Chapter 76 From Sanshan Port to Daheishan
Li Shiyue accepted the jade pendant from Ma San with some surprise, and quickly bowed to thank him.
Not to mention Li Shiyue himself was surprised, among the few remaining people in Lijia Village, including Li Shiyang and Li Youfu, who wasn't surprised?
After all, this jade pendant could connect one with Yan Jiuniang of the Yan Family Merchant Guild. Being able to speak with Yan Jiuniang meant one could be connected with Liu Tan, the eldest son of the Prince of Zhenbei.
Throughout history, the Chinese land has always been one where connections make things easier.
Not to mention, they're new to this place, and having a local bigwig protecting them is a good thing.
Therefore, everyone in Lijia Village was envious of the jade pendant that Li Shiyue had been given.
In less than an hour the night before, Japanese pirates hijacked the ship, and nearly twenty people from Lijia Village died. Now there are only about thirty people left here.
In just one day and night, most of Li Youfu's already mottled hair had turned white.
Li Shiyang knelt until Liu Tan called for Ma Sandian to get up, but Li Youfu didn't say "get up" even once. In the end, Li Wangshui couldn't bear to watch anymore and pulled Li Shiyang up.
Li Wangren's death became an insurmountable obstacle between Li Youfu and Li Shiyang.
However, it is understandable, since Li Shiyang lost his mother at a young age and his father when he came of age. In other words, Li Youfu's eldest son, Li Shiyang's father, has been dead for almost a year.
In less than a year, Li Youfu lost his youngest son, Li Wangren.
Thus, Li Youfu suffered two of the three great tragedies in life: losing his father and mother in his youth, losing his husband and wife in middle age, and losing his son and daughter in old age.
So, it's not surprising that his hair turned white overnight.
Li Youfu walked ahead, straightened his back, and disembarked from the boat. Li Shiyang carried the load on his shoulder, followed by Yu Zhenniang and Yue Niang.
Behind Li Shiyang and his group was Li Shiyue's family. Although they hadn't found Li's father's body, it was assumed that he had fallen into the sea, so there was nothing they could do about finding his remains.
Therefore, Li Shiyue's side was missing one person.
Although Li's mother and father divorced, and Li Wangming and his father were to separate their lineages, in the eyes of others, Li's father was still inextricably linked to Li Shiyue's family.
Behind Li Shiyue were Li Wangshui and Zhou Lanhua with Dazhuang and Xiaozhuang, and behind them was Erdan's mother carrying Erdan on her back.
Erdan's father died, trampled by the crowd.
Erdan's mother had cried all her tears in the past two days, and now she looked like nothing more than an empty shell.
It was Zhou Lanhua who felt sorry for Erdan's mother, so she pulled her along and let her walk behind them.
Walking behind Erdan's mother was Dog Lao San, who was carrying his third aunt in a carrying pole basket.
Ever since Li Wangshui saved Third Aunt's life in the cabin, Dog Lao San truly regarded Li Wangshui as his elder brother.
At that moment, Dog Lao San actually knelt down in front of Li Wangshui, and the eldest brother, a grown man, cried with tears and snot streaming down his face: "Brother Wangshui, from now on you will be my own brother!"
Sister-in-law Lanhua is my own sister-in-law!
Dazhuang and Xiaozhuang are my nephews!
If it weren't for you, big brother, I would be motherless again!
"Waaah..."
Caught off guard by Li Wangshui, Dog Laosan kowtowed directly to him.
Next up is the family of the Eighth Uncle. Who would have thought that of the three clan elders who fled the famine together, the Third Uncle fell ill on the way and passed away.
My third great-uncle's family and my fifth great-uncle's family were unlucky. That night on the boat, both families died, and not a single child, even a seven or eight-year-old, survived.
Behind the eighth great-uncle were Yangzai and his aunt and uncle's family, and then the few remaining members of the Ma Zi and Mo Zi families.
At the very back of the line, heading off the boat, was Qin Tao's family. Behind them were three more people: a woman with two children.
This woman and child were the ones Li Shiyue and his group rescued from the refugee Dazhuzi. Those people had all died along the way, and by the time they reached Andong, only this woman and two children remained.
As soon as Li Shiyue and his group disembarked, a constable dressed in yamen uniform with a sword at his waist waved to them. The boatman quickly went over and handed over the list.
A clerk next to the constables took the boatman's slip, read it, asked the boatman a few questions, and after receiving his answer, called the boatman to bring the person in charge to the front.
Li Shiyang was summoned over and returned after about fifteen minutes. "Tell us to go to the post station to stay first. After we've all been examined and found to be healthy, we'll have someone send us to Qingsong Town to settle down."
Once you're on someone else's turf, if you want to settle down and make your home here, you'll naturally have to follow their lead.
Following the constable out of the port, the area outside the port was still bustling with activity and noise.
Li Shiyue finally saw the same vibrant life on this street as Dongmu Port. You have to admit, looking at the vendors hawking their wares along the street, even the donkeys pulling goods that were as big as tufts of water, made you feel like they were "alive".
However, the post station was quite far away. It took more than two hours of walking to reach the entrance of the post station outside Sanshan County.
"Once we've settled down, we absolutely, positively must buy a donkey first!"
Li Shiyue pounded his thigh. Although he was used to walking on the road of fleeing famine, Li Shiyue was still hungry.
The only downside to the Childbirth Pill is that while it increases strength, it also increases energy consumption!
Even though Li's mother had given Li Shiyue two dry biscuits before they arrived at Sanshan Port, that was more than two hours ago.
Following the constables all this way, it took sheer willpower to keep going.
"We still have some food, but once we get to other people's land, we won't have any convenience. I'll go ask them how much their food costs later, and we can eat here for today."
Before Li's mother could spend money to buy food, the post station served each person a bowl of thick rice porridge for free.
"Hey everyone, start eating first, there's more in the pot if you're not full."
But you can't eat too much. You haven't had a proper meal in a long time, so you can't eat until you're stuffed.
A few days ago, a group of refugees came over, and one of them, a man who didn't know when he was full, almost ate himself to death.
Fortunately, Old Liu was at the post station that day; otherwise, he would have surely stuffed himself to death.
The men, who were drinking so hard their faces were almost invisible, were startled by the postman's words and quickly stopped eating, taking a slightly slower pace.
Li Shiyue wasn't afraid of this. She was very confident in her digestive abilities. Now she felt that if she ate freely, she could eat more than two or three men at once.
However, seeing Li Shiyue's condition, Li's mother still whispered to her, telling her to eat slowly and not to get indigestion.
We slept on the same large communal bed at night, but this time it was free, and we could use hot water, though we had to pay a little for firewood.
Nothing happened that night, and with her mind at ease, Li Shiyue opened her eyes when the sun was almost high in the sky.
"Hurry up, go wash up as soon as you wake up. Your older sister just got the hot water, it's still warm."
As soon as she stepped outside, she saw a line of people in the courtyard. Standing at the back, Li Shiyue saw an elderly man with a short beard taking someone's pulse.
The people who remained in Lijia Village were all selected; apart from fatigue, none of them had any infectious diseases.
Of the people from the Wang family village who left with the Li family village, only one had some symptoms of a cold, and the old doctor prescribed a remedy for him.
This delay meant that almost half a day had passed.
Li Shiyue asked the constables who were left behind if she could go out of the post station to take a look. After receiving permission, she, along with the Li sisters, Li Qiutian and Li Xiatian, took Shitou out of the post station.
Standing at the entrance of the post station and looking north, all you can see are endless mountains covered with trees.
"We call that place Big Black Mountain because it's big and black."
The courier, who was on his way to feed the horses at the stable, said this to Li Shiyue and the others who were looking towards Daheishan Mountain.
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