Chapter 104 Stolen
Wang Fugui came back home cursing.
"This is inhumane! It's just soaked in water, it's not inedible, but the price is even lower than that of whole grains. They're simply taking advantage of the situation!"
"Swindlers! They're bullying us because we can only sell to them, right? They're such rotten, black-hearted bastards! I won't sell to them!"
.....
Zhang Heshun came back with a depressed look on his face.
The cart was also empty.
The villagers understood what was going on at a glance, sighed, and went back to their rooms to get busy.
They can't even protect themselves, and they can't pity others.
The flood not only soaked the food, but also soaked all the household belongings.
It doesn’t matter if it’s pots and pans, you can just use them after washing, but clothes and bedding, especially quilts and cotton-padded clothes in winter, are simply terrible!
It has been soaked in yellow mud mixed with countless feces, rotten leaves and mud. I rely on these things to survive in winter, so I absolutely can't bear to throw them away, so I can only wash them.
Although cotton clothes are heavy to wash, it is not difficult. But the quilt and mattress are impossible to lift after being soaked in water!
I could only draw water from the public well over and over again, soak it in a large wooden basin, then stamp it clean with my feet, change the water, repeat the process, and finally spread it flat on the table to let the water drip. When I set off tomorrow, I would move it to the cart and dry it while walking.
There are also chickens, ducks and geese that need to be cleaned up...
They have to set off tomorrow morning, and they only have afternoon and tonight left.
Everyone was so busy that they couldn't even lift their arms. They didn't dare sleep in the destroyed house at night. Fortunately, in the summer, they didn't have to worry about catching a cold. They spread thatch in the yard, put a straw mat on it, and slept soundly in their clothes.
*
"Oh no! Someone come quickly, catch the thief!"
"Someone is stealing food! Help come quickly..."
The shrill cry broke the silence of the night.
Jiang Datao and Jiang Dalan felt that they had not slept for very long. After hearing this, they woke up instantly with a start. They turned over swiftly, picked up the hoe leaning against the cart and rushed out. They saw that their father and brother-in-law were already running ahead.
Li Xiulan, who was woken up, looked sleepy. After a while, she came to her senses and asked in surprise, "Are our things not lost?"
Jiang Ying quickly replied, "It's not lost! Don't worry."
He then looked at the children who had been woken up one after another, and said gently to the family in the yard, "Go to sleep, everyone. You've been tired for several days. Tomorrow's hard work will definitely be no less than the past few days. You can't bear it without rest."
Zhou Yan hummed with lingering fear and replied, "Sister, you should sleep too. You've been much more tired than us these past few days. I'm a light sleeper, so I'll stay here and wait until Dad and the head of the family come back before going to sleep."
It was only later that she found out that her sister and father took turns keeping watch.
Those thieves were probably not leaving, but hiding somewhere. They would feel more at ease if there was someone watching over the women, children and belongings in the yard.
Jiang Ying was indeed tired after a few days and did not delay lying down. However, apart from the young and ignorant children in the yard, how could anyone else sleep peacefully after knowing that there was a thief?
I don't know what's going on with that family...
When Jiang Datao and Jiang Dalan arrived at Wang Fugui's yard, quite a few people had already arrived, and behind them were men carrying hoes and carrying poles.
Sun Xiaomai sat on the ground and cried loudly.
Wang Jin, the eldest son of the Wang family, scratched his head and evaded responsibility, saying, "We thought it was just a flood, so it would be fine to leave our things in the yard. Anyway, everyone has been leaving their things in the yard these days, so after we packed up, we went back to the house to sleep."
The second son, Wang Yin, continued, "When I woke up at night, I heard the sound of a cart turning. I rushed out and saw someone pulling our cart in the dark! He yelled and then he dropped the cart and ran away. But the food on the cart had been almost completely moved. Only the cart and the three sacks of food were left."
He was afraid that there were accomplices of the thieves ahead to support him, so he didn't dare to chase after them alone.
Jiang Tian slapped his thigh and said angrily, "It's only been a few days since the flood, and these people are already doing evil!"
"We farmers have a hard life already, and now we've suffered a disaster. These people have no conscience! They will get their comeuppance sooner or later." The Hong family was also furious.
Zhao Laoer was puzzled: "Hey, we put our things in the yard because people sleep on the ground there. How can you be so careless as to put your belongings and food in the yard and let people sleep there?"
When Boss Zhao saw his brother say something inappropriate, he interrupted him hurriedly: "Okay, stop talking, the Wang family never expected this, don't add salt to the fire;
But what happened tonight has also reminded us that the world is in chaos and bad people have come out. We must be more vigilant in the future."
The other men reacted and started discussing: "Yeah, we might run into them again on the road. What should we do?"
"This is still done secretly, I guess they can just rob it later!"
"We don't know if any crops have been washed away in the severely affected areas. If all the crops are gone, it will be really dangerous."
"If you don't have enough food, you can do anything."
......
Seeing the change in topic, Sun Xiaomai, who had been wailing on the ground, stopped crying and accused, "That thief wasn't a disaster victim, he was a poor resident of the city. He must have been targeted when he went to the city to sell food this afternoon!"
"Oh my god, I said I didn't want to sell it, but they forced me to sell it. No one helped me. Now we don't even have enough food to soak in water. How are we going to survive in the future?"
"We lived in the same village, and we saw each other every day, but now everyone is watching someone die without helping..."
The men who came to help looked at each other in confusion. Was she blaming them for not agreeing to help her family transport food at noon?
Are you still blaming the village chief for letting them sell grain?
The Jiang family was the first to react. Jiang Tian snorted angrily, waved his hand and shouted, "Go!"
His second brother worked hard for them, but not only did they not appreciate it, they even put the blame on his second brother.
As the younger brother, he was the first to disagree!
The Jiang family immediately responded to the call and went back to their house to sleep.
The other men followed suit, waving and shouting, "Wait, Village Chief, let's discuss what to do on the road tomorrow."
"Yes, the situation is not peaceful now. You are very knowledgeable. How about we arrange the journey?"
"Especially at night! It's too dangerous. We've never even left home before, so how are we going to handle this journey?"
Jiang Yang was afraid of disturbing his family when he got home, so he simply stopped and said briefly: "We have to travel all day tomorrow, and it's less than two hours before dawn. Everyone, go back to bed, otherwise your body won't be able to bear it;
The road is muddy and difficult to travel on. We must hurry to Yangcheng before dinner the day after tomorrow. The Jiang family will keep watch tomorrow night, and we will make all the subsequent arrangements after we arrive in Yangcheng!"
In the past, it only took one and a half days to get to Yangcheng, but now there are so many people and things, it will take at least two days whether you hurry or not.
When we get to Yangcheng, we will reunite with Shen Qing and his family, and then we will make unified arrangements.
And Shen Qing said that she had ordered a big knife, and asked him to choose a suitable candidate. It would be a good opportunity for him to pay close attention to the team in the next two days to see who would be given the task.
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