When Old Madam Feng learned that her granddaughter had been rescued, she immediately sent people out of the city to thank the benefactor. However, by the time the Feng family's entourage arrived at the city gate, Lu Qiqi and the others had already disappeared.
Three days later, Lu Qiqi and the villagers of Lijia Village finally arrived in Luzhou Prefecture.
Lu Qiqi rode the horse that Feng Yuer had left her and saw that there were tents set up outside the city gate, and soldiers were distributing porridge to the refugees.
When the villagers saw the soup kitchen and the passersby, and then looked at the towering city gate in the distance, they were no longer so afraid.
Although Hezhou County did not impose a curfew, registration was still required. With Li Shoucai's help, the village chief went to register with the official sitting behind his desk at the city gate, while Lu Qiqi and the villagers waited by the roadside.
The soldiers at the gate saw that there were three horses in the procession from Lijia Village, and the oxcarts and donkey carts were lined up in a row, covered with tarpaulins. If it weren't for the fact that the villagers were all as dirty as lumps of coal, they would not have been able to tell that they were refugees, but would have been mistaken for traveling merchants.
The villagers of Lijia Village had been traveling all day and were very hungry. Lu Qiqi told the villagers to put their donkey carts and oxcarts aside so they wouldn't block the road, and to leave a small group of people to guard the goods. Then the rest of the villagers lined up to get porridge.
When the soldiers distributing porridge saw that about a hundred refugees had suddenly arrived outside the porridge shed, they were afraid that the refugees would rush over and cause a stampede and deaths if they saw the porridge. So they immediately called seven or eight soldiers to maintain order.
Before the soldiers maintaining order even reached the soup kitchen, the villagers of Lijia Village spontaneously lined up with their bowls in hand.
Seeing this, the soldiers looked at each other in surprise. This was the first time they had ever seen refugees queuing in an organized and disciplined manner without needing to maintain order!
Lu Qiqi led Lu Yao into the porridge stall and followed the villagers in line. When it was their turn, the soldier ladled a large spoonful of porridge into their bowls.
To the soldiers, the refugees who came to collect porridge these days were all dirty and smelly. But when they saw two fair-skinned girls who didn't smell bad, their mood improved a lot.
The villagers took their bowls of porridge and then went outside the shed.
Some villagers held the porridge, reluctant to drink it, afraid that the porridge in front of them was a dream, and that if they touched it, the dream would end and the porridge would be gone!
Some villagers started drinking the porridge as soon as they received it.
Although they had meat and grain to eat along the way with Lu Qiqi, they were reluctant to cook such thick porridge and instead cooked it with bitter wild vegetables.
They were worried about not having anything to eat on the road, having to gnaw on tree bark and drink muddy water. When they suddenly had a bowl of thick porridge, everyone wanted to cry.
Seeing the thick porridge in the bowl, Lu Yao happily showed it to Lu Qiqi, "Sister, Luzhou County is really nice, look, there's even plain porridge here."
Lu Qiqi looked down at her bowl and saw that the thick, creamy white porridge was still steaming. A sense of peace welled up in her heart.
They no longer had to travel and flee from famine.
While Lu Qiqi was eating porridge, she heard Liu Tong say that Hezhou Prefecture was a prosperous place ten years ago.
However, ten years ago, during the autumn harvest, a locust plague suddenly struck, resulting in a complete crop failure. This forced people from various prefectures and counties to flee, which is why they fell into poverty.
Five years ago, a new prefect took over Hezhou Prefecture, which gradually brought life back to the desolate prefecture, but it was still far from the glory days of the past.
After finishing her porridge, Lu Qiqi wiped her mouth with a cloth and asked Liu Tong, "Uncle Liu, have you been to Luzhou County before?"
Liu Tong seemed to recall something and laughed heartily, "Back when I was an apprentice under my master, I stayed in Luzhou County for two years, and then I went to other places with my master."
Lu Qiqi nodded. It seemed that Uncle Liu had been to many places and seen a lot of the world.
After everyone in Lijia Village had eaten and drunk their fill, the village chief returned after finishing his questioning. Upon seeing him, everyone immediately surrounded him.
After the village chief finished the porridge that Lu Qiqi handed him, he said to the villagers, "Luzhou County is accepting refugees!"
When the village chief told them that Luzhou Prefecture was accepting refugees, the villagers all beamed with joy, as if they were about to attend a happy occasion.
Lu Qiqi asked the village chief, "Village chief, how is Luzhou Prefecture taken over? What are the procedures?"
The village chief laughed and said, "Clerk Chen said that the villagers line up to register with him. After the household registration documents are verified, they can receive relief grain. Once the registration is complete, they will be allocated a place to settle down. After that, they can go to the county government to collect farm tools. Each family can pay one tael of silver to be allocated a plot of land to build a house."
The villagers were thrilled.
"That's wonderful!"
"The officials of Luzhou Prefecture are truly good officials. They not only provide porridge but also help us settle down."
"Since the officials here are so kind, does that mean we'll never have to live like this again, worrying about where our next meal will come from?"
The village chief, overwhelmed by the good news, smiled so broadly his eyes almost closed into slits. He said, "Don't worry, everyone. Clerk Chen also said that since our village has a large population, we can be allocated a place in the future. There's also a lot of wasteland in the prefecture and county. We can cultivate the wasteland ourselves, and the government will collect taxes after three years. If you have money, you can buy land. If you don't want to cultivate the wasteland, you can rent vacant land from nearby villagers."
Upon hearing that the treatment in Luzhou Prefecture was so good, everyone began to look forward to living there in the future, believing that they would surely prosper!
The village chief said, "The village received a lot of money on the road before, so the money for this allocation of homesteads will be paid by the village. If anyone wants to get an extra piece of homestead, they can pay for it themselves."
The money the village chief mentioned was what he found on the Tartars after killing them.
Since the village is paying for it, and it's for the benefit of everyone in the village, no one has any objections.
Lu Qiqi wasn't from Lijia Village, and she even took in Liu Tong and the Zhou brothers, so this money naturally had to be paid extra.
Liu Tong and his apprentice could afford a tael of silver, so Lu Qiqi gave the money to the village chief on behalf of the Zhou brothers.
The village chief refused to accept the money, saying, "Without Lu Yatou, this money wouldn't be possible. Liu Tong and his two apprentices have also contributed to the village. Since the Zhou brothers came to Luzhou Prefecture with us, they are also considered part of Li Family Village. Since we are all from the same village, let's not say such things!"
The village chief made the decision, and the villagers had no objections. Lu Qiqi stopped insisting and only thought that she must lead the whole village to prosperity in the future!
After the villagers registered, Registrar Chen arranged for Lijia Village to enter the city and found them a place to stay. He said he would take them there the next day after assigning them a place.
Lu Qiqi followed them into the city, where a soldier led them to an empty warehouse. Inside the warehouse were planks, which served as their lodging.
The people of Lijia Village slept everywhere on their journey to escape famine—under tree roots, by the roadside—a far cry from the spacious warehouses provided by the government!
At least the warehouse won't be robbed or killed by bandits, carried away by wolves, or bitten by snakes!
Everyone packed their belongings, and the village chief arranged for people to guard the livestock and luggage outside to prevent them from being secretly taken away by people with ill intentions!
That night, everyone drifted off to sleep with anticipation for the future.
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