Chapter 5: 005: Entering the Mountains to Forage for Food

Chapter 5: Chapter 005: Entering the Mountains to Forage for FoodGu Dashan said with a smile, but Mrs. Cui and the others knew that even if they found food, they would have to hand it over. Until their debt was paid off, their family of six would have to survive by chewing on leaves and eating grass roots and bark.

"Eldest son, do you want to starve us to death? Hurry up and look for food. If you find too little to eat today, watch me skin Mrs. Cui and her daughters alive!"

Gu Dashan had just exchanged a word with Mrs. Cui when Granny Gu felt that he was intentionally being lazy and started to complain loudly.

"Mother, I'm going to look for food now."

Gu Dashan, fearing Granny Gu would come over and start hitting people again, quickly responded and took Good Brother An to meet up with the villagers who were


Gu Jinli had already run a dozen meters away, sizing up the resting spot where they were. It was at the foot of a huge mountain, with a riverbed beneath it that had dried up to nothing but mud chunks.

Refugees scattered about like ants, foraging at the base of the mountain, along its slopes, and even daring to venture deep into the mountainside for food.

But the prolonged drought and a large wave of refugees passing through before them had nearly exhausted all the edible things. By the time they arrived, only half-yellow leaves and wilted, desiccated grass remained.

With no other option, those without food sadly collected tree leaves, dug up grass roots, and peeled bark to stave off hunger.

Gu Jinli circled the area and managed to dig up a dozen or so grass roots that still retained some moisture, but found nothing else edible.

She looked up at the deeper parts of the mountain, where groups of able-bodied people were heading in search of food. She too moved towards the deeper mountain.

The mountain was vast. On the outskirts, there were semi-wilted trees and wild grasses. Going further in, the trees became denser, the leaves showed a hint of green, and the wild grass was thicker than at the foot of the mountain. However, no wild vegetables could be seen, only small holes where they had been dug up.



Clearly, the wild vegetables here had been uprooted by the wave of refugees who arrived earlier.

Gu Jinli found a walnut-thick branch nearby, quickly rubbed both ends against a rock to sharpen it into points and made it into a weapon. Holding the branch, she continued deeper into the mountain, joining many other refugees also searching for food.

"Xiao Yu, why have you entered the mountain? You've only just woken up last night, and today you're out looking for food. Are you trying to throw your life away?"

Gu Xiaoyu turned around at the sound and saw Ms. Chu, Third Grandma from next door, Aunt Tian and her two daughters, Tian Erhua, and Tian Xiaohua. Their hands were filled with baskets woven from wild grasses, inside which were a few bundles of half-green leaves and some grass roots.

It seems that everyone's food supplies were running low, and they were beginning to eat leaves and roots.

She greeted them with a smile and replied, "I'm alright now. We've run out of food at home, and Brother Cheng is terribly hungry. I entered the mountain to look for something to eat."

The three adults sighed upon hearing this, lamenting how difficult life was and how God was grinding people down.

Tian Erhua and Tian Xiaohua, weakened from hunger, didn't speak but gave her a shy smile.

Worried that Gu Jinli might encounter the Niu brothers again, Third Grandma took the initiative and said, "Xiao Yu, follow us, so we can look out for each other."

Aunt Tian, Ms. Chu, and Third Grandma were all from families that had a very good relationship with her family, so Gu Jinli was happy to join them in their search for food and nodded, "Okay."

The six of them headed deeper into the mountain, picking and taking away any greener leaves they found along the way.

Ms. Chu said, "The refugees from Xing'an Prefecture, Yongcheng Prefecture, and Daliang Prefecture were ahead of us and took many of the edibles already. The further we go, the scarcer the food will be, and we might not find even leaves. We should eat more leaves now and save whatever else we can, so we can survive the days to come."