Song Ning was taken aback. Her relatives?
It seems that apart from her aunt, she doesn't have any other relatives left in her family now.
The Song family had long since severed ties, and they all lost contact during the escape. The Liu family members are now behaving themselves and wouldn't dare to come back.
As soon as Song Ning left her room, she saw Song Dahai leading a man in. Liu Yuelan poured water and gave him some food.
Seeing Song Ning come out, Song Dahai laughed and said, "Er Ya, hurry up and call for help."
Who are you calling for? Who is this person?
"Don't you recognize him? This is your cousin."
Cousin?
Her cousin, isn't that a member of the Song family?
In the Song family, she only had one cousin in name, Song Rui.
Her eyes widened suddenly. The dark-skinned, haggard-looking man in front of her, who looked older than her father, was Song Rui?
If I hadn't told her, she would never have recognized me in her entire life.
Even if her father told her now, she still couldn't connect the person in front of her with the Song Rui of the past.
Song Rui gave a dry laugh: "It's no wonder Er Ya didn't recognize me, I really do look like this..."
Judging from Song Rui's current state, he must have fallen on hard times.
Song Rui is only eighteen this year. Back then, he was quite handsome, if not exceptionally so. Otherwise, the young lady of the landlord's house would never have taken a liking to him.
After observing for a long time, Song Ning couldn't see the right person at all, and finally couldn't help but ask, "Dad, you haven't mistaken me for someone else, have you?"
"How could I mistake him? This is your cousin."
Song Ning didn't say anything more, so Song Dahai asked Song Rui what had happened during this time and how things had turned out this way.
When this was mentioned, Song Rui lowered her head and almost cried.
After Song Rui broke ties with the Song family, he was essentially going to marry into the family.
Everything was fine until it suddenly went into chaos.
They packed their belongings and set off to flee early in the morning.
However, the journey of fleeing was not peaceful either, with burning, killing, and looting occurring everywhere.
The journey was arduous; people turned against even their closest relatives for food and drink.
Song Ning believed this, because they had seen it with their own eyes.
“We were robbed on the road. They didn’t want anything else, just food and water. We had no choice but to hand over everything we had.”
Without food, even if they weren't killed by the bandits, they would still face certain death.
"There was no food or water on the road, everyone was starving, and then...and then...they started eating people."
At this point, Song Rui's body trembled involuntarily.
"They targeted me and made me their food."
At that time, all those vows of eternal love and romantic moments under the moon and flowers were forgotten. There was only one thing on my mind: to live.
"I sensed something was wrong, so I ran away overnight, surviving on grass and dirt along the way, and finally managed to escape with my life."
He still can't forget the expressions on those people's faces as they shouted that they wanted to cut him open.
Song Ning and his family had also experienced these things, so they weren't surprised when he said this.
Song Dahai sighed: "It's good that you're alive."
Song Ning didn't know much about Song Rui; including today, they had only met two or three times.
However, when he was about to sever ties with the Song family, Song Rui's name was already widely known.
"And where are you now?"
“I’m currently in a village under Yongning County. I’ve been allocated a room and I’m doing some work for them. I met my uncle today when I came out with them to look for work.”
He used to work as a shop assistant, so he was familiar with this kind of work and could even do accounting. He originally wanted to find some work in the county.
But after trying several times without success, he gave up on the idea.
He has no other demands now, he just wants to be able to eat his fill and survive.
Liu Yuelan and Song Ning came out of the house, leaving Song Dahai and Song Rui to talk.
Just as she stepped outside, Song Xiu'e from next door rushed over in a panic: "I heard Rui'er is back?"
Liu Yuelan nodded: "They're talking inside."
Song Xiu'e laughed: "Then, then I'll go in and see him."
Not long after the person went in, the sound of wailing came from inside.
"Mother, does Father want him to stay?"
Liu Yuelan nodded: "Although the Song family is indeed in a sorry state, they are still family after all. Besides, Rui'er used to be quite good to your father."
Now that the fate of the rest of the Song family is unknown, there aren't many left.
"My cousin used to be quite good to our family?"
Song Ning and he had never interacted before. They had met once before, but Song Rui acted as if he didn't know her.
However, everyone yearns to climb higher, and Song Rui was probably afraid that she would ruin his plans.
“Mother knows that you have never liked the Song family, but Rui’er’s personality is different from those people in the old house. During the years when she lived in the village, she would visit your father every time she went back, and the two of them had a good relationship.”
Song Ning really disliked the people in the Song family. Today it was Song Rui; if it were anyone else, Song Ning would never let them into the house, and even if they did, he would push them out.
That's why I wanted to wait and see, since I didn't know anything just now.
Grandma Liu was sitting under the eaves picking vegetables when she suddenly stopped, as if she had thought of something, and sighed.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
Grandma Liu shook her head: "It's nothing. It's just that seeing the sea and being able to find your relatives reminded me of your eldest sister. I wonder how she is now."
Grandma Liu wiped away her tears and continued picking vegetables, her eyes still red.
Song Ning squatted down: "Grandma, Auntie will definitely be alright. Maybe we'll run into each other sometime. You must take care of yourself. Auntie will be happy to see you then."
Grandma Liu laughed: "Okay, I will definitely live to be a hundred years old and wait for her to come back to me."
Later that evening, a fine horse galloped out from the county government office in Tianxiang County. Stone carried a letter in his arms and headed north.
Xie Linzhou is currently in Shangyang City.
Without daring to delay along the way, Shi Tou rode his horse to the gate of Shangyang City, showed his token, and entered the city smoothly.
When he arrived at the general's mansion, the soldiers guarding the gate recognized him: "Stone? What brings you here?"
"I've come to deliver a message for my master. Is the general in?"
"Yes, you can come in."
Shi Tou followed the servants of the General's Mansion into the inner courtyard. Zhang Ping was guarding outside the door. When he saw Shi Tou come in, he knew that something had happened in Tianxiang County.
"General Zhang Ping."
"But has Lord Zheng had something to attend to?"
Shi Tou nodded: "My master wrote a letter and asked me to give it to General Xie."
"Oh, give me the letter, I'll hand it in for you."
Shi Tou glanced at Zhang Ping, but didn't hand over the letter. He whispered, "Ahem, General Zhang Ping, my master said that besides the letter, he also wants me to deliver a message that I must say to you in person."
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