The mother and daughter got off the bus after only five stops, just outside of Pingcheng.
Pingcheng has four city gates, and there are carriage and horse lanes not far from the city gates, in order to facilitate the transport of goods into or out of the city.
Of course, they didn't intend to walk all night on their own. The mother and daughter had just done some research and found that there was a large village about 20 miles from the south gate of Pingcheng. The village had oxcarts, horse-drawn carts, and mule carts. As long as you could afford it, you could take things or people away.
Their first target was this village. Their plan was to rent a car and go to Yuncheng first, and then figure out other ways to get there.
As long as they're on the right track, they'll reach their destination someday. Well, you could say this mother and daughter are pretty laid-back now.
Not far after getting off the bus, you'll reach the village entrance, where a large stone sign reads "Linjia Village." This is the largest village in the vicinity, with over four hundred households, most of whom are involved in the carriage and horse trade.
After tidying themselves up for a while, He Yuping and her daughter knocked on the door of the first house in the village. The house looked like a well-off family's six brand-new brick house with a high courtyard wall. He Yuping stepped forward and knocked on the door: "Excuse me, is anyone home?"
"You're here. Who are you looking for?" After He Yuping knocked on the door, she quickly heard messy footsteps coming from inside. It sounded like several people came out, but only a middle-aged woman's voice spoke.
"Hello, I'm someone who was introduced by Aunt Lin to rent a car. Do you have a car that can carry passengers?" He Yuping stated her purpose. She had indeed been here because Aunt Lin had mentioned it before.
The first household at the Linjia Village road sign has been doing this kind of work for three generations, from grandfather to grandson, and their reputation is the best.
"Yes, yes, please wait a moment." The door was quickly opened, and a woman's surprised voice came from inside.
"Young man, please come in and have a seat. Where are you going, and how many people are with you? Would you like a donkey cart, a horse cart, or a mule cart? If it's just one or two people, a mule cart is more cost-effective. Mules are gentle, walk steadily, and are very strong—perfect for pulling carts." The woman's attitude became much more enthusiastic than before upon hearing there was business to be had.
"Big sister, we need to go to Yuncheng, which is more than 400 kilometers away. I wonder if you can go there and what the price is now?" He Yuping wanted to ask if there were any cars that could go directly to Yuncheng, as the road from Pingcheng to Yuncheng was the most chaotic.
Once this phase is over, things should stabilize considerably, and you should be able to walk on your own.
"Well, young man, this journey is quite long... The currency isn't worth much these days. Yesterday, the money I could buy a pound of eggs, but today it only buys two or three. If you had any grain, I could give you a discount." Hearing that it was over 400 kilometers, the woman felt the journey was still too far. A round trip would take at least ten days.
The past two years have been plagued by war, and the crops have basically yielded nothing. A few days ago, those bastards even ransacked their villages during their retreat. If it weren't for the fact that the people in their village were united and got the news early, mobilizing the whole village to move all the valuable livestock and poultry to the mountains, they wouldn't have any vehicles left to transport goods and people.
The grain couldn't be taken away, so it was all looted. Now, when she tried to buy grain in the city, the prices were outrageous; she went twice but simply couldn't bring herself to buy the overpriced grain.
These days, when people come to their house to pick up people or goods, they usually ask for either silver dollars or grain. The place this young man wants to go is really far away. If he asks too much, he's afraid the girl can't afford it; if he asks too little, it's not cost-effective for them. They don't know how to bring it up.
"Grain? Shouldn't it be right after the autumn harvest? How come there's no grain?" He Yuping was puzzled. It had only been a short time since the autumn harvest, so how could there be a grain shortage?
“Hey, I can tell you’re not from our area, young man. Those bastards suffered a defeat and retreated the other day, right? Before they left, they ransacked all the villages around here. Some of us ran away, some hid, but they couldn’t escape the grain. It was all looted while it was still in the fields. These days, grain in the city is getting more and more expensive. What used to buy several kilograms of grain can’t even buy a single kilogram now. The Qu family, a major grain supplier in the city, burned down their entire estate overnight. I don’t know where everyone went. Without the Qu family, there’s basically no grain left in the city. My whole family, dozens of people, consumes a lot of grain every day. I’m so worried.” The middle-aged woman poured out all her worries as soon as she brought up this issue.
It's not just the families here who are lacking food; most people are.
"Are you short of food? Do you want to buy some? We have unhulled rice and wheat..." He Yuping wasn't trying to make money, but she felt sorry for these people if they couldn't buy food in the city. They would have to tighten their belts and even have to eat tree bark and grass roots. She wanted to help them.
"Buy, of course we have to buy! Young man, do you know where we can buy it? We'll buy it no matter the price. Sister, could you ask your friend to give us a little more? All the rice in the fields in our village has been harvested, not a single grain is left. Right now, it's true, there's not a single grain left." Hearing that there was grain for sale, the middle-aged woman excitedly grabbed He Yuping's hand and looked at her with expectant eyes.
"I'll go ask them how much you need. It would be best if you could bring your own sacks; otherwise, they'll charge you more." He Yuping thought about having her daughter get some food. These people were so pitiful, and she wanted to help them as much as possible before leaving.
Although she didn't know exactly how much food her daughter had in her space, based on what they had talked about in the warehouse yesterday, the two of them would never need to buy food and would never finish it. Rather than leaving it there, she thought it better to take it out and help others.
“We have our own preparations. Little brother, wait for me. You must wait for me. By the way, my surname is Weng, and everyone in the village calls me Sister-in-law Weng. You can call me that too, little brother.” Sister-in-law Weng couldn’t care less about anything else now and hurriedly called her children out of the house.
Instruct them to first find the village chief and talk to him to see how many people want to buy.
She quickly ran to the kitchen and poured two cups of sugar water. She felt very embarrassed about her outburst.
"Little brother, little one, have some sweet soup. I'm so sorry, I scared the little one. By the way, little brother, what are you doing in Yuncheng with a little one? It's not a safe place along the way. Those bastards just retreated, and many people who were robbed want to go out and make a living. There are refugees everywhere. You have to be careful when you go out." Aunt Weng sat opposite He Yuping and pushed the smaller bowl of sweet soup in front of He Caiwei, gesturing for her to drink it quickly.
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