Han Mingxiang looked up and saw several hundred flood victims floating in the vast floodwaters, using all sorts of tools.
Some were tied together with two door panels, on which were placed some belongings that had probably been salvaged from the water, and there were children sitting on them. They all looked tense and numb, with no hope in sight.
At this moment, these people were gathered together, making a lot of noise, and what was blocking their way were probably five boats and two rafts tied together with wood.
A dozen or so men brandished gleaming knives or held wooden sticks, shouting menacingly, "If you want to pass through here, you must bring silver and food, or you'll turn back and go back to where you came from."
Han Mingxiang was also a little nervous. He absolutely couldn't let them find out about the bag Li Lanzhen had given him; it contained the things he and Han Shulan needed to survive their escape from famine.
At this moment, Han Shulan whispered in Han Mingxiang's ear, "Brother Mingxiang, we'll tie the bag to our calves, and make sure it's not showing below the waist. They shouldn't be able to spot it."
This idea caught Han Mingxiang's eye; it was indeed a good one.
Han Mingxiang dived into the water and took three or four tries to tie the bag and everything else to her calves.
Han Shulan asked Han Mingxiang to tie something on her legs, but Han Mingxiang refused.
"No, Shulan, just stay close behind me and we'll get through this smoothly, that's all that matters."
Han Mingxiang packed his tattered clothes into a bundle containing the tattered clothes they had changed out of while resting on the roof of that house, and changed into the clothes that Li Lanzhen had prepared for them.
Han Mingxiang was very grateful to Li Lanzhen for preparing clothes for them. They were all blue coarse cloth clothes, but now that they were soaked in the flood, their hair and clothes were covered in mud, and they looked no different from mud monkeys.
Han Mingxiang grabbed a handful of mud and smeared it on Han Shulan's face, hair, and clothes.
“Brother Mingxiang, look over there, the flood has washed over several large wooden cabinets. I wonder if there’s anything inside.”
Han Shulan pointed behind them to a pile of furniture, tree branches, trees, and other miscellaneous items that had been washed in by the flood.
Han Mingxiang also got excited, "Don't move here, hold on to the wood tightly, and wait for me."
"Okay, don't worry, I won't move and will wait for you to come back," Han Shulan said happily to Han Mingxiang.
Han Mingxiang dodged several large trees and grabbed a wooden cabinet with a lock on the door. Using the force of the flood, he slowly drifted the cabinet to Han Shulan's side.
They placed the cabinet with the doors facing upwards, leaning it against the wood. Han Mingxiang used the small knife to pry open the lock on the cabinet door, and Han Shulan quickly pulled out a small half-bag of what looked like wild vegetables or something similar.
Han Mingxiang found a thin quilt, a few pieces of clothing, and a few hemp ropes inside.
A blue bundle, a pair of embroidered shoes, a pair of scissors, and needles and thread—Han Shulan was overjoyed. This way, if their clothes were torn again, they could be mended so that their skin wouldn't be exposed and embarrassed.
Although both the east and west sides of Beihai Lake were soaked, it made them, who had nothing, extremely happy.
Han Mingxiang saw that the wooden cabinet's outer frame was sturdy, so he thought that if he tied the cabinet to the wood, Han Shulan could sit on it and not be constantly submerged in the floodwaters.
Her face has been pale these past few days; a young woman shouldn't be soaking in water all the time.
So he tied the cabinet legs and the wood together with hemp rope. The other side was more troublesome, so Han Shulan used scissors to poke a hole in one side of the cabinet.
"The rope goes through here and gets tied up."
Han Mingxiang tied it up in no time, and it looked pretty good. "Shulan, sit up here."
The two were happily tidying up their "boat" that could float on the water. Unexpectedly, a commotion suddenly broke out ahead.
"Charge! Let's rush over there!"
In an instant, adults shouted and children cried, and people on both sides started fighting. It turned out that when the people on this side saw a large number of furniture, tree branches and big trees rushing over and blocking the water bandits who wanted food, they also quickly rowed their boats to avoid them.
The people behind took the opportunity to rush over. Han Mingxiang also discovered a gap. Han Shulan did not climb onto the cabinet. Instead, she quickly pushed the wood with him, hiding herself behind the cabinet, and slid towards the gap.
Han Mingxiang would occasionally grab a few tree branches and casually place them on the cabinet, making the two of them even more well hidden.
A little while later, several large trees, tables, chairs, and other items floated over from behind them. Just as Han Mingxiang turned his head to look, he saw a familiar head under the table.
The black-headed man noticed him looking at him, shook his head, and gestured for him to be quiet.
They took turns shoveling branches and other twigs that drifted by and draping them over their wooden frame, making it look like a piece of wood furniture from the outside.
Just as they were about to pass the pirates' boats, Han Mingxiang heard the cries of children and women.
"Ah, no! My husband, you can't die! Don't take my child away!"
"Mother, mother~~"
Looking through the gaps in the branches, one could see that the bandits had captured several young women, wives, and children, all of whom were tied up and placed on the boat.
He gritted his teeth, wanting to rush over to help them, but the dark-skinned man behind him whispered, "What do you want to do? Are you looking for death? Don't drag me into this. What will happen to your wife? I don't care. You're playing the hero, but what about your wife?"
Han Mingxiang looked at Han Shulan, who was staring at him with big eyes, closed his eyes briefly, and continued paddling. When they were far away from here, they saw the disaster victims who had been blocked slowly paddling over.
Of course, on the boats and rafts of those river bandits, there were girls and children crying loudly.
Han Mingxiang looked at the dark head hiding under a big tree not far from her and said, "Thank you for saving us on the beach."
Blackhead chuckled, "You're welcome. That old hag and I have a grudge, but it wasn't all because of saving you. I was taking revenge."
Han Mingxiang escaped the flood safely. It took Li Lanzhen and the others two hours to get all the people from Hanjiacun to that place that was recessed into the mountain.
No one complained that this place was not as good as the cave; they all cleared out a space to settle their families, young and old.
Looking at the surrounding mountains, Li Lanzhen could clearly see that the further down she went, the less vegetation there was, and the more withered the vegetation became.
The people of Hanjiacun also noticed this. After settling their families, they went up the mountain in twos and threes, carrying baskets on their backs, to gather things that could fill their stomachs.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com