Yunling's expectations naturally dropped after seeing the warehouse's state, but since they were already here and had nowhere else to go, they could only pin their hopes on this place. Therefore, she said:
"Let's look around and see if there's anything usable to take with us."
Okay.
The two split up to search. Yunling carefully walked among the broken ceramic tiles and soon found a perfectly intact ceramic bowl with a beautiful pattern. Normally, she would definitely have taken it with her.
However, for her right now, having an extra ceramic bowl is far less pleasing than having an extra vegetable or a piece of meat.
Yunling then discovered some calligraphy, paintings, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, which were worth her attention. She tore a piece of cloth from the scattered fabric and wrapped the writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones inside.
Although Yun Chu would definitely bring along writing brushes, ink, paper, inkstones, and medical books, there's no such thing as too much of these things. They can be used for writing letters, exchanging items, or even as defensive tools by Tang Ling and the others.
Yunling finished tidying things up, and Gangzi was excitedly shouting:
"Boss, there's food."
"real?"
Yunling's eyes lit up, and she quickly ran to Gangzi's side. The fishy smell of the sea rushed out as Gangzi opened his bundle, choking her quite a bit.
"There are dried fish, dried abalone, dried shrimp, dried oysters, and dried scallops in here. Luckily, they were hidden under these dyed fabrics, otherwise those thieves would have found them."
Yunling brought the dried fish to her nose and sniffed it. The feeling of disgust she used to have for it suddenly turned into one of delightful surprise.
"It's also possible that they didn't know how to eat it or whether it was safe to eat, which is why we got this opportunity."
Gangzi continued digging, but unfortunately, the scene he had imagined—where he could dig until he reached the bottom—didn't materialize. Instead, he only managed to dig a shallow layer.
If this were just their family, this amount of food might last them three or four days, but with so many people here, it's uncertain whether each person will even get a couple of bites.
"Boss, we need to find some rice. That way we can cook seafood porridge. Even if we can't eat seafood, we can still get a taste of it."
Yunling was also worried about the rice. If she had rice to eat, she could fill her stomach even without meat. She could chop up the dried seafood, spread it on top of the rice, and steam it, which would be enough for several meals.
"Logically speaking, with the autumn harvest and winter storage, everything should have been normal last year, so every household should have paid grain tax..."
"Does the boss mean there's rice in the county government office?"
"I don't know, but I heard from the bun seller that the magistrate of Qingcheng abandoned the city a long time ago. If he and his family were to flee, they must have made ample preparations. In addition, with the looting by bandits, the county government office might be even cleaner than ours."
Gangzi chuckled and looked at Yunling, saying:
"I'm not afraid of being laughed at by my eldest brother, but I only found out about the cellar in the backyard of the county government office when my eldest aunt got married."
"cellar?"
To be honest, if Gangzi hadn't told her, Yunling wouldn't have known that the county government office had a cellar.
"Yes, my great-uncle called me to the cellar to fetch wine. That cellar was huge, with ice, fruits and vegetables, and a wall full of game. I just don't know if the county government in Qingcheng has any."
"Let's go in and take a look."
The two then arrived at the Qingcheng County Government Office. The sign hanging at the main gate had been broken in two, and the gate was wide open. One side of the gate was smashed beyond recognition, with the blade embedded directly in the door surface, which looked quite alarming.
The situation inside was no different from that on the street. All six houses were destroyed, and the "Mirror Hanging High" hanging in the main hall was smeared with black ink. In the very center of the main hall, there was a large pile of unburnt ashes, and traces of fire and water sticks could be vaguely seen.
Absurd, this is just too absurd.
Yunling didn't have time to reflect much before Gangzi led her towards the backyard. It didn't take much searching; the upright plank on the ground symbolized the entrance to the cellar.
"Boss, it looks like we won't gain anything this time either."
"Let's go down and take a look."
Yunling didn't want to be too discouraged, but when she went down the ladder and saw the almost empty cellar, she almost sighed.
There was no good wine, no fruits or vegetables, only scattered vegetable leaves trampled beyond recognition by countless footprints on the ground. Because of the rain, the ground was damp, and the whole cellar smelled disgusting.
"Boss, there are two more jars here."
Gangzi happily opened the jar, but the pungent smell that hit him made him retreat three feet.
"Damn it, can't those bastards find a toilet? They're just relieving themselves in the jar."
Yunling instantly imagined how the bandits relieved themselves in front of the jar, or even squatted on it. The more she thought about it, the more goosebumps rose all over her body, making her very uncomfortable. So she quickly climbed out of the cellar.
Breathing in the fresh air, Yunling regained her spirits and was ready to start afresh. The county government office was quite large, with pavilions and towers in the backyard, as well as artificial hills and ponds. If it hadn't been ruined, it would have been a very elegant landscape.
"Boss, this backyard is so big, it's such a waste not to use it to grow vegetables."
Yunling chuckled, and just as she was about to respond, her hat got caught on her head as she walked through the branches. She looked up, but her gaze was drawn to the birds on the eaves of a house not far away.
"Gangzi, look over there."
Gangzi followed Yunling's gaze, his eyes lit up, and he swallowed repeatedly. He wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and said with a smile:
"Boss, wait here, I'll kill these birds right now, and we'll have roasted sparrows for dinner today."
Yunling slapped the man on the back of the head, feeling somewhat ashamed.
“I showed you what those birds are eating, not so you could steal from them.”
Gangzi scratched the back of his head, then narrowed his eyes, staring intently for a moment before exclaiming in surprise:
"Hey, it's rice. They're eating rice. To hell with it, we're still going hungry, but these birds get to eat rice."
Just as Yunling's slap was about to land again, Gangzi suddenly had a flash of inspiration and continued:
"No, no, boss, these birds are eating rice, which means there's rice here!"
"So now you know."
Gangzi chuckled again, and then went to the front with Yunling to take a look. The bird was eating in a slanted shape, like a chimney, and there was a small bag of rice hidden inside.
The bag was open, allowing the rice inside to flow out naturally. Perhaps because of its unique location, the thieves didn't notice it, which was an unexpected surprise for Yunling and Gangzi.
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