Song Ning ignored everyone else and went only to the Jiang family.

The Jiang family was robbed last time, but this time they were surprisingly the calmest in the whole village.

This time, Granny Jiang didn't cry or make a scene; the whole family remained quiet.

When Song Ning entered, the Jiang family was tidying up the courtyard.

Song Ning wasn't there to reminisce; he left after finishing his business. As he left the Jiang family home, he heard loud wailing coming from afar.

Song Ning sighed and informed the village chief, thus completing her task.

She was just trying to be helpful by informing everyone; whether they wanted to leave or not was none of anyone's business.

Today, Nanshan Village is bustling with activity.

The cries of women and children, the sound of hurried footsteps, and anxious shouts created chaos in every household's courtyard.

Some elderly people refused to leave, insisting on dying in Nanshan Village.

His family was extremely worried and cried and begged him to stop.

The village chief didn't care. He had said what he should and shouldn't have said, and he wouldn't try to persuade those who still didn't want to leave.

His family is currently busy packing up.

They said they were packing up, but there wasn't much to take. Apart from some of Zhou Ling'an's books that the bandits hadn't stolen, they had taken almost everything else from the house.

As she packed her things, Mrs. Yu wept. With this departure, her son's future would be ruined...

Zhou Ling'an, however, was optimistic and comforted Madam Yu: "Mother, even if we leave, I can still study and take exams in other places."

"How can this be the same? If there's a war now, we don't even know where we'll go."

After saying that, he cursed, "It's all because of that jinx, Song Erya. If she hadn't come back, would we have been able to run away?"

The village chief's face darkened: "Er Ya meant well; she still cares about the village. If it were anyone else, they would have run away long ago. Why would they care about your life or death?"

Yu understood the reasoning, but she just couldn't accept reality for the time being.

"You guys pack up first, I'm going to Dongyuan Village."

Yu knew he was going to find Luo Wenxin, the village chief of Dongyuan Village.

The two families resumed their dealings after the grain exchange began.

We had a lot of unpleasantness in the past because of our children, but now that I think about it, it's all in the past...

On the other side, Song Ning and Song Dahai returned home, while Liu Yuelan and Song Xiue were still preparing dry rations. There was still some finishing work to be done on the roof of the car, so the family didn't dare to delay and quickly finished and left.

Their mule cart wasn't big enough for everyone, so Song Ning bought an oxcart.

Two or three days later, Li Daniu arrived in an oxcart with Aunt Zhao and Li Xingwang.

"Er Ya, we're all packed and ready to go with you." Aunt Zhao rushed in as soon as she got out of the car.

"Okay, if there's nothing else, we'll leave the day after tomorrow."

It's good to have more people around; we can look out for each other on the way.

The day after Li Daniu's family arrived, Jiang's family also came.

There's not much to tidy up in their house now, except for the money Sun earned from Song Ning, which hadn't been taken away because she kept it with her.

They scraped together enough money, including one or two taels of silver, to buy an oxcart.

The Song family's courtyard was suddenly packed with people. There wasn't enough room inside, but luckily it was summer, so everyone made do for the night in the courtyard.

Song Ning put most of the heavy items into her spatial storage, leaving only some for the journey in the car. Afraid that Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan would ask, she simply said that she had a way to deal with it.

I was originally planning to get a refund for the remaining rent, but when I got there, the landlord was nowhere to be found. I could only sigh helplessly.

The next day, Song Dahai led the way with a mule cart, followed by Zhu Shun with an ox cart. Song Ning called out to the back, "Let's go!"

Song Dahai drove the mule cart out, and the carts behind it all followed suit.

Once outside the alley, the scene had changed drastically. The streets were in chaos, with people fleeing in panic.

Some families, trying to take as much as possible, pressed down on their oxen so hard they could barely stand up, while others, unable to take any more, sat on the ground and cried.

Although it is said that people die for wealth and birds die for food, in the current situation, we still have to make sacrifices.

Upon reaching the town entrance, the question of which way to go became a problem. With no news coming from either the west or the east, Song Ning took a gamble and headed east.

However, the east side is far away, so it probably won't be easy for them to actually get to a safe place.

There were few cars and many people. The cars were loaded with a lot of stuff and couldn't seat many people, so some had to walk.

After leaving Shanhe Town, the procession stretched out on the road like a winding river, heading towards the mountain pass ahead.

Everyone couldn't help but glance back; once they left, they probably wouldn't be coming back.

Even if we were poor before, we could still say "home" when it got dark. But in the future, even if we go to the ends of the earth, we won't know where home is.

When they left the village, they all kowtowed at their family graves to bid farewell to their ancestors. After that, they were all alone, and no one would come to kowtow at their graves anymore...

The more they thought about it, the sadder they became, and Granny Jiang and Aunt Zhao couldn't help but start to shed tears.

The others were also upset and remained silent for a long time.

Song Ning was feeling drowsy from the jolting in the carriage. Liu Yuelan felt sorry for her daughter, so she went outside so that her daughter could lie down and rest for a while.

The carriage wasn't very big to begin with, and with all the stuff inside, there was only enough room for one adult to lie down.

Liu Yuelan went outside, glanced back, and asked Song Dahai beside her, "How are we going to eat from now on?"

The Li family doesn't need to worry for the time being, but the Jiang family is different. They have no food, and almost all of their money has been used to buy an oxcart.

Their family's food is all in Er Ya's hands, and they don't know if it will be enough, but they can't let others see them eating.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!