Summer mornings always come early. People who have been busy all day seem to have only been lying down for a short while before the sky begins to lighten.
In the Broken Gold Beach, the patrol team had already gone back to catch up on their sleep.
The village chief, with his hands behind his back, came out of his house, petted the two big dogs at the entrance of the Li family's house, asked Granny Lin and the others, and learned that there was nothing wrong with the old Li family house before he began his day's patrol.
The village was unusually quiet after the children and young people had left, and at first no one was used to it, but after a few days it got much better, at least it didn't interfere with their work.
Several villages, including the Big Locust Tree Village, were indeed frightened, and the villagers remained calm.
He was usually under the care of the village head, and apart from doing farm work, he never came to Xincun No. 2 Village, and he didn't even go to the city.
They were afraid that at such a time, they might cause trouble and bring misfortune to their entire family.
The melon vines in the field had already been cleared and replaced, and the replanted cabbages, radishes, and other plants were growing well. From a distance, the field was covered in a vibrant green, which was a sight to behold and put one in a good mood.
The orchards on the mountain are lush and green, standing out uniquely against the backdrop of the surrounding yellowing forests.
This is all thanks to the tireless hard work of the villagers day and night!
The stream outside the village is now only a tiny trickle, barely thicker than a wrist, and it's on the verge of drying up. The heat is partly to blame, but most of the water is also used by villagers to irrigate their fields and the mountains.
Recently, fearing that the river would completely dry up and the downstream villages would have no drinking water, everyone has started fetching water from the village again.
The village spent a lot of money to dig the wells, which were deep, but now most of them have dried up, with only three or four still having water.
Who knows when the well water will completely dry up...
The village chief felt a mixture of joy and worry.
Having lived most of his life, he was all too adept at seeking advantage and avoiding harm.
If everyone farms, and half of the other farmers suffer disasters while yours yields a bumper harvest, then they can only envy you, and might even try to curry favor with you, asking how you grew your crops.
But other families have suffered a complete crop failure, with no harvest and their young and old on the verge of starvation, while your fields are full of golden rice...
That's just blatantly inviting hatred; you're just waiting to get robbed!
The lush green mountains and verdant fields before me are the very rice that brought a bountiful harvest to those families during a time of crop failure…
It's really good, but it's also really dangerous!
The village chief sighed, wishing that the days would fly by like a mouse!
Hurry up and another month passes, the fruit will be sold, and the autumn vegetables, peanuts, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn will all be harvested, then I can rest easy.
Unfortunately, what they feared most came to pass. When the sun was high in the sky, it became too hot outside, and the villagers gradually went home to cool off, waiting for the sun to set before continuing their work.
Some people, young and old, who didn't want to sleep, sat under the big tree at the village entrance, waving palm-leaf fans and straw hats while chatting.
"I wonder where the children are? They should be almost there by now?" a man asked quietly, concerned about the children.
The villagers nearby couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder and laugh and scold him, "You're something else! You ask this question so many times a day, you're even more talkative than a woman."
"They have a master here; these boys are going south to enjoy themselves. They've probably already seen the vast ocean and big ships, and they're so happy they haven't even thought about their father."
The man wasn't angry. He chuckled and replied, "That's good. I don't know when I'll be able to go and see it myself, but the boys will get to feast their eyes first."
Another old man said, "My grandson even said he wants to go out to sea to fish, and he'll bring me back a fish as big as a house."
Everyone laughed heartily and echoed in agreement.
"My daughter also said she'd bring me pearls the size of steamed buns."
"My son said he'd find me some coral to make a hairpin!"
When it comes to children, the area under the big tree is especially lively.
Just then, an old soldier from the second village suddenly rode up on horseback, shouting from afar.
"Village chief, there's a disturbance at the bridge! More than a dozen people!"
This is outrageous!
The village chief immediately called out to the villagers, and more than twenty people, young and old, rushed to the second village.
A wooden fence stood at the bridgehead, guarded by villagers from the second village inside the fence, while a dozen or so strangers stood outside.
The village chief and others initially thought that some ignorant family had come to cause trouble.
But he frowned as soon as he saw these strangers.
There were more than a dozen people, young and old, all dressed in rags. The teenagers even had only rags covering their bottoms, while the rest were naked and tanned dark.
Looking at his complexion, he was sallow and emaciated, with cracked lips and skin and bones...
This is truly worse than when they fled from the north!
Such a person shouldn't be a threat to their own family!
The veterans guarding the gate were also in a dilemma, so when they saw the village chief, they quickly explained the situation.
“Village chief, these people came here an hour ago, saying they were very thirsty and wanted to ask for a bowl of water. We felt so sorry for them, so we gave them a bucket of water.”
"But after they finished drinking, they said they were hungry and wanted some vegetables from the field to fill their stomachs. So we...we dug up more than a dozen raw potatoes for them, and after they ate them, they wouldn't leave!"
“They insisted on staying to work, even offering to sell themselves into slavery. We told them that the village doesn’t accept outsiders, but they wouldn’t listen and stubbornly refused to leave.”
After hearing this, the village chief and the others breathed a long sigh of relief, but couldn't help glaring at the old soldier who had delivered the message.
His loud announcement made everyone think someone had come to their door to cause trouble.
But what we see before us is clearly a group of people fleeing famine!
The veteran touched his nose, feeling utterly innocent.
In his haste, he didn't explain clearly, and everyone rushed over...
At this moment, the dozen or so people also realized that the people who made the staple food in this area had arrived, so they all gathered in front of the fence and knelt down in a row.
An old man cried and begged in his hoarse voice.
"Dear sirs, please have pity on us poor souls! We have no other choice but to abandon our homes and families and run away to find a way to survive!"
"We ate grass and leaves for every meal along the way to get here."
"Please, sirs, have pity on us and take us in. We're willing to be your slaves, just to survive!"
A woman, her eyes sunken from thinness, pushed two children, about seven or eight years old, forward, pleading urgently, "Honorable ones, it's alright if you don't want us, but please take these two children. They eat little, but they'll sweep the floor, feed the chickens and pigs, or even work in the fields. Please, benevolent ones, have mercy! Please, benevolent ones, save their lives!"
Both children had big heads and thin necks, and they were still a little dazed when their mother pushed them out.
At that moment, they turned around, hugged the woman, and cried at the top of their lungs.
"Mother, don't leave us! Waaah, we won't go, we won't go!"
The woman was afraid that her children would be disliked, so she raised her hand to hit them, and she was so anxious that she almost fainted.
Their whole family fled from the south, and this village looked the most prosperous.
Not only are all the houses brand new and clean, but the villagers are also well-dressed.
The fields are lush and green, and the mountains are verdant, as if there is no shortage of water at all.
Most importantly, the people here are kind.
They were beaten, scolded, and driven away from every house they went to beg for food. Only here did they get clean water and food!
You can survive here!
The woman wasn't particularly clever, but she suddenly became incredibly insightful in order to save her son's life.
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