Walking all the way to the northwest by north, it was the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in a blink of an eye, and tomorrow was the most important New Year's Eve of the year.
Li Haitang opened the cotton curtain of the car window and looked out. There were only people in twos and threes on the road, not even the market.
Fortunately, she had the foresight to save some food a few days ago, and it will last for a few more days.
Originally, according to the normal food intake, a group of four people can eat for at least ten or eight days, but there are five blessings among them, so the time should be shortened by at least half.
Wufu rubbed her nose in embarrassment, every time she ate, she felt ashamed. Before her wife taught her that set of movements, she has been persisting.
Not to mention, the body has gradually gained a sense of contour, and has lost some weight, but the food intake has only decreased a little, and then stabilized.
"Ma'am, it's because I can eat too much."
Wu Fu suspects that he is a scumbag, watching the master eat two steamed buns, and she eats the fifth, so he has no face to reach for the sixth.
"It's okay. There is a village in front of us. There must be a place selling groceries. It's really not good. Let's exchange things with the villagers for some food."
The folk customs in the Northwest are more sturdy than those in the North, and the rogues are rampant. Just in time for the Chinese New Year, the rogues will not come out.
Dealing with the villagers in the village, the money is not revealed, you don't know who is the person with ulterior motives, and it is troublesome to be targeted, so try to be careful as much as possible.
"However, snacks should not be easy to buy."
Li Haitang opened the lower drawer of the small table, and there was a handful of melon seeds and a few walnuts left in it.
In the backcountry, there is money and no place to spend it. This is the real tragedy.
Last year during the Chinese New Year, the whole family faced a large table of food on the mountain, but this year, there is a risk of running out of food at any time.
The sky is full of yellow sand, if you don’t wear a scarf when you go out, the sand can get into your mouth when the wind blows.
Although the conditions were harsh, at least they were not as short of water as they had imagined. They stayed in an inn, and the store provided hot water for washing. They also passed by and saw several wide rivers.
The northwest is warmer than the border towns, the river is not frozen, the current is fast, and the surrounding area is desolate.
How far is the village ahead! Li Haitang knocked a walnut and yawned listlessly.
"Husband, we've been walking all morning, why don't we stop and have a rest?"
At noon, the wind stopped and the sun was just right. Li Haitang urgently needed to exercise her muscles and bones. After such a trip, her back ached from sitting and she was too tired to speak.
Nanny Yu is similar to her, staggering around, but Wufu is getting more and more energetic.
"Ma'am, are you hungry?"
There is dry firewood on the ground, pick some, heat a pot of hot water, and bake some steamed buns.
There was only one carriage, and there wasn't much room for the ingredients. He thought he could buy them anyway, so he didn't care too much.
Two years ago, there was a big market here, but now there are almost no people, he was negligent!
"I'd better save that and find a village to eat, otherwise I won't be able to eat it."
Li Haitang shook her head, she had already reached the point where she could not bear to eat steamed buns, and there were still some snacks left in the car before, which filled her stomach and saved two meals.
"I'll go look ahead and catch some fish."
Xiao Lingchuan built a small shed, put folded wooden boards as tables and chairs, and placed hams at the opening of the shed.
The fish meat is not as filling as steamed buns with rice, but the fish meat is tender and delicious, especially the grilled fish made by the savage husband. The skin is golden, and with a little salt, she can eat several.
As soon as she mentioned eating, the gluttonous worms in her stomach were hooked out again.
The fish were not easy to catch. With Xiao Lingchuan's skill, it took nearly an hour before and after. Fortunately, the harvest was full and the quantity was not much. There were two in total, and each big fish weighed at least four or five catties.
"It's just right, my husband and I will have one, Wufu, you and Madam Yu will have one."
Just average the amount of food.
"The fish is really big. In the river in our village, you can't even find a fish weighing more than two catties."
All the big fish hide in the deep water, and the villagers can only catch a few crucian carp melon seeds, remove the head and spines, and there are not a few mouthfuls of meat left.
"Don't you see how wide the river is?"
Nanny Yu is speechless, so she can't communicate with people who have never seen the world. This is the northwest, not the village of Wufu's family.
The river water is muddy, and the bottom is mostly silt and sand. If you want to catch fish in the water, you can't do it in a few moments.
After a meal of grilled fish, Li Haitang was full and satisfied.
"Husband, let's take a day off tomorrow."
On New Year's Eve, when you are away from home, you can't spend it casually. At least find a hotel to stay and sleep all day to catch up on sleep.
"Let's go for another two hours, and we will reach the next town."
Xiao Lingchuan fed the horses to eat grass, and then fed some water, and the group continued on the road.
"You carry the load, I lead the horse, welcome the sunrise, send the sunset away, smooth the rough, and make the road..."
Feeling better, Li Haitang suddenly remembered a song from Journey to the West, "Dare to Ask Where the Way Is", and unconsciously hummed it.
"Ma'am, this little song is really nice."
Wu Fu slapped his hands and asked, "Cheng Dao, what happens after?"
"Fighting hard and dangerous, set off again, set off again...la la la la..."
Li Haitang sang again, dare to ask where the road is, the road is under your feet, and they are returning from the northwest, and they have to embark on the journey again.
There is no end to it, and there is nowhere to go.
After walking for another two hours, it was getting dark. They passed two villages all the way, and finally came to a small town.
In the evening, the northwest town was peaceful, so peaceful that it was even a little unusual.
"What's the matter?"
There are still messy rotten vegetables and leaves, dried meat, and broken eggs on the ground. The things are covered with a layer of soil. Depending on the situation, it should have been a few days.
The windows and doors of the merchants on both sides were closed tightly, and some doors were open. It seemed that they left in a hurry before closing the doors.
"Could it be that you encountered bandits?"
Li Haitang got out of the carriage, and went to an open shop with the savage husband. This shop was a cloth shop. The cash box in the account room was gone, but the cloth on the table was still there.
If bandits rob it, why don't they want the fabric on it? This is unreasonable.
Moreover, the bazaar was in such a mess, it might be that something happened to the people, and they suddenly ran away in a swarm.
It's getting dark, and if you continue on your way, you won't be able to go very far. Now, the group of them can only find a shelter from the wind and settle down for one night.
"It looks a bit pervasive."
Wufu took the lead and pushed open the front door of an inn. Suddenly, a black figure came out from inside, making her almost scream.
"Don't be nervous, it's a little black dog." Li Haitang's face was calm, but her heart became serious. She was thinking, what happened to make the people run away, they didn't have time to clean up, and they didn't want money. It must be left in a hurry.