Anyone holding a wooden sign immediately ran into the straw hut and received a bowl of steaming hot porridge.

A woman was with her child, the child was about three years old and looked thin and weak.

She handed the wooden sign to Su Baozhu, who was in charge of the distribution. Su Baozhu took a look at it and handed her two bowls.

The woman said subconsciously: "You give more. I am alone."

Su Baozhu said, "Don't you have another child?"

The woman was startled and her eyes immediately turned red. She thought that only those who got the work badge could get a bowl of porridge. She saw the thick porridge and thought that even if there was only one bowl, it would be enough for her and her daughter to share. But she didn't expect that the other party would give it to her child.

"Mom, I have some too." The little girl thanked Su Baozhu sensibly, "Thank you, Miss."

Su Baozhu smiled at the little girl and reminded her mother, "Hurry up and take it. There are many people waiting behind."

"Okay." The woman took the bowl gratefully. As she watched the full spoonful of thick porridge pour into the bowl, she swallowed unconsciously.

The mother and daughter carried two full bowls of hot porridge, found a place to squat, and started drinking the hot porridge. They didn't care about the burn and swallowed it mouthful after mouthful. When the hot porridge filled their hungry stomachs, their whole bodies felt warm.

"Mom, after drinking the porridge, I'm not cold anymore."

Listening to her daughter's innocent words, a smile appeared on the woman's face.

Perhaps, the mother and daughter can survive this winter.

She couldn't help but think of her husband who was beaten to death a few days ago. Her eyes became red again and tears kept falling.

If he hadn't gone out to look for food that day, he wouldn't have met those bullies and wouldn't have died. How wonderful it would be if he could just get through that day and wait until today.

But it's no use regretting, there is no medicine for regret in the world.

She wiped away the tears from her eyes and looked at her daughter with tenderness.

Hot Spring City

"Have you heard? Someone outside the city is hiring workers, and it seems that both men and women are welcome."

“Is this true or false?”

"It must be true, it's posted over there on the notice!"

"I wonder how much the wages are?"

"No matter how much it is, any money we can earn is enough to make a living. I heard that the host family provides food and lodging."

"That would be great!"

"Let's go, let's go, let's go and have a look together."

This news spread among the lower-class people in Tangquan City, and anyone who had free time at home wanted to go and try their luck.

In an alley, a mother and her son were driven out and several rag packages were thrown on the ground.

The steward shouted at the mother and son, "Get out of here!"

The young man questioned the manager, "We have worked for so long, why don't you pay us? We agreed to pay four cents a day. You should give us eighty cents."

The steward spat at the young man, "Bah! Your mother didn't clean the snow well enough, causing the young lady to almost fall. We didn't hold you responsible, which is already a kindness on our part. You little bastard dared to ask for wages, and we're lucky enough not to ask you to pay."

"Get out of here right now, as far away as you can."

The steward called two servants and drove the mother and son away with brooms in hand.

The young man was not convinced and wanted to argue, but one of the servants lowered his voice to remind him, "Hurry up and leave! You can't afford to offend them. The master's wife's family is the chief clerk. If you dare to make trouble again, you will definitely suffer the consequences."

Mother Zhao grabbed her son and said, "Yuzhou, let's go!"

They were just refugees who had fled and could not afford to offend these people. Even though they knew that the incident had nothing to do with them and that they were taking the blame for others, in the eyes of these people, they had no place to argue even if they were right.

Zhao Yuzhou was unwilling to give up, but he also knew that his arms were no match for his thighs.

The mother and son picked up two tattered bags and walked out.

An old lady living next door saw how pitiful they were and called out to them, "Wait a moment."

Zhao Yuzhou and his mother stopped and looked at each other.

"I heard that someone is recruiting workers in the suburbs and needs a lot of people to work. You might as well try there. I heard that there is food and accommodation provided, and many people have gone there. You might as well go there and try your luck. Maybe they haven't recruited enough people yet." The old lady pointed out a clear way for them.

Zhao's mother and son expressed their gratitude repeatedly. After thanking the old lady, they did not dare to delay any longer and hurriedly walked out of the city.

Along the way, they saw many people going in the same direction as them, which made the mother and son very anxious.

"Yuzhou, do you think we still have a chance to go there now?"

"Whether there is a chance or not, let's go and take a look." Zhao Yuzhou looked at the people around him who were constantly rushing towards that place. He didn't have much hope in his heart, but there was still a glimmer of hope in his heart, hoping that they hadn't found all the people over there.

As soon as we arrived at the place, we saw a lot of people queuing up. There were ten teams in total, and each team had a long line of people. Around the straw hut on the other side, a lot of people were squatting and drinking steaming porridge from bowls.

Even from a distance, Zhao Yuzhou seemed to smell the fragrance of the rice porridge. He couldn't help but take two deep breaths, and his stomach made a rumbling sound.

"Yuzhou, where should we line up?"

Zhao Yuzhou found the team closest to them, and the two of them lined up at the back of the team.

The escort on the side explained the rules to these new members.

"If you are the kind of person I just mentioned, please leave immediately. We don't want you here."

Even though the escort made the request, no one left and they all lined up obediently.

"Children aged seven to twelve, both boys and girls, are paid four cents a day. Adults are paid eight cents a day. Three meals a day are provided."

The escorts took turns repeating these words.

Zhao Yuzhou listened with his ears pricked up. When he heard that three meals would be provided every day, his eyes widened and he almost thought he had heard it wrong.

The three kinds of food are something that only landlords can eat.

After the escorts finished speaking, they would rest for a while, and then repeat the process again when there were more new people coming.

Zhao Yuzhou was very nervous as it was soon his turn.

He straightened his clothes, trying to give the other person a good impression.

The accountant had been writing for the whole afternoon and his hands were tired. He couldn't help rubbing his hands. Without asking any questions, he took a sip of tea to warm himself up, then looked up at the other person.

"What's your name? Where are you from? How old are you? How many people are there in your family?"

Zhao Yuzhou answered honestly, "My name is Zhao Yuzhou, and I am from Bayi County, Meizhou. I am three years old this year. There are two people in my family, me and my mother."

The accountant looked up at Zhao Yuzhou and looked him up and down. "You have thirteen?"

"Yes." Zhao Yuzhou was afraid that the other party would misunderstand that he wanted to take eight cents, so he raised his age to thirteen.

He hurriedly took out his household registration certificate from his bag.

The accountant took a look, confirmed that it was correct, returned the item to the other party, and took out a wooden sign from a box beside him and handed it to the other party.