The little fat boy, who was eating happily, heard Yun Yiyi's question and glanced at her. "The candied haws are delicious. I often eat their candied haws."
When Yun Yiyi heard this, she understood.
She pulled Xie Zirui and waited until all the children surrounding the candied haws had left.
"Uncle, I want to buy three strings of candied haws. Ten cents is enough?"
The vendor selling candied haws looked at the only three strings of candied haws left on the wooden shelf and laughed.
"Little girl, what a coincidence! I only have three strings of candied haws left. Okay, since you're so cute and have waited so long, I'll sell them to you for three strings for ten cents."
Yun Yiyi smiled happily, "Uncle, please count, this is ten cents. You are such a good person."
The peddler took Yun Yiyi's copper coins and counted them, and found that there were exactly ten cents.
He handed the last three strings of candied haws on the wooden shelf to Yun Yiyi.
"Little girl, you are cute too."
"Uncle, I want to know if there's a gathering in town today? Why is it so lively?"
The vendor had sold out of his candied haws, and he was now in the mood to talk.
"Yes, little girl, today is the big market in Shilin Town on the third day of the lunar calendar. Usually when there is no market, the town is still very deserted."
"Uncle, haven't we been affected by the drought here? I see everyone is very happy. And it's so lively."
The peddler looked at Yun Yiyi in surprise. He didn't expect that such a young girl could ask such a question.
However, he immediately understood that Yun Yiyi must be a refugee passing by, so she didn't know the situation here.
"Little girl, we are close to the river and have abundant water resources, so we haven't been greatly affected."
"Uncle, you are so lucky to live in a place like this. Unlike us, we have to leave our homes to escape famine."
The vendor suddenly frowned. "Yes, although we haven't been affected by the drought, we do have other problems."
"How can common people like us have a smooth life in a year like this?"
Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui looked at each other, it seemed something was going on.
Yun Yiyi continued to ask, "Uncle, if there's no drought, there won't be a shortage of water or food. What worries can there be if we have food and drink?"
The vendor looked around and whispered, "I only told you this secretly because I saw that you two kids get along well. Please don't tell anyone else.
"Uncle, don't worry, I will never tell anyone that it was you who said it."
The vendor approached Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui and said, "Little girl, let me tell you, there is a village called Qingfeng Village sixty miles away from Shilin Town."
"The people of Qingfeng Village used to be bandits, but they were basically self-sufficient. They cultivated wasteland and vegetables in the mountains. Occasionally, they would come down the mountain to exchange for daily necessities that were not available there."
"But, two months ago, I heard that Qingfeng Village was attacked by a group of vicious bandits from the north."
"It turns out that some of the bandits in Qingfeng Village escaped, some were killed by bandits from outside. Some even became colluders with the bandits from outside."
Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui felt something was amiss when they heard this. They had been traveling on the official road for so long, but hadn't encountered any bandits.
However, it is also possible that the bandits moved south due to the drought in the north.
Yun Yiyi asked curiously, "Uncle, how did you know that the Qingfeng Village had a replacement? Logically speaking, such a thing should be kept secret."
The vendor had a look of hatred on his face. "Ever since the leadership change in Qingfeng Village, they've sent people to Shilin Town to talk to the villages there and asked us to give them food."
Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui were both surprised.
Yun Yiyi also hurriedly asked, "Uncle, don't the government here care about this?"
The vendor looked furious. "Don't even mention it. We're still a long way from the capital. There are only a dozen or so soldiers in this town."
"Later, after Qingfeng Village sent people to the government, the government stopped caring about it. When more people went to cause trouble, they said the government had too few soldiers and couldn't compete with the people in Qingfeng Village."
"Qingfeng Village requires us to hand over food once a month. The food is handed over to the government, and they send people to the mountains to transport it."
"Uncle, did you deliver the food twice?"
The vendor said with a dejected look, "At first, some people resisted and refused to hand over the grain. The people from Qingfeng Village came directly to collect the grain. In serious cases, they killed people, and in minor cases, they injured people."
"Plus, the government didn't care, and everyone couldn't resist, so they just handed over the grain."
"Fortunately, the people of Qingfeng Village don't usually harass the people living at the foot of the mountain. They only come here to take away food when the time comes."
Yun Yiyi lowered her head and thought for a moment, "Uncle, the people in Qingfeng Village only want food, don't they want money?"
The vendor shook his head. "They don't want money, they just want food. Someone offered to use money in exchange for food, but the bandits refused."
"Uncle, have you heard that the bandits from Qingfeng Village would rob refugees passing through the mountains?"
The vendor thought for a moment, "The bandits from Qingfeng Village also come down the mountain to rob people. However, they seem to only rob wealthy families with caravans."
“They don’t rob very poor refugees.”
"Uncle, if we go further, do we have to pass by Qingfeng Village?"
"Yes, we must pass by. Qingfeng Village is on the mountain next to the official road. I heard from the officers and soldiers who helped transport food up the mountain that the village is very solidly built."
"Besides, there's an official road in front of the village and rolling mountains behind it."
Yun Yiyi understood immediately. Qingfeng Village was well-built, and the bandits could attack or defend. If things got tough, they could always escape into the mountains.
"Uncle, how many people are there in Qingfeng Village to scare the government officers and soldiers into just ignoring this matter?"
The vendor looked up and around. "I heard from others that there are more than 600 people in Qingfeng Village now. They are all good fighters."
"Uncle, thank you so much today. We're about to set off on our journey, and if you hadn't told us this news, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been prepared and would have run into bandits."
"It's not a big deal. Everyone in this town knows about it. I just said a few more words."
"Actually, I've thought about taking my family and fleeing to the capital. However, I've never been far away, so I really don't dare."
"And the people in Qingfeng Village also said that as long as we pay the grain on time, they won't make things difficult for us."
"So, we should live our lives the way we should. And the people of Qingfeng Village want food, no more, no less, which is right in line with everyone's bottom line."
"If they had asked for more, we might have resisted. However, for now, we can afford the amount they asked for."
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