Jiang Zhi said she wouldn't leave, so Xu Errui, being a filial son, couldn't say he would leave either, for fear that his mother would get angry again.
Nie Fantian's lips, frozen a deep liver color, moved slightly as he risked being scolded again, saying, "Aunt, the village chief wants everyone to leave together, nothing will happen. Let's go with everyone!"
Before he could say anything more, Jiang Zhi waved her hands repeatedly: "No, I'm not leaving. I'd rather die here than leave."
Just then, someone rushed in; it was the village chief of this small village.
Upon seeing the chaos in the yard and the untidied belongings, he flew into a rage: "Granny Jiang, it's one thing for you to always be unreasonable, but now even your children don't understand anything. We're trying to escape, don't you know that?"
He was furious that day. He had already agreed to go with the villagers, but some stubborn people were going to cause trouble.
Several families remained seated, waiting for the government to send someone to pick them up, and even asked if they would be provided with food and lodging once they were taken there.
Just wait! We'll understand once someone's head rolls!
Jiang Zhi shook her head again. She definitely wouldn't leave; there were still many things to deal with on the way!
The village chief was also anxious. Anyway, this old woman was never one to mingle with others, so she deserved to die: "If you want to die, then die by yourself. Don't drag the children down with you. Let the children come with me."
The child he was referring to was Nie Fantian.
Everyone saw how Granny Jiang beat and abused the child, but every family has its own unresolved issues, and since no one died, they turned a blind eye.
But now the refugees and rebels are coming, and Granny Jiang is not leaving. She's even dragging this child to fill the pit. This won't do.
When Jiang Zhi heard that the village chief was going to take Nie Fantian away, she immediately said, "Then I'll have to trouble you, brother-in-law. This child is obedient, so I'll just give him to you to pull the cart for free."
Sending the male lead away like this is exactly what I wanted!
Nie Fantian's eyes flashed with a sharp light; he had wanted to escape for a long time.
He had no food, no money, and no travel permit, making it difficult to move an inch. If he had the chance, he would leave immediately.
However, he dared not reveal his true intentions: "Aunt, how could I leave you all behind and go alone!"
"Errui, go pack your cousin's things and tell him to go with the village chief and the others!"
Jiang Zhi has made her decision; she will send this jinx away now.
If you were to transmigrate into a female-oriented novel, you should definitely date the female lead. Those intelligent and compassionate female leads will bring blessings to all beings and help them find peace.
In male-oriented transmigration novels, you should stay as far away from the male lead as possible, as they are all chosen ones and cursed lone stars.
He dies wherever he goes, and every village he stays in dies. Even his closest brothers don't have a good ending. Wherever the protagonist appears, bad luck always happens.
While the village chief was coming to pick him up, I quickly sent him away. From now on, he can go his way, and I'll go mine. I don't want to die with regrets.
It's not surprising that the original owner disliked Nie Fantian's mistreatment.
In the book, Xu's sister-in-law, who works as a wet nurse in the county town, suddenly sends back a child, saying that she secretly gave birth to him, and leaves some money before never coming back.
The Xu family went to the city to look for her, but her aunt's husband's family said that she had gone with that wealthy family and they didn't know where she went, let alone what child she had, so naturally they wouldn't take care of her.
Unfortunately, the original owner's husband had an accident while going out to inquire about information. He was mistaken for a kidnapper and beaten up, which left him with a chronic illness. He remained sickly until he died two years ago.
They were just an ordinary farming family, and suddenly they had this boy, and the man even got sick and had to take medicine because of him, so it must have been a huge burden.
Whenever the original owner was tired from work, she would vent her frustrations on Nie Fantian.
He abused her relentlessly, both in public and in private, constantly beating and verbally abusing her. Over the past decade or so, an irreconcilable hatred had been built up within them.
Now, the abused child has grown up and is about to kill someone. It's too late to mend the relationship. All Jiang Zhi can do is let him go.
Xu Errui was an obedient child. Seeing that his mother insisted on "sending away" Xiao Tian, he had no choice but to pack his cousin's luggage and prepare dry food.
Over the years he had been kicked out of the Xu family, he had lost count of how many times he had been expelled. This time, however, Nie Fantian did not kneel on the ground and beg for mercy as usual.
He keenly sensed that his aunt was somewhat different today.
In the past, my aunt would scold me whenever she saw me eating, but today she actually generously let my cousin serve me more so that I could go further away.
Nie Fantian's anger subsided slightly, and he didn't have the leisure to think about too many things.
A good man's ambition lies in all directions. King Zhou's army is marching towards the capital, and he is going to join the righteous army.
I originally thought I would have to sneak away halfway, but now I can openly follow the village chief.
Both sides were on the same page, and the whole process went very smoothly.
Jiang Zhi was afraid he would come back to find her, so she not only gave him dry food, but also an extra cotton-padded coat.
Soon, the village chief, along with Nie Fantian and a large group of other villagers, left Xujia Village with dogs, sheep, carts, and loads.
After seeing Nie Fantian off, Jiang Zhi also prepared to run away.
Just now, in front of Nie Fantian, I said I wouldn't leave, meaning I wouldn't go with the crowd to flee the famine, not that I wanted to stay put and wait to die.
The battlefield is far from ordinary people, but defeated soldiers and refugees are very close. The so-called disaster of war is mainly caused by those refugees who accumulate like a snowball.
Hungry, green-eyed refugees and deserters are extremely destructive.
Jiang Zhi did not forget that this was a male-oriented novel world, and it was a time of war, a time of social disorder. Once people lost their humanity, they would commit all kinds of evil, such as burning, killing, looting and arson.
The only advantage is that there are no terrible relatives, because such relatives are the original self.
When his cousin suddenly left during their escape, Xu Errui was left with only himself as the male heir. He felt terrible: his cousin had grown up in his family, but he still left without a second thought when trouble came. Just as his mother had said, it would have been better to raise a dog.
Jiang Zhi didn't have time to care about Xu Errui's mood and shouted, "Hey kid, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and pack your things!"
Jiang Zhi found it difficult to immediately adjust to suddenly becoming a mother-in-law and having such a grown son.
Xu Errui came to his senses: "Mother, are we leaving too?"
"Who said we're not leaving? Are we just going to stay here and get our heads chopped off?!"
Jiang Zhi patted the dust off her hands and saw that her son was still standing there dumbfounded. She couldn't help but complain in her heart: He's really not smart!
"Oh, okay! I'll pack right away, I'll pack right away!" Xu Errui didn't understand what his mother meant by saying she wasn't leaving earlier, but now she wanted to leave.
But thinking that the village chief and his group were numerous and hadn't gone far, and that he could catch up if he hurried, Xu Errui immediately began to pack up in a flurry.
In fact, Xiao Tian had already packed the family's food and clothes, but his mother was reluctant to leave because she couldn't bear to part with the family's few rooms.
When farmers talk about their possessions, the most valuable things are their small plot of land and their house.
Land cannot be moved.
It's spring famine now; apart from the crops that survive the winter, there's nothing left to harvest.
The house can't be moved either.
The Xu family had two main rooms, two side rooms, plus a woodshed and kitchen. Although they were all thatched huts, they were well maintained by the original owner of the body.
The mud walls were solid, and the thatched roof was sturdy enough to shelter us from the wind and rain; it was hard to bear to give it up.
When fleeing famine and leaving their homes, the only things they could take with them were food and clothing.
The family's food supply is almost depleted after the winter; all that's left are grain seeds and a few dozen kilograms of sweet potatoes in the cellar.
In addition, there are several laying hens, which are prepared for their daughter-in-law Qiaoyun, who is about to have a baby.
Jiang Zhi looked at the fully loaded carrying pole and two baskets, along with several chickens with their feet tied, and couldn't help but facepalm.
Of the three members of this family, only Xu Errui was a able-bodied man.
If he were to flee like this, he would only face certain death without Nie Fantian lifting a finger.
Without a vehicle or livestock, he and his pregnant daughter-in-law could only carry these heavy loads for a short distance, and even if they followed other villagers, they could not change their fate of falling behind.
If other refugees try to rob them, they are even more helpless.
The daughter-in-law, Qiaoyun, looked pale as she looked at the basket on her back. The thought of carrying things on her back made her stomach tighten.
She was afraid of being attacked by soldiers, but felt that her mother-in-law's insistence on not leaving was reasonable.
We're all human beings, those refugees couldn't possibly be really going to eat people, could they?
“Go to the mountain where your father burns charcoal! Let’s wait until we’ve outrun this wave of soldiers and refugees before we talk!” Jiang Zhi said.
She found such a good place in the original owner's memories.
“That…that’s not a good place to live!” Xu Errui said hesitantly.
Xujia Village is a small village with more than 20 households and a population of just over 200.
It is said that those who live near the mountains live off the mountains, but Xujia Village, which also lives near the mountains, cannot make a living from them.
Although the mountains here are high, the soil is thin and there are many stones. Apart from the tall oak trees and some miscellaneous trees covering the mountains, there is not much to produce.
The villagers usually cut down miscellaneous trees in the forest for firewood. In addition, every winter they burn two kilns of oak charcoal to sell in the city to earn some money for the New Year.
High-quality oak charcoal fetches a high price, which is a source of income for every household in the village.
To make charcoal burning easier, each household would build a temporary shed in their usual mountain forest to store charcoal.
Although the mountains and forests are secluded, they have been abandoned, mainly because there is a lack of food on the mountains.
You can hide up there for ten days or half a month, but not for a year or two.
"Qiaoyun's belly is so big, she can't walk at all. Don't you want a wife anymore?" Jiang Zhi said irritably.
Nie Fantian wanted to find his own way out and urged his foolish son to flee the famine, without considering the hardships involved.
It was precisely because the original owner of this body was exhausted from walking and tormented the male protagonist that she lost her life.
Xu Errui looked at his wife's belly, then at his mother who was unusually calm, and was about to say something when he suddenly heard a commotion outside the courtyard, followed by a loud banging on the door.
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