Chapter 4 Hysteria

Er Gouzi lay on the ground, panting for a long time, and finally struggled to stand up.

Now he was in great pain all over, and his ribs seemed to be broken.

He touched his jacket, fortunately the yellow gourd was still there.

He opened the lid and gulped down several mouthfuls of water, and felt a little better.

He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt that every time he drank the water in the gourd, he had strength.

With this mysterious gourd in his hand, as long as he could get through the current difficulties, he would be successful in the future and become a landlord.

But how could he get through this hurdle?

Standing in the snow, the sky and the earth were dark, and where should he go?

He could guess the thoughts of his uncle's family with his knees.

Throwing it into the snow meant killing him.

Not to mention that he had nothing to eat or drink, now the water turned into ice, and there was no place to shelter from the wind and snow, even if he was frozen, he would freeze to death.

Every winter, there are many beggars who freeze to death on the roadside, and he is no more cold-resistant than beggars.

What's more, he is now covered in wounds.

He is almost certain to die!

The uncle's family has a good plan, and they don't want to bear the reputation of killing their own nephew.

Push Er Gouzi outside to freeze to death, then pretend to shed two tears, and then dig a hole to bury him, which is a perfect solution.

He has been a dog for his uncle's family for 8 years, and now he is going to die like a dog again.

Now the only way to survive is the small piece of rice planted on the mountain.

There is at least something to eat there, and you can pick up some firewood to make a fire to keep warm.

After making the decision, Er Gouzi staggered up the mountain along the stream in the faint light of the snowy night.

He walked deep and shallow in the snow, dizzy and dazed, and fell to the ground after walking a few steps.

He felt severe pain all over his body, especially in his chest and ribs. He didn't know if they were broken, and he couldn't breathe.

Lying in the snow, feeling weak all over, he really wanted to just lie there and die.

However, he finally struggled to get up and continued to walk forward, he didn't want to die.

Just like that, he walked and stopped, and fell down after walking a few steps.

Every time he wanted to give up, he touched the yellow gourd, fantasizing that he would own a hundred acres of fertile land in the future, live in a big tiled house, wear a thick cotton-padded jacket, eat big fat meat every meal, and rinse his mouth with honey water...

Then he took a big sip of water in the gourd and felt full of strength again.

At dawn, Er Gouzi finally climbed up the mountain with his beautiful yearning for the future.

In the white snow, there was a lush rice seedling growing, which seemed extremely inconsistent.

At this time, the rice seedlings had already eared and filled with grain, pressing the rice ears down.

Er Gouzi picked a few grains from the rice ears and put them into his mouth with the shells to chew carefully.

The rice grains that were not yet fully mature were a little pulpy when chewed, and there was also a hint of fragrance and sweetness.

Although the husks were a bit rough and scratched my throat, they were much more delicious than pig food.

After chewing more than a dozen raw rice ears, he had food in his stomach and gradually gained some strength.

Resisting the urge to stop and rest, he cleared a piece of open space in the snow and pulled some raw rice from the rice ears and scattered them.

He watered all the rice with the water in the gourd.

The rice planted before could not be eaten for a few days, so more rice must be planted as soon as possible.

Fortunately, it was snowing heavily and it was the New Year, so no one came to the mountain and there was no need to worry about being discovered.

The problem of food was temporarily solved, but it was cold and hard to bear.

Fortunately, he had been collecting firewood in the mountains all year round and was very familiar with the terrain here. There was a place not far from here that could shelter from the wind.

This was a stone nest surrounded by huge rocks on both sides, which could block most of the cold wind.

He picked up a small pile of firewood nearby, picked out some dry grass and leaves that were easy to catch fire, rubbed them for a while, and piled them into a small pile.

Then he took out two finger-sized stones from his jacket.

This kind of stone is dark red and is called flint. It can produce sparks when it is knocked against each other and can be used to start a fire.

There are many such stones on a nearby barren mountain, and people nearby use this kind of flint to start a fire.

Er Gouzi held a flint in each hand and knocked against each other, and a little spark splashed from the flint.

After knocking dozens of times in a row, the sparks finally ignited the leaves.

He started a small fire and put his frozen hands and feet next to the fire to warm them up, and his whole body was warm.

At this moment, he felt that this stone nest was not bad, and it was more comfortable than living in his uncle's house.

Sitting by the fire, he had time to take off his jacket and check his injuries.

His face was swollen like a pig's head, and there were bruises all over his body.

The most seriously injured part is the ribs, which hurt when touched and when breathing. I don’t know if there are any fractures.

But for now, apart from the pain, there don’t seem to be any other particularly dangerous symptoms.

I heard that if the ribs are broken and pierce the heart and lungs, the person will die soon.

My injury should not be that serious yet.

Sitting by the fire, I took all the straws that had been removed from the rice ears to the fire to dry and soften them.

Then I covered myself with the straws as a quilt, but the amount was a little less.

I just warmed up a little, and my stomach started to growl with hunger again.

It’s really worrying. This stomach is not good at all. I have to eat two meals a day.

I heard that some cows and horses only work every day and don’t need to eat grass.

I also heard that there are many gods in this world, and they don’t need to eat.

It would be great if I had the ability of gods, so I don’t have to worry about being hungry anymore.

No, if I had the ability of a god, why would I be hungry? I would eat meat every meal, drink honey water, use golden bowls and chopsticks, marry 10 wives, and have a bunch of children.

When Huang Laocai sees him, he will drool.

In Ergouzi's limited knowledge, the richest person is Huang Laocai.

It is really hard for him to imagine a god's life richer than Huang Laocai.

It is said that the county magistrate is a god with great magical powers. He can change white rice, pork, eggs, fish, and fine wine out of thin air...

He was daydreaming here, and took a big sip of water from the gourd.

The yellow gourd in his hand is so magical, maybe it is a treasure of the gods.

For dinner, he picked a few bunches of rice ears and roasted them directly in the fire.

After the rice was roasted in the fire, it made a crackling sound, and the rice grains inside burst into white rice flowers, which were fragrant.

This kind of popcorn can only be made with a small fire, and it requires quick eyes and hands.

Hold two branches in your hand and pick it out as soon as the popcorn pops.

Otherwise, the popcorn will burn quickly in the fire and turn into black carbon. Not only is it not delicious, but it is also a waste.

He roasted a bunch of rice stalks, and not a single grain was burned. He blew away the ash inside and threw a handful into his mouth.

"It smells so good!"

The popcorn crunched in his mouth, fragrant and crispy, and tasted ten times better than the pork at my uncle's house.

Unfortunately, there was not much food now, so he only ate four rice stalks for dinner and didn't dare to eat more.

There was still a long time to go this winter, and some seeds had to be saved.

If he didn't eat enough, he could just drink more water to fill his stomach. He was not a rich landlord, and eating so much would waste food.

That night, he leaned against the fire, hugged a handful of straw, and barely slept all night.

Several times when he just fell asleep, the fire went out, and he was quickly woken up by the cold, and he added some firewood to continue sleeping.

I slept and woke up like this, and finally made it to the dawn.

I stretched and found that the injuries on my body didn't hurt as much.

Especially the chest area, it felt much better.