"No...that's all!"
"to be honest!"
The man trembled with fear, shaking his head repeatedly, "It's gone...gone, really gone..."
Zhang Xiu'e then dropped the stone, allowing Song Xiaoyu and Li Qiang to release the group.
Judging by their size alone, these fierce men were quite skilled in martial arts, but they had been starving for too long and were exhausted, which is why they were easily defeated.
"Get out, get as far away as possible. If you do anything more outrageous, I'll twist your head off. Got it?"
The man who was beaten was clearly still somewhat unconvinced, but now he could only obediently nod and dare not say anything else.
Seeing those people stumble and run away, the group finally started walking towards the mother and child...
Unfortunately, the child cried until his voice was hoarse, and his face had some frostbite from the wind.
Both of them had children, and Qin Xiaoniang was heartbroken to see this.
"Get up, the ground is cold. Those people have already gone far away and won't bother you anymore..." Qin Xiaoniang helped her up from the ground.
The child was shivering, perhaps from the cold, and even his cries were weak and feeble.
The woman sniffed and replied tremblingly, "Thank you for your help, kind person."
Zhang Xiue looked her up and down, then stepped forward and asked, "Where are you from? What did your family do to be exiled here? Where is your husband?"
The woman sobbed for a long time, her cries growing more and more heartbreaking. After a long while, she finally replied, "We are from Yuzhou. Because my father-in-law was corrupt, our whole family was demoted to this place. Because the environment here is really unsuitable for living, my father-in-law fell seriously ill and died. My husband... my husband was beaten to death by a group of thugs the day before yesterday!"
After saying this, the woman began to cry miserably again.
Song He'er felt some sympathy for her plight. Although both were exiles, all her relatives had now perished, leaving her alone to struggle for survival in this desolate land.
If I hadn't met them today, I probably wouldn't have been able to save the child in my arms.
"Where are the others? Are they all gone?" Qin Xiaoniang asked.
The woman shook her head. "Some have fled, some have left, all looking out for themselves. Who cares about our lives?"
Qin Xiaoniang and Zhang Xiue exchanged a glance, unsure of what to say. They were already struggling to survive themselves, so taking in two more mouths to feed was out of the question.
Thinking this, Qin Xiaoniang could only helplessly take out two dried biscuits that she had exchanged with the soldiers from her bundle and hand them to the woman. That was all she could do now.
The woman seemed extremely hungry; she took the food and wolfed it down, not forgetting to break off a piece and feed it to the child as she ate.
But the pancake was dry and hard, and when it got into the child's mouth, it just rolled around and couldn't be swallowed at all.
If you soak it in hot water, you can still eat it.
"Are there many people ahead?" Zhang Xiue suddenly asked.
The woman nodded as she ate. "The further we go, the more people there are. There are prisoners everywhere. They all sleep huddled together. Some families are well-off and have been given tents and cotton clothes, while others have nowhere to live and some have even frozen to death..."
Hearing her say that, Song He'er became even more certain that Song Xiaoqi must be up ahead.
Zhang Xiu'e offered a few more polite words of comfort to the woman, then led the group forward, leaving the area behind...
Chunrao turned around, looked at the pitiful woman, and said, "Actually, they are really pitiful. Those damned men might cause them trouble. It would be better to let her come with us."
Zhang Xiue smiled, patted Chunrao on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Survival of the fittest. In a place like this, we can't pity others. Who knows if someone will lend us a helping hand when we can't make a living? You're young, so it's normal for you to have some good intentions. But the most important thing now is to face reality and act within our means."
Qin Xiaoniang felt that Zhang Xiue's perspective was insightful and her words made sense, so she joined in the persuasion, saying, "We saved her once because we happened to witness it. Little did we know that in this Xinzhou area, there are many more elderly, weak, women, and children being bullied by others. Should we intervene in everything?"
Chunrao sighed and shook her head helplessly, "In this world, women always suffer the most..."
Song He'er knew that she was thinking about that humiliating incident again, which was why she was so heartbroken about men. In order to prevent her from falling into sorrow again, she could only quickly change the subject.
"Fourth Aunt, you are most knowledgeable in poetry and literature. Why don't you teach the children poetry and literature after we settle down?"
"I?"
"Yes, even though we can't go out, we can't let Nian'er and the others live a mediocre life, can we? They should learn something to enrich their lives."
“What’s so difficult about that? No problem,” Chunrao replied with a smile.
No one spoke; instead, they continued walking forward...
Just as the woman had said, the road became more and more lively as you walked along it. Gradually, you could see all kinds of tents and even a few small houses made of adobe.
Zhang Xiue was somewhat surprised, "They actually know how to build houses?"
“There’s so much soil here, why can’t we cover it? As long as you have the strength, and as long as you’re not bullied by others, you can do whatever you want!” Song Xiaoyu replied.
“Then we can build a big house! That way we won’t have to freeze in the tent!” Zhang Xiu’e said excitedly.
"It's not as easy as you think. Every piece of land here was fought for and snatched by them. How can they just settle down anywhere? We still need to find a quiet place to avoid arguing with people day and night!" Song Chengyu is a person who likes peace and quiet and doesn't like to waste time on trivial matters.
However, Song He'er's thoughts were quite different from his. Since they had come here, they had to work hard to survive, instead of relying on God's blessings.
"Third Uncle, don't just keep hiding from the good life. Was this land allocated to them by the imperial court? Or is their name registered on the official website? If neither is the case, then we should compete fairly. We have the right to use any available land, so why should we hide from it!"
Zhang Xiue smiled and slapped Song Xiaoyu across the face. "You're not even as good as a child. You've wasted over thirty years of your life!"
Why did you hit me again?
"I'll beat you up, you're stupid! You're not even as good as a woman in your actions and behavior!"
"you......"
Qin Xiaoniang pulled Zhang Xiue aside and advised, "Stop arguing. In public, you have to give a man some face. Alright... let's go see what's going on..."
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