roasted meat, and other dry provisions.
Shen Shuli wasn’t idle either. She secretly went alone into the deep mountains in search of water.
There was far too little water stored in her space. Most of it consisted of bottled mineral water and larger containers of mineral water, and there wasn’t much of it to begin with.
She wanted to stock up on more ordinary river or spring water for everyday cleaning.
After searching the mountains for a long time, she finally found what she was looking for: a mountain spring.
After carefully observing the area, she discovered quite a few large game animals hiding nearby.
This was one of the few remaining water sources in the mountains, making it a place every living creature would fight over. Naturally, many animals had their eyes on it.
Shen Shuli took out her suppressed sniper rifle and silently dealt with them all.
She stored all the game in her space and filled as many containers as she could with water from the spring.
The main problem was that she didn’t have many things suitable for storing water in her space.
She took out every pot, bowl, basin, cup, vase, washbasin, and other container she had stockpiled in the warehouse—anything that could hold water.
She even brought out the valuable antique bottles and jars she had taken from the Lin family and used those as well.
In the end, she barely managed to collect five tons of water.
Half the spring still remained, but unfortunately, she had no way to take it all with her.
She could only count it as good luck for the wild animals in the mountains. At least they would have enough water to survive a little longer.
Shen Shuli and Shen Yuehua had already spent the entire day at the Shen family’s home, helping prepare dry provisions.
They had also packed almost everything that needed to be packed. It was about time to head home.
Su Yunhai and his son, who had gone out to buy grain, should be back soon as well.
Shen Yuehua said goodbye to her parents.
“Dad, Mom, Ah-Li and I are going home. Yunhai should be back soon too, and we still need to get things sorted out at home. We’ll meet at the fork in the road the day after tomorrow morning.”
“All right, sweetheart. Leave your share of the wild boar meat here with us. I’ll give it back to you when we meet up. There’s no need for you to carry it back and forth—it’ll be too heavy.”
Old Madam Shen gazed at her daughter reluctantly.
“I know, Mom. Don’t see us off. Go back inside and get some proper rest.”