Er Gouzi lay on the ground, panting for a long time, and finally struggled to stand up. 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 bottles 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 imagine the thoughts of his uncle's family. Throwing it into the snow meant killing him.
Not to mention that he had nothing to eat or drink, the water would freeze to death, and there was no place to shelter from the wind and snow, so he would freeze to death even if he was frozen. Every winter, there would be many beggars who died of freezing on the roadside, and he was no more resistant to the cold than the beggars. What's more, he was now covered in wounds. He was almost certain to die! The uncle's family had a good plan, and they didn't want to be known as the ones who killed their own nephew. Push Er Gouzi outside to freeze to death, then pretend to shed a few tears, and then dig a hole to bury him, which would be a perfect solution. He had been a dog for his uncle's family for 8 years, and now he was going to die like a dog again. The only way to survive now was the rice field planted on the mountain. At least there was something to eat there, and he could pick up some firewood and burn a pile 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 in the snow with one foot deep and one foot shallow, feeling dizzy and dazed. He 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. He felt weak all over when he lay in the snow, and he really wanted to lie there. However, he finally struggled to get up and continued to move forward. He didn't want to die. In this way, he walked and stopped, and fell after walking a few steps. Every time he wanted to give up, he touched the yellow gourd and imagined that he would own acres of fertile land in the future, live in a big tile house, wear a thick cotton-padded jacket, eat big fat meat every meal, and rinse his mouth with honey water... Then he drank a large gourd of water and felt full of strength again. At dawn, Er Gouzi finally climbed up the mountain with his beautiful yearning for the future. In the vast expanse of white ice and snow, there was a lush seedling growing, which seemed extremely inconsistent.
At this time, the rice seedlings have already sprouted and filled with grain, weighing down the rice ears. Er Gouzi plucked a few grains from the rice ears and put them into his mouth with the husks to chew carefully. The rice grains that have not yet fully matured are a bit pulpy when chewed, and they also have a hint of sweetness and fragrance. Although the husks are a bit rough and scratch my throat, I don’t know how many times better it tastes than pig food. After chewing more than a dozen rice ears in a row, I felt full of food and my body 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 grains from the rice ears and scattered them. He poured all the water in the gourd. The rice planted now will not last for a few days, and more rice must be planted as soon as possible. Fortunately, it is snowing heavily and it is the New Year, so I didn’t come to the mountain and didn’t worry about being discovered. The problem of food was solved temporarily, but it was hard to bear in the cold weather. Fortunately, he had been collecting firewood in the mountains for many years and was very familiar with the terrain here. There was a place that could shelter from the wind not far from here. This was a nest of firewood surrounded by huge trees on both sides, which could block most of the cold wind. He picked up a pile of firewood around the place, picked out some hay and dry leaves that were easy to rise, rubbed them for a while, and piled them into a pile. Then he took out two finger-sized firewood from his jacket. This firewood was dark red and was called firewood. When it was knocked against each other, fire flowers would be produced, which could be used to attract fire. There were many such firewood on a nearby barren mountain, and the people nearby all used this firewood to attract fire. Er Gouzi held a firewood in each hand and knocked it against each other, and a little fire flower splashed from the firewood. After hitting it dozens of times, the flower finally ignited the leaves. He burned a pile of firewood and brought his frozen hands and feet to it to warm them up, and his whole body was warm. At this moment, he felt that this nest was not bad, more comfortable than living in his uncle's house. Sitting by the firewood pile, he had time to take off his jacket and check his injuries. His face was swollen like a pig's head, and his body was covered with bruises. The most seriously injured part was the ribs, which hurt when touched and when breathing, and he didn't know if there were any fractures. But for the time being, apart from the pain, there seemed to be no other particularly dangerous symptoms. I heard that if the ribs were broken and pierced the heart and lungs, he would die soon. His injuries should not be that serious yet. Sitting by the firewood pile, he took all the rice straw that had been removed from the rice ears to the side to dry and soften. Then I used the straw to cover my body as a blanket, but the amount was a little less.
I just warmed up a little, and my stomach started to growl with hunger again. It was really worrying. This stomach was not working hard at all. I had to eat two meals a day. I heard that some cows and horses only work every day and don’t eat grass. I also heard that there are many gods in this world, and they don’t eat either. It would be great if I had the ability of a god, so I would never have to worry about being hungry again. 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 shed tears. In Er Gouzi's limited knowledge, the richest person is Huang Laocai. He really couldn't imagine a god's life richer than Huang Laocai. I heard that the county magistrate is a god, with great magical powers, and can make white rice, pork, eggs, fish, and fine wine out of thin air... He was daydreaming here, and picked up the gourd and drank a lot of water. The yellow gourd in his hand was so magical, maybe it was a treasure of the gods. For dinner, he picked a few bunches of rice ears and put them directly into the barbecue. After the rice is cooked in the pile, it makes a crackling sound, and the rice grains inside burst into white rice flowers, which are fragrant. This kind of rice flower can only be made by hand, and it requires quick eyes and hands. Take two branches in your hand and take out the rice flowers as soon as they burst. Otherwise, the rice flowers will soon burn and turn into black carbon. It is not only unpalatable, but also wasteful. I roasted a bunch of rice stalks, and none of them were burned. I blew away the ash inside and threw it into my mouth. "It smells so good!" The rice flowers were crunchy in my mouth, fragrant and crispy, and tasted ten times better than the pork at my uncle's house. Unfortunately, there is not much food now. I only ate four rice stalks for dinner, so I didn't dare to eat more. There is still a long time to wait this day, and I have to save some seeds. If he wasn't full, he could just drink some more water to fill his stomach. He wasn't a rich landlord, so eating so much would be a waste of food. That night, he leaned against the firewood pile, hugged a handful of straw, and barely slept all night. Several times, just as he fell asleep, the firewood pile went out, and he woke up quickly. He added some firewood and continued to sleep. He slept and woke up like this, and finally made it to dawn. He stretched his body and found that the injuries on his body didn't seem to hurt that much. Especially the chest area, it felt much better.
