Chapter 239 Treasure
The little girl stared blankly at the wheat-scented, salty pancake in her hand.
He looked up at Wan Jin with some disbelief, as if it were unbelievable.
Lin Changning, who was not far away, naturally saw this scene. He rubbed his temples, stood up, and quickly walked to the little girl's side, reaching out to pull the pancake out of her hand.
The little girl gripped the pancake tightly, refusing to let go. Lin Changning's sharp phoenix eyes looked at the little girl, and a hint of tenderness appeared in his eyes.
"This piece of bread is too hard. You haven't eaten for a long time, and eating it like this all of a sudden will upset your stomach."
After saying that, he slapped Wan Jin on the head and cursed, "Why do you think I let the cook cook the pancakes into mush? They haven't eaten for days, and feeding this little girl something so hard is extremely bad for her stomach."
The little girl paused for a moment, then let go of her hand and obediently allowed Lin Changning to take the pancake away from her.
After taking the pancake, Lin Changning patted the little girl's head and said, "Good girl."
Then Lin Changning stood up and kicked Wan Jin in the butt: "What are you standing there for? Go get some warm water from over there."
Wan Jin responded hesitantly, "Oh, I see, Commander."
Lin Changning sat cross-legged opposite the little girl, his eyes crinkling as he asked, "What's your name? How old are you? Do you have any family members?"
The little girl blinked, seeing that Lin Changning meant no harm, and that his handsome face was quite striking, and involuntarily answered.
“My name is Zhuang Erya. My father and mother were killed by the Tartars. I don’t know where my older brother is. We got separated.”
Lin Changning sighed again. Another pitiful person. No wonder this little girl was sitting on the outermost edge. Anyone with a relative would protect their child in the innermost circle.
Only this child and a group of men and women sat on the outermost edge.
When I first got the paste, I didn't eat much of it.
It must have been a difficult journey for them to be with the prisoners. Without anyone to protect them, it's easy to imagine how hard it must have been for them to survive until now.
Lin Changning patted the little girl's head again and said gently, "Er Ya is really amazing to have come this far on her own."
The little girl's eyes sparkled as she looked at Lin Changning and whispered, "Really? Handsome brother? Is Er Ya really that amazing?"
Lin Changning nodded without saying anything. At this moment, Huang Jin came over with a bowl of warm water.
"Qianhu, here is the water you requested."
Lin Changning took the bowl of water and tore the 10,000 jin of flatbread into small pieces and soaked them in the warm water: "Er Ya, you haven't eaten for a long time, so your stomachs can't handle very hard food. You can eat it once the flatbread has softened a bit."
After saying that, Lin Changning took out a small oil paper packet from her bosom, which contained the salt she had used when baking the pancakes.
Lin Changning pinched off a small amount and sprinkled it into warm water. Then he took out a pair of chopsticks from his pocket, soaked the cake in the water, and mashed it.
After soaking it for a while, he felt it was ready to eat and handed the bowl to Zhuang Erya: "Try it, try your brother's cooking."
Zhuang Erya hurriedly took the bowl and used her dirty little hands to scoop up the paste inside and stuff it into her mouth.
I almost choked on the first sip and coughed violently a few times.
Lin Changning patted the little girl on the back: "Don't rush, eat slowly."
Among the people were some who were starving and eyeing the bowl in Zhuang Erya's hand with predatory intent. Some clever women even quietly pushed their children forward.
A group of children slowly moved over from behind Zhuang Erya in a short while, and Lin Changning naturally understood what they meant.
Adults may also have cravings, but they have self-control. Children, on the other hand, don't need to worry about that as much.
It's obvious that she's more lenient with children and women. Maybe if she pushes a child forward, he might soften his heart and the child will get more food.
In this world, if children can eat even one more bite, their chances of survival will be much greater.
Lin Changning looked at the fewer than 20 children and finally felt a pang of pity.
Sitting on the ground, he shouted loudly, "The fire is already cooking another pot of porridge. Everyone will get some. Just wait a moment."
After saying that, she asked Wan Jin to fetch twenty bowls and some warm water from the stove. She also brought some flatbread with her when she came out.
"Lushan, go to my tent and fetch some cakes."
Lu Shan scratched his head and handed over a bundle: "Commander, I have some here. Give it to these kids first."
Lin Changning paused for a moment, then turned to look at Lu Shan.
Lu Shan blushed slightly and said, "I just saw Wan Jin give the cakes to this little kid, so I thought I'd take out my cakes and share them with them."
However, Qianhu said that these cakes were too hard and not good for young children, so he was too embarrassed to take them out.
Lin Changning chuckled; Lu Shan's words were quite amusing.
It's not that I'm embarrassed to take it out, but rather that I'm afraid he'll get scolded again if he does.
"Alright, alright, go and soak these cakes with Wan Jin and bring them over. The adults can wait a while, let these little kids eat their fill first."
As soon as she finished speaking, Er Ya raised her head, her eyes wet as she looked at Lin Changning, a blush rising from her dark face.
She said in a voice barely audible, "Handsome brother, can I have another bowl?"
As soon as Lin Changning turned his head, he saw Er Ya holding an empty bowl that she had licked clean, looking at him expectantly.
Lin Changning gently patted Er Ya's head, looking at the child with loving and trusting eyes, and said, "You shouldn't eat too much at once. Er Ya doesn't need to worry about not having enough to eat. You'll have food every day from now on."
Although the little girl was a little disappointed, she believed that Lin Changning would not harm her. Holding the small bowl, she nodded and said, "Thank you, handsome brother."
An old man standing nearby, seeing how lenient Lin Changning was with the child, couldn't help but sit down and ask, "Sir, are you leading troops to Yongning City?"
Lin Changning nodded: "Yes, the Prince of Chu sent us to recapture several cities. We have already taken Datong and Yongzhou, and we are on our way to Yongning."
The old man patted Lin Changning's hand with his rough palm: "Sir, the Tartars in Yongning City have all left. Yongning City is now an empty city. You can enter the city with peace of mind."
Lin Changning naturally guessed it, but it was good that the old man had this idea.
Lin Changning nodded slightly to the old man: "Thank you for your guidance, sir."
The old man looked around and tugged at Lin Changning's sleeve: "Is it convenient for you, sir? I have something else I'd like to tell you, but there are too many people around..."
Lin Changning was somewhat puzzled, but ultimately believed in his own abilities. After getting up, he helped the old man up as well, and they slowly walked away into the distance.
"There should be nothing else here, please go ahead, sir."
The old man looked around warily: "Sir, there is a treasure hidden by traitors in Yongning City. It must be something valuable. The Tartars have been searching for it since they entered the city, but they haven't found it yet."
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