Li Lanzhen didn't need to turn around to know that it was Han Yanyan who was causing trouble.
Han Yanyan's shout immediately attracted a large number of people fleeing the disaster to come to her aid.
The child who was about to starve to death didn't get to eat the bread in her hand. Instead, he was trampled underfoot by the swarming refugees behind him. Han Yanyan was trampled underfoot by the rushing crowd in the same way.
Xue Bao and his men, who were maintaining order, gathered the people of Hanjiacun together with even greater vigilance. The elderly, children, and women were all in the middle. Xue Laohu also stopped his car and became alert.
The old village chief and Aunt Huaihua were also pushed to the ground while trying to protect their daughter.
Li Lanzhen didn't move; she just looked after her own children. At this moment, she also carried her youngest daughter, Han Yumei, into the big blue mule cart, lowered the curtain, and told them not to make a sound and to stay quietly inside.
The children were so frightened by the sudden noise outside that they fell silent, huddling together and shrinking into one another.
Han Shunde and his son Han Zhaoxiong charged forward, brandishing broadswords and wooden sticks, and began beating the men one by one.
The refugees wanted to rush towards other houses in Hanjiacun, especially targeting mule carts and donkey carts, but Xue Bao, along with a dozen or so young men, pointed broadswords at them and said, "Don't come any closer! If you do, we'll break your heads!"
The refugees were intimidated by their imposing presence and dared not rush forward.
When Han Shunde and Han Zhaoxiong finally fought off the swarming refugees and pulled Han Yanyan out from under their feet, Han Yanyan was stripped naked and covered in injuries.
Aunt Huaihua quickly tore a piece of cloth from the car and wrapped it tightly around herself.
Li Lanzhen glanced at it from afar, feeling nothing in her heart.
Neither sad nor happy, everything is self-inflicted.
Before leaving, she repeatedly instructed them not to show kindness to the refugees. Fortunately, Han Yanyan did not say anything else. If she had told the refugees that there was food in Hanjiacun or that someone else had food, it would have caused even greater trouble.
Han Yanyan's face was swollen, and one of her eyes had turned black.
At this moment, Gu Yushi rushed over and shook her body loudly, shouting, "Your Majesty, wake up, Mother!"
Han Shunde was furious. Without even glancing at them, he stood up and shouted at the people of Hanjia Village, "You all saw it, didn't you? We've told you time and time again not to do good deeds indiscriminately, but Han Yanyan just wouldn't listen. She not only harmed herself but also others. She originally wanted to help the child, but look at this child and his mother, trampled to death by this group of heartless refugees."
Have you all seen what would happen if these people charged at us?
So take care of yourselves on the journey of fleeing famine. We don't have much to eat ourselves, just wild vegetables and tree bark. What are you going to use to pity others?
Looking at Han Yanyan's condition, Li Lanzhen estimated that she wouldn't live much longer, but whether she lived or died was none of her business.
As long as he doesn't cause trouble for her and her family, we can let him be. But now he's reaping what he sowed.
The refugees scattered and quickly moved away from the people of Hanjiacun.
The old village chief told Han Shunde to put Han Yanyan on their oxcart.
Aunt Huaihua had already dressed Han Yanyan, and Han Shunde put her on the oxcart and then left her there.
When Han Zhaoxiong's wife saw Han Yanyan lying on the oxcart, she immediately picked up her little daughter Ruyi and got off the oxcart. She would rather walk than sit on the cart with this ungrateful wretch.
Aunt Huaihua also suggested that she put Ruyi on the oxcart, but she shook her head and said, "No, I'm afraid that ungrateful wretch will throw my daughter out."
Aunt Huaihua smiled awkwardly.
After regrouping, everyone continued on their way.
Han Shunde instructed everyone to stay close together and not to spread out, as the Han family village team was too far apart and Xue Bao and his dozen or so men could not protect them.
And so, without any real danger, it wasn't until noon, when the sun was blazing, that the snow leopard found a dry grove of trees.
There were already more than 30 people resting in the grove.
After they went inside, they left their car and luggage more than 200 meters away from those people.
Han Shunde said, "Let's rest here for a bit, avoid the sun, and wait until it cools down a little before we leave. We'll stay up a little later tonight."
Perhaps it was the dozen or so young men from Hanjia Village wielding broadswords and wooden sticks that frightened the refugees, and no one dared to approach him again.
The weather was hot, and Han Yanyan began to vomit blood on the oxcart.
Li Lanzhen clearly suffered internal organ damage from being trampled.
She didn't pay much attention to Han Yanyan; her life or death was no longer Li Lanzhen's concern.
Perhaps it was the way the refugees rushed forward that frightened Linglong and Su Chen.
From then on, the two children refused to get off the big blue mule cart.
They walked all day until the moon rose, but still couldn't find suitable lodging.
Finally, they settled down by a dried-up stream.
Han Shunde instructed everyone to park their cars on the outer perimeter, while the people stayed inside, and three bonfires were lit in the middle.
Han Mingjiang led the big blue mule and the little black donkey, feeding them some hay and water used to wash pots and pans.
Li Lanzhen secretly fed the big blue mule and the black donkey a handful of soybeans.
They also fed a handful of soybeans to the donkeys belonging to Xue Laohu's family and Zhang Deshui's family.
These animals pulling the cart should be treated better.
Li Erhan and his son Li Xishui inspected the cars belonging to the families. They were sturdy, but very heavy and couldn't carry much.
Li Lanzhen's family had several children on their big blue mule cart, and the mule was covered in sweat. Li Lanzhen felt extremely sorry for the mule.
After giving some extra food to the cart pullers, she slowly walked towards the campfire and saw three people talking to the old village chief from afar.
As the group talked, tears streamed down their faces. She wondered if she could meet relatives on this journey of fleeing famine.
When he got to his house, he saw that the children had already eaten and were asleep on the straw mats, so he asked Han Mingjiang, "What's the situation at the village chief's place?"
"Oh! Mother, you have no idea that those twenty or thirty people over there actually came from our whole town."
Not far from our Han Family Village is Dong Family Village, which is even bigger than our village, with nearly 200 people. They fled from disaster, but encountered government troops conscripting men. They took more than a dozen people from the village, and while fleeing, they were robbed. Several girls were taken, and many elderly people were killed. Now, only these twenty or thirty people are left. When they saw the old village chief, they started crying as they spoke.”
Li Lanzhen knew without a doubt that they had experienced everything they were supposed to experience during their escape from famine, except that she had a special ability that could protect Hanjiacun to some extent.
"What do they mean? Do they want to come with us?"
Han Mingjiang shook his head, "I don't know yet. If they want to come with us, the old village chief should come and ask you about it."
As the mother and daughter were talking, the old village chief came over with a hunched-over man.
"Lanzhen, this is Dong Dashan, the village chief of Dongjiazhuang in our town."
Dong Dashan looked to be about the same age as the old village chief, but he looked much more haggard and his back was hunched. He smiled ingratiatingly at Li Lanzhen and said, "Niece, I just told your old village chief that I wanted to go with him, but he couldn't make the decision, so he asked you for advice."
Li Lanzhen said, "We are going east to Youzhou Prefecture."
"If you want to go there, just follow along, but you're responsible for your own food, drinks, and safety along the way."
Dong Dashan was surprised that Li Lanzhen agreed so readily. He nodded vigorously and said with a smile, "Hey, hey, we'll take responsibility ourselves, we'll take responsibility ourselves."
The old village chief nodded gratefully to Li Lanzhen, smiled, and led Dong Dashan away.
Li Lanzhen sat there thinking a lot. All she had was a golden finger, and all she wanted was to find a stable place to live with her family and a few in-laws. As for whether others followed her or not, that was their business and had nothing to do with her.
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