What's even more shameless is that they actually dared to trick the village children out of their food and instigate their own children to steal food from the village children.
If the village chief hadn't ordered these people not to enter the village and sent people to patrol, their village would have been robbed by these covetous people long ago.
Behind the Anping Village group, about 300 meters away, was a group of more than 50 refugees who had fled famine.
They were all emaciated, their eyes fixed intently ahead.
The sparse procession pushed a few dilapidated handcarts, which were loaded with bundles, wooden bowls and basins, a few old pottery jars, a few bundles of old mats, and bamboo tubes.
A woman stared ahead, spat, and muttered, "Everyone in Anping Village is a stingy swindler. They take everything with them when they leave, leaving nothing behind. If they take so much, they'll work themselves to death and eventually be robbed."
I get angry just thinking about when they went to Anping Village to plunder things.
I thought that when these people left, they would leave behind a lot of things. Even if they didn't leave behind any food, they should at least leave behind some pots and pans.
However, once they entered the village, if they hadn't had people keeping a close watch on the village entrance, they would have suspected that someone had already looted Anping Village before them.
Anping Village is much richer than the surrounding villages, so they must have a lot of things. Even if they went to escape famine, they couldn't take too much with them. They could at least pick up some useful things.
However, this is only what they think.
There are three wealthy households in Anping Village: Liujiazhuangzi, Chenjia, and the village head's family.
They split into three groups and went to these places to search.
Upon arriving at Liu Family Village, they noticed that the stone lions guarding the entrance had been removed. This was understandable, as the stone lions were worth a lot of money, and the landlord must have taken them to sell before leaving.
But why is the gate empty? Well, a vermilion gate is quite valuable, and rich people like these kinds of displays, which is understandable.
But as soon as they stepped into the manor, they were stunned. It was completely empty. Not only the main gate, but also the doors to the side rooms and some of the windows had been removed...
Forget about the tables and chairs; they only then realized that the roof tiles were gone...
They calmed down for a while, thinking that maybe they were wrong and that they might find something useful inside. So they continued searching, but every room was empty.
They went to the kitchen to see if there were any pots and pans, but all they found was an empty stove, without even a piece of firewood.
Some people wanted to go into the inner room to see if there were any old clothes or old quilts, but when they got there, there were no old clothes, not even a bed board.
There really isn't even a bed left, and the door panels have been removed too...
I searched around several times, but couldn't find anything useful.
They emerged from the room, dazed and confused, questioning their existence. Were all rich people this stingy, or had they entered the room in the wrong way?
They were very unwilling and angry, and wanted to smash things to vent their anger, but the surroundings were empty and there was nothing for them to smash.
After leaving Liu Family Village, they immediately headed towards Liu Family Restaurant, only to find it just as deserted as Liu Family Village. Not only were the useful items gone, but even the useless ones, such as the doors, tiles, and stairs, had vanished.
The people who went to search the Chen family and the village chief's house also encountered the same situation. They seriously suspected that someone had taken advantage of their inattention and looted Anping Village in advance.
It's not just these three families; every household in Anping Village is like this—useful or useless things have all vanished.
After that, these people started digging cellars, but they found them empty and without any results.
They thoroughly searched Anping Village inside and out, and found a few broken carts, a few old pottery jars, and a few old mats.
Everyone was furious, so even though all that was left were walls and piles of dirt, they still smashed and destroyed them.
After leaving Anping Village and meeting up with the lookout, they disagreed again about the road ahead.
Youzhou Prefecture was their destination, but some suggested taking the mountain road, while others suggested following the people of Anping Village.
Hearing the arguing around him, Qiangzi rubbed his forehead and scolded, "Shut up! Stop arguing! Everyone follow the people from Anping Village. If something happens, the people in front will take care of things. We just need to keep an eye on things and hide if things look bad."
They wanted to go up the mountain to find food, but Anping Village had plenty. Instead of risking their lives searching in the mountains, they figured they might as well put in the effort to raid Anping Village.
A man said weakly, "The people of Anping Village won't give us food easily."
Qiangzi angrily retorted, "Then think of more ways to snatch food from them! If you want to live, follow the food; if you don't want to die, do everything you can to take the food away."
In the end, everyone decided to follow the people from Anping Village. In order to avoid being discovered, they followed at a distance from behind, while a few people kept watch in front.
At noon, during a break, Qiangzi patrolled the refugee camp for a while, found a group of people, chatted with them for a bit, then gave them an old cart and two planks, and pulled them into their group.
As for why Anping Village turned out this way, it's because before they left, the village chief told the villagers that if they didn't want their belongings to be destroyed, they should hide them as much as possible, because once they left, the village would be looted sooner or later.
And indeed, there was a group of people in their village who were eyeing them covetously.
If they leave, that group will definitely come into the village and loot it.
At that time, the village chief was also worried about where to go for the things he couldn't take with him. He thought about hiding them in the caves on the mountain, since they could be found easily with a little effort. Hiding them in the caves wouldn't be of much use anyway.
At this moment, he noticed that the Chen family was moving things. These were things they wouldn't need on their journey of fleeing famine, so they definitely weren't taking them with them, but rather hiding them.
He didn't know where the Chen family was going to take the things, but he knew that the Chen family was very good at hiding things.
So he went to Chen Dong and asked him about it.
Old Man Chen had nothing to hide. Since he was leaving the village anyway, he told the village chief that his family would put the things they couldn't take with them into the cave.
Old Man Chen didn't tell the village chief about the cave where his family hid their things, but instead told him about another cave where his family had previously hidden their grain.
According to Chen Kai and the others, the two cave entrances are connected. Although it is a maze with many twists and turns, there is always a path that leads to each other.
The village chief went with Chen Laosi. The cave entrance was very well hidden, and he almost got lost inside if someone hadn't been there to guide him.
He was very satisfied with the maze-like cave, so he returned to the village and organized the villagers to hide everything they couldn't take with them in that cave.
The villagers were overjoyed to find such a good place to hide things. They dismantled their houses and hid everything they couldn't take with them, not a single brick, tile, or stitch.
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