Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Sudden Heavy Rain
Gu Wenqing borrowed a clay pot from the Tian family to boil water and filled their gourds and bamboo tubes. Ah Xuan was so sleepy that she kept nodding her head. Gu Wenqing held his sister and fell asleep by the fire.
After a long time, my parents and sister came back, and their backpacks were full of reed catkins.
Tian Qingde whispered a few words to Gu Wen, as if asking if he came back so late to pick catkins. Gu Wen whispered that he did so to prepare for winter.
There were other people around who were still awake. Looking at the Gu family's backpack, some of them couldn't help but envy them, and after feeling envious, they wanted to cry.
A few days ago, their family had more quilts and silk than they could use up, but they never imagined that even reed fluff would be so important now. In just a few days, their situation had completely changed.
Not every family was as capable as the Tian and Gu families to get a backpack, but there were also smart people among this group of exiles who broke off a lot of reed stalks and weaved baskets themselves.
Gu Youan held Axuan in his arms and looked at her neck in the firelight. Mrs. Du also came over to take a look.
My neck is a little red, nothing serious.
Mrs. Du moved sideways to block the view a little, and Gu Youan took a small amount of ointment and carefully rubbed it on Axuan's neck, massaging for a long time before stopping.
"Go to sleep, it's okay."
"Um."
Holding A Xuan, the little heater, Gu Youan fell asleep.
The Gu and Tian families went to sleep, while several nearby families' fires burned all night. Gu Youan woke up the next day from his mother's arms and saw several newly woven reed baskets in front of those families. They had cut clothes to make ropes, tied them together, and could barely carry them on their backs.
Gu Youan looked down at Axuan's neck, which was white and tender, with no marks left.
Mrs. Du stroked her eldest daughter's hair and asked, "Did you sleep well last night?"
Gu Youan nodded. She slept well and surprisingly didn't have a nightmare.
When Tian Erlang saw her nod, he was shocked. She was not afraid at all after seeing blood yesterday. This eldest daughter of the Gu family is so cruel and steady, incredible!
This morning's breakfast was again clear porridge. Mrs. Du poured the porridge into a ceramic pot, cracked two duck eggs into it, and added a fire to boil it. It became egg porridge.
Mrs. Du was quick to throw the eggshell into the fire before anyone could see clearly. She laughed and said, "Yesterday when I was picking reed flowers, I came across a nest of wild ducks. Unfortunately, I didn't catch any of them. I only brought back two eggs."
Mrs. Du served half a bowl to the Tian family and thanked them for lending her the clay pot for the past two days.
Bai Shi didn't refuse. The four of them shared the meal. Bai Shi could taste the medicine and asked, "Did the kitchen staff sell the medicine jar to your family? Was it ten taels of silver?"
Mrs. Du sighed lightly and said nothing, so Mrs. Bai didn't ask any more questions.
After finishing his breakfast, Gu Wenqing waited until the pottery jar was no longer hot. He stuffed the jar into the reed fluff and covered it with the bag containing old clothes to prevent the reed fluff from flying around.
Just as he was about to leave, someone came over from the front of the post station and told him to wait a moment.
Someone complained, "It's a sunny day today. Why don't we hurry up and get going? Do we really have to suffer the scorching sun?"
"What do you know? Someone died again last night."
Gu Youan lowered his eyes.
Gu Wenqing clenched his hands, which were used to press the reed catkins, into fists and pricked up his ears to listen to what people were saying.
"Who died?"
"A mother and daughter, I don't know where they came from, were found hanging from the beam last night."
"I heard the child was sick, and he asked someone for medicine, but he slept with the person and didn't get any medicine in return. I was so confused that I couldn't figure it out..."
The kind-hearted women couldn't help but shed tears of sympathy for their own kind.
After a while, someone came to tell me that another person was missing.
"Who ran away?"
"Do any of you know Zhang Wu from the second branch of the Zhang family?"
Everyone in the Zhang family suddenly looked unhappy.
They certainly had their own reasons for being exiled, but if it weren't for that old scoundrel Zhang Ping's excessive corruption and shoddy workmanship, how could Taihu Lake have burst its banks again? If the court hadn't investigated thoroughly, how could they have been implicated?
"Zhang Wu is not a good guy. I think there is a 99% chance that he ran away."
"Humph, this place is not far from Luoyang. If we are caught by the government on the way, I think beheading would be a light punishment. Lingchi would be better."
Although Zhang Wu is only from the second branch of the Zhang family, everyone hates the Zhang family and feels nothing but gloating over their misfortune.
Gu Wenqing listened to these words and breathed a sigh of relief.
Tian Jilang was also thinking that after a night, who knows where the body had been washed away.
We set off half an hour late today. In order to hurry, we walked as fast as we did yesterday. By the afternoon, Axuan could not walk anymore, so Gu Wen carried her on his back.
Today, the Gu family had an extra bamboo tube filled with water, which was enough for a day's drinking. As he gradually got used to this intensity of travel, Gu Youan felt that his legs and feet felt much better today.
I took a shower yesterday, and I'm all sweaty again today. When I arrived at the post station, there was only a ray of daylight left, and the sky was covered with dark clouds. I'm afraid I won't be able to see the moon tonight.
This post station still cannot accommodate more than 300 prisoners, so some people need to move out.
Gu Wen and Tian Qingde looked at the sky and hesitated. It seemed like it would rain in the evening. If they got caught in the rain at this time, their bodies would not be able to withstand it.
Gu Wen and Tian Qingde were not the only ones who could see the weather. Many convicts also noticed that something was wrong and insisted on staying in the post station. The room was so crowded that there was no place to lie down and they could only sit half-way.
The room in the post station used to accommodate fugitives was full of people. After a while, the various unpleasant smells in the room made it difficult to move. Gu Wenqing stood at the door for a while and then walked out.
"Dad, let's go live under the back wall."
"Let's go to the back first."
Gu Wen and his wife, Mrs. Du, both hailed from Yizhou Prefecture. One was a scholar whose parents had died young, and the other was the daughter of a doctor who ran a pharmacy. They came from humble beginnings, and even after many years of prosperity, Mrs. Du remained the same intelligent and capable mistress who personally managed the household.
Predicting it would rain that night, and fearing they would get wet, Mrs. Du went to Mrs. Bai to discuss the matter: "Tell the boys from both families to get some sticks and grass. We'll build a thatched shed against the back wall, blocking off three sides and leaving a way in and out. At night, we'll hang old clothes on it to keep out the wind."
Mrs. Bai also agreed: "Let all the men go. There is strength in numbers, and we can finish the work and rest sooner."
The men went to look for sticks and grass, Mrs. Du and Mrs. Bai went to the front to get dry biscuits for the evening, and Gu Youan and his sister stayed behind to guard the luggage of the two families.
"Sister, I'm hungry."
"I know you're hungry. Wait a minute, mom will be back with some delicious food."
A Xuan threw herself into her sister's arms: "It's not delicious."
Ah Xuan leaned over to her sister's ear and asked, "Will that bad guy come to bully us again tonight?"
Gu Youan's heart moved. At her age, Axuan didn't understand what death meant. In her heart, she just thought that the bad guy was knocked unconscious or chased away.
"No, the bad guy ran away."
Ah Xuan laughed softly: "It's better to run away."
Ah Xuan wiggled her little butt happily, but then said unhappily, "Sister, you're poking me."
Patting her little butt lightly, Gu Youan snorted: "It's good enough to hold you, and you dare to despise me."
A Xuan laughed out loud: "Mom said that I'm too thin. I want to be plump and fair like A Xuan."
Gu Youan pinched the little girl's face. It had only been a few days of exile, and the chubby flesh on the little girl's face had become thinner.
I haven't been eating or sleeping well these days, and I have to travel under the scorching sun, so how can I not lose weight? Fortunately, this girl is open-minded and doesn't cry or make a fuss, which saves me a lot of trouble.
The two sisters played for a while, and then Mrs. Du and Mrs. Bai came back.
Gu Youan handed his sister to her mother: "I'm going to find my father."
Mrs. Du put her little daughter on the ground and said, "Tell your Aunt Bai to look after the things. I will go with you."
Bai said hurriedly, "You stay and take care of Axuan, I'll go with Anan."
Mrs. Du waved her hand cheerfully: "I am stronger than you, so don't argue with me. Just sit down and rest for a while."
Mrs. Du took her daughter away, and when they were alone, she whispered to her, "I know you like to be clean, but you must not wash today, or else people will notice."
"I know."
"Don't take anything out of your place, no matter if it's food or daily necessities."
"I know what I'm doing. I'm only going to take out a few eggs."
"You can't take it. There's a river in the reed marsh. Using wild ducks as a pretext might be acceptable, but it's so dark out here. If you say you came across a nest of pheasants, no one will believe you."
"Where are the eggs?"
"What bird eggs?"
In addition to growing vegetables and fruits for sale, Gu Youan's cousin's family also raises many livestock, not to mention chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs, they also raise a nest of quails. The last time the cousin gave Gu Youan bacon, fruits, etc., he also packed ten kilograms of quail eggs for her, which are now placed in the refrigerator in the space kitchen.
Disappearing and reappearing, Mrs. Du looked at the small black-spotted bird egg and nodded: "That makes sense, but don't take too much."
How many eggs are there in a bird's nest? Twelve or thirteen isn't too many, is it?
Mrs. Du rolled up her pockets, which contained a dozen quail eggs. Seeing Gu Wen, she happily went over to him and said, "Dad, I came across a bird's nest while collecting firewood. This will give us something to eat tonight."
Gu Wenqing and the two Tian brothers came over quickly. Gu Wenqing said in surprise, "Mom, you are so lucky."
Mrs. Du laughed and said to the Tian family, father and son, "You guys keep busy. I'll go back and boil some eggs. We'll split the eggs in half each."
Without waiting for Tian Qingde to politely refuse, Mrs. Du and her daughter went back with the bird eggs and firewood.
Mrs. Du kept her word and gave half of the bird eggs to Mrs. Bai.
While Gu Youan watched his sister light a fire, Mrs. Du and Mrs. Bai went to fetch water. They first boiled the water for tomorrow's drinking and put it in the pot. Then they fetched water to cook dry biscuits and broke the bird eggs and stirred them in the pot.
When the men returned, the pot was already boiling with fragrance. Tian Erlang sighed, "What a pity, there is no salt. Salt is the most delicious food. Without salt, people have no strength."
"It's good enough to have something to eat, and you even get to choose?"
Bai scolded her youngest son and said, "Come and eat quickly. Then you can work again."
Today, there are only the Tian and Gu families under the back wall. They don’t have to care about other people’s opinions, and the two families can talk freely while eating.
After dinner, the men joined forces to build a straw hut. It didn't have to be big, just enough to provide a place to live.
After the straw hut was built, some hay was spread inside and they slept on the hay with old clothes draped over them. Tired after a day of work, Gu Youan fell asleep holding his sister in his arms.
In the middle of the night, heavy rain began to fall, and water was dripping in the corners. Gu Youan carried his sister to a drier place, and was so sleepy that he didn't even open his eyes.
The sky is her quilt and the earth is her bed. At this moment, nothing can stop her from having sex.
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