Chapter 164: Besieged/Saved (Still in the city, choose your own)
In the shanty town of the county school, there were many people gathered outside the Shen family shanty.
When Shopkeeper Xu followed Uncle Xu over, what he saw was a dense crowd of people near the shack area where the third branch of the Shen family lived.
Shopkeeper Xu saw them from afar and wondered, "Why are there so many people?"
Uncle Xu sighed.
He had planned everything to hide it, but he didn't expect that he wouldn't say anything. Alang thought he could leave at night, but when he saw him about to go out this morning, he thought of the children from the third branch of the Shen family.
The original intention that day was to go and see where the Shen family lived, but the shop owners of the main street were found by the yamen runners and invited to the county government office, so Uncle Xu went alone that day. Shopkeeper Xu only heard later that the third branch of the Shen family lived in a shanty town near the county town, but he didn't know exactly where.
So when he saw Uncle Xu about to go out early in the morning, he realized that if Uncle Xu came back late in the evening, they would have to leave as soon as he came back. So he stopped him and asked Uncle Xu to take him to the vicinity of the county school to check out the situation of the third branch of the Shen family.
Uncle Xu still refrained from mentioning what happened yesterday, and only advised him that the couple from the third branch of the Shen family were not good people, and he should not get involved with them at this juncture.
Shopkeeper Xu naturally knew the character of Shen San and his wife, and said, "It's okay, just watch the situation from a distance. They have exchanged some food before. If they can still get by for the time being, we don't need to intervene and we don't have the ability to intervene. If we really run into Chen Lie when we go out, I will take a look at him and live up to his trust."
The master and servant arrived at the county school and were a little surprised to see how noisy it was.
Shopkeeper Xu squeezed to the back of the crowd and asked the person next to him, "Father, what's going on? Why are you all crowded here?"
The man called "father-in-law" looked at him sideways and saw that he was a middle-aged man in rough clothes. He thought he should also live in the nearby slum area and said, "I don't know. I can't squeeze through. I heard that a couple killed each other. The couple is gone. It was a tragic death. There are three children left. Two of them are not far from starving to death."
The old man was in a low mood. From what he heard, he was not far from starving to death, and it seemed as if he was also talking about his own tomorrow.
When Manager Xu heard that it was a case of husband and wife killing each other, he was surprised to hear that there were three children, so he did not think about the third branch of the Shen family.
Uncle Xu's heart skipped a beat.
The image of Li's madness and collapse yesterday flashed before his eyes. The youngest child of the Shen family is gone, so there are only three left now, right?
There were three children left, and two were on the verge of starvation.
Uncle Xu's heart was pounding, and he pushed his way into the crowd, shouting, "Please make way, make way."
On the way, some people who didn't quite agree with Manager Xu's coming, contrary to their usual behavior, went in quickly. Manager Xu was stunned, and suddenly realized something. His heart skipped a beat, and he also squeezed in.
The center of the crowd was indeed the shack of the third branch of the Shen family. Before people went in, they could already smell a strong smell of blood. Uncle Xu's breathing became a little short, and he didn't dare to move forward at all.
Shopkeeper Xu followed and stood beside Uncle Xu. Seeing Uncle Xu's expression, he opened his mouth, swallowed, and then said, "Is this their shack?"
Uncle Xu nodded, his throat and ears felt a little dry.
Shopkeeper Xu tightened his hands hanging by his sides, bent down and walked into the shack.
Shopkeeper Xu thought that he would never forget the scene he saw when he entered the shack.
The light-colored straw mat on the ground was soaked with blood that was gradually darkening. Even he didn't dare to look at the person lying on it again after taking one look.
Of the family of six who entered the city that day, one was missing, and four of the five who were still there were lying down.
One was lying on the mat, his head, face and neck so damaged that it was impossible to recognize him; on the ground a few steps away from the mat, there were six or seven bloody holes on the woman's coarse linen dress, and there was a pool of blood under her where she was lying; two small boys were lying not far from their mother, one was in a coma, and the other, perhaps aware that someone had entered the shack, opened his eyes briefly, but could only open them briefly.
The only child who could still stand up, covered in blood, stood in front of his mother and two younger brothers, looking at him vigilantly as he entered the shack.
Shopkeeper Xu never imagined that the farewell in just over ten days would be so tragic. He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word for a while.
Uncle Xu followed him into the shack. When he saw the scene, his chest heaved violently. His nose was blocked by something, and his throat was choked. He had to open his mouth to breathe. Even though the scene he saw and the smell he breathed in were horrifying and nauseating, his mind was completely frightened, and he didn't react like vomiting at all. He was just shocked and couldn't believe it, or maybe there was something else.
Shen Jin recognized him. After a moment's pause, his defensive posture relaxed a little. He opened his mouth to call him "Grandpa Peddler", but he didn't dare to.
Before his mother closed her eyes, she asked him to take his younger brothers away.
But Xiaoyin and Xiaotie could no longer walk, and he was too weak to take them with him. Moreover, by the middle of the night, Xiaotie's limbs were cold from hunger. He could not care about anything else but to pick up all the twenty or so bloody soybeans that had fallen on the ground, wash them, crush them, and cook them all to feed Xiaoyin and Xiaotie.
He poured some blood every once in a while, and by the time he'd finished, it was already dawn. Even if he hadn't said anything, the strong smell of blood would have attracted people from the shack next door.
Although they didn't know why the peddler appeared, he was one of the few people who had shown kindness to their brothers and even helped them recently. Shen Jin was struggling between asking for help and not asking for help.
It’s not like he hasn’t asked for help before.
In the shacks on the left and right were former neighbors, who had all come to see what was going on. Some were even still standing outside the shacks and had not gone far.
He begged every family, but they either avoided him or said they had no food and turned around and left in a hurry. Among those who stayed behind, some stood around to see what was going on, but Shen Jin saw greed in some of them. There were several people with such greedy looks surrounding the entrance of the shack, and among them were the two that frightened him the most.
There were no county magistrates or bailiffs in the county government office long ago, and the soldiers had no control over the place at all. He dared not leave the shack, did not dare to leave Xiaoyin and Xiaotie, and did not dare to ask for help easily.
He didn't say anything, but Shopkeeper Xu had already recovered from his shock at first sight and took a quick step forward to check on Shen Yin and Shen Tie.
It seemed that someone was coming towards his brother. Shen Jin grabbed the kitchen knife next to him and blocked Manager Xu with trembling hands.
"what you do?"
Shopkeeper Xu paused when he saw this, remembering that the child didn't recognize him at all, so he whispered, "Xiao Jin, right? My name is Xu Yuanchang, and I know your cousin Chen Lie. Your cousin asked me to look after you before he went into the mountains. Please move aside, I'll see how your two brothers are doing."
Afraid that Shen Jin would not believe him, he pointed to Uncle Xu behind him and said, "This is Uncle Xu, he is from my family. He used to go to your village disguised as a peddler just to keep an eye on you and your siblings."
When Shen Jin heard the other party call out his name accurately and then his elder brother's name, his hands began to tremble. When he heard the latter sentence, tears suddenly fell.
It turned out that his eldest brother had asked someone to look after them. He began to cry softly, and then thought of how badly Xiaoyin and Xiaotie were in trouble, especially Xiaotie. He quickly stepped aside and said, "Please, save my brother. They are almost starving to death. They have been eating earth cakes for many days."
Hearing about the earth cake, Shopkeeper Xu's face changed. He stepped forward and squatted down to take a look at the two children's condition, their temperature and reactions, and then turned around and called Uncle Xu: "Come, help hold one, and go to the clinic immediately."
Then he asked Shen Jin, "Is there anything particularly important that you should bring with you?"
Shen Jin never expected that the other party would be so willing to help. He was stunned for a moment before he reacted. He shook his head randomly, then nodded quickly, turned around and took out a cloth bag on his back, which contained the small bow given to him by his eldest brother and the stones he picked up.
After looking at the things at home, I didn't care about anything else. I just picked up the kitchen knife and held it in my hand for self-defense.
That's considered picking it up.
Shopkeeper Xu and Uncle Xu had already picked up a child each. When Shen Jinlin was about to leave, he looked at Li lying on the ground and began to cry, trembling.
Uncle Xu couldn't bear it when he saw this, and whispered, "It's important to save your brothers first. If your mother can still be taken care of later, I'll find a way to send her to be cremated and pick up her ashes. If that's not possible, we can only take care of the living first."
The four words "rest in peace" are completely useless in a county town full of starving people.
Shen Jin nodded and thanked him while wiping his tears.
Uncle Xu glanced at Shen San again, wanting to ask something.
Shen Jin saw it, but lowered his head and didn't respond, and didn't say anything.
The master and servant roughly guessed what was going on, and stopped talking. Shopkeeper Xu thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have a younger sister?"
Shen Jin's eyes suddenly turned red and he couldn't help sobbing, but he just closed his mouth and shook his head, unable to say anything.
When Manager Xu thought of the tragic death of the third couple of the Shen family, he could roughly guess what happened. He patted Shen Jin on the head, held Shen Yin in his arms, called Uncle Xu, and hurried out of the shack with Shen Jin.
Among the crowd gathered a few steps away from the shack, there were some villagers from Shili Village, former neighbors of the Shen family. One of the thin men saw two strangers and wanted to take the brothers away. No, they were not strangers. One of them was a peddler who often walked around their village. He stepped forward and asked, "Who are you? Where are you taking Xiao Jin and his brothers?"
Shopkeeper Xu was delighted.
I stood there watching the excitement for a long time without seeing anyone go in to help at all, and now I come to ask him.
"Who are you?"
The thin man said, "We are from the same village, and the kids usually call me uncle."
What an uncle! Shopkeeper Xu had no time to waste time talking to him. He said, "Shen Lie's friends, do you have any objection to me taking them away?"
When he heard the word "Chen Lie", the thin man's heart skipped a beat.
He actually forgot about Chen Lie.
Shen San and Li are dead, but Shen Lie is still alive. If he really sets his sights on these little ones, it would be fine if he doesn't meet Shen Lie in the future. But if he does, and the matter gets to his ears, his family will have no chance of survival.
It is true that the eldest and third houses have severed their relationship, but these younger ones have been running to the eldest house quite often, and no one from the Shen family's eldest house has ever chased them away, but they are still taken away.
His heart trembled, and he stepped back: "Ah Lie's friend, why didn't you come earlier?"
Seeing Manager Xu staring at him, he hurriedly shook his head: "No problem, no problem, you can go."
Shopkeeper Xu did not delay. Seeing him make way, he picked up the child and took Shen Jin away.
The child's hands were still shaking and his whole body was tense. Manager Xu didn't bother to comfort him. As the crowd made way for them, he quickly walked towards the clinic.
After leaving the crowd, Shen Jin almost had to jog to catch up with Shopkeeper Xu and Uncle Xu. He jogged all the way, looking back from time to time. He relaxed a little when he didn't see the man catching up. He then raised his eyes and said to Shopkeeper Xu: "Xu, Uncle Xu, there were two people guarding outside my shack just now. They were eating, eating..."
The word "cannibalism" cannot be said no matter what.
He panted for a few times and said, "My sister was given to them by my father. You have to be careful."
His eyes were as swollen as peaches, but tears would well up immediately when he talked about Tian Ya. His words were not very clear, but that did not prevent Manager Xu and Uncle Xu from understanding what he meant.
It was just as they guessed.
Even his own daughter was sent away to be eaten as meat, no wonder Shen Jin didn't even look at Shen San before leaving.
Shopkeeper Xu looked back and asked Shen Jin, "Did anyone catch up with us?"
Shen Jin shook his head: "Not yet."
Shopkeeper Xu nodded and said, "Okay, got it. We don't recognize that person. You have to be more careful."
…
At that time, the majority of people in the clinic were wounded soldiers, and there were almost no ordinary people coming here to see a doctor. The entry of Manager Xu and his companions stood out particularly.
The old doctor was very busy. Manager Xu took a look at him and turned to walk towards the manager of the clinic who was treating a lightly wounded soldier.
To be able to open a clinic, even if you hire a doctor, the owner himself must understand medicine. Manager Xu has been in Dongfulou for many years and has a good network of contacts in the county.
He stepped forward and called him Shopkeeper Fang. Shopkeeper Fang turned around and recognized him, and asked in surprise, "Shopkeeper Xu?"
His eyes fell on the two children who were almost motionless in the arms of the master and servant: "What are you doing?"
Shopkeeper Xu said, "These two children have been hungry for a long time and have been eating earth cakes for many days. Please help and see if we can save them and how to save them."
When Manager Fang heard this, his expression changed. He did not dare to delay. He said something to the wounded soldier who was changing the dressing, and immediately led Manager Xu to the examination table on the side. He felt the pulse and examined the two children. He lifted the clothes of the two children to see if their abdomens were swollen. He pressed them and asked in detail what the two children had eaten recently, how many earth cakes they had eaten, and for how many days.
After Shen Jin answered them one by one, he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Luckily, he ate very little dirt cake. Although he was very hungry, he was delivered in time. He can still be saved now. If he ate too much dirt cake, I would really be helpless."
He looked at Shopkeeper Xu and sighed in a low voice, "To be honest, I have almost no medicine left. Fortunately, he doesn't need to take medicine. Go back and give him some salt and sugar water. If there is a way, give him some rice soup, and then slowly feed him some porridge. If conditions permit, he will get better after a while."
Shen Jin was so excited that his hands were shaking when he heard that his brother was alive. However, this excitement turned into fear when he tilted his head slightly and saw a figure outside the clinic.
He didn't dare to look outside, and carefully tugged at Shopkeeper Xu's sleeve, and said in a trembling voice, "Uncle Xu, someone followed us and is standing against the wall opposite the clinic."
Shopkeeper Xu understood, but he didn't look outside. He just whispered to Shopkeeper Fang, "I'm afraid I have to use your back door to leave."
He fished out a small piece of silver from his sleeve and handed it over, saying, "Do you have any maltose here? To be honest, my family can't afford it now. There's nowhere to buy the imported goods in the county even if I have money."
Shopkeeper Fang didn't expect that Shopkeeper Xu couldn't even take out some maltose at this moment, so he nodded and said, "Yes, but not much. I'll ask the medicine boy to bring you two pieces to take away."
Shopkeeper Fang also heard what Shen Jin said in a low voice. He knew that Shopkeeper Xu and his companions might have run into some trouble. He was also a smart man. He did not look outside, but called out to the medicine boy loudly: "Take them in, make some salt and sugar water to feed them first, I will prescribe some medicine later for you to boil and feed them, and then do acupuncture."
The sound was loud enough for people outside to hear clearly.
After that, he whispered to Shopkeeper Xu, "Tell the medicine boy to take the candy and go out the back door. Then go home and dissolve it and drink it yourself."
Shopkeeper Xu thanked him, looked at Shopkeeper Fang, and said take care.
Shopkeeper Fang nodded. All the doctors were now under the supervision of soldiers. It was up to fate whether they could take care of themselves or not. He said hello to Shopkeeper Xu and turned around to get busy.
While talking to Manager Fang, Manager Xu and Uncle Xu took a subtle glance outside and noted the appearance of the man Shen Jin was talking about. Just then, the medicine boy came over and they followed him into the inner room.
…
After entering the back hall and telling the medicine boy about the situation, they received two pieces of maltose from him. Then the group was led out of the back door quietly by the medicine boy, and walked through the alleys in many twists and turns until they returned to the old house in the west of the city.
When Wei Lingzhen saw him go out and bring back three children, she didn't know how to react for a moment.
Shopkeeper Xu waited until she bolted the door before whispering, "These are the children that Chen Lie asked me to take care of. The youngest one is dead. Their parents also died last night, so I brought them back."
He then handed the maltose wrapped in a small piece of oil paper to Wei Lingzhen and said, "These two little ones are starving. I just took them to the clinic for a checkup. Here is some maltose I got from the clinic. Please make some salt and sugar water for them several times and I will feed them."
Turning around and seeing Shen Jin, he said, "Make one more bowl."
The older one is not much stronger than the two younger ones. He doesn't look very good, and if he goes hungry for another day or two, he will probably collapse.
When Wei Lingzhen heard that they were Chen Lie's cousins, she hurriedly took the malt sugar, responded, and quickly went to the kitchen.
Shen Jin was tense all the way until he entered the courtyard. Only then did he dare to believe that he, Xiaoyin and Xiaotie were really out of danger. Without saying a word, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Manager Xu and Uncle Xu.
Shopkeeper Xu was holding the man and it was difficult for him to pull him up, so he could only shout at him to get up.
This was the scene that Xu Wenhong saw when he opened the door of the main house carrying a dustpan of soil.
Shopkeeper Xu couldn't explain any more, so he called his son, "Wenhong, get your little brother Jin up and bring him into the house."
He carried Shen Yin and went to the main house.
Xu Wenhong didn't know how he had a younger brother. He put down the dustpan in a daze and went to help Shen Jin, then led him into the main house.
…
While Wei Lingzhen was still boiling water in the kitchen, Manager Xu and Uncle Xu had already placed the two children on the floor of the main room and came out of the main room first.
After being delayed for so long, Uncle Xu should go to the city wall. He had previously promised to help Shen Jin get Li's body out, so he had to think of a way.
Of course, he didn't plan to go alone. The Shen family was being watched by several people with bad intentions, especially the two pointed out by Shen Jin. There was also a man following them blatantly. The master and servant had also seen the faces of the other party today. If he went there again, he would easily be framed.
Uncle Xu was thinking about how to ask the people who had helped him carry the wounded and corpses in the past few days to help him. These people were under the jurisdiction of the garrison and their job was to carry the wounded and corpses. No one dared to ask any questions when they went to carry Li.
Just as he was thinking about it, Shopkeeper Xu asked him to wait, and went into the kitchen to whisper a few words to Wei Lingzhen. Wei Lingzhen went back to the main room, and soon took out a gold bracelet and handed it to Shopkeeper Xu.
Shopkeeper Xu turned around and handed the item to Uncle Xu, saying, "The Shen family is being watched by some people with bad intentions, and they saw us today. You should be careful when you go out later. Take this bracelet to bribe the steward and find a reason to see if you can avoid carrying the wounded today. Also ask the soldiers to carry away Li's body and burn it. Help collect the ashes and take them privately and come back quickly."
He added, "If the Li matter is difficult to handle, don't force it. It's important for you to come back. I will continue digging the tunnel in a while. We will leave at night. Don't make any more trouble."
The most important thing for Uncle Xu was to get out of this situation himself. As for Mrs. Li, Shopkeeper Xu did not have much good impression of her. However, Uncle Xu often interacted with several children, and seeing that her death was too tragic, he could not bear it, so he agreed. If he could bury her, he would bury her. If he could not, it was her fate.
Uncle Xu took the gold bracelet and said, "With this arrangement, it should be no problem. At my age, it shouldn't be difficult to pretend to have a back injury and let me rest for a day."
A gold bracelet, help to bury a person, and then be given a day off.
That young steward is greedy for money, and a gold bracelet is a good amount of money for him. What he is asking for is not a big deal, and the army is in quite chaos now, so it should be possible to arrange it.
He didn't say much. He turned around and changed into the same refugee clothes he wore when he left the city. He then ruffled his hair down to cover most of his face. His body was slightly more hunched than usual. Then he opened the door and went out.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
