Chapter 103 Aunt Wang's Family

"Old man! Do you know where everyone here has gone?!" Uncle Wang looked at the old man with a shocked expression and quickly went over to ask.

The old man nodded, smacking his lips as if recalling something: "I saw it yesterday when I was catching ducks. There were quite a few people over there. It looked like they were building a house!"

"Build a house?" Aunt Wang frowned, somewhat puzzled.

"Aren't there houses here? Why do we need to build more?"

Fan Xiaoxiao tugged at Aunt Wang: "Auntie, maybe they're worried about another disaster here, so they built a new house!"

After saying that, she looked at the old man again: "Sir, would you please take us to see that place?"

"No, no, no, that won't do. I'm afraid my kid will come and get me. You guys go ahead, I haven't had enough of my carefree days yet! Remember to come back and make meatballs tonight!"

Seeing that the old man was indeed refusing, the group didn't press the matter. After carefully inquiring about the location, they asked the old man to take them to the yard to watch over the peppercorns that needed to be turned over to dry, and then the group went out.

According to the old man, after leaving the town, they should head east. After leaving the town, they should continue east for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, and they would see many camps.

However, Fan Xiaoxiao and her friends searched for half an hour according to the old man's instructions but still couldn't find the place he mentioned.

"The old man isn't lying to us, is he?" Madam Fan wiped the sweat from her forehead. The sun was scorching hot today, and she was already drenched in sweat after only walking outside for a short while.

Fan Xiaoxiao shook her head. She was also feeling unbearably hot and kept fanning herself with her sleeves. "It shouldn't be like that. This wouldn't do that old man any good. If he really wanted to lie to us, he should have asked us for money last night instead of asking for seven days' worth of food."

"What do we do now?" Uncle Wang frowned. This place was already outside the town, and there was hardly anyone around. It would be difficult to find someone to ask.

"Hey, let's go back first... Hey! Someone's coming!" Fan Xiaoxiao was halfway through her sentence when she saw a swaying oxcart coming from a distance. When she got closer, she saw an old man in his seventies and a little child of seven or eight years old sitting on it.

Uncle Wang quickly stepped forward to stop them. The old man was startled to see the group of people in such a disheveled state and hurriedly pulled the oxcart back, saying, "Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing? What's going on?"

"Grandpa, don't be afraid, we just want to ask for directions!"

The old man looked at Fan Xiaoxiao's face, which was clearly still that of a child, and breathed a slight sigh of relief. However, he didn't dare to loosen his grip on the rope, and still looked at her with a hint of wariness, asking, "What are you asking about?"

"Brother! I'm from Jingchuan. I want to ask, where have all the people over there gone?" Aunt Wang stepped forward, her fluent local accent startling the old man.

"Oh! You're from that place. There's been a disaster there, so everyone's gone to the south to escape the flood. I'm heading there too, and Lord Guo is there as well. You should head south."

Everyone: "..." It turns out the old man gave the wrong direction! It wasn't east at all, it was south!

A moment later, the old man finally realized that they were a group of people who had returned to find their relatives. After learning that these people posed no threat, he generously invited them to ride in his oxcart, saying he could give them a ride. Uncle Wang and the others were a little embarrassed and declined several times, but in the end, Fan Xiaoxiao and Xiaobao got on, while the rest of them followed slowly behind.

After getting on the oxcart, the seven or eight-year-old child stared at Fan Xiaoxiao for a long time.

"?" Fan Xiaoxiao met the child's gaze with some confusion, wondering what he was looking at. Just as she hesitated whether to ask, the child looked away. They remained silent for the rest of the journey. As they approached the edge of Jingchuan County, the oxcart's wheel seemed to hit a large rock. Suddenly, it lurched, and the three children on the cart fell into a heap.

"Hey! Are you all alright?!" The old man driving the oxcart asked the children with some concern.

"I...I have something to do." Fan Xiaoxiao raised her hand shakily. She was piled on top of the little baby and Xiaobao like a human pyramid, so much so that she almost vomited up her breakfast.

"Oh dear! Auntie! Big brother!" Xiao Bao quickly stood up, wanting to help the child who was pressing down on Fan Xiaoxiao. But to everyone's surprise, the little boy's expression changed drastically when he heard Xiao Bao call her "big brother." He abruptly shook off Xiao Bao's hand and jumped off the oxcart, shouting, "Who's your big brother! You little brat!" Not satisfied with that, the child rolled his eyes at Xiao Bao and ran off.

Everyone stared in disbelief at the child's departing figure, then glanced at the old man continuing to drive the cart. Fan Xiaoxiao asked, somewhat puzzled, "Grandpa, isn't that your child? How did he run away?"

The old man smiled and waved his hand, explaining to the crowd, "That's not my child, it's a child from town. I met this child on the roadside today, just like you, I was just passing by."

Everyone nodded; so that's how it is.

The rest of the journey went very smoothly. About half an hour later, they climbed a small hill and finally arrived at the place where the old man had mentioned where a house was being built.

After saying goodbye to the old man, Fan Xiaoxiao and the others were speechless as they looked at everything in front of them.

This isn't building houses! It's clearly rebuilding a town! Before them lay a vast expanse of houses, half-built skeletons, standing side by side, resembling a scaled-down version of Jingchuan.

There were quite a few people here, busy moving wood and planing timber to build houses.

Fan Xiaoxiao and her companions took a few steps forward, intending to search for Granny Wang's family. Just then, a scream erupted from the crowd not far away. Startled, Fan Xiaoxiao and her group immediately stopped in their tracks. Then, a disheveled woman rushed out, shouting angrily, "Who! Who stole our old duck?!"

A duck? Fan Xiaoxiao's heart skipped a beat. She thought of the big, fat duck that the old man had brought over yesterday.

No way...

The woman continued yelling and screaming. Fan Xiaoxiao pursed her lips, exchanged glances with the others, and decided to keep the matter to herself. Unfortunately, after seeing their faces, the woman actually ran straight towards them!

Fan Xiaoxiao's heart pounded wildly. Could she really be this unlucky? Could it be that the other party could tell that the duck was somehow connected to them?

Just as Fan Xiaoxiao shrank back, the woman was already close by. Fan Xiaoxiao closed her eyes as if to avoid her, only feeling a gust of wind brush past her, and then she heard the woman cry out, "Sister! It really is you! You're back!"

"Sister-in-law!!!"

Fan Xiaoxiao: ? ? ?

(End of this chapter)