Chapter 13: When you go out, your identity is given by yourself
It was Old Man Du who suggested that Dujia Village flee the famine this time.
Old Man Du has a high seniority in Dujia Village, and coupled with his status as a student, his words carry a lot of weight in Dujia Village.
Of course, the main reason why so many people in Dujia Village were persuaded to leave their hometown to escape famine was that what Old Man Du said was reasonable and well-founded.
Seeing that corvée labor and land rent were about to be levied, if we didn't leave now, we would lose both our lives and our property.
After Zhou Yunshu heard what Fang Huiwen said, an idea came to her mind.
She originally wanted to follow the large group south for safety, so why not just follow the people from Dujia Village?
At least in her brief observation, the village of Dujia Village was clean and honest, and the Du family members behaved in a relatively upright manner.
Of course, this could just be an appearance.
However, if the people from Dujia Village go south, they will have to pass through Tongcheng. A few days of spending time together is enough for Zhou Yunshu to get to know Dujia Village and the Du family.
If suitable, she will look for an opportunity to join the Dujia Village team.
The next morning, Zhou Yunshu was awakened by the crowing of a rooster.
When she woke up, the Du family's yard was in a state of chaos.
The Du family had a cow, a donkey and two mules. One of the mules was said to have been brought back by Du Laoer while he was escorting a bodyguard.
The Du family's ox cart, donkey cart and mule cart were filled with all kinds of belongings. Even the chickens that had not been killed were put into cages and taken away. It looked like they wanted to move their home away immediately.
The remaining sturdy mule was pulling a carriage. Although the carriage was not as good as Zhou Yunshu's, it was still pretty good.
This is the only car the Du family uses to carry people.
While the Du family was cleaning up, Zhou Yunshu and Fang Huiwen made breakfast together.
Breakfast was still egg dumpling soup with some shredded cabbage in it.
After finishing her meal, Zhou Yunshu went straight to the yard. She looked at Du Laozhuang, who was watching his children and grandchildren pack their luggage, and said, "Uncle Du."
"Mr. Zhou, is there anything wrong?"
Du Laozhuang was very polite to Zhou Yunshu, especially after knowing that Zhou Yunshu might be a scholar, he respected her even more.
Zhou Yunshu did not feel guilty at all about Du Laozhuang's misunderstanding that she had a reputation. She had given herself the identity she needed when she went out, especially since this identity could bring her convenience.
Although Zhou Yunshu deliberately made people misunderstand that she had a reputation, no one who heard it doubted her identity.
It is true that Zhou Yunshu's conversation and temperament show that she is well-read and more like a scholar than a real scholar.
"Uncle Du, just call me Yunshu. Who in the clouds sent me the Yunshu?"
"Okay, okay, Yunshu."
When Du Laozhuang saw that Zhou Yunshu did not look down on them by relying on her status, the smile in his eyes became more genuine.
"Uncle Du, where are you going south?"
Du Laozhuang stroked his beard and said, "I heard from our second son that Nanzhou is relatively stable, so I want to go there to make a living."
When Zhou Yunshu heard the word Nanzhou, her heart moved. She didn't expect that Du Lao Zhuang chose her grandmother's fiefdom.
But unfortunately, the place they were going to was Haizhou.
If they really wanted to travel together, they could only travel across the borders of three states, separate in Nanzhou or Quzhou adjacent to Nanzhou, and continue eastward to Haizhou.
Seeing Zhou Yunshu silent, Du Laozhuang asked, "Who did Yunshu go to Tongcheng to seek refuge with?"
"Go to my aunt's house."
Zhou Yunshu said with a hint of worry on her face, "But you also know the current situation. My family and my aunt's family haven't been in touch for two or three years. I don't know how they are doing now, or whether they are still in Tongcheng."
Seeing Zhou Yunshu's worried look, Du Laozhuang comforted her, "Don't worry, Tongcheng is one of the few large cities nearby. No one will move without a major incident."
Zhou Yunshu nodded, thinking about staying in Tongcheng for a few days.
First, she wanted to wait for her grandmother and Wu Gui and others to see if she could meet them in Tongcheng; second, she wanted to apply for a new household registration and travel permit in case of emergency; and finally, she wanted to pack her luggage again.
Finally, no one was watching her, so Zhou Yunshu wanted to stock up on more supplies in her own space.
Because the team from Dujia Village was so long, and some people even changed their minds at the last minute and joined the famine refugee movement, even though the Du family started packing up early in the morning, by the time the entire team set out from Dujia Village, it was already nearly noon.
Not all families were as well-off as the Du family, who not only had four carts but also four. Most families only had a wooden cart and had to rely on their own two feet to escape the famine.
It was when Zhou Yunshu was camping outdoors with the people from Dujia Village at night that she learned that Du Laozhuang, as the main planner of this famine escape, had used his family's money to buy a mule cart specifically to carry the elderly people in the village who were willing to flee the famine.
The young and strong people in the village also give priority to giving their cars to the elderly, children and pregnant women, which makes Zhou Yunshu have a better impression of Dujia Village.
Because the team was too long, the journey that should have taken a day and a half took three days to reach Tongcheng.
There is a fee to enter the city. The people in Dujia Village now wish they could split every penny into three parts, so they only sent representatives to the city to make purchases, and the rest of the people stayed outside the city.
When Zhou Yunshu and her group were about to part ways with Du Laozhuang's family, Du Laozhuang said, "Sanlang, we will stay outside the city for one night and set off again at the end of the morning hour tomorrow."
"If your aunt isn't here, or if you change your mind and want to continue south, you can come find us."
Over the past few days, Zhou Yunshu had been so attentive to her interactions, and her relationship with the Du Laozhuang family had become even closer. Du Lao San, in particular, was so eager to worship Zhou Yunshu as his teacher right then and there.
It was when Du Laozhuang heard his eldest son say that Zhou Yunshu was a talented writer and more knowledgeable than the teachers in his county that he came up with the idea of keeping Zhou Yunshu and her family.
Of course Zhou Yunshu noticed that the Du Lao Zhuang family was trying to keep her, but she had things to do, so she could only decline.
"I understand, Uncle Du. Let's go first."
Du Laozhuang and his second son watched Zhou Yunshu leave, and only turned around to buy things after they could no longer see the mule cart carrying Zhou Yunshu and her group.
Li Jialan looked at Zhou Yunshu who had lowered the carriage curtain and asked, "Shu'er, should we find an inn near the city gate to stay?"
This makes it easier to observe the people entering and leaving the city, and also makes it easier to meet Ji Mingzhu, Wu Gui and others.
"good."
Unfortunately, the two inns closest to the city gate were full. Zhou Yunshu and her friends had no choice but to walk further into the city and find an inn with a good reputation to stay in.
The mule cart was taken to the backyard by the waiter to feed the mules. Zhou Yunshu asked for six buckets of hot water for everyone to wash and rest.
Zhou Yunshu was the first to finish washing. After she finished washing her daughter, she took Xixi downstairs and ordered a table of dishes to be sent upstairs.
When the dishes were served, Li Jialan and the others had just finished washing everything.
This was the first hot bath they had taken since leaving Hengyang, and they felt a lot more relaxed instantly after taking the bath.
After dinner, the children were so tired that they fell asleep side by side on the bed, but the adults couldn't rest yet.
"Mother, you and sister-in-law stay at the inn to look after the children. Chunque and I will go and make some modifications to our carriage and buy some things."
Most importantly, she saw someone downstairs secretly looking for someone to buy household registration and travel permits at a high price. She wanted to finish these things together today, so that she could stock up with peace of mind.
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