Chapter 14: The Peasant Woman Seeking Help
"The village is in great difficulty. Please don't mind, gentlemen. I will stay here tonight."
Old Man Ge led his group to a farmyard east of the village. Although it looked rundown and the bricks and tiles had fallen to the ground, it was at least a shelter from the wind and rain. As the sky darkened and there was a faint threat of thunder and rain, it was not a good idea to continue forward, so they had to stay.
Qin Yi and Qin Wen looked around the courtyard, found some things that could fill the roof with bricks and tiles, and climbed up to repair it.
The women found some firewood, lit it in the yard, and took out the grilled fish left over from the daytime to fill their stomachs.
Qin Xiangnuan narrowed her eyes and stared at the door of the courtyard. She always felt a little uneasy, but she couldn't tell what was wrong.
"Let's leave early tomorrow morning."
She spoke to Qin Feng, admonishing him, "You must stay alert tonight. Those people at the village entrance have fierce faces and are extremely vicious. Guard this door well, and nothing will happen if you make it through tonight."
"Cousin, are you worrying too much?"
Qin Feng looked at the courtyard. This was the best place they could stay during their exile. "I think that Village Chief Ge is quite honest. With him leading us, this courtyard should be safe. They won't dare to offend the officials!"
"Don't forget, there hasn't been any disaster relief food here for days. People are starving and eating each other."
Seeing him relax, Qin Xiangnuan couldn't help but raise her voice to remind him, "Are you expecting them to be reasonable? Cousin, don't be so naive."
After being scolded by her, Qin Feng ran to the door with a dusty face, his eyes wide open and he dared not sleep.
Rumble—by the time everyone in the general's mansion had settled in, a few muffled thunderclaps erupted from the sky, followed by raindrops as large as beans. The dry, cracked earth instantly moistened, and the downpour soon filled the earth pits with muddy water. Lightning split the night, accompanied by thunder, frightening the women into hiding.
“Dongdongdong——”
Suddenly, there was a hurried knock on the door.
Qin Feng, who was guarding there, was startled. He turned around to look at Qin Xiangnuan and shouted outside, "Who?"
"Sir, all the officials, all the good people, please help me and my child!" A weak female voice came from outside. Qin Feng opened the door a crack in confusion and saw a thinly dressed woman standing outside. She looked thin and was holding a baby boy in her arms.
She didn't have an umbrella, and she was standing in the rain, shivering, her face looking abnormal.
"Please let me in to hide from the rain, otherwise the people outside will take us all away."
She lifted up her skirt and pretended to kneel on the ground and kowtow.
Qin Feng couldn't bear to watch this anymore, so he opened the door and let the peasant woman in.
Qin Xiangnuan had been listening to the noise outside. She looked at the woman in front of her, frowned, and said, "Are you from this village?"
"Yes." The peasant woman heard her question and saw that she was standing in the house with everyone looking at her. Naturally, she did not dare to neglect it and answered respectfully, "I am a woman who married into the village. My husband died of starvation a few days ago. I am left alone as an orphan and a widow. We haven't eaten for several days."
"It suddenly started raining outside. I really don't dare to stay outside."
The peasant woman looked extremely pitiful. Not only the women, but also the men were moved by her experience. "In that case, Auntie, why don't you stay here? At least we can shelter from the rain. If the child gets cold, it will be difficult to deal with."
"Uncle, we are also exiled. How can we take in people at will?"
Qin Xiangnuan looked back at Qin Yi, frowning and reminding him, "We're just staying here for one night, and we have to obey the orders of the officials. This isn't the general's residence!" She wanted to give her second uncle a look, but Qin Yi obviously didn't understand what she meant. He just said casually, "The adults won't just stand by and watch someone die, right?"
The chief officer had been on good terms with the general's mansion in recent days, and he nodded, agreeing to this matter.
Qin Xiangnuan remained silent, just looking at the peasant woman who kept her head down.
She was very surprised and thought it would be better not to stay here. There was something strange in Cangliang Village. A peasant woman holding a child came in the middle of the night. What's more, the child in her arms didn't look like he had been hungry for a long time. Something felt wrong.
"Auntie, come and warm yourself by the fire."
Liu was kind-hearted. Seeing that her clothes were all wet, she hurriedly called her to the lit bonfire to keep her warm.
Zou also took out the cake from her arms and handed it to her for her to eat a few bites.
"This child looks fair and tender, and he doesn't cry or make a fuss. He's so well-behaved." Liu looked at the child in the swaddle and poked the baby boy's face with her hand. Seeing that he was just snoring, she couldn't help but think of the past. She looked at Qin Xiangnuan and said, "Nuannuan was also so sensible when she was young. At that time, the general was away fighting and rarely came back to be with us. Every time he came back, Nuannuan would stick to the general and never let us worry."
Zou heard this and nodded in agreement, "Big brother is lucky to have you and Nuannuan."
Qin Xiangnuan ignored their conversation and only stared at the peasant woman. With a slight turn of her eyes, she suddenly asked, "You're from this village. Do you know if anyone has suddenly disappeared recently? Most of them are women of your size and thin men."
"Ah?" The peasant woman's face flashed with panic when she heard her words, but she quickly hid it. "There's nothing to eat in the village, and anyone with a little ability has gone out to find a way to make a living. So many people leave every day, I can't even remember how many there are."
Qin Xiangnuan nodded and looked at her thoughtfully, "In that case, why don't you go out and maybe find a way to make a living."
"How can I go far with my child? I can only get by. I live one day at a time."
The peasant woman sighed, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and rocked the baby boy in her arms. Anyone who saw it would feel sad.
But Qin Xiangnuan remained indifferent and said coldly, "At the critical moment of life and death, everyone wants to find a way to survive. No one will sit and wait for death. No matter what you think in your heart, when the rain stops outside, you can leave here."
"You're just hiding from the rain anyway, there's no other problem, right?"
Qin Xiangnuan asked somewhat aggressively. The rain outside was gradually subsiding.
The peasant woman seemed to have not expected her to say that. She stared at the little girl in front of her in embarrassment and astonishment. Under the pressure of her aura, she nodded and said pitifully, "Yes, the girl is right. I shouldn't cause trouble for you all. I'll leave now..."
"Third Miss, you're going too far."
Qi, who had remained silent throughout the journey, still harbored resentment towards Qin Xiangnuan. She grabbed the woman's hand and said, "Just stay here until daybreak. It's so cold outside, what if the child gets frozen?"
"Not all the people in the General's Mansion are so heartless..."
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