I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

He groaned twice more, but when no one responded from inside, Old Man Xi reluctantly crossed the yard and opened the kitchen door—well, so they were all hiding in the kitchen!

Xi Dashun was munching on a piece of crispy rice when he saw Old Man Xi approaching. He quickly handed over the remaining half of the rice crust, smiling and saying, "Dad! You're back!"

Old Man Xi came in and sat on the floor, took the rice crust from his hand, and said unhappily, "Why didn't you wait for me before you ate it!"

Xi Dashun chuckled, "We were hungry! I didn't know where you'd been, so my wife cooked dinner and we ate!"

As he spoke, he stood up, brought over a bowl of leftover rice gruel, and said solicitously, "Father, please drink this!"

Old Xi ate with a handful of crispy rice crust and a handful of rice porridge, rubbing his belly, and asked, "Where's the dry rice?"

Xi Dashun opened his eyes wide and said, "You ate it."

"You didn't leave me a single grain?" Old Man Xi glanced at the pot; there wasn't a single grain of rice left. He was furious. "Such a big bag of grain, couldn't you have cooked more?!"

Actually, it had been cooked, but the three of them ate it all. Xi Dashun patted his stomach, "Dad! Don't be angry, let's cook some more!"

The grandson beside him also tried to persuade him, "Grandpa, don't be angry, let's cook again!"

Old Man Xi blew his beard and glared, then asked for another bowl of rice porridge, drinking it while waiting for Xi Dashun to cook it for him.

But as he drank, the pain in his body grew worse and worse!

Old Man Xi was itching all over.

Just then, Xi Dashun, who had gone outside to fetch water, returned and said, "Oh dear, Dad, this water is a bit dirty. Let it settle for a while before boiling it for you."

After saying that, he put the basin on the ground and waited for the water to clear.

Old Man Xi peeked out and saw a basin of water that was black and gray, like it had just been washed with soot from the bottom of a pot. It didn't look like it was edible at all!

"I won't drink this water! Go and fetch me a basin of clean water!" He rubbed his leg, groaned twice, and said, "Xi Ershun's wife is an ingrate too. I asked her to bring out the grain, but no one answered after I called her for ages!"

"I can't even get my son's grain back? If that's not enough, I'll go to the village head! I refuse to believe that the village head won't stand up for me!"

Xi Dashun said impatiently, "It's raining outside right now, where are we going to get you water? Just make do with this, anyway, even if there's water outside, it'll turn black soon!"

He was right; the water sources outside were indeed gradually being polluted by the black rain.

The rain fell into every courtyard, and it wasn't just Xi Dashun who thought this way; other families thought the same.

They were preparing to fetch some water before it got muddy from the black rain when they heard a gong being banged outside: "Don't come out! This rain will hurt your skin!"

"If it gets on your skin, rinse it with water!"

"This rain is unsuitable for eating or drinking!"

"The team will rest in this village for now! We won't be traveling today!"

After calling out to make sure every household could hear him, the village head, holding an umbrella, finally went back.

When I got back, I found that the tung oil on the umbrella had been corroded by the black rain, and a small layer of it had peeled off!

If people and livestock travel in the rain, they will be corroded by this "acid rain"!

If Zhao Lao Er hadn't come to inform him, he wouldn't have known that this black rain was so terrifying! The village head just didn't know why Zhao Lao Er called this black rain "acid rain." Did his child taste it?

The acid rain was light, just a light drizzle.

But it keeps raining.

The Zhao family.

The Zhao family escaped unharmed this time, and Granny Qian exclaimed that her family was very fortunate.

When Qian Pozi heard that Zhao Lao Er had found so much grain and chose to hand it over to the village, she scolded him for being wasteful.

If Zhao Laosan found the grain, he must have secretly brought it back! It's not even enough for his own family, how could he possibly share it with the villagers!

However, their family was large, and they were given almost three bags of grain at once. While directing Sun to cook, Granny Qian directed Wu to tend the fire, as if she had returned to Wangli Village when she was still in charge of the family's grain.

Having eaten and drunk their fill, and with nothing to do inside, Granny Qian's eyes lit up. "It's raining outside now, and nobody dares to go out," she said. "Do you think there might be other cellars in the village?"

Zhao Laosan was most interested in crooked and unorthodox matters. "Mother? What do you mean?"

Granny Qian: "Let's sneak over and take a look when no one's around."

Upon hearing this, Granny Qian perked up and immediately stood up, but Zhao Laosan quickly stopped her, saying, "The village head just said that we shouldn't get wet in the black rain outside!"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Granny Qian said. "Don't we have oilcloth at home?"

"Just cover yourself with an oilcloth, and you'll be protected from all the rain!"

Zhao Laosan thought about it and realized it made sense.

The area covered by the oilcloth was limited, so only the two of them could go. Granny Qian walked in front, supporting herself with the oilcloth, while Old Man Zhao followed behind her, also supporting himself with the oilcloth.

The two went to the house that was closer first.

Avoiding uninhabited houses, the two searched quietly amidst the patter of heavy raindrops.

They actually found a cellar, but it was small and empty.

After taking one look from the top, the two moved to another spot to continue their search.

"This one!" Granny Qian exclaimed excitedly, lifting the lid of a cellar. "Third brother, this cellar is huge!"

"Of course, this family's house is bigger than everyone else's!" Old Zhao stretched his head down to look, but couldn't see anything.

"There seems to be something inside!" Granny Qian rubbed her hands together and slowly descended the wooden ladder at the cellar entrance.

Standing in the cellar, Granny Qian adjusted to the darkness and then realized that the cellar was as big as a large room!

There were indeed things placed in the corner!

"I actually found it!" Granny Qian's voice was filled with barely suppressed joy. She happily headed towards the corner of the wall, but before she even reached it, she felt dizzy and her head started to ache.

—What's going on? I didn't get caught in the rain, so why do I have a headache?

"Third brother... the third brother..."

Before she could finish speaking, Granny Qian collapsed softly to the ground.

From the top of the cellar, Zhao Laosan peeked inside and could only vaguely see his mother sleeping on the ground.

"Mother? Mother?!"

Zhao Laosan called out twice, but Qian Pozi still didn't answer. He became anxious and put the oilcloth he was holding aside before going down the cellar ladder.

Walking over to Granny Qian, Zhao Laosan nervously patted her arm and asked, "Mother! What's wrong?"

"Three...you...out..." Granny Qian dazedly came back to her senses and struggled to speak to Zhao Laosan. Before she could finish speaking, she fainted.

Zhao Laosan panicked and was about to get up to take his mother out when, unexpectedly, his legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground!

Headache! My eyes hurt too!

Zhao Laosan struggled to crawl towards the cellar entrance twice, but ultimately succumbed and fainted.

The Zhao family.

Old Zhao waited and waited, but Granny Qian and her third son did not return.

He stood anxiously at the doorway of the main room, looking out into the rain. He muttered to himself, "What's going on? It's been half a day!"

"This village isn't very big, it's time to come back!"

Old Zhao was also a little worried. He stood up and stood behind Old Zhao, saying, "Dad, shall we go out and take a look?"

"Let's go." Old Zhao had been waiting for these words.

Zhao Laoda went to the car to get an oilcloth, and the two of them, with the oilcloth over their heads, went from house to house looking for Granny Qian and Zhao Laosan.

After searching several places, I finally found my own oilcloth at the end of the village.

Next to the tarpaulin was the entrance to a cellar.

The two men exchanged a glance, and Zhao the Elder called out towards the cellar entrance, "Mother?"

There was no response from inside. Boss Zhao peered down into the cellar. It was dimly lit inside, and there was something in the corner!

Incidentally, he also saw two people lying on the ground!

Near the cellar entrance, the man was clearly dressed like Zhao Laosan.

"Mother!? Third brother?" Zhao the eldest was startled and immediately climbed down the ladder. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed his brother!

Outside the cellar, Old Zhao asked worriedly, "Is your mother inside?"

"Dad! Mom and Third Brother have all fainted for some reason!" Zhao Laoda dragged Zhao Laosan to the ladder, where Zhao Laotou helped him up. Zhao Laoda then lifted and pulled Zhao Laosan to the ground.

That's how Granny Qian got it up there too.

They used the oilcloth they brought as an umbrella, and the piece that Granny Qian brought was spread on the ground. Old Zhao shouted several times and shook them several times, but there was no sign that the two of them would wake up.

He placed his trembling hand under Granny Qian's nose; she was breathing!

Then he put his hand under his third brother's nose, and he felt a shiver of anger!

Old Zhao was relieved. "He's still breathing. He can be saved! He can be saved!"

But getting the people back is also a difficult task.

In the end, Zhao Laoda carried Zhao Laosan on his back, and Zhao Laotou carried Qian Pozi on his back. The two of them struggled to get the person back. Zhao Laoda then went to fetch Doctor Kang by covering his head with an oilcloth.

Doctor Kang took their pulses and said in surprise, "They weren't tired or hungry, they just fainted."

"When will he wake up?" Old Zhao asked anxiously.

Seeing the dry dirt on their arms, Dr. Kang asked, "Where have they been before?"

Boss Zhao: "Go..."

Old Zhao grabbed him and said, "Where are you going! In this awful weather, there's nowhere to go. You just fainted out of nowhere."

Dr. Kang chuckled inwardly. Since this family's refusal to tell the truth was affecting his pulse diagnosis, he could only let them slowly wake up on their own.

"Since they didn't go out, I don't know why they fainted. Judging from their pulse, they're just dizzy and should wake up in a while."

After saying that, Dr. Kang left, holding his umbrella.

Granny Qian and Old Man Zhao were so unconscious that they didn't wake up until the next day.

Upon learning that Zhao Laoda hadn't taken the things out of the cellar, Granny Qian was so anxious that she kept slapping her thigh and urging Zhao Laoda to go and get them.

When Zhao Laoda went there again, the cellar cover was still open, and the inside was clean and tidy, with nothing left!

When Granny Qian found out, she was so angry that she fainted again.

Upon waking up, despite seeing more than three bags of grain, Granny Qian was still not happy, feeling as if she had lost a hundred or eighty bags of grain.

While everyone else was happily preparing food, the Zhao and Xi families were restless and anxious at home, feeling restless all over.

Old Man Xi got caught in the rain while he was out, while Granny Qian and Old Man Zhao got wet because the oilcloth wasn't properly covering them when they were carried back.

Even Old Man Zhao and Boss Zhao got a little bit of acid rain on their hands and bodies.

They didn't have much clean water and couldn't bear to use it for washing, so they had to endure the needle-like pain.

Zhao Ningning's home.

After receiving the grain, He took advantage of the team's rest time to knead dough and make pancakes in the kitchen.

She makes a kind of thin pancake that cooks quickly, requires little water, and is easy to eat. If you can get some wild vegetables, you can also roll them up and eat them.

These flatbreads keep well and are perfect for eating while fleeing famine.

Mrs. He pulled Ning's mother and the others to cook together. In the kitchen, the three adults were busy preparing food, while the three children played on the side.

Zhao used wood to carve out a few little figures and drew a simplified version of Monopoly on the ground. They decided the number of moves each time by playing rock-paper-scissors. The three of them were arguing noisily on one side, while stacks of pancakes were ready next to them.

Smelling the aroma of grain, Ms. He felt a sense of peace she had never known before.

The village distributed half a bag of grain, and grain was also found in the cellar in this courtyard. As long as they don't waste it and eat it sparingly, one bag of grain will be enough for them to eat for a year!

Save your money, and you won't have to worry about the future!

In the afternoon, the acid rain finally stopped. Ning's father went out to check, and Zhao Ningning, worried, took out a pair of waterproof rubber shoes from the shoe cabinet in the space and gave them to him.

Ning's father glanced at it; it was something he had bought when he went fishing years ago, and it had been sitting in the closet unworn.

After putting on the rubber boots, Ning's father carefully wrapped strips of cloth around the outside of the boots and smeared mud on the tops of his feet so that it wouldn't be noticeable from the outside.

He opened his oil-paper umbrella and walked out of the village. The further he walked, the more alarmed he became.

It rained for a day and a half, and the houses outside are already showing signs of corrosion!

The grass leaves that were originally sprouting new shoots on the ground are now patchy and riddled with holes caused by acid rain corrosion!

Even the thicker leaves were corroded by acid rain, turning them into mottled yellow-black patches, making them look sick.

After walking around, Ning's father carefully took off his rubber shoes and handed them back to Zhao Ningning, asking her to take them to the space to wash them.

Sitting in the kitchen, he said to the two adults, "The grass outside has been corroded by acid rain. It looks like we won't be able to pick anything to eat from outside for quite some time."

Mrs. He's heart skipped a beat, then she said with lingering fear, "Luckily we found food in the cellar, otherwise, how would we have gotten on the road ahead..."

Ning's father nodded. Fortunately, his family had sold off all their stored grain to the villagers; otherwise, how would they have survived?

The villagers who have made it this far have not had it easy. First, they need to have the physical strength, and second, they need a bit of luck.

Many of the men in the group were unlucky; they didn't die at the hands of the bandits, but instead perished in the natural disaster.

Not long after Ning's father returned, the village head also noticed something was wrong outside. He banged a gong to announce the news and then rushed home to change his shoes.

The edges of the cloth shoes, wet with rain, began to yellow and fade. After a while, when touched, the upper and sole broke off cleanly!

The village head was terrified. Luckily, they had stored water in advance yesterday. Drinking water mixed with acid rain was no different from drinking poison!

Startled, Miao Chunfang kicked her shoe away from the doorway, grabbed the village head's arm, and looked at the shoe at the door with lingering fear. "Honey, thank goodness... thank goodness Zhao Lao Er told us how bad the acid rain was."

"Your feet aren't covered in it, are they?"

The village head shook his head. "No."

After a while, Miao Chunfang dared to go over. Seeing that there were no new changes on the shoe surface, she carefully picked up the shoe, rubbed it with clods of dirt, wrapped it up, and put it away.

You can still wear it if you sew it up!