"The roots of both the myrtle and the rosebud can be sold to doctors for money." That's the message in my mind. Take the flowers to the pharmacy, and the pharmacist will buy them to make medicine.
After Xingxing mentioned it, Zhao Guihua realized, "Oh right, if Xingxing hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have known who to sell the flowers to when we got to town."
Now I know that selling to a doctor means going to a pharmacy, so it seems this flower can be used for medicinal purposes.
"You take the axe, I'll take the machete," they said. They always carried iron tools when going to town, so that they could drive away any refugees who tried to rob them on the way. "Dafu, if anyone knocks on the door, don't open it. You take the machete. Erfu and Sifu, take the hoes. Sanfu and Wufu, take the sticks. You must protect Xingxing."
Xingxing asked nervously, "Are we going to fight?"
Zhao Guihua realized that her expression was too intimidating and had frightened Xingxing, so she quickly softened her expression and said with a smile, "It's just in case. As the saying goes, you can't be without the heart to harm others. There are many refugees outside, and no one can guarantee what they might do when they are starving."
When they were fleeing, they saw too many dark and unbearable people and things. People on the verge of death have no bottom line.
"Why are there refugees? Why don't they have anything to eat?" Xingxing's round eyes were filled with doubt.
She could see wild animals or loaches every day, so she was never hungry and had meat to eat every day. The word "refugee" was too unfamiliar to her at such a young age.
"Natural disasters can occur. In some places, droughts occur when it doesn't rain for a long time, while in other places, floods, mudslides, or earthquakes can happen due to excessive rainfall, resulting in many deaths."
Then a plague will occur. The plague is terrible; it will kill even more people. People will have no choice but to leave their homes and flee to escape the plague, searching for a place where they will not starve. The journey is extremely dangerous, and many people die on the way.
The people of Yegou Village also fled here. There were more than twice as many people when they first fled, but only about two hundred survived. In the end, they even ran out of tree bark to eat.
Many people ate clay, and when they ate too much clay, their bellies swelled up and they died. Some even resorted to cannibalism. In short, when people are driven to desperation, refugees will do anything.
Seeing Xingxing's face turn pale with fright, Zhou Laoda hugged the little girl and glared at his wife, "Why are you saying these things? Xingxing is still young, you've scared her."
Zhao Guihua paused for a moment, then said dejectedly, "The world is so chaotic, and this is all we can do. There are some things we need to let our children know; the more they know, the better they can protect themselves."
If it weren't for the heavy rain earlier, and their ability to catch loaches and eels every now and then, they would probably have faced the dilemma of whether to flee again.
“I know, Auntie wants Xingxing to learn how to protect herself so that she won’t be harmed when she goes out. Refugees eat children, so Xingxing has to protect herself.” Xingxing struggled to get down from Zhou Laoda’s arms, then ran to the woodpile, picked up a handy stick, and waved it a couple of times.
"Star is good. If bad guys come, Star will fight them."
"Don't worry, little sister, Fifth Brother won't let any bad guys in." Zhou Wufu also waved the wooden stick in his hand twice.
"Don't worry, Mom and Dad, nothing should happen. You've never had any problems when you went to town before," Zhou Dafu said.
Zhao Guihua sighed, "We had a drought before, so the refugees didn't want to come. But recently, Nanyang City and the two surrounding prefectures are fine, while other places have been flooded, so all the refugees have flocked here."
I heard that the city gates of the prefectural city were tightly closed, prohibiting refugees from entering the city. So all the refugees gathered at the city gate. Since they could not enter the city, they came to the villages around the prefectural city.
Yegou Village is far from the prefectural city and the road is difficult to travel, so no refugees have entered the village yet, but it is only a matter of time.
When will this famine end?
“It’s so dangerous, Uncle Zhou and Auntie shouldn’t go to town. Anyway, we have meat to eat, and we can earn money later.” Xingxing felt that her life was more important, and earning money could wait.
"We've run out of salt at home, and there's not much food left. We still need to go to town. Don't worry, most of the refugees are gathered at the city gate, so town is relatively safe."
Zhao Guihua thought that things might get even more chaotic later, and she would be even less able to leave the village. She thought it would be better to sell the flowers while things were still peaceful in the town, and then buy some salt.
"Then Auntie and Uncle Zhou must come back safely. If they encounter any danger, they should run away immediately, throw away their belongings, and just run back to the village."
Xingxing walks slowly when her basket is full, but walks quickly when it's empty. So she shared her experience with her aunt and uncle.
"Okay, Aunt and Uncle will definitely come back safely." After saying that, Zhao Guihua and Zhou Laoda went out, locking the door from the outside.
Xingxing lay on the gate, peering out through the crack in the door. Finally, she sighed wistfully, "Why do natural disasters happen? If there were no natural disasters, and the weather were good, everyone would have enough to eat."
At the village entrance, more than thirty strong men and a few robust women gathered, each carrying a basket on their back and holding iron tools in their hands. They left the village as the villagers watched them go.
The first part is a mountain road, winding and very difficult to walk. This part of the road is safe. Half an hour later, after this part of the road, you will reach the main road.
There weren't many refugees on the main road, and they didn't react much when the people from Yegou Village came out of the side road with a fierce expression; their faces were numb and lifeless.
However, don't think that's the end of it. Knowing that the people from Yegou Village went to town to buy things, they will definitely take action when they return.
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
