“Have you found out about the disaster victims?” Bai Nianqing still worried about the refugees.
“I asked some people I know and got the details. These refugees are all from Shaoxing Prefecture in the south, over a thousand miles from here. They said that along the way, the crops have withered and the rivers dried up. At first, you could still see green leaves and wild grass by the roadside, but later it was just bare tree trunks, with no green in sight. I also checked the situation in the north. It’s similar to ours; it hasn’t rained for several months. We need to prepare quickly. Tomorrow, I’ll go up the mountain to find a suitable place to take refuge,” Shen Wenhe explained after taking a few sips of water.
“Is it already this serious? Then tomorrow I’ll go with you,” Bai Nianqing said, her heart skipping a beat. She hadn’t realized the situation was so severe.
“No, you don’t need to come. Climbing the mountain is exhausting; I’ll go with Chang’an,” Shen Wenhe said, not wanting his wife to suffer.
“Still, I want to go with you. This time, we should go deeper; being close to the outside doesn’t feel safe. We should find two more backup spots,” Bai Nianqing said, giving Shen Wenhe a meaningful glance.
Although Bai Nianqing didn’t say it outright, Shen Wenhe understood her meaning. With her space, bringing her along would be much more convenient.
But Shen Wenhe hesitated—going deep into the mountains meant more wild animals. He feared he wouldn’t be able to protect Bai Nianqing.
“My wife, it’s not that I don’t want you to come. It’s just that in the deep mountains, there will surely be wolves and tigers. I’m afraid I can’t protect you,” Shen Wenhe said.
“It’s fine. Haven’t you forgotten? I can protect myself,” Bai Nianqing hinted.
This wasn’t her being overconfident. Her space could accommodate people, and in an emergency, she could retreat inside for safety.
Shen Wenhe clearly considered this and nodded in agreement. “Alright, then tomorrow we’ll go together.”
“Go rest first. I’ve steamed a pot of buns already,” Bai Nianqing said, noticing Shen Wenhe was sweating. She didn’t want him to overexert himself.
“I’m not tired. What about Nianchen? I’ll go check on him,” Shen Wenhe said, looking around for their little nephew.
“He’s asleep. He played himself tired,” Bai Nianqing gestured toward the house.
“Then I’ll go start the fire,” Shen Wenhe said. He didn’t want to rest while his wife was busy outside.
“Why don’t you check how much firewood Chang’an collected?” Bai Nianqing suggested, not wanting Shen Wenhe to do chores.
“All right, I’ll go take a look,” Shen Wenhe agreed.
Chang’an had been stacking firewood in the backyard, near the back gate that led directly to the mountain.
“Whoa, Chang’an! In such a short time, you’ve collected this much?” Shen Wenhe exclaimed at the huge pile stacked against the wall.
“Master, you’re back,” Chang’an said, directing others to pile the wood higher.
“You’ve really collected this much?” Shen Wenhe checked the pile.
Not bad. All hard wood, and fairly dry.
“Our village is near the mountains. Villagers lack everything except firewood. As soon as I mentioned we needed wood, they rushed to bring what they had stored. In less than a day, we’ve collected hundreds of loads,” Chang’an explained.
“This is probably enough. Let’s stop after collecting these few loads. There are plenty of dead trees on the mountain we can cut later,” Shen Wenhe said.
Since they planned to take refuge in the mountains, there would be plenty of wood there. He had the villagers collect some just in case a sudden storm caused floods and there was no wood to burn.
“Master, look, this firewood comes from dead trees cut on the mountain, dried perfectly by the old lady at home. It burns very well,” an elderly man called out as he brought more wood. He worried Shen Wenhe might not take any more.
“Good. This wood is all hard, excellent quality. Chang’an, take the old man’s wood too. But tell him to let the others know we’ve collected enough and don’t send any more,” Shen Wenhe said.
The elderly man had carried it a long way, so Shen Wenhe couldn’t send it back.
“Okay, okay!” The old man was thrilled to hear he could leave the wood. Normally, they had no way to earn money. Hearing that the Shen household was buying wood, he quickly gathered the family’s stock.
After the home deliveries, his two sons went to the mountains to cut more.
“Old man, here’s payment for the wood,” Chang’an handed him five copper coins.
“Ah,” the old man said, taking the coins happily.
“Master, all this wood cost less than five hundred wen. Really cheap,” Chang’an said.
Shen Wenhe agreed. Five hundred wen wasn’t even enough for a single meal.
This was because Shen Wenhe didn’t understand rural life. Peasants rarely earn money; besides farming, they work occasional odd jobs in town. A good day’s pay was about twenty wen, a bad day maybe ten, if luck was on their side.
Now, a load of wood earned five wen, and it was mostly effort. The elderly man, for example, brought twenty loads with two sons—that’s a hundred wen, more than he could make in three or four days in town.
With wood collection complete, Chang’an locked the back gate.
Dinner was simple: just buns.
The next morning, Shen Wenhe and Bai Nianqing set off for the mountain.
Although their estate was at the foot of the mountain, it was still a few miles from the peak—about five or six miles according to Bai Nianqing.
Even on the mountain, there was barely a trace of green.
“Hubby, it looks bad up here too. Even the wild grass has withered. We’ve walked half the way and haven’t seen a single wild chicken or rabbit,” Bai Nianqing said, wiping sweat from her forehead.
“Hmm, I’ve been up here before. Usually there are plenty of wild chickens and rabbits. This year, with no food on the outskirts, they’ve probably moved deeper into the mountains. We need to go further in. On the outskirts, refugees might also come looking for food. We should find two backup locations in case of danger,” Shen Wenhe said.
After speaking a bit, they focused on climbing, silent and careful.
However, after crossing two mountains, they still hadn’t found a suitable place.