Chapter 92 Thief
Qin Fangniang was a little panicked: "Those few people just now, were they refugees? Didn't they say that refugees were stopped? How come there are refugees here?"
Sang Luo shook her head: "I don't know. Let's go back and ask Shopkeeper Xu to find someone to check the situation. We are a group of women and children, and there are ten miles of mountain roads behind us. It's too unsafe to go back like this."
Regardless of whether they were refugees or not, they looked like they had been in exile for a long time and were very hungry. They were really just skin and bones, and they seemed to be staggering when they walked.
These extremely hungry people are actually very dangerous. If they really return like this, they will easily be targeted.
Sang Luo and her friends turned back just after they left the city gate. The gate officer narrowed his eyes, but before he could ask, Gan took the initiative to say, "We saw a few people who looked like refugees ahead. We, the women and children, should go back to the county to take shelter first."
The three guards at the city gate looked at each other. This time, which was a rare behavior, they did not ask for the entrance fee. Instead, they waved their hands to let Sang Luo and the others enter the city. One of the guards quickly left the city gate, presumably to report to his superiors. The other two guards were still guarding the entrance of the city gate diligently. The unsheathed swords on their waists were quite intimidating.
Sang Luo did not stop. She took Qin Fangniang and others straight to the back door of Dongfulou.
It was past noon, and the kitchen staff at Dongfulou had basically finished work. However, the young man that Sang Luo had first met was washing dishes. When he saw Sang Luo and the others, he smiled and greeted them, then asked curiously, "Why haven't you gone home yet?"
Sang Luo forced a smile and said, "I ran into something. I came to find Shopkeeper Xu. Is Shopkeeper Xu here now? Brother Lao, can you help me out front?"
He said he was going to take a look, but in fact he was asking the young man to help pass on the message.
The young man knew that the shopkeeper valued Sang Luo very much, so he didn't refuse. He wiped his hands and asked Sang Luo to wait, then walked quickly to the front. It was estimated that he went back to the front hall to say a few words and then turned back. Shopkeeper Xu followed the young man to the kitchen. When he saw Sang Luo and the others, he asked, "I heard that you guys encountered some problems. What happened? Are you in trouble?"
Sang Luo nodded and told him about the suspected refugees she had met outside the city gate. She said, "Look, we are a few women with two children. We are afraid to go back ten miles. That's why we turned back and asked you to help us find out the situation. If possible, I will pay you some money and see if you can hire a few waiters to take us back."
When Manager Xu heard that they were refugees, his expression became tense. He knew that Sang Luo and the others had greeted the guards when they entered the city, so he said, "Don't mention the money. If this really happens, I can find someone to escort you. It's not a big deal. So, don't stand outside. Come into the restaurant first and sit in the private room. I'll send someone to investigate the situation first."
…
Shopkeeper Xu sent out two reliable assistants, who came back more than half an hour later. One went outside the city to check the situation, and the other went to the yamen to get information from a familiar runner.
The one who was going out of the city said that when he went there, there were no refugees outside the city. He looked around but there was no trace of refugees.
After getting the information from the yamen runners, the county lieutenant also sent people out to check. When the strong yamen runners went out, the refugees had disappeared. The yamen runners then searched the mountains and forests, but still couldn't find those people.
The only thing that is certain is that there are probably only a few people nearby, not a large group of refugees.
Sang Luo relaxed half of her breath, but couldn't relax the other half.
Shopkeeper Xu looked at her expression and said, "Well, I'll have four or five of my men take you back today. I'll continue to inquire about the situation later. If there's anything unusual, I'll have someone send a message to your Shili Village."
That was all that could be done, Sang Luo stood up and thanked him.
Shopkeeper Xu thought about it and asked again, "Can you see if we can still deliver the tofu and vegetarian tripe tomorrow?"
If it is inconvenient to deliver it, he can just arrange for his waiter to pick it up. Business cannot be delayed.
This matter depends on Qin Fangniang and the others. After discussing it, they unanimously came to the conclusion that the tofu sauce and dried vegetarian tripe should continue to be sold until the situation worsens.
We can't just abandon our livelihood just because we see a few refugees who come out for a walk and then disappear.
Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Xu felt relieved and specially selected a few tall and strong men to escort Sang Luo and his group on the return trip.
Along the way, they did not encounter any refugees, so Sang Luo felt relieved. When the guys were about to leave, Sang Luo gave them half a string of money and said, "Thank you for your hard work, guys. This money will go to you to buy some tea."
Fifty cents!
If five people share it equally, each person can get ten cents!
The five waiters all had happy expressions on their faces and bowed repeatedly to express their gratitude.
Sang Luo didn't think that she gave too much. Fifty cents sounded like a lot, but if divided equally among each person it would only be ten cents. People were taking risks to send them there, and it would be a big trouble if they really encountered refugees.
She personally saw the person off and reminded him to be careful on the road. She only returned to the yard after the person was out of sight.
Qin Fangniang and the others hurriedly took out ten coins each, but Sang Luo pushed them back and said, "No need. It was originally a favor I did, and they are grateful to me. You don't need to share the money. Instead, you need to work out a plan for how to go to the county tomorrow. You need to make money and be safe."
"We have to tell Zhou Cunzheng about this refugee incident so that the villagers can be more alert."
Just because the refugees cannot enter the county town does not mean they cannot come to the surrounding small villages.
…
Zhou Cunzheng attached great importance to this matter. He was quite familiar with a member of a branch of the Wang family. He had heard some news about it earlier and always felt vaguely uneasy.
The taxation, soaring food prices, disasters and epidemics in the north made Zhou Cunzheng sleep uneasy at night. The emergence of refugees seemed like another pair of boots falling one after another.
Zhou Cunzheng didn't know whether there would be more boots falling from behind.
For example, at this moment, all the young and strong men in the village have gone to perform labor service, because when a man gets married and has children, his family will be separated and a new household registration will be established. Therefore, all the young and strong men in every family have gone out, and there are not many left in the village.
Either they had sons in the military like him, or they were adults but unmarried like Sanlang of his family and Sanlang of the Lu family. The number of people available for defense was very limited.
On a rare occasion, Zhou Cunzheng exercised his sovereignty as the village chief and asked his three younger sons at home to notify the men in each family to come home to discuss matters.
On the other side, in the Chen family courtyard, when Mrs. Chen heard the news brought back by her daughter-in-law, her first reaction was worry. After discussing with several other families, Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu and Lu Sanlang accompanied them to set up the stall, and then they grabbed Sang Luo.
"You should also come down to the mountain to live at night. Don't live in the mountain for now. It's far away from the village. If something happens, the villagers won't hear it. Anyway, your uncle Tian is not at home. You and Aning can stay with Fangniang. Xiaoya will sleep with me, and Xiaoan will live in the same room with Ershan."
Sang Luo naturally had no objection. She really valued her life, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to turn around so quickly in the county town. She excused herself for bothering him, went home, packed up her things, and moved to Chen's house with her two children.
On Zhou Cunzheng's side, the men and teenagers in the village have already been organized to take turns on night duty.
While other children in the village were still ignorant, Shen An and Shen Ning were a little nervous because they had seen the refugees with their own eyes. It was not until the little girl came to ask about what they had seen in the county town that they gradually put their nervousness behind them.
Talking about what he saw and heard in the county, Shen Ning remembered his snacks. He took out two snacks that were not very durable from his bag and gave one each to Xiao Yaer and Chen Ershan.
There are three buns left.
The brother and sister looked at each other, and wrapped the oil paper bag without eating it.
After the little girl finished eating, Shen Ning pulled her aside to whisper in her ear, and soon the little girl ran out holding the oil paper bag.
…
The riverbank of the village is where Shen Jin and his two younger brothers often play recently.
The little girl found the three brothers there as she had hoped, and she trotted from a distance and called out, "Shen Jin, Shen Jin!"
Shen Jin turned his head to look and saw that it was Chen Xiaoya. He pursed his lips and said nothing.
Recently, the children in the village always laugh when they see the three brothers, saying that their parents are thieves. Shen Jin is no longer willing to play with the children in the village.
Erniu and Huzi's gang wouldn't do that, but they mostly hang out with Chen An and Chen Ning, so Shen Jin doesn't really want to go over there.
Chen Xiaoya ran to two steps away from Shen Jin, panting as she stuffed the oil paper bag into Shen Jin's hand.
Shen Jin: “What?”
As I asked this, I couldn't help but sniff in some fragrance.
Chen Xiaoya smiled and said, "Aning brought these back from the county. They are made in a big restaurant. She asked me to give them to you three secretly."
Shen Jin was about to open the oil-paper bag when his hand paused.
Seeing him like this, Chen Xiaoya said, "Xiao An and Aning didn't eat anything after they came back. There are only three left. I'll give them all to you."
It was just that Uncle Shen and Aunt Shen sneaked into Aning's house in the middle of the night and were caught. It's not Shen An and Aning's fault that they have been awkward for so long.
Chen Xiaoya couldn't quite understand.
She delivered the things, patted her butt and turned and ran away.
Shen Jin: ...
Shen Yin and Shen Tie came over: "Third brother, will sister give us some buns to eat?"
Shen Jin hummed.
The two brothers looked at him intently.
He was silent for a moment, then opened the oil paper package.
The buns were already cold and didn't have a strong aroma, but he had a keen nose and could still smell a very pleasant aroma.
He gave each of them a bun and said, "Eat it, and don't mention it when you get home."
Knowing that they ate Shen Ning's food, his mother would definitely beat them up.
Shen Yinchentie took a small bite of the bun. The aroma of the food rushed into his nose, and the taste in his mouth was even better.
“It’s delicious!”
Both brothers exclaimed that it was delicious, and Shen Jin also took a bite.
It was really delicious and something he had never eaten before.
While eating, Shen Yin said, "Third brother, we haven't been to my sister's house for a long time, why don't we go?"
Why?
At first, he thought his mother would urge him to do bad things, but later, his parents did it themselves. His father was sentenced to two months of hard labor, and his mother threw things around and scolded his eldest cousin's wife and Shen An and Chen Ning at home every day.
Shen Jin said: "Father and mother don't like us going there."
He himself was still a little awkward.
The most important thing is that Shen Jin is not sure whether his parents will let him do something similar to last time in the future. If so, it is better for him to go there less now, at least to stop his parents from having such thoughts.
The word "thief" does not sound nice at all, and he does not like being called that by the village kids.
It was difficult to explain all this to my two younger brothers, so I could only pick out the only sentence that was easy to say.
Shen Yin pouted: "I really want to go to my sister's house to play. Shitou and the others go there every day."
Sister and Shitou wouldn't call him a thief either.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
