Portable Space: Small Peasant Girls Farm to Get Rich

Chapter 350: Going Out to Find Food
There was a strong wind blowing all around, and the snowflakes were blown all over the place. A thick layer of snow had already accumulated on the dead tree in the snow. From a distance, it looked like a big snow-white tree.

In the main hall of the Gu family mansion, the braziers on the ground were changed again and again. Although the temperature in the room was not warm, it was much better than outside the door.

There were thirteen men and women sitting on the chairs in the main room. They all looked at the howling wind outside the door with sad faces, and from time to time one or two sighs could be heard faintly.

"Three days..." Liu Qingcao murmured.

It had been the third day of the strong wind and heavy snow, and she was beginning to feel worried.

Three days ago, General Yang brought his soldiers to move grain. Just as they finished moving and left, the wind and snow started to get stronger. When Liu Qingcao and others packed up and prepared to leave, the wind and snow were so strong that they could blow people away.

With such a heavy snowstorm, Liu Qingcao had no choice but to ask Liu Xiao and the others to put their things back and wait until the wind and snow died down before packing up and setting off.

Who knew that we would have to wait for three days, and the wind and snow showed no sign of abating.

They have no worries about food and drink in the house, but those people outside the house have to suffer.

Last night, she asked Liu Er and Liu Si to distribute hot porridge to the refugees who did not cause trouble, while those who caused trouble did not have this evening meal.

I heard from Liu Er that four more refugees died yesterday, all of them elderly people.

There are too many refugees outside the house. If you want to bring them in to take shelter, that would be testing human nature at the edge of the bottom line. Liu Qingcao is very clear-headed and would not gamble with the people around him on the uncertain human heart.

She is now doing more than the government. She is one of the few people with a conscience as she can keep these people fed.

The six people including Yucheng are now at ease following her. Although General Yang did not ask her when the food will arrive in Beiwu, she knows that he asked the soldiers to privately ask Yucheng and the others.

Fortunately, she was prepared in advance, otherwise she might have revealed her flaws under their questioning.

Until now, she didn't know how many eyes in the city were watching her, so she had to be careful and cautious.

As for the refugees outside the house, she could only pray that the heavy snowstorm would stop soon, so that fewer people would die and she would have more people to use in the future.

"Girl, when I went out to distribute porridge today, the refugees had already built snow houses. There were three to five people in each snow house, some of whom I knew and some of whom I didn't. It seemed like they were getting along pretty well."

Liu Si rubbed his red, frozen hands, untied the cloth around his mouth and nose, and his voice was muffled and unclear.

"Okay, I get it. Go over to the brazier and warm yourself up. You've all been working hard these past few days."

Liu Qingcao spoke, and then Liu Si walked towards the brazier.

Among the six people, only Liu Si seemed a bit honest and straightforward, while the other five were not as conservative as he was.

After Liu Si sat down, Liu Qingcao asked, "Liu Si, how much food is left in the warehouse now?"

Liu Si thought for a moment and gave an approximate answer, "Girl, there are nearly 3,000 kilograms of rice and flour, and not much oil and salt. There are three barrels of oil and two bags of salt."

Less than three thousand kilograms?

There were nearly a thousand refugees, and they had one bowl of rice and seven bowls of porridge, which meant nearly three hundred kilograms of rice for two meals a day.

If the snow doesn't stop in ten days, we will have to look for food in advance.

And firewood, firewood is also essential.

Liu Qingcao frowned slightly. If this snow continued for another month, many people would lose their lives.

Although she had space and mountains of food in it, she couldn't take it out openly.

Even so, she planned carefully, fearing that a single mistake would bring disaster upon herself.

After concentrating and thinking for a long time, Liu Qingcao closed his eyes.

It seems that this is the only way when forced to do so. Liu Qingcao made a decision in an instant, gave a bitter smile to everyone, and made arrangements one by one.

"Then let's do as planned, and we'll set off when the snow gets lighter.

By the way, Liu Xiao, you take the others to collect more firewood. Liu Wu and Liu Liu stay here. The two of you follow me to look for an empty house in the distance to see if there is any leftover food."

The people in the room nodded, and seeing that Liu Qingcao stopped talking, they tactfully left and went to prepare what they needed next.

Two hours later, Liu Qingcao opened the windows and doors. The wind and snow outside the window gradually became less fierce, and the snow on the ground became thicker and thicker. Fortunately, it was cleared every half a day, so the accumulated snow did not block the doors and windows.

Seeing that the wind and snow had subsided, Liu Qingcao opened the window and entered the space.

The space is lush and green, which is completely different from the icy and snowy weather outside.

Qin Xin and Ershiyi had finished their lunch and went to rest. Apart from the sounds of poultry and livestock, the only sound around them was the rustling of her feet.

After entering the warehouse, Liu Qingcao quickly packed a small bag and put it on his back.

Just then, there was a light knock on the door. Liu Qingcao looked around the room and walked quickly towards the door, saying, "I'll be right there."

After opening the door, Liu Wu's chubby face came closer. Liu Qingcao moved closer as if he was used to it and said unhappily, "Are you all ready?"

"We're ready, girl." Liu Wu laughed, raised his eyes, saw the bag on Liu Qingcao's back, and reached out to take it. Unexpectedly, Liu Qingcao turned her body sideways, her hand froze for a moment, and then quickly withdrew it.

Liu Qingcao smiled at her soothingly and explained, "This is filled with poison, it's safer for me to take it. Let's go and meet up with Liu Liu."

Liu Wu did not suspect anything and a happy smile appeared on her face. She had just thought that the girl was disliked by her, which frightened her a lot.

My brother is right. Food is scarce now and she should eat less. Otherwise, it would be so pitiful if she were to be upset because of her mouth.

Thinking of this, Liu Wu smiled and quickened her pace to follow Liu Qingcao. All the way to the main hall, the smile on her face never faded.

Liu Liu, who had already arrived at the main hall, heard footsteps coming from outside the door. He turned around and ran into Liu Wu, who looked smug and flattering. He couldn't help but clench his teeth.

What happened to Liu Wu?

Smiling and frivolous, no rules!
Liu Liu complained in his heart, glanced at Liu Wu with a warning, and said respectfully to Liu Qingcao, "Miss, everything has been prepared as you ordered."

"lets go."

Liu Qingcao tightened her shawl and strode out of the main room. Liu Wu deliberately lagged behind and raised his eyebrows at Liu Liu.

"The girl doesn't like boring people. I know my limits, so don't worry."

As he spoke, Liu Wu lightly stepped behind Liu Qingcao.

Liu Liu followed with a cold face, but when he got closer, he still said nothing.

Liu Qingcao, who was walking in front, glanced back at the actions of the two people behind her, and the corners of her lips curved slightly. She really didn't like people around her to be too dull, but if all six of them were like Liu Wu, she wouldn't be able to handle it.

With one or two such people, she would be happy to make her life more interesting.

After leaving the Gu family mansion, the wind and snow were a little weaker, but still stronger than usual. However, walking in the wind and snow was no longer difficult without opening your eyes.

The sound of them leaving the house attracted the refugees who were still awake in the snow house. These refugees now knew that Liu Qingcao was their benefactor, and as soon as they saw her, they smiled at her with two rows of yellow teeth.

Liu Qingcao nodded to them gently, got on the sled and went farther and farther without looking back.

"Miss Liu was so kind as to spend food to save us, but those wicked people actually wanted to seize the food in Miss Liu's house. How shameless!"

"Yes, fortunately Miss Liu has many skilled people around her, otherwise those shameless people would have succeeded."

"Don't mention it. Miss Liu is really kind. She is willing to give these people a bite to eat. If it were me," the man paused, glanced around, and whispered, "I would just beat them to death with sticks."

"It's such a shame to beat him to death. I feel more relieved seeing Miss Liu doing this." Someone objected.

"That's true. That group of people go out to collect firewood from the surrounding areas at a certain time every day. They're gone for four or five hours. After all, the weather is not good. Alas, it's their own fault. They can't blame anyone else." A man shook his head and sighed, then added dry firewood to the charcoal fire.

There was a lot of discussion behind him, but Liu Qingcao didn't know that they had already arrived at the village closest to the Gu family mansion.

Liu Qingcao didn't ask anyone what the village was called. He had passed by too many places along the way. If he asked one by one, wouldn't that be just asking for trouble?

What's more, it is icy and snowy now, with disasters everywhere and people displaced. The information you get from this will be used differently in the future.

This village is not very big, and compared with Shihe Village, there are fewer houses here.

Liu Qingcao took a quick look and frowned, "Liu Wu, go check if there is anyone alive in this village. Don't be careless when checking."

Liu Wu nodded and flew into the village with an extremely serious expression.

Watching Liu Wu's figure disappear from his sight, Liu Qingcao's brows became even more solemn.

This was not the first time she had encountered such a deserted village, but every time she encountered one, she could imagine the despair of the villagers, which made her feel uncomfortable for no reason.

However, this natural disaster is only the first difficulty.

Liu Wu was very fast. It took her less than a quarter of an hour to go back and forth. She stood in front of Liu Qingcao, her nose slightly red, and mist coming out of her lips due to the cold. There was a hint of compassion in her dark eyes.

"Girl, I've checked, there's no living person in this village." "What about the dead?" Liu Qingcao's face showed no sadness or joy.

"They should all be in the room." Liu Wu's eyelids drooped, and his voice was weak, muffled and lifeless.

Liu Qingcao glanced at her, said nothing, turned around, got on the sled and slid towards the village.

All the houses in the village are built with earth bricks. Most of the roofs have been collapsed by the snow. A few flat wheat stalks can be vaguely seen standing on the edge of the eaves, indicating that this is a thatched house.

Liu Qingcao observed for a while, picked up the hoe and rake and walked towards the dilapidated house in front of him. Liu Wu and Liu Liu also followed with their things.

"Dig. If you can find any food, drag it back and dig a hole to bury the people inside."

After she finished speaking, she had already dug the hoe into the snow and pulled hard, and a large snow pit appeared on the snow.

Liu Wu and Liu Liu looked at each other, quickly found the nearest house, and started turning the hoes and rakes in their hands quickly.

The girl herself is digging the snow, so there is no reason for the servants to watch.

Each of the three people lived in a house. Three graceful figures were swaying in the flying snow, like shadows behind a screen, unable to tell the reality clearly.

The snow that no one had cleared had already buried the door over time, and the lowest part of the snow had already turned into ice.

Liu Qingcao swung the hoe and rake again and again, and the vibrations from her hands made her hands numb and weak.

If it wasn't even more troublesome to climb into the house from the roof, she would not have been willing to choose such a laborious method. Digging from the outside to the inside was simply not easy.

Liu Qingcao looked back at the two people not far behind him, shook his head and sighed.

Alas, she also has a more convenient way, but she can only keep it hidden.

Although the speed of hoeing and raking was not fast, Liu Qingcao and the other two dug to the gate of the house slowly after digging one hoe at a time.

Liu Qingcao glanced at the locked door and the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

The door was locked from the outside, so there were only two possibilities: the owner was out or no one was living there.

If someone else saw this, they would probably be disappointed, but Liu Qingcao was just the opposite.

A hoe and a rake hit the door, the lock fell off, and the wooden door inevitably cracked.

There was no other way. She didn't knock on the door. She couldn't push it open because of the snow inside.

Liu Qingcao tore off the broken door panels and started digging again, and only stopped when he had dug out most of the snow in the house.

"It's really not an easy job!" Liu Qingcao sighed as he watched things that had been submerged in the house for a long time emerge again, grabbing the handle of the hoe with one hand and leaning against it.

She felt that she was not far from the Virgin Mary, but still some distance away from the peerless Virgin Mary.

Liu Qingcao glanced around the house after clearing the snow. Most of the objects inside had been destroyed by the fallen roof beams and bricks. Only a few items in the kitchen were still intact.

She rummaged around in the kitchen for a while, picking out things that might be useful later and putting them on the sled.

There were beddings in the house, but they had been soaked in snow for a long time, so not only were they stained, but they were also wet and heavy.

There is no sun when we take this thing back home, and we don't know when it will be dried just by roasting it over the fire.

Liu Qingcao looked at the dirty and wet bedding, thought about it, and finally decided to take it back.

There are refugees approaching the Gu family mansion. They are not dressed warmly, so this mattress could be very useful if we take it back.

After leaving the house, she went to the warehouse, which was used to store grain. Almost the entire warehouse was built with a large piece of stone, so it was not damaged much.

Liu Qingcao leaned the hoe and rake against the wooden door. The warehouse door was made of ten wooden boards. There was a round hole on the top of the last board, but it was usually stuffed tightly with cloth. This could also prevent bookworms, snakes and ants from getting in and stealing the food.

If there is no food inside, the villagers generally will not block the small hole, let alone close the warehouse door. Liu Qingcao is not sure whether there is any food stored inside at this moment.

Liu Qingcao looked at the round hole. She was not tall enough, so she could only step on a wobbly stool beside her to reach the round hole.

Fortunately, although the wooden board was difficult to pick up, she was not without experience, and she managed to take it down after shaking and lifting it.

After taking out three pieces in a row, Liu Qingcao still didn't see anything inside. Just when she took out the fourth piece of wood and thought it would be empty, a bunch of sacks appeared in her sight.

Seeing that there might be food inside, Liu Qingcao quickened his pace in taking the wooden board.

Pieces of wood were removed one by one, and the contents were exposed before her eyes one by one.

Wow, there are actually quite a few things stored in here.

She took the hoe and rake in her hand, stepped over the last standing board and walked in.

There were more than thirty sacks in the warehouse, some were neatly stacked, and some stood alone, with only half a sack full of content.

Looking at the things in the warehouse, Liu Qingcao walked up without hesitation and opened the rope of a sack.

The rope is tied with a loose knot and can be easily opened by pulling.

As soon as the rope fell, Liu Qingcao tore open the mouth of the sack, and as expected, the contents contained edible grains.

Liu Qingcao only opened a few of the sacks in this warehouse. For the rest, she just touched the outside of the sacks and estimated what was inside. Once she had an idea in her mind, she stopped.

Just as she finished checking the things in the warehouse, Liu Wu's joyful voice was heard not far away. Liu Qingcao turned around and saw Liu Wu waving at her excitedly.

Seeing Liu Wu's excitement, she could probably guess the reason, which was simply that he had found something good.

She was not far away from Liu Wu, so it wouldn't take her much time to go over and take a look.

When she approached Liu Wu with a hoe and rake, Liu Wu came over with a grin and took her to a place in the house.

"Girl, look." Liu Wu pointed at the thing on the ground, his voice becoming a little more excited.

Liu Qingcao looked in the direction her finger was pointing and saw a somewhat rotten wooden box placed on the ground with a hole as big as a chopstick on the surface of the box.

"Did you dig it?" Liu Qingcao looked at the hole and asked Liu Wu without turning his head.

Liu Wu nodded, quickly squatted down and opened the lid of the wooden box, "Girl, look, there are so many copper coins in it."

Liu Qingcao looked at the box of copper coins, and the corners of her mouth twitched. Seeing Liu Wu so happy, she didn't want to discourage her, so she praised him against her will, "There should be ten taels of silver in it, which can be exchanged for a pound of rice if you take it back."

"Ah? Just one pound." Liu Wu was also dumbfounded. Has the price of grain risen so much?

Liu Qingcao knew that she didn't know much about the prices outside, so she patiently smiled and explained to her, "It's freezing and snowy now, you should be thankful that you can buy food with silver. Who cares how much silver you spend."

When Liu Wu heard this, she realized that this was indeed the case. She then looked at the wooden box on the ground and said angrily, "I was so happy for nothing and it delayed the girl's work."

As Liu Wu said this, he was about to kick the wooden box over. Liu Qingcao saw this and quickly stopped him.

"It's not useless. It's money after all. When this natural disaster is over, this box can be used to buy some good things."

When Liu Wu heard this, his eyes lit up again and he quickly picked up the box in his hands.

If these copper coins are useful, we can take them back and buy a few pounds of meat for the children in the private schools and orphanages.

Liu Qingcao looked at her and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "It's not easy to hold her like this. Let's roll onto the sled first."

Liu Wu nodded repeatedly and ran over with a curved brow.

Liu Qingcao looked around the house that Liu Wu had cleaned up, and saw some iron farm tools piled in the corner. He walked over and took them to the sled.

Liu Liu, who was far away, saw what Liu Qingcao was holding in his hand, turned his head to look at the iron pot and kitchen knife beside him, hesitated for a moment, and took them in his hands as well.

After putting away the iron farm tools, Liu Qingcao returned to the house she had cleaned. There were still one or two thousand kilograms of grain there. She had to move all the grain onto the sled and cover it with cloth.

This is hard-earned money, so we can’t let it get wet by the snow.

She carried half a sack of rice on her shoulders. Suddenly, her body felt lighter. She looked up and saw a pair of slender white fingers grabbing the sack. "Girl, just let me and Liu Wu carry it."

Liu Qingcao thought about it and felt that she could move a bag of grain, but it would be more difficult than them. There was not much grain here, so she nodded and let go.

When Liu Wu heard this, he walked over quickly and saw the pile of grain in the warehouse. His eyes widened and he said in surprise, "Miss, you are so lucky. You can find so much grain just by cleaning a house."

Liu Qingcao smiled without explaining. She also felt that her luck was really good. Many of the things she did unintentionally paved the way for her later on.

Liu Wu was very happy to get a lot of food for free. He picked up a sack in one hand and flew towards the sled.

While the two men were moving the sacks, Liu Qingcao went to search the house they had cleared out again.

Both of them had already searched out all the usable things inside and put them on the sled. What was left were some broken wooden boards. Seeing that nothing useful could be found, Liu Qingcao also returned to the sled.

This time they were just out to give it a try, and to serve as an example to the refugees so that they could take action on their own. They couldn't just keep doing this and wait for food to be delivered to them.