Li Lanzhen opened her eyes and saw that it was still dark.
She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair.
Xue Laohu had already cooked the wild vegetable porridge, and Gou Dan had baked the wild vegetable pancakes.
Han Mingjiang handed Li Lanzhen a damp cloth.
"Mother, wipe your face, eat your meal, it's time to go up the mountain."
After having breakfast and feeding the big blue mule, we continued up the mountain.
Around noon, the five of them crossed the mountain and reached the mountainside on the other side.
At this point, they became extremely cautious.
Upon reaching a dense thicket, Xue Laohu waved for them to stop, saying, "You all hide here first, I'll go down and take a look."
Han Mingjiang wanted to go with them, but he stopped him.
"You stay here and watch over your mother and the two children. I'll be right back."
Sure enough, Xue Laohu returned in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
Li Lanzhen couldn't tell from his face whether the situation down the mountain was good or bad.
Then Xue Laohu said, "There are no refugees left on either side of the city gate of Youzhou City at the foot of the mountain. The city gate of Youzhou City is wide open, and I think people can come and go freely."
Han Mingjiang suddenly asked his mother, "Mom, did you bring your household registration certificate?"
Li Lanzhen paused for a moment, then suddenly remembered that when they fled the famine, Han Minghai had entrusted her with the family's household registration certificate and Han Mingxiang's certificate of birth as a child prodigy.
She quickly took it out from a cabinet in her old home.
Han Mingjiang was taken aback when he saw his mother pull out the family's household registration certificate from her bosom. He then said, "Mom, just take it with you. I guess they'll need to check it when we go to the city."
Xue Laohu frowned and said worriedly, "My dear in-law, although it looks quite peaceful outside Youzhou City, we don't know what the situation is inside. You should still be careful. We'll wait here for the night."
If you haven't come up the mountain by noon tomorrow, my second brother and I will go into town to find you.
Li Lanzhen wanted them to return to the valley, but then she remembered that she still needed to retrieve supplies from her spatial storage, so she nodded and said, "Alright, you can wait here."
Using the basket on his back, he took out dark flour, wild vegetable cakes, and that small earthenware jar.
"Here, these are for you. Make your own porridge."
The big blue mule raised its head and looked at Li Lanzhen.
She grabbed two more handfuls of soybeans, put them in a small bag, and took them out to give to Han Mingjiang.
"Give this to the big blue mule. Feed it a little less, or it might get sick from overeating."
Li Lanzhen grabbed a handful of dirt and wiped it on her hands, face, and neck. Then she said to Gou Dan and Han Yinan, "You two should also wipe your faces with some dirt."
When they came out of the valley, all three of them were wearing their tattered clothes.
Li Lanzhen then made her hair a little messier.
Han Mingjiang handed Li Lanzhen a wooden stick.
"Mom, if you walk with this on your back, you can use it as a weapon if you're in danger."
Speaking of weapons, Li Lanzhen suddenly thought of something: leave a few firecrackers and double-bangs for the two of them, so that they could buy themselves some time to escape if they encountered danger.
After exchanging information with both sides, Li Lanzhen took her two children down the mountain.
Li Lanzhen, with her two children, went down the mountain and onto the official road, where there were many people coming and going.
There were donkey carts, horse-drawn carriages, and ordinary people carrying loads into the city.
Everything seemed peaceful, but Li Lanzhen inexplicably felt that something was wrong.
Gou Dan suddenly tugged at Li Lanzhen's sleeve and whispered, "Grandma Lanzhen, I have a feeling something's not right!"
We should not enter through the city gate of Youzhou.
Just like last time, find the dog hole, crawl through it, and check what's inside before making a decision.
Han Yinan also said, "Grandma, have you noticed? All these people are wearing clean clothes, unlike us, who are dressed in rags. If we get to the city gate, they won't arrest us, will they?"
Li Lanzhen suddenly thought of this question. Yes, the people coming and going here, even those carrying loads and acting as merchants, are all dressed very cleanly, and their clothes don't have many patches.
She made up her mind to adopt Gou Dan's method, continue to find the dog hole, crawl through it, and first investigate the situation inside Youzhou City.
"Okay, Gou Dan, you lead us to the dog hole in the city wall."
They found a dog hole in the west city wall. The dog hole was not easy to find because it was surrounded by bushes.
However, looking at the smooth, worn-down dirt around the dog hole, it's clear that people frequently pass through here.
Dog Egg was worried that Li Lanzhen wouldn't be able to squeeze in, so he took half a tree branch and dug the bottom of the dog hole a little bigger. Han Yinan also joined in digging.
The dog hole was enlarged in no time.
Li Lanzhen stopped them, saying, "Alright, alright, you can go now, no need to dig anymore."
Gou Dan said, "Grandma Lanzhou, let me go inside and check the situation first."
If it's safe, I'll bark like a puppy, and then you can come in.
If there's any danger, I'll shout, and you all run!
Li Lanzhen shook her head and firmly disagreed.
"No! If there's any danger, get out of there immediately. I've already planned the escape route; just follow me."
Dog Egg carefully crawled into the dog hole.
After a long while, she still couldn't hear any sound, and Li Lanzhen became anxious.
Then I heard three barks, "Woof woof woof."
Han Yinan relaxed his furrowed brows and whispered to his grandmother, "Grandma, it's safe inside. Gou Dan sent a message saying, go in quickly!"
As he spoke, he slid inside, and Li Lanzhen followed closely behind.
After passing through the city wall, Li Lanzhen saw a scene of desolation.
Gou Dan frowned and whispered to Li Lanzhen, "Grandma, this place is full of poor people. It's quite chaotic. Let's hurry up and wipe our clothes and faces clean, otherwise they'll think we're refugees."
Li Lanzhen quickly took out a damp cloth from her spatial storage and first wiped the children's faces and hands clean, then patted the dust off their bodies.
Then he wiped his hair clean and patted the dust off his body.
With their baskets on their backs, the three of them walked through the alley towards the city center.
Li Lianzhen led her two children through the narrow alleys of Xicheng District.
It didn't attract much attention.
Li Lanzhen looked at the people in Youzhou City and found that they were not as well off as the legends had described. The adults and children were sallow and thin, and their eyes were not very bright.
The houses here are almost all shacks, and the whole place is dirty and chaotic.
As you walk through these shacks, you can hear the coughs of the elderly, the cries of children, and the arguments of couples from time to time...
Few people paid them any attention, because the looks they received suggested that the three of them probably didn't have much to offer.
When they crossed the west side of the city and came to a main road.
Suddenly, more people appeared. Gou Dan said, "Grandma Lanzhen, this is the vegetable market. It's quite lively, and there are a lot of people here."
"We can gather a lot of information just by going in and taking a look."
Li Lanzhen agreed and took her two children into the market.
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