Gu Xiaohua looked wronged.
What was that, when did she not want to eat meat?
She was craving meat!
However, once the meat was in her mother's bowl, it was definitely not coming back. She could only quickly drink the remaining meat broth in her own bowl, otherwise Gu Mi would come to ask for soup later.
Gu Laohan saw this scene, his expression was silent, and he didn't come out to mediate.
The younger generation in the family fought amongst themselves, leaving them no time to harbor any ill intentions. Gu Laohan was happy to see it.
He pretended not to see these things, and could stay out of it, not offend them, and please everyone.
The next morning, Gu Qingcheng woke up from the cold.
When she went to sleep the night before, she had taken the usual precautions: a hot water bottle and an anti-hypothermia film were all ready.
Unexpectedly, the temperature dropped again.
Gu Qingcheng opened her eyes, saw her parents still sleeping, and stuck her head out of the quilt. She was startled. The branches around them had turned white overnight, covered in frost.
So the temperature dropped drastically overnight. It must have been below zero, right? Otherwise, how could there be frost?
Gu Qingcheng quickly shook her parents awake and said:
"It's frosted. You guys get up and take a look."
Gu Zhaobei and Hu Lanfang were woken up from their sleep by their daughter and then felt that it was much colder than the night before.
Gu Qingcheng quickly took out the collarless down jackets she had bought before and said:
"Dad, Mom, hurry and put these on. These down jackets can keep you warm down to minus 20 degrees. Wear them inside your clothes."
The couple didn't say anything unnecessary and quickly put on the down jackets under the cover of their quilts.
These collarless down jackets were very close-fitting. Wrapped around their bodies and with the zippers pulled up, their body heat was indeed locked in, and they immediately felt warm, no longer shivering from the cold.
Gu Qingcheng glanced at the thermometer at this moment. It was 1 degree.
It was probably due to the temperature rising after dawn. It must have been below zero at night.
The villagers hadn't woken up yet. The three of them put on their large, coarse cotton jackets, looked at each other, and saw that they covered the black down jackets inside. They were relieved.
Modern black technology was indeed good, and they instantly stopped feeling cold.
Then Gu Zhaobei walked around to inspect the situation of the campsite.
Seeing that the villagers' bedding was thinner than theirs, he quickly threw firewood into each family's bonfire.
The young men on night watch had also fallen asleep as dawn approached. The bonfires they had lit were gradually going out. Some people woke up from the cold, got out of their quilts, and found the outside colder than an ice cellar, so they quickly got back into their quilts.
Gu Zhaobei, being idle, kept throwing firewood into the various fires.
As more and more firewood was lit, the temperature of the campsite gradually rose, and gradually, people began to stir.
"What's going on? It frosted overnight? It's not even the twelfth lunar month yet?"
The elderly people in the village shivered and wondered.
"Fortunately, I brought my fire pot, and it's useful now."
An old man had brought a bamboo-woven hand warmer, and at this moment, he felt quite prescient.
He added charcoal to the hand warmer, thus having a charcoal-heated hand warmer.
"This is unprecedented. I've never seen frost in September. The weather is too abnormal!"
A man in his 40s grumbled, shivering.
Village Chief Gu also woke up. After getting dressed, he went to inspect everywhere.
The temperature dropped too quickly, and some people had thin quilts. He didn't know if they could endure it.
Unexpectedly, when he checked, there were indeed problems. Two villagers were too old, over 70, and their health was not good. They did not make it through the night and were frozen to death.
When Village Chief Gu shook them, their faces were already blue. He didn't know when they had left silently.
The families, upon seeing this, naturally erupted into mournful cries.
Such tragedies were staged on the road of fleeing famine every other day.
The villagers could only sigh and sympathize, but there was nothing they could do.
On the road of fleeing famine, whether one could survive depended entirely on fate.
Village Chief Gu had a lot of experience in handling such matters. He picked a few strong young men and dug two pits in the forest to bury the bodies.
However, stopping the procession for funerals this time was unwise.
Seeing that the temperature in the forest was getting lower and lower, they had to hurry out. Only in Jinsha City was there hope.
In Village Chief Gu's mind, Jinsha City had become their place of hope.
But Gu Qingcheng suddenly realized that they were so close to Jinsha City, and the temperature had dropped so low. She started to doubt in her heart, would it not be cold in Jinsha City?
Would Jinsha City really solve their current difficulties?
This was like everyone telling you that Country Meilida is very rich, its social welfare is very good, and its citizens live lives superior to others…
However, when you excitedly save up enough money for a plane ticket and arrive in Country Meilida, you find that no matter how much money the country has, it won't give you money just for lying around. Even if you can receive welfare, it only sustains the most basic life.
Gu Qingcheng now leaned more towards the belief that the beautiful hope for Jinsha City was just a trick by Village Chief Gu to encourage the villagers. In essence, it was another form of quenching thirst by looking at plum blossoms.
Forget it, she wouldn't expose the village chief for now.
She would prepare herself mentally!
Do not have too much expectation for Jinsha City.
Looking at the branches still covered in ice crystals all around, Village Chief Gu had no mind to appreciate this glassy world-like scenery. He frowned and ordered the women responsible for cooking to start preparing the meal.
For breakfast this morning, Village Chief Gu requested that the roasted wild boar from yesterday be chopped up, divided into six large pots and cooked separately. Then, wild vegetables were added, and twice the usual amount of rice was put in, so that everyone in the village could eat their fill before setting off quickly.
"Everyone pay attention. After breakfast, we will stop here to rest today. We will push on with all our might and reach Jinsha City before sunset today, no matter what."
Village Chief Gu shouted everywhere in the campsite.
An atmosphere of tension immediately enveloped the hearts of the villagers.
Gu Zhaobei asked the village chief why they were in such a hurry.
Village Chief Gu sighed and said:
"Old Liu, you're a sensible person. The temperature has been dropping these past few days, and it makes me panic. Look, just a few days ago everyone was wearing single layers, and now they feel cold even in cotton-padded jackets.
Although it's normal for it to get a bit colder in autumn, who has ever seen people wearing cotton-padded jackets so early?
Not to mention that it's frosted today! The temperature is dropping too fast!
Especially with the climate advancing towards winter, there's no possibility of the temperature warming up.
If it stays at this temperature, it wouldn't be impossible for us to last a night in the forest, but what if it drops drastically again tonight?
Our village doesn't just have young and middle-aged adults; there are many elderly people and children. Without rice, food, or warm clothing, more people might perish. We really need to get to the city quickly."
Both Gu Zhaobei and Gu Qingcheng listened with admiration for the village chief. In their interactions with Village Chief Gu, father and daughter found him to be a very responsible village chief.
Although he would accept their gifts, he basically acted impartially and considered the overall situation.
Besides, accepting gifts was a natural human behavior.