Disaster Apocalypse: Farming, Family, and My Hidden Secret Space

Such fine salt is naturally everyone's first choice, and almost every household buys two or three pounds.

Of course, coarse salt is not overlooked, as it is cheaper and more suitable for pickling vegetables and such—fine salt is something everyone is reluctant to use.

Next is sugar, which is excellent for nourishment, especially brown sugar, which is particularly beneficial for women's health.

Although the price is somewhat high, almost every household with women buys two or three pounds, as it's uncertain when it will be available next—having it in one's own hands means it's truly yours, avoiding the problem of needing it and not having it.

The entire process took more than an hour to gradually quiet down, and as people exchanged for the things they needed, the crowd slowly dispersed, each returning happily to their own home.

The most consumed items were salt, sugar, and spices; food was relatively more leftover, and most of it consisted of fine grains, as coarse grains were stored the most for the sake of filling stomachs.

After the noisy departure of the thousands from Hua Village, Doctor Sun, Meng Dapeng, along with the group from the newly arrived Li Village, followed suit.

Just joining Hua Village, everyone was self-aware; naturally, good things would be chosen first by the original residents of Hua Village. They felt grateful just to have the opportunity—who would dare compete with the villagers of Hua Village unless they were foolish?

Needless to say, even half a day, or waiting for one or two days was bearable.

The supplies on Qinggu Mountain were very plentiful; there was no shortage of wild vegetables, and even without grain, it was possible to fill one's belly at present.

All those who knew came, including the maternal family of the Qi family, as well as the in-laws of the Sun family and the Zeng family.

During these days, they had realized that to live well, they needed to understand their position, especially since last night, so many new people came to Hua Village.

From the mouths of the eighteen households that had arrived earlier, they no longer harbored a single illusion, thinking that once the flood receded, their days would have hope. Some households were indeed considering whether to return home, believing a gold nest and silver nest were no better than their own kennel.

In fact, this idea did cross their minds, but they couldn't leave the mountain valley, as these mountains were encircled by high fences, patrolled by villagers—they never thought it would be so difficult to enter and exit. But fortunately, life here was so much better that negative thoughts didn't arise much.

Now, the arrival of everyone from Li Village was a clear message that the outside world was still a dog-eat-dog world, disasters persisted, and survival remained challenging.

Suddenly, all thoughts dissipated—even though they were governed by Hua Village, it was only when someone violated village rules or couldn't recognize their position and disrupted the order; as long as one behaved properly, no one would bother you, and with a small amount of sacrifice, children could be educated.

This alone was something they dared not imagine before, knowing that education was a privilege for rich people.

Furthermore, the village chief Hua was indeed capable and visionary; under such difficult circumstances, he could still manage to obtain so many supplies, solving the most pressing problems they faced.

If they still thought of leaving, wouldn't that be foolish?

Even if they could descend the mountain, life certainly wouldn't be better than it is now.

At this moment, as long as they could exchange or buy what they needed, everyone was already content.

Even old lady Qi and old man Qi had come to understand—they now depended on their daughter, and naturally, they no longer dared to anger her and had fully realized that their eldest daughter was not someone they could control.

On the contrary, the eldest daughter wasn't even able to tolerate them much more; causing trouble would be of no benefit to them and could result in being driven out of the valley. At that point, their son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren would resent them, leaving no semblance of peaceful life they have now; at least here they don't have to worry daily and can sleep safely at night.

They truly feared those hellish days on the mountain, not wanting to experience them again.

Thus, Qi's family truly behaved, forcefully holding back their nagging mouths, honestly lining up—whether or not their daughter openly acknowledged them as her children, staying in Hua Village considerate of everyone, they were still treated kindly.

As for others without support, they were even more self-aware, whether it was the Zeng or Liu families, it was the same—especially seeing so many supplies in the yard, including the grain they currently needed most, made everyone more obedient.

"Yun Ao, please exchange for grandma ten pounds of coarse flour, ten pounds of brown rice, and two pounds of coarse salt—do you think these are enough?"

Saying this, old lady Qi took out the items to be exchanged from her basket—two dried salted rabbit meats, one cured wild chicken, and a piece of coarse hemp cloth she had gathered from the mountain, looking flatteringly at her eldest grandson registering the items.

Hua Yunao nodded and stiffly called out "Grandma," his gaze fell on one of the salted rabbits.

Clearly, this was sent by their family, surprisingly left uneaten by her maternal family for so long, more surprising still that the other two were clearly recently pickled, within a month.

Hua Yunao scanned the uncles behind his grandmother—seems this disaster wasn't without a silver lining, able to temper and change people, allowing those previously lacking responsibility to grow somewhat.

Hua Yunao's expression relaxed somewhat, no longer appearing cold as ice, seriously assessing the value of these items.

The purpose of exchanging goods is for everyone to have hope in life; although prices are slightly higher than normal times, they are within normal range, can be exchanged or bought with a little grit.

It's important to know these items were outwardly bought by the village chief through someone's connections, having them too cheap isn't realistic, as not everyone is foolish.

Normally, coarse grain costs three to four silver coins per pound, rising to eight silver coins per pound now, while wild rabbits and chickens normally cost ten odd silver coins, good ones reaching twenty, but they will be similarly expensive during a disaster, as meat is nourishing, a two to three times price increase is normal. On the contrary, coarse hemp fabric doesn't hold much value, but at regular prices, it's still acceptable.

Overall, the things old lady Qi brought were valued reasonably—seriously converting to silver coins worth two to three hundred, enough to exchange for what he needed.

"These will suffice," Hua Yunao nodded, saying as he put away the cured chicken, "two cured chickens together weigh six to seven pounds, plus a piece of coarse hemp cloth, totaling three hundred and twenty silver coins—enough for the items Grandma wants, with some leftover; we'll add three taels of brown sugar, two taels of soy sauce, one tael of vinegar."

"Really?" Old lady Qi was truly delighted, instinctively taking the cured chicken handed over by her grandson.

Initially thinking that with her grandson's dislike, being able to exchange these items would already be good enough—looking at the handsome child in front of her, remembering her previous attitude towards her daughter's family, a tinge of unease arose, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

Hua Yunao nodded, and old lady Qi hastily nodded in agreement, repeatedly saying "Good, good."

Hua Yunao turned to his siblings: "Jin'er, Xiao Si, pack for Grandma ten pounds of coarse flour, ten pounds of coarse flour, two pounds of coarse salt, three taels of brown sugar, two taels of soy sauce, one tael of vinegar, also two taels of lard as a token from mom—Silver from me."