Chapter 23 Just Assumptions
The sorrowful and desperate wails echoed in the wilderness, and even the wind was subdued.
In the carriage, Li Jialan and Fang Huiwen tried every means to cover the ears of the three children. The crying was too sad, and they subconsciously did not want the children to hear it.
Xixi also nestled in Zhou Yunshu's arms. She smelled the familiar scent around her and asked, "Daddy, why are they crying?"
Li Jialan looked at Zhou Yunshu who did not plug Xixi's ears, and wanted to hug Xixi and plug her ears together. What if the child had a nightmare?
"They are crying because they lost their loved ones and are sad." Zhou Yunshu hugged Xixi and explained to her seriously.
Xixi nodded her little head and said, "I know, Xixi will cry when she is sad."
"Dad, should we go help them?"
Zhou Yunshu shook her head and said to Ji Nancy, as well as to Yuan Li, Yuan Yi, and Yuan Ruo who were secretly watching her, "We can't help."
Zhou Yunshu was very pleased that the children were kind.
But in such a year with natural disasters and man-made tragedies everywhere, Zhou Yunshu would rather they were a little cruel.
"Remember, you are young. Taking care of yourself is the best thing you can do for yourself, your parents and your elders. Don't worry about anything else."
"If someone asks a child as young as you for help, it only means they have ulterior motives and are not good people. All you have to do is stay close to the adults. Do you understand?"
Ever since the refugee riot, Zhou Yunshu and her companions dared not let the child out of their sight. No matter where they were, there had to be at least two adults watching over the child.
The four little ones nodded in unison after Zhou Yunshu finished speaking.
After walking for such a long time, even Yuan Ruo, who was originally the most pampered, became obedient and sensible.
"How far have you learned the Analects?"
Perhaps because of Zhou Yunshu's question, Li Jialan and Fang Huiwen had already taken their hands off the children's ears.
Yuan Li said: "The Master said: If one studies without thinking, he will be lost; if one thinks without studying, he will be in danger."
Zhou Yunshu looked at Yuan Yi who was beside Yuan Li and asked, "Do you still remember what it means?"
Yuan Yi said frankly, "Confucius's point is that reading without thinking is not advisable. You won't understand the meaning of the book, and you won't be able to use the knowledge in the book effectively, which will lead to confusion. If you only daydream without actually studying and researching, it's also not advisable. It's like building a house in the air without a foundation; it will collapse at any time."
Zhou Yunshu smiled and nodded. Yuan Yi was the most gifted student among the younger generation of the Zhou family. He even inherited Fang Huiwen's gift of photographic memory. If he took the imperial examination in the future, he would definitely achieve great success.
Although his twin brother Yuan Li was also good at studying, he was more talented in martial arts.
"Yuan Yi is right." Zhou Yunshu said and turned her gaze to Yuan Ruo. After meeting her aunt's gaze, Yuan Ruo couldn't help but shrink into Li Jialan's arms.
"Yuan Ruo, based on what I just said about you being children and not helping strangers, if an uncle told you he was very hungry, what would you do?"
Yuan Li, Yuan Yi and Xixi all looked at Yuan Ruo.
Yuan Ruo thought for a moment and said, "He's a big bad guy! Let Chun Que beat him up!"
Zhou Yunshu smiled, "Why?"
Yuan Ruo frowned on his pretty face. He thought for a moment and said as a matter of course, "He is an adult. Adults don't ask children for help."
That’s what my aunt just said.
"What if a child is starving and wants you to help?"
Yuan Ruo shook his head again, "I'm not his parents, his elder."
After saying that, Yuan Ruo shrank back into Li Jialan's arms. He suddenly remembered that his great-aunt and aunt were not his parents, and his eyes turned red again.
"Good boy."
Yuan Ruo looked up at Li Jialan who was touching his head lovingly and sniffed, but his great aunt and the others were his relatives and elders.
"Yuan Li."
"Aunt... didn't Uncle just say that we're young and it's good enough that we can take care of ourselves," Yuan Li said formally, "We don't know if our food will last us long enough to get out of Luzhou, so we can't give it to others."
Yuan Yi frowned, and when Zhou Yunshu looked at him, he said, "But that's a human life."
He looked at Zhou Yunshu eagerly and said, "I can give him half of my food."
Before Zhou Yunshu could say anything, Yuan Li looked at his twin brother and said, "What if there were a few more children? Would you still share your food with them? Would you have enough to eat yourself? I won't care if you're hungry!"
"But……"
"No, but these grains are not yours. They were bought by my uncle and mother. You are not qualified to give them away, understand?"
Yuan Li's tone became even more fierce when he thought about how several children in the team had secretly asked Yuan Yi for cakes and ate all his cakes.
Fang Huiwen looked at his younger son, who was feeling aggrieved after being scolded by his eldest son, and quickly stopped him, saying, "It's just a hypothesis. Li'er, don't be so mean to your brother."
Yuan Li turned his head away angrily and muttered softly, "A loving mother often spoils her child."
Although the atmosphere in the car was a little awkward at this time, no one cared about the noise outside.
Zhou Yunshu smiled and waved to Yuan Li, and Yuan Li came to Zhou Yunshu's side.
Zhou Yunshu said: "I think Li'er is right."
Yuan Li's eyes lit up, and he knew that his aunt thought the same as he did.
"Saving people is a good thing, but it should be done at a certain time, place and occasion."
Yuan Li nodded his head and said, "That's right. If it were still the same as before, I wouldn't mind how many people you saved."
But now the Zhou family is no longer the famous Zhou family of the past.
His father, grandfather, and great-grandfather all died in battle. He was now the eldest male in the Zhou family, so Yuan Li felt he needed to take good care of the women and children in the family.
Yes, but the little guy, who is just over five years old, has already taken the responsibility of revitalizing the Zhou family in the future on his own shoulders.
Seeing that Yuan Yi had listened carefully, Zhou Yunshu stopped talking.
No matter how much you say, it’s better than actually experiencing it.
"Tomorrow, in addition to studying your normal courses, you will also complete today's discussion as an assignment."
There are four children in the Zhou family, including Xixi. Even if they are fleeing famine, Zhou Yunshu and Fang Huiwen do not want to slack off their studies.
Yuan Li and the other two nodded. Zhou Yunshu looked at Xixi, who was about to fall asleep in her arms, and said, "Xixi wants to do it too."
"I understand, Daddy." After saying that, she rubbed Zhou Yunshu and fell asleep.
When they woke up the next morning, the dead in the team had been cremated, and their ashes were placed in jars and carried by their families.
Because several people died from the cold, Zhou Yunshu took the opportunity to instruct others to pay attention to hygiene and take various measures to prevent infection.
If it were before, few people in the team would care, and they might even think it was troublesome and wasteful. However, after someone around them died of illness, they took the initiative to take it seriously.
Nothing is more important than life.
Even if there are still patients in the team, we cannot rest for a moment as we must hurry.
However, in order to improve everyone's resistance and to prevent the team from being slowed down by sick people, Zhou Yunshu took the initiative to teach the Five Animal Play to everyone in the team, so that she could practice it openly with her family.
Of course, Zhou Yunshu did not teach this set of skills for nothing. Afterwards, all the firewood of the Zhou family was bought up by the people of Dujia Village.
In addition, Du Laozhuang wanted to give Zhou Yunshu fifty taels of silver on behalf of Dujia Village, but was rejected by Zhou Yunshu.
She did want to have some boundaries with Dujia Village, but this boundary couldn't be too obvious.
Not to mention that if she took the silver, it would become a matter of course for her to teach the people of Dujia Village the Five Animal Exercises, and then there would be no favor owed to her.
She didn't lack the fifty taels, what she lacked was the awe and gratitude of the people in this team.
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