In the following days, Shen Wenhe and Bai Nianqing were like busy little bees, constantly running errands for the household.
Grains, oil, vegetables, cotton, cloth, chickens, ducks, fish, eggs of all kinds—they prepared plenty. It would be enough for their family to use for several years without worry.
Water, however, was the most critical. Even though Bai Nianqing had already stored a lot in her modern-era space, she feared it wouldn’t be enough. So she asked Shen Wenhe to prepare ten large wooden barrels and fill them with water, which they then stored in their space.
“My wife, the weather is getting hotter, and the crops in the fields are all drying up. I just brought up two barrels of water from the well. I’ll go to the city to check the situation today,” Shen Wenhe said, returning from outside, looking anxious.
“Yes, this weather is abnormal. It’s already past the beginning of autumn, and normally we’d be wearing long sleeves by now. But it’s so hot I could nearly strip off my clothes,” Bai Nianqing said, fanning herself with a large rattan fan.
“I heard the south is even worse. People have already started fleeing to our county. I’ll go to the city once more to see for myself. After that, if it’s not necessary, I won’t go out again,” Shen Wenhe said, also grabbing a fan.
“You should check how many refugees are coming from the south, and also see the situation up north. Since we’ve decided that, in the event of disaster, we’ll move to the shelter, we need to check it out and find a suitable place to live safely,” Bai Nianqing said.
“You’re right. I overlooked that. We should have checked earlier to avoid scrambling at the last minute,” Shen Wenhe admitted after Bai Nianqing reminded him.
“When you return, buy some oilcloth as well. After a drought, floods are likely, and we’ll need it,” she added.
“Understood. In that case, I’ll also buy two iron stoves and some charcoal. It’s always good to be prepared,” Shen Wenhe said. If a flood occurs and it rains, it would be difficult to cook without stoves.
“Exactly! I can’t believe I forgot that. And we should buy extra firewood too. If a flood happens and there’s no dry wood, it will be a real problem,” Bai Nianqing realized. Even though she thought they had prepared everything thoroughly, there were still things they overlooked.
“Firewood is easy. I’ll have Chang’an go to the village to arrange it. This year’s drought means not many trees are cut for lumber, but there’s plenty of dry wood,” Shen Wenhe said.
“That’s good. Make sure to split the hard wood, not just branches. Also, gather mushrooms and black fungus—they’re nutritious and tasty,” Bai Nianqing added.
“Okay, I’ll tell Chang’an to take care of it before I head to the city. I expect the wood will be delivered soon. Give Chang’an the money so he can negotiate with the villagers,” Shen Wenhe said before leaving.
“I know what to do. Go quickly,” Bai Nianqing replied.
Although Shen Wenhe still felt uneasy, he had to go buy stoves and charcoal. Once he left, Chang’an went to the village to organize the firewood.
Bai Nianqing set about her tasks. Since refugees had already arrived, it meant the drought was severe. Preparations had to be thorough.
Clothing was ready, housing plans would be checked tomorrow, and food had to be prepared. Although she had stored a lot of grain and some buns and steamed bread, it wasn’t enough. Taking advantage of the time, she began making more rice and buns with Xiao Chun.
For braised meat, Shen Wenhe had purchased nearly two hundred pigs, all slaughtered and delivered. That also meant over two hundred sets of pig offal. She planned to braise and store as much as possible in the space, ready to eat whenever needed.
She called Xiao Chun over immediately.
“Xiao Chun, Xiao Chun.”
“Miss, you called me?” Xiao Chun came with Nianchen.
“Nianchen, go play by yourself first. Xiao Chun and I will steam buns and make dumplings. We’ll play with you after we finish,” Bai Nianqing told Nianchen.
“Okay, sister,” Nianchen obediently replied.
“Xiao Chun, go outside and steam more. We need to prepare extra dry food. The drought is severe; I heard the north is worse than our area, and people have already fled here. We must prepare in advance. If refugees come, four of us alone can’t handle it. And if the drought gets worse, we may have to flee ourselves. We need extra dry food as a precaution,” Bai Nianqing instructed.
“Are there already disaster victims outside? What should we do?” Xiao Chun asked fearfully.
“We need to prepare now so that if things get worse, we can leave immediately,” Bai Nianqing explained.
“Understood, I’ll go now,” Xiao Chun said and headed outside.
“Also, steam some cornmeal buns. That way, if we flee, we won’t stand out eating fine white flour buns. We should keep a low profile,” Bai Nianqing said suddenly.
For the rest of the day, Bai Nianqing and Xiao Chun steamed buns, buns with fillings, twisted rolls, cornmeal buns, and mixed-grain cakes.
When Shen Wenhe returned from the city, the two were still busy steaming.
“Whoa! What’s all this? How did you make so many buns and rolls?” Shen Wenhe asked, surprised at the piles in the yard.
“I thought since refugees have arrived, our area might be unsafe too. We may have to leave soon, so we made extra buns and bread to eat on the road,” Bai Nianqing explained.
“Why did you make so many cornmeal buns? Not enough white flour?” Shen Wenhe noticed two baskets of cornmeal buns.
“I thought, if we flee, we shouldn’t eat better than others. If everyone else has no food, it would be too conspicuous for us to eat white flour buns. So I made some cornmeal ones to keep low-profile,” Bai Nianqing explained.
Shen Wenhe was just asking casually; he didn’t know much about these preparations, so he followed her lead.
“You’re very thoughtful. I bought two iron stoves and ordered a thousand bags of charcoal. They’ll be delivered this afternoon. How much firewood did Chang’an buy?” Shen Wenhe asked.
“Have we confirmed the situation with the refugees?” Bai Nianqing still worried about the disaster victims.