Chapter 46: Having picked up these people, they now extend a helping hand to their past selves...
At the border between Maozhou and Jinzhou, a group of armed soldiers drove ragged refugees out of Jinzhou.
"Get out! Maozhou is not a place for you!"
"Get out if you don't want to die."
Didn't you hear me tell you to leave?
"court death!"
With their fierce faces, domineering attitudes, and cold-blooded weapons, the old, weak, sick, and disabled were forced to leave Maozhou's jurisdiction.
Those men who tried to fight the soldiers head-on because of their numbers were also mercilessly beaten and stabbed, and quickly helped each other to head towards Jinzhou.
Some people died on the road, from starvation, or from infected wounds.
The remaining people walked forward aimlessly and numbly, stumbling along, not knowing where the end was.
Wan Youyu pulled on the horse's reins, and the carriage stopped.
The people sitting in the car were surprised. Song Li lifted the curtain and asked, "What's wrong?"
Wan Youyu exclaimed urgently, "There's someone on the other road!"
The people in the car looked at each other, and Song Li said, "Let's go down and take a look."
The carriage that led the way stopped, and the two carriages following behind also stopped.
Someone ran over to ask what had happened, and then saw Song Li and Wan Youyu walking down another road.
A short while later, Song Li shouted, "They're both still alive! Bring some food over!"
The people inside the car quickly grabbed some steamed buns and water and got out.
Wan Youyu discovered a mother and daughter.
The two had become emaciated due to prolonged hunger, and their legs, arms, and faces were covered in injuries.
A girl soaked a steamed bun in water and forced it into their mouths.
The woman began to chew instinctively.
The little girl fainted from hunger and didn't know how to use her teeth to chew the food.
Someone then went back to the carriage to get some sugar, dissolved it in water, and fed it to the little girl.
After a while, the woman opened her eyes with difficulty.
She looked at the strangers in front of her, not bothering to talk to them, and wanted to get up to see her daughter.
Song Li quickly comforted her, "It's alright, it's alright. We gave your daughter some sugar water, and she drank it."
The girl who was feeding the woman the steamed buns handed them to her and said softly, "Here, eat some steamed buns. They'll give you strength."
The woman was startled, then took the steamed bun with trembling hands and quickly stuffed it into her mouth.
The woman ate five steamed buns and drank three bowls of water. Her daughter was fed two bowls of sugar water and also opened her eyes.
The mother and daughter looked at each other with weak, lifeless eyes. The woman held her daughter tightly in her arms, overwhelmed by the grief of almost losing a loved one and the helplessness of not knowing what the future held.
The woman and the little girl knelt down together to thank their benefactors for saving their lives.
Wan Youyu pulled them up and asked them how they got there and where they were going.
The woman looked sorrowful. “We fled from Liangzhou. The bandits broke through the city gates and committed all sorts of atrocities, burning, killing, and looting. The villagers led us to Maozhou.”
"We finally escaped to Maozhou, but the soldiers in Maozhou wouldn't let us into the city and drove us to Jinzhou."
Her eyes were red and swollen. "My daughter and I are both weak and slow, and we got separated from the others."
Song Li and the others exchanged glances.
Everyone's face showed the same pity and relief; seeing them was like seeing their former selves.
Someone hesitated and asked Song Li, "Sister Li, shall we take them back?"
Someone else chimed in, "Yes, when our Minister Yun came to Yunhe, didn't he pick up a lot of people along the way?"
Song Li: "..."
She scoffed lightly, "Don't try to elevate your status. How can we compare to Minister Yun?"
However, this is a good idea.
Song Li asked the woman, "How many people are in your group? Where are they now?"
The woman was stunned.
Song Li gave her a reassuring smile, "You lead the way and find your companions. We'll take you somewhere where you can get enough to eat!"
The woman's eyes widened.
Old Li squatted in the pit, holding his grandson. Looking at his grandson's pale face, tears streamed down his face.
He looked at his grandson for a while, then at the outside of the pit, waiting anxiously.
The eldest son and daughter-in-law returned first. Looking into Old Man Li's expectant eyes, the eldest son shook his head with difficulty.
Old Li moved his chapped lips, but didn't know what to say. He looked down at the child in his arms.
Tears welled up in the eldest daughter-in-law's eyes. She stretched out her withered hand and said cruelly, "Let Er Mao drink my blood..."
Old Man Li was stunned.
The eldest son grabbed his wife's wrist, gritting his teeth, "Drink mine!" He squatted down and picked up a stone, "We can't let Er Mao end up like Da Mao..."
Old Li didn't give up. He looked further into the distance and said, "Don't worry, maybe your brother and the others can find something to eat..."
The eldest son closed his eyes, cut his wrist with a stone without hesitation, and fed the blood to the little boy.
The eldest daughter-in-law sighed, "We can't find anything to eat. We've looked everywhere, there's nothing edible here..."
The little boy's lips were stained with blood, and bright red blood flowed into his mouth.
But he had lost the strength to suckle.
The three adults were momentarily filled with despair.
"Father, Father, Father!"
A woman's voice came from not far away, filled with ecstatic frenzy.
The three adults looked at each other and stood up together.
Just then, the youngest daughter of the Li family came running towards them, her face beaming with anticipation. "We've met a benefactor! A benefactor can give us food! Father, elder brother, and sister-in-law, let's hurry over! Let's go to the benefactor!"
She ran to her family, panting, "Xiao Hua and the others have already gone, and Aunt Tao Hua has also taken my mother-in-law. You all hurry and take Er Mao there!"
Old Li was astonished. "Where did this benefactor come from? Can they really give us food?"
The eldest son couldn't believe it either, "Could it be some bad guy tricking us into going there...?"
"It's true!" The youngest daughter's eyes glistened with tears. "Sister Yuzan brought a noble person to see us. Sister Yuzan said that the noble person gave her daughter some sugar water!"
Sweet soup? The eldest daughter-in-law immediately saw a glimmer of hope and exclaimed, "Let's go see! Whether it's true or not, let's go see!" What if it's real!
The youngest daughter urged, "Hurry up, Er Mao can't wait! I'll wait here for my second brother and sister-in-law!"
On the other side, several teenagers surrounded a woman who was nearly forty years old, crying uncontrollably as they looked at her broken leg.
"What should we do?"
"If we can't find the herbs, Aunt Mei's leg will be..."
"Aunt Mei!"
Mei Gu opened her eyes, looked at the orphans she had adopted, and forced a smile, "Children, don't worry about me, run away quickly..."
Her face was deathly pale. "I'm beyond saving! Don't worry about me, run! Find food, find somewhere to stay..."
"No!" a girl cried, kneeling before her. "It was all for us! Otherwise, how could you have been injured by that corrupt official!"
Another girl grabbed Anita Mui's hand, "We can't leave you behind, we won't! We absolutely won't!"
"What should we do, big brother?" A boy looked at the oldest boy, biting his lip. "What should we do..."
The boy looked at the barren ground around him and knelt down in despair.
Anita Mui took a deep breath, "Go quickly, children, don't let me be a burden..."
She knew all too well that without doctors and medicine, not only would she lose her leg, but she would also lose her life!
The children's insistence on taking her along will only cause them trouble.
But how could her children abandon her?
If it weren't for Anita Mui's kindness in giving them food and taking them in, these orphans would have died somewhere long ago.
Anita Mui was not only a savior to the children, but also a second mother to them!
The young man gritted his teeth, "Aunt Mei, don't give up! Let's go to the nearby villages; maybe we can find a doctor there!"
"Yes, yes, Anita Mui, let's go together!"
"Let's keep moving forward, keep moving forward!"
Mei looked at the children with pity, "Forget it, there aren't any houses around here."
Is anyone over there?
A male voice suddenly came from behind.
The children quickly turned their heads, nervously blocking Mei-gu's view, and looked at the newcomer.
Wan Youyu walked towards them, and seeing the wary faces of the children, he showed them a bag of pumpkin cakes.
Children: "!"
Wan Youyu put on a friendly smile and said, "We are merchants who just came from Maozhou and are on our way back to Jinzhou. We saw your fellow villagers who were on the run and want to take you back with us to work for us."
He took out a bag containing three pumpkin cakes and handed it over, saying, "Want to try some?"
The children stared longingly at the pumpkin pie, but no one reached out.
The older boy asked, "Do you have any medicine?"
Wan Yu was taken aback. "Medicine?"
The slightly younger girl stared intently at him and asked, "Do you have any medicine for sprains and bruises? If you can treat our aunt's injuries, we'll go with you!"
Wan Youyu was shocked. He saw Mei Gu with her broken leg behind the children, looked at the children again, sighed, and said, "Carry her and come with me to our carriage. We have a doctor and medicine there!"
The children: "!!!"
Song Li and one of the carriages stayed where they were, while the other two carriages of companions went to look for the displaced people who had been driven away.
Before long, several ragged people came running towards them. The fastest man fell to the ground, but he pushed himself up with his hands and hurriedly ran forward.
They ran to the carriage and stared intently at them.
Song Li and the others offered them meat buns, vegetable buns, and flatbread. The group didn't even have time to thank them; they took the food and wolfed it down.
A young man swallowed too quickly, choked, and coughed desperately.
Song Li handed out water, saying, "Eat slowly, we have food here, all you can eat."
The young man took the water, glanced gratefully at Song Li, and then tilted his head back to gulp it down.
Another family ran over, and their faces lit up with surprise as they looked at their fellow villagers eating and drinking.
Someone immediately knelt down, crying out, "My benefactor!"
Song Li and the others stepped back, and a girl said urgently, "Get up, get up quickly, we'll give you food and water."
One after another, the refugees arrived at the carriage.
Those who were still able to hold on took the food and water and ate it themselves, while the weak ones called to the other side, where Song Li and the others gave them sugar water to replenish their sugar levels before feeding them food.
For those with a cold, use cold herbal decoction.
If someone is injured, they should use herbs and ointments to bandage the wound.
Song Li stood on the carriage and called out to everyone present, "Everyone, everyone!"
She called out, "We are merchants from Anling County, Jinzhou. We have bought goods and are heading home. We can provide you with food and water. Would you like to come with us to Anling?"
A man in his thirties stood next to Song Li and said, "Our Anling County has land and plenty of work to do. As long as you're willing to work, you can have enough to eat!"
The refugees were both surprised and delighted.
"I do!"
"Thank you for taking us in, our family is willing to follow you!"
"I can do the work!"
"Me, me, me!"
"Thank you so much, my benefactor!"
...
Song Li and her colleagues looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.
In the past, a goddess descended from heaven and saved them.
Now, they are reaching out to save their past selves.
Gan Xiaoyue held her aunt's hand and followed the Jinzhou caravan that had suddenly appeared and was willing to take in these refugees towards Jinzhou.
The people in the convoy claimed to be businessmen who needed workers.
But for the refugees, whether it was true or false was not important; what mattered was that these people could actually give them food.
So, no matter where they are sent or what they are asked to do, everyone is willing to do it.
The journey was long. The caravan gave up their carriages and carried the seriously injured people onto them, while they themselves walked with the refugees.
Surprisingly, the leader of this convoy was a woman named Song Li.
She skillfully soothed the displaced people's emotions, encouraging them to cheer up and assure them that once they reached Anling, they would have no worries about food or lodging.
She also casually inquired about the situation in Liangzhou.
“Liangzhou and Maozhou aren’t those places with that Sun…” Song Li turned to a young man in his early twenties and asked, “Sun what?”
The young man perked up and answered decisively, "Sun Yannan."
Song Li nodded, "Yes, isn't Liangzhou Sun Yannan's territory? How dare bandits forcibly occupy his county? Isn't that a direct provocation? Can Sun Yannan tolerate it?"
One of the more knowledgeable refugees said, "It's just one or two counties. By the time Governor Sun receives the news and calls back, the bandits will have already looted everything they could."
Someone wiped their eyes and said, "If we hadn't escaped so quickly, we would probably have been killed already."
"Those bandits are truly inhuman. It's one thing to rob people, but they actually..." The speaker gritted his teeth in hatred.
"It's not just bandits; those government soldiers are the same. Back when that guy surnamed Sun conquered Liangzhou, he massacred the entire city..."
"Weren't Chaozhou and Qingzhou also... rivers of blood flowing..."
Gan Xiaoyue sat with her aunt and watched the adults talking. Suddenly, she burst into tears.
She tilted her head in confusion, "Auntie..."
Her aunt gently shook her head, signaling her not to speak.
Gan Xiaoyue nodded obediently.
Song Li sighed deeply.
Following the propaganda department's script, she painted a rosy picture for the refugees: "Don't worry, everyone, Anling County is great! There are people protecting us both inside and outside the city! Once you arrive in Anling County, you won't be afraid of anything!"
Her voice was gentle yet firm, “Moreover, the people of Anling County have three meals a day! You will never go hungry again! We will also provide you with housing so you will have a place to live!”
These words sound exactly like a scammer's pitch.
A woman swallowed hard and asked, "What do you want us to do, our benefactors?"
What do you want us to do after bringing us all this way back?
Song Li waved his hand, "Build roads and farm!"
Everyone: "..."
What did you say you wanted to do?
Song Li explained, “Our workshops are getting bigger and bigger, and we need more and more workers. But if everyone goes to work, there will be no one to farm and build roads. Therefore, our Minister Zhu proposed to bring people back from outside to farm and build roads.”
Everyone was bewildered.
Song Li: "...Of course, you won't be farming and building roads your whole lives. You'll attend night school just like us. As long as you study well, you can apply for jobs in the workshops in the future."
Gan Xiaoyue subconsciously caught the key word, "Night school?"
Following the sound, Song Li saw a little girl and smiled, "It's a school. Where I'm from, children go to academies to study, and adults go to night school together."
"No distinction between male and female."
Everyone was even more confused. "Ah, children go to school, and adults need to go to school too?"
Adults need to read too?
Women need to read books too?
No, as long as you give us food, we'll go with you and do anything you want.
There's really no need to make up all these stories to fool us!
And the story is so obviously fabricated!
Wan Youyu and a colleague exchanged a smile.
You see, even people outside think it's completely fake.
But the people of Anling County did indeed live such a life: they had no worries about food and shelter, had land to cultivate, had work to do, and were able to study!
It's all because we've received the goddess's favor!
Only us!
Stand tall and proud.
-----------------------
Author's Note: I've written over 1200 words, but after thinking about it, I've decided to add this chapter.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
