Chapter 54 What should we do?
In the end, most people, led by Li Shiyang, still believed that they should head to Dengzhou as soon as possible.
I don't know if Mr. Chen, whom I know from Li Shiyang, is still in Dongmu Port, Dengzhou, so it's best to go there as soon as possible.
As for those who get sick, either you try your best to keep up, or you can stay if you want.
Whether they live or die at that time will depend on their own fate.
If they were left behind, whether it's an individual or a family, they would surely be waiting to die.
So why would anyone stay?
Once the departure date was confirmed for tomorrow, the people of Lijia Village got busy, throwing away what needed to be thrown away and quickly storing the water they needed to collect.
For those who care about their sick family members, just tie a rope to the stroller and then tie the person up to it when needed.
Or they made a simple frame, like a chair, and strapped people onto it and carried them on their backs.
Of course, some people dislike sick people because they see them as a burden, but they won't say it outright. However, the way they show it in every aspect is a clear indication of their dislike.
The lamb's uncle-in-law was tidying up his belongings, making a fuss, but he wouldn't even glance at the lamb lying on the ground.
The lamb has been being looked after by my aunt for the past two days. She's been feeding it porridge and medicine, and thankfully, she's managed to keep it from dying.
But the lamb is still sick and needs to be cared for.
My aunt asked my uncle to use a rope to make room on the cart so that the lambs could sit on it.
But when his uncle saw the lambs that couldn't even get up on their own, he only felt it was troublesome and didn't want to do it, so he ignored his aunt's words.
Besides patients like Yangzai who have lost their parents, there are several elderly people who are in a daze. They are not exactly unconscious. They can respond when you call them, but it is impossible for them to get up and walk on their own.
They are all patients who cannot move on their own and need someone to take care of them.
But at this moment, even if they are one's own children, one must first consider one's own children before thinking about one's parents.
Therefore, when they set off, no one said anything about the five old men who were still panting in the grass.
They can't even take care of their own families, so who can take care of other people's abandoned elderly?
The Li family had already thrown away a lot of things from their donkey cart. Originally, it would have been used to carry Grandma Li, who had difficulty walking, but now there were only a few bags of grain, some cooking utensils and clothes, and the wooden cabinet that Grandma Li had forbidden to be thrown away.
“Mother, please come up and sit down. Our donkey can pull it.”
Li Shiyue raised her hand to invite her mother to get on the donkey cart, but her mother waved her hand, wanting Zheng Meiniang, who was sitting in the cart pushed by Li Qiutian, to sit in the back.
Li Qiutian refused her mother's offer, saying, "Aunt, I can push it."
Li Qiutian could indeed push it, and besides, the donkey cart belonged to the Li family after all. Although Grandmother Li was no longer alive and Father Li had been separated from the family, Li Wangming was still alive.
Li Wangming was in a low mood from the moment he set off. His grandmother was buried here, and if things went smoothly, they would naturally settle in the Andong Protectorate and probably would never be able to return here.
This parting is forever.
From now on, any further worship will only be for a memorial tablet.
Therefore, Li Wangming's mood was so heavy and depressed. Even though he was walking, you could tell from his appearance that he was thinking about other things. He was physically there, but his soul was not.
Finally, Li's mother got on the donkey cart, and was finally able to rest.
They walked for most of the day, and as evening approached, the people of Lijia Village stopped by a small river.
Looking at the soil along the riverbank, Li Shiyue could tell that although the water level had dropped considerably, it was only somewhat dry, enough to allow people to irrigate the millet.
It seems that the drought is most severe in the area around Lijia Village and near the prefectural city. Therefore, there shouldn't be many people in the north who have abandoned their homes and businesses to flee the famine like the people of Lijia Village. Most people should stay in their original hometowns and continue to live their lives.
Therefore, Li Shiyue concluded that the further he went, the more people he would meet.
So, we have to be careful to avoid them. First, we have to avoid the soldiers who are conscripting men everywhere.
Secondly, we should avoid villages with large populations, otherwise, if we are seen by others, we may still attract the attention of the government troops.
Li Shiyang met Mr. Chen in Dongmu Port. Only after he actually arrived in Dongmu Port and met Mr. Chen could he feel half at ease.
Otherwise, their hearts would always be hanging in suspense, as the knife hanging over the heads of the people of Lijia Village could fall at any moment.
Not only did they evade military service, but their entire clan also fled famine, heading to other cities instead of the prefectural capital. If all these things were taken into account, the remaining sixty-odd people in Li Family Village would all be doomed.
Li Shiyue had some new ideas in her mind. After telling her mother, she went to talk to Li Shiyang.
But when she saw Li Shiyang, she noticed that he had a deep frown on his face. "Brother Shiyang, what's wrong? Has something happened?"
Li Shiyang turned to Li Shiyue and said in a low voice, "When we set off from outside the county town earlier, I sent Ma Zi and Wei Zi ahead to scout the way."
Logically speaking, they should have been waiting for us here long ago.
But,” Li Shiyang looked up at the sky, “it’s getting dark, and neither of them has returned.”
"So either they ran into trouble on the way, or they've traveled a long way and are still halfway there."
Li Shiyang confirmed Li Shiyue's statement, nodding, "Wait another half hour. If they don't return by then..."
"If they don't come back soon, I'll take some men and head forward to meet them!"
In fact, that was exactly what Li Shiyang meant. During their escape from famine, the dozens of men in Lijia Village encountered two disasters, and in the end, only Li Wangshui and Li Shiyue, who dared to fight, emerged.
The others did kill people, but they lacked the tenacity to fight back. Some of them were so terrified that they had nightmares for several nights, their cries echoing throughout the entire village.
Therefore, the only people Li Shiyang could use were Li Shiyue and Li Wangshui.
Moreover, Li Shiyue's mind is much more agile than Li Wangshui's.
When Li Shiyue said that women should also dare to resist and not just rely on men to save them, Li Shiyang knew that Li Shiyue was a smart woman.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Sister Shiyue. I'll ask Uncle Wangshui and the others to go with you, so that they can help each other if anything happens."
Half an hour later, there was still no news of Ma Zi and Wei Zi.
Li Shiyue gave instructions to Li Qiutian and Li Wangming, and under the worried gaze of Li's mother, she took Chai Dao, Li Wangshui, and three other villagers and ran towards the path ahead.
After running along the path for about ten miles, Li Shiyue, with her keen hearing, heard faint shouts coming from ahead.
Li Shiyue turned around and said to Li Wangshui and the other three, "I heard some noise ahead, did you hear it?"
When Li Shiyue looked at him questioningly, Li Wangshui said directly, "I didn't hear anything."
Li Shiyue looked at the other three, but none of them spoke. Li Shiyue looked at them encouragingly, and then one of the men spoke hesitantly: "I... I think I heard shouting, but I don't know if I heard it wrong."
“Let’s go into the wilderness, further away from this road, and see if there are really people there.”
Li Shiyue hadn't misheard. They crouched down and walked about three zhang further before they saw people sitting in a circle around the fire.
These people were actually shouting and grabbing something to collect their work.
Two people were lying on the ground next to these people. With Li Shiyue's eyesight, he could see them clearly in the firelight. They were Ma Zi and Mo Zi!
"It's pockmarks and moles!" Li Wangshui also saw the person who was gagged, tied up, and lying on the ground.
"What should we do?"
Li Wangshui turned around and looked at Li Shiyue, asking.
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