Chapter 65 Premonition

She was still thinking about when she could catch another rabbit from the mountains—either male or female would do. That way, she could finally begin her grand rabbit-breeding endeavor.

Not long after she finished cleaning the pigsty, Jiang Cuihua returned, carrying two little piglets in a bamboo basket. One was strapped to her back, while she held the other in front.

Seeing this, Liu Yinyin hurried forward to help her lift the piglets into the pigsty.

“The piglets have just arrived, so you’ll need to take extra care of them for the first few days,” Jiang Cuihua reminded her. After catching her breath, she added, “Alright, I have to get going—I need to fetch water for the village. I don’t know what’s going on this year, but the fields are drier than ever.”

This year’s spring plowing was much more demanding than in previous years, and it had utterly exhausted them.

Hearing this, Liu Yinyin felt a pang of unease. “Isn’t spring plowing just starting? How are the fields already running out of water?”

Jiang Cuihua clicked her tongue in frustration. “Don’t even get me started. The soil is dry as a bone this year. If we don’t water the fields, I don’t even know if the crops will sprout.”

It was bizarre. The village hadn’t seen such conditions in years.

In reality, the water shortage wasn’t completely without warning. Rainfall had been scarce last year, leading to reduced autumn harvests. On top of that, there had been very little snow during the winter.

Given these factors, it made sense that water would be in short supply this year.

Liu Yinyin felt uneasy and hesitantly asked, “Mother, with the weather like this, do you think the autumn harvest will be affected? If so… should we start stocking up on grain in advance?”

Jiang Cuihua immediately spat twice to ward off bad luck. “Don’t talk nonsense! If there’s a water shortage, we’ll just work harder and haul more water. Didn’t we do the same last year? No one’s ever died of thirst just like that!”

Besides, in these times of scarcity, people in the countryside couldn’t even buy grain in the city. Even if they wanted to stock up, there was nowhere to get it.

Liu Yinyin: “……”

If the drought continued, the river wouldn’t be able to sustain them for long. She had also noticed that both the river and the well had significantly lower water levels compared to last year.

But worrying wouldn’t change anything. She had little influence, and no one would take her concerns seriously.

Sighing, Liu Yinyin, feeling somewhat dejected, went to cook food for the pigs. Remembering Jiang Cuihua’s advice, she prepared a pot of millet porridge mixed with carrots and pumpkin for the piglets.

It was a good thing no one else was around—if people found out that Liu Yinyin was feeding pigs like this, they’d surely scold her for being wasteful!

Grain was incredibly precious. So many people outside couldn’t even get enough to eat, and here she was, using it to feed pigs!

Liu Yinyin also discovered a flaw in her system—it wouldn’t let her buy things like fertilizer, pesticides, or animal feed, which could help crops grow better.

So, she could only stick to raising pigs the old-fashioned way.

The two piglets were sturdy and healthy. As soon as the fragrant pig food was poured into the trough, they immediately buried their snouts in it, gobbling it up voraciously.

They kept nudging and shoving each other, nearly starting a fight over the food.

Perhaps because they were well-fed, the piglets quickly adapted to their new home.

After a few days, there were no issues at all. Instead, they seemed to be growing even stronger, turning every meal into a feeding frenzy.

At school, there was only one day off each week—Sundays.

So far, Liu Yinyin’s teaching had gone smoothly without any major problems.

Of course, Liu Dazhuang had been a great help to her.

That’s why, when Gu Cheng had a day off, the couple decided to take Liu Dazhuang with them for a walk in the mountains.

As always, they asked Jiang Cuihua to help take care of Gu Yanyan. Liu Yinyin didn’t trust anyone else to look after him.

Liu Dazhuang arrived early in the morning, carrying two large sacks and a machete!

Liu Yinyin’s lips twitched—this kid really thought they were going hunting.

Her preparations were much simpler: just a water bottle, a basket, a small hoe for digging wild vegetables, and two sacks—meant for gathering wild vegetables and mushrooms.

Liu Dazhuang was even more well-behaved today than he was at school.

At this time, soldiers were greatly admired, even though Gu Cheng had retired from the military. Still, Liu Dazhuang looked up to him with great respect, chattering nonstop about the army and asking all sorts of questions.

Gu Cheng was actually a very patient person. He explained everything he could and even told Liu Dazhuang quite a bit about the battlefield.

Liu Dazhuang listened with excitement, his face flushed with enthusiasm. He asked Gu Cheng, “Uncle, do you think I could become a soldier in the future?”

Becoming a soldier was Liu Dazhuang’s dream, as well as the dream of 90% of the boys in the village.

Gu Cheng observed his sturdy build. Judging by appearance alone, he was indeed a promising candidate for the military.

After a moment of silence, he replied, “You’re still young. But if you study hard, you might really have a chance in the future.”

“Really?” Liu Dazhuang was both surprised and delighted. “Do you have to study to become a soldier?”

He had always thought that soldiers only needed to go to the battlefield and fight the enemy.

“Of course,” Gu Cheng said seriously. “If you don’t have an education, you won’t even be able to read documents in the future—how will you get promoted?”

Gu Cheng himself had never gone to school, but he had attended literacy classes in the army and received military academy training. Without that, he wouldn’t have been able to climb the ranks.

Liu Dazhuang scratched his head. He had never liked studying, and just thinking about all those dense, tiny words gave him a headache.

Gu Cheng patted him on the shoulder and said, “Study hard. If you get the chance, I’ll take you to visit the army someday.”

Liu Dazhuang was stunned.

“I’ll definitely study hard!” he declared. If studying was what it took to visit the army, then no matter how difficult it was, he would endure it.

As they talked, they had already covered quite a long distance.

This time, instead of choosing the mountains near the village where people often went, they ventured into a more remote area. Some villagers claimed there were wild wolves here, so most people avoided it.

As they walked, Liu Yinyin kept looking around and noticed an abundance of wild vegetables. She wanted to dig them up!

But there was no rush—she could collect them on the way back.

After another hour of hiking, Liu Yinyin stopped to take a sip of water.

Seeing the sweat on her forehead, Gu Cheng said, “Let’s take a break before moving on.”

Liu Dazhuang immediately found a spot to sit down. He wasn’t doing much better than Liu Yinyin—after climbing for so long, he was exhausted.

Gu Cheng, on the other hand, didn’t seem affected at all. Even after walking such a long distance, he wasn’t the least bit out of breath.

After resting for a while, Liu Yinyin asked, “Do we have to keep going? I see plenty of wild vegetables here.”

She wanted to stop and dig wild vegetables—she didn’t feel like walking anymore.

Liu Dazhuang protested, “Teacher Yinyin, we came here to hunt today, not to dig wild vegetables!”

He had dug up enough wild vegetables in the past. Today, he absolutely didn’t want to touch them. How could a grown man spend all his time picking wild greens?

Liu Yinyin: “……”

Sorry, but she really did come to dig wild vegetables today.

Gu Cheng explained softly, “There’s a bamboo forest up ahead. We’ll stop once we reach it—it’s not far now.”

He had explored this mountain alone before and had taken note of the terrain.

Liu Yinyin’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Is it a big bamboo forest? Will there be bamboo shoots?”

This place was so far out—if there were bamboo shoots, chances were no one had discovered them yet.

Gu Cheng smiled. “It’s quite large, and there should be bamboo shoots.”