The first people to know the news was Lijia Village, and then Zhoujia Village. Boss Zhou went to Zhoujia Village to spread the news, and Xuemei also went back, bringing back dried bracken, daylilies, etc. at home.

Xuemei dried whatever her mother wanted. The house she rented had a large vegetable garden, so she planted a lot of spinach and radishes and dried a lot of dried vegetables.

Zhulan weighed the dried goods at her eldest daughter’s house, calculated the silver coins, and found that her daughter had been diligent at home. She hadn’t dried much, but she had brought in five catties of mushrooms and five catties of fungus. The monkey head mushrooms were a bit less, only one catty. The spinach, after drying, looked bulky but weighed only two catties. There were two catties of daylily flowers, eight catties of ferns, two catties of dried dandelions, and thirty catties of dried radishes.

With a total of six hundred and fifty wens, it amounted to more than half a tael of silver, a substantial income. If it weren’t for Xuemei remembering the children, she would have sold everything at home for her mother to subsidize her. She almost wished to sell everything in the house for extra income.

Early the next morning, the door of Zhulan’s house was not open, and those who knew the news came to guard it early.

Second Zhou was adept at calculations and helped with bookkeeping. Li Shi’s natal family also sold quite a bit. Originally, they harvested a lot for winter vegetables to save on grains, but now it was all converted into silver. Although it was all mushrooms, wood ears, and dried radishes, the quantity was considerable, fetching over six taels of silver.

There were many boys in Li’s village, and every household had saved a considerable amount. While there weren’t many high-priced items, there were plenty of low-priced ones, especially dried radishes.

Zheng Yang didn’t mind it either. He accepted all the items and took them back to keep for food, or sent them to the barracks as a favor.

After two consecutive days of collection, they decided to stop for a while. The dried vegetables took up too much space, and the two days’ worth already amounted to a lot. Plus, to prevent moisture, they had to transport them overland rather than by water, covering them with a canopy to avoid snow and rain. It was too much to handle.

If it weren’t for the demand and the payment from the Zheng family, most merchants wouldn’t engage in such unprofitable transactions. The cost of transportation was too high, and if the goods got damp during water transport, the losses would be even greater.

Moreover, you could eat green vegetables in the winter in the South. People in the South did not care about dried vegetables. It was good to eat green vegetables. Dried vegetables were also popular in the Northwest frontier and other places in the North.

When Zheng Yang left, Zhulan handed over half of the monkey head mushrooms and dried dandelions to him as a gift. As for how the discussion with Old Master Lu went, judging by Zheng Yang’s good mood, it was surely successful.

Zheng Yang hurriedly left a few days after his return, to return to the Northwest before the New Year.

As for Jiang Sheng’s mother’s illness, Zhulan didn’t even need to ask. From Jiang Sheng’s stiff face, it was clear that the possibility of pretending was high. The elderly couple from the Jiang family felt resentful that they hadn’t benefited from nurturing her for so long, but they also regretted their past actions. With these conflicting thoughts, they were somewhat conflicted. As long as they didn’t mistreat her daughter, Zhulan couldn’t be bothered to pay them any mind.

Half a month after Zheng Yang left, it snowed for the second time this year. The sky seemed to have leaked, and it started to snow without stopping.

Zhulan looked outside at the male relatives from Li’s maternal family helping to clear the snow, feeling worried. She said, “Although it’s not heavy snow, it’s been falling continuously for two days and nights. The snow is already waist-deep. When will this snowy weather end?”

Sun Shi felt uneasy, “It’s only been a good year, but if there is a snowstorm this year, life will be difficult again.”

In the severe winter snow disaster, houses collapsed under the weight of the snow, and those who were left homeless faced dire conditions. Families with ample food reserves were less concerned, but those with limited supplies of firewood faced a grave situation. Every time there was a snow disaster, many lives were lost.

Indeed, there’s also the danger of wild animals descending from the mountains, especially hungry wolf packs.

Zhulan thought about Xuemei, “I don’t know what happened to the old house. Jiang Sheng is the only one in the family who does the heavy lifting. It’s hard to go up to the roof to clear the snow.”

Sun Shi reassured, “Your old house is sturdy and won’t collapse, plus Jiang Sheng is capable, and with the support of the Zhou family, nothing will happen.”

Zhulan was familiar with various disasters in modern times, but in ancient times, there was no mechanization, and rescue efficiency was low. Medical facilities were not readily available. When there were refugees, that’s when attention would be paid. However local rescue efforts relied on unreliable county officials.

The situation was dire. Reports were being sent layer by layer, hoping for help from the capital. Disaster relief funds were being embezzled at every level. If there was enough left to set up soup kitchens, that would be considered fortunate. Anything more was beyond hope.

Zhulan didn’t want a snowstorm to happen. No matter what kind of disaster happened in ancient times, many people would die. The largest proportion of deaths were the elderly, women, and children.

The heavy snow fell for another day before it stopped. That night, Zhulan heard the sound of wolves howling. Lijia Village was close to the mountains and forests. The heavy snow closed the mountains and there was no food. Large wild animals came down the mountains to look for food.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren lit candles and stood in the yard with their clothes on. The dog at home kept barking, and the sound of wolves howling outside was very close. They were entering the village.

Zhulan’s family was not afraid. The courtyard wall was high, and the snow outside the courtyard wall had been cleared away. The snow that was half a person’s height was gone. There was no place to step on to avoid the fear of wolves jumping up.

After a while, Boss Zhou and Second Zhou came over with torches. Behind Second Zhou were Li Shi and Zhao Shi, who were holding the child. Mingyun was holding Mingteng and Yushuang, and Li Shi sent the children in. Li Shi came out with a worried face, worried about her parents’ family, but no one dared to open the door and go out at this time. Who knew how many wolves came down?

Zhulan held Zhou Shuren’s hand tightly, scared. These wolves were not those domesticated ones seen in the zoo. The ancient wolves were completely wild and could really eat people.

Zhou Shuren remained composed, but he couldn’t shake off the heavy feeling in his heart. No matter how many men there were in Li Family Village, there were always areas they couldn’t attend to. If they were to rush into the courtyard and break windows to get inside, casualties were inevitable. In such heavy snow, injuries sustained would be difficult to treat, and infections could be fatal without access to the county.

Now the village was closed, and you could vaguely hear shouts and howls of wolves.

Zhulan said worriedly: “There are many men in Lijia Village. Will the wolf take a detour to Zhoujia Village?” 

It was not far away, just a quarter of an hour. Zhoujia Village was not like Lijia Village with high walls. Some houses had wooden fences without walls.

Zhulan expressed her gratitude once again. Last year, they had built a new wall around their house. The wall wasn’t short, which made things a bit safer.

Zhou Shuren could hear the screams of the wolf and was a little unsure. Wolves were very smart animals. “It’s useless to worry now. We’ll know tomorrow morning.”

Yang Dayong squatted and smoked, “Animals have the most accurate intuition. It has just been snowing for a few days and the wolves have come down the mountain to look for food. It seems that there will be a snow disaster this year.”

The current situation was not a snow disaster. In his memory, the real snow disaster happened when he was a child. Many, many people died.

Zhou Shuren said: “Zheng Yang’s luck is really good. According to the distance, he should have passed the capital by now. At least he is not stuck on the road.”

Zhulan hummed.

As soon as Zhou Shuren saw that his attention was not diverted, he said to Boss Zhou and Second Zhou: “You two hold the dog, you watch for half the night, Chang Lian, Chang Zhi, and Rongchuan will watch for the rest of the night, and the others will return to their duties. Let’s rest in the main house tonight. It’s safer for the whole family to stay together.”

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren had no sleep all night. When it got daybreak, Boss Zhou and Second Zhou led four dogs out to check.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren were waiting for the news, and they came back soon.

(End of chapter)

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