After dinner, the group chatted for a long time and did not go to bed until late at night. The three siblings slept on the bench provided by Brother Chen, which was quite comfortable.
Ningxia got up at daybreak. Liu Jun and his group had almost finished packing. Ningxia quickly woke up the two younger ones, and the group set off leisurely.
In the end, Ningxia traded thirty cigarettes for ninety kilograms of salt, and Brother Chen gave her ten kilograms. Ningxia felt that she wouldn't have to worry about salt for at least ten years.
Ningxia and the others were sitting in the middle carriage loaded with medicinal herbs. Not to mention Lin Yi and Sangsang, it was her first time riding in a carriage. As the carriage was full of goods, it was not moving fast, and Maomao at the end of the team could easily keep up. Sangsang was giggling non-stop in the carriage, and the group was infected by her laughter, and the atmosphere was extremely relaxed.
The driver, a middle-aged man in his fifties, couldn't help but laugh at Sangsang's giggles. "You're quite an interesting kid."
Ningxia smiled but didn't reply. The uncle continued, "That's good too. These days, it's more comfortable to live a simple life." As he spoke, he touched Sangsang's head.
Feeling the uncle's kindness, Sangsang looked up and smiled at him, then handed him the bun with holes in it that she had bitten.
It was sent by Brother Chen yesterday. Maybe he felt sorry for the three of them, or maybe it was because Ningxia had traded half a pack of cigarettes, so he asked the person at the window to pack twenty vegetarian buns for them. Although they were made of coarse flour, they were much softer than multi-grain cakes.
The uncle laughed and said, "Thank you, little girl. I've already eaten. You can enjoy it slowly."
Ningxia was also amused by the uncle's word "uncle" and grinned.
"This kid's so young, it's not wrong to call me grandpa." The uncle was still cheerful, looking at Sangsang with emotion, "Our boss always charges a lot for rides. Only you guys got two fish in the car. Don't tell me, those fish tasted really good!"
Ningxia raised an eyebrow, "How is it not low?"
"Well, you know that a carriage team like ours is most afraid of problems with the horses. You see, there are two horses in the back that are not pulling anything. They are there to replace the horses that have problems while pulling goods. The original number of people was just the weight that the horses can bear. Now we have to pull so many people, and those who want to hitchhike are all with their families, so it is overweight. You take this car, and we have to share some medicinal materials with other cars before we take yours." As the uncle spoke, he took out his pipe, skillfully wrapped a piece of tobacco leaf in it, put it in, lit it and took a puff.
"What did Brother Lin do before? How can he still have so many horses these days?" Ningxia was a little curious.
The uncle smacked his lips proudly and said, "We are all from the southern desert. When the earthquake first hit, the cities in our area were severely affected, but we live on the grasslands and were basically unaffected. Only a few livestock died."
Ningxia suddenly realized that they were people from southern part of the desert. This made sense. Most people there were good at riding and had strong builds. Seeing that all the men in this team looked tough and strong, she thought that Lin Jun had specially hired a team of sports cars.
The uncle continued, "We didn't take it seriously at the time. After all, we were far away from home and could be self-sufficient. But our boss was a former soldier, and he saw that something was wrong, so he mobilized everyone to leave. Several villages around us, about fifty households, followed suit, and we took our cattle, horses, and sheep with us. The boss said that these were the foundation of our future lives and we couldn't lose them."
At this point, the old man's face was filled with sadness. "Later, we found out that not long after we left, our vast grassland cracked into several large holes and was completely gone." The uncle smiled and looked up at Ningxia. "So I envy those who want to hitchhike with us. Without exception, they all want to go home. Go home. We don't have a hometown anymore..."
Seeing that the uncle said that he was depressed, Ningxia quickly changed the subject, "What about the daughter that Brother Lin mentioned earlier..."
The uncle didn't shy away from the topic and said directly, "My sister-in-law died early. She died not long after giving birth to our youngest daughter, leaving my eldest son to raise his two children alone."
Another son? Ningxia was surprised.
"On our way here, we met many disaster victims. We didn't understand much at the time, but my eldest brother, a former soldier, helped them and even slaughtered pigs and sheep for them to eat. The further we walked, the more people there were, and the more livestock died, but they were all eaten."
While the uncle was smoking, Ningxia had already roughly guessed what was going on: the farmer and the snake.
"Later, a group of men joined the team. They were all very hardworking and helped us in every way. As time went by, we all trusted them and taught them how to ride and hunt. One night, while we were asleep, they kidnapped more than ten children, secretly took some horses, and ran away. They dealt with those animals every day, so the horses obeyed them and left without making any noise."
Ningxia didn't say anything, but just looked at the man with weathered eyes and brows.
"The eldest brother's two children were abducted, as well as my brother's eldest daughter..." The uncle took a deep breath, as if recalling something terrible.
"By the time we found them... the boss's daughter was already... her lower body was covered in blood... and there was a scar as big as a bowl on her forehead. Those beasts! They only rescued two out of more than ten children. We didn't even find the body of the boss's son. Those beasts said he ran away, but who knows. The boss has been looking for his son for all these years and formed a car team. He thought that by traveling all over the country, he would meet more people and maybe find him. Alas!" The uncle sighed deeply.
Ningxia just hugged Sangsang tightly, and was once again thankful that she had saved the brother and sister, otherwise...
"Don't mention it in front of the boss! You can't. Have you seen the white hair on the boss's temples? It grew a month after the two cubs got into trouble. Because of this, many people from the village who came here together blame the boss, blaming him for trusting outsiders and causing such a disaster. They were the ones who wanted to take them in because they felt sorry for them, but when this happened, they took their anger out on the boss. As a result, many families left. After all this time, there are only about sixty of us who came from Mo Nan with our families left."
Ningxia thought of Lin Jun's lifeless eyes. They looked like a villain who was not afraid of life or death, or a puppet whose soul had long been liberated. "Uncle, are there any obvious characteristics of Jun's son? Maybe I've encountered them."
The uncle smiled and glanced at Ningxia, "You are a kind-hearted girl. I don't know how many people I have told about this, but you are the only one who is thinking about helping the boss find his son. If we had saved someone like you..." Having said that, the uncle stopped talking and put away his pipe.
"That child was very clever and chubby, with a red star birthmark on the back of his neck. It was given to him by Tengri when he was born. He was thirteen when he was lost. If he were still alive, he would be sixteen now."
"I'll remember, uncle. If I find him, how do I contact Brother Lin?" Ningxia asked seriously, and the man looked at her again and again.
"Do you really believe that the child is still alive?"
Ningxia was puzzled. "Why don't you believe it? You also said that he was blessed by your God when he was born, and his father is still waiting for him."
The uncle's smile became more sincere. "If Tengri really blessed him to meet you, you can find the person in charge of the Chocobo Trading Point in Morning City, Bluebird Continent. He will lead you to us."
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