Chapter 99 : Plan

After the rain, the sky cleared up. With Xiao Hechuan’s recovery, the heavy rain that had lasted for two whole days finally stopped. The river gradually recovered, and the water level returned to normal.

However, the once quiet and peaceful village was now in ruins.

The Xiao family decided to rest where they were for two days before heading to Jeju Prefecture. They didn’t know what challenges they would face along the way, but they were determined that every difficulty would be overcome, and there were always more solutions than problems.

Xiao Hechuan looked at his energetic family. He had recalled the smiles on their faces countless times in his previous life. Every time he thought of it, his heart broke.

Now that he had a second chance at life, he was determined to do his best to protect them.

The rich aroma of chicken soup wafted from the Xiao shed. After eating and drinking their fill, Father Xiao and mother took two chickens to visit the village chief’s family. The chickens were only four months old and certainly didn’t taste as good as older hens, but it was a thoughtful gesture.

Both the old village chief and the current village chief had fallen ill, so the task of leading the villagers to unite fell on the eldest son. Due to the earthquake, many of the poultry in the village were buried under the rubble, and some had fled in fear, with no one knowing where they had gone. The eldest son took a few young men with fewer injuries to search for them and gather whatever food they could. They dug through the ruins and found a lot of food.

Unfortunately, much of it was damaged due to the heavy rain.

The rocky mountain behind the Xiao family collapsed because there wasn’t enough mud and sand to hold it in place. The earthquake caused the rocks to fall. However, the other mountains had rich vegetation, and the mud and sand were sticky enough, so there were no other risks except for some cracks.

There were several caves on the mountain that could be used as shelters for the surviving villagers. Some survivors from Xianhe Village were hiding in these caves, with the exception of the Xiao family, who continued to stay at the land temple.

Except for Xiao Hechuan, who had not yet recovered from his injury, all the men of the Xiao family followed the eldest son of the village chief to search for poultry. So, Father Xiao and mother went to find the old village chief to deliver the chickens, and along the way, they informed him that their family was preparing to flee to Jeju.

The old village chief had sprained his waist and looked very weak, while the village chief was lying down, unable to move.

When Father Xiao arrived, he was holding two chickens in his hands. Several families who lived in the same cave as the old village chief’s family were eyeing the live chickens, as they hadn’t had a proper meal for several days.

“Come if you want, why do you need two chickens? You have a big family, so just keep them for yourselves!” The old village chief still cared about them, but his voice was weak.

“Old village chief, if you hadn’t asked us to move out in advance, our family might have been buried under the rocky mountain and we wouldn’t be here today. In fact, our losses were the least. It’s all thanks to your care that we’ve been able to get by smoothly in the village. This is the least we can do,” Father Xiao explained.

The old village chief’s daughter-in-law looked at the chicken, then glanced at her husband. She needed the chicken to recover her strength the most, so she took the initiative to persuade him.

“Dad, it’s already this late and you’re still being polite. Our family is in need of some extra food. Look at how bad your son is. Just accept it!”

“Sister-in-law is right. Old village chief, please accept it!” Father Xiao quickly agreed.

After some hesitation, the old village chief finally nodded in agreement.

“Okay then, thank you both.”

Seeing him nod and accept it, Father Xiao and mother started laughing again.

Afterward, they informed the old village chief about their upcoming trip to Jeju. After listening to them, the old village chief was silent for a while and said.

“You have your own considerations, and this is your good fortune. Now your family is the only one in the village that is still intact. With such a large family, you really need to make long-term plans. But I am old and have spent my whole life in this Xianhe Village.I live her until I’m old so I don’t want to leave. Let’s just take it one step at a time.”

The old village chief knew that he was a burden to his family.

He looked extremely lonely. In fact, he was the one who felt the most miserable, as the place he had known for his entire life had now become like this.

After chatting about some random things, Father Xiao and mother stopped disturbing the old village chief’s rest.

Not long after they left the cave, they heard someone calling out to them from behind.

“Uncle Xiao, Aunt Xiao, wait!”

When they looked back, they saw Ermazi leading his ox down the hillside. The couple didn’t understand what he was going to do.

“Ermazi, what are you doing?” asked Father Xiao.

Ermazi walked up to him, holding the ox’s rope in his hand, and caressed its neck lovingly, his eyes full of reluctance.

“Uncle Xiao, I have a request.”

The couple looked at each other and realized at the same time that Ermazi was probably looking for them because of the cow. This ox had supported Ermazi’s livelihood for the past two years, and he valued it the most.

“Go ahead and tell me, Ermazi!”

“Uncle Xiao, this is what I want to do. I want to trade my ox for some food and a few chickens. Is that okay? After the earthquake, my mother is gone. I am left with my wife and my four-year-old son. We didn’t have much land to begin with, and this year we didn’t get any crops. Besides, such a big disaster happened, and we lost our home. The food we found is not enough to fill our stomachs.

You said that as a grown man, I can’t let my wife and children starve, no matter how difficult it is, right? My wife asked me to slaughter the ox, but the ox has been with me for several years. To be honest, I’ve earned some money with it. But now, even if I have money, I can’t buy food. I can’t bear to kill it for meat because I am afraid of having a guilty conscience.”

“I know your family didn’t suffer much loss, and you must still have some food and other things. Anyway, you can exchange whatever you have with me, so that our family of three can get through these few months. What do you think?”

Ermazi had a mother who did not escape the earthquake. Fortunately, he, his wife, and his child all survived, and the ox was fine. He really couldn’t bear to kill the ox. Today, when he saw Father Xiao carrying a chicken up the mountain, he came up with this idea.

He knew that the Xiao family also had cattle and food and lived a better life than them, so he had no choice but to resort to this last resort.

Father Xiao looked at the ox, which was only a few years old, still in its prime and with plenty of strength. It would definitely be a good deal if they exchanged it for food.

But there was still a long way to go to Jeju, and food was a necessity to feed the whole family. He didn’t dare to make a decision, so he looked at his wife.

Mother Xiao thought about it and was very excited because if there was one more ox, it would be easier to drive the goods. With one more ox pulling the goods, her sons would have an easier time. Two ox could share the burden, which would also be better for the ox.

To be honest, their family had no shortage of food. As long as they could get to Jeju safely, they would have a job. It wasn’t a problem to share some of the food. In their family of three, the adults ate a lot, but the child couldn’t eat much.