She put away the underwear in the room, which had already dried, and put it in the warehouse, taking up another warehouse space. She told her sons to hurry up and move the rice and flour from her room to the cart.
There were already many multigrain steamed buns on the table in the main room, indicating that she had completed the tasks she had been given last night very well.
Then An Shuyi placed two large bundles on the cart. These were clothes and some other miscellaneous items. She deliberately made them so big so that when she took something out later, people would only assume that it was something she had put in the bundles. Anyway, no one would dare to rummage through her things.
The quilts in the room were tied up and put on the cart. After everything was almost ready, the eldest daughter-in-law heated the water before she went to wash up.
"Boss, did you bring all of Xiao Wu's medicine?"
“Mother, I’ve already brought everything. I brought the stove for boiling medicine, and all the cooking utensils too,” the eldest replied.
He took everything useful from the house with him. If the cart couldn't hold it all, he hung it on both sides of the cart. Even his basket was full, but he still left some room on the cart.
"Let's go, to your village chief's house." After saying that, she took the lead and walked ahead. She wasn't unaware of her children's reluctance to leave, but if they stayed any longer, they would just be waiting to die!
Although she has a trading system and can support her family by staying here, she knows that in a few days, refugees will start coming here. Those people are already starving and will grab whatever they see. There's no food, and there are people too.
Although she and Huahua are somewhat skilled, their frail bodies need more rest and recuperation, otherwise they won't be able to beat anyone and will only become snacks to eat with alcohol.
When they arrived, the village chief's house was already surrounded by people. Seeing her coming, they asked her worriedly if she was feeling better. An Shuyi said that she was fine.
Hua Hua arrived shortly after, followed by her three sons, all pulling carts and carrying baskets on their backs. Her eldest daughter-in-law had a child in her basket.
"Shushu!" Xia Hua walked over.
"Hua Hua!" The two then stood together, waiting for the village chief to come out.
Everyone else couldn't help but laugh at how good their relationship was. They had fought, but their relationship had actually improved. Their sons, on the other hand, looked on with a sense of shared misery, because they all had bruises on their bodies from being beaten by their mothers. The third son, in particular, had been beaten not only by the gambling den but also by his mother, who had beaten him even more severely.
The village chief quickly came out of his house. "Now that everyone is here, let's set off. Those who haven't arrived don't need to wait. They can go or not if they want."
He then got into his own oxcart and led the way, while the clan chief and others were already sitting in their own oxcarts. There weren't many oxen in the village, only five, but they were all arranged for the older people to sit in them.
Apart from Xia Hua's family, which is not surnamed, there are only two other families with different surnames. The rest are all members of the Lin clan, totaling 21 households. The largest household has 20 people, and the smallest has 5 people. There are 3 households with different surnames, making a total of 24 households, which adds up to 239 people. Children and the elderly make up about half of them.
With so many people standing together, it was quite a large group, and it was certainly noisy.
An Shuyi walked to the cart, picked up Xiao Qi, and said, "Eldest brother, second brother, you two take turns pulling the cart. Third and fourth brothers, carry the things on your backs. Eldest brother's wife and second brother's wife, you two take care of the child. Xiao Wu, you three get on the cart."
After saying that, she put Xiaoqi on the cart. There was a blanket on the cart, so she pulled it over and covered her up. Xiaoliu didn't need her to carry him; he climbed up on his own and sat obediently next to Xiaoqi.
Xiao Wu said, "Mom, I don't need to. I'll walk with you for a while." He was already fourteen years old; how could he sit up there with his younger siblings?
"Okay, then you can walk for a while, but don't push yourself, okay? Otherwise, your mother will worry about you. I'll make you some medicine during your lunch break." An Shuyi said with heartache as she looked at her sickly son.
Xiao Wu nodded, "Okay, Mom!"
"Let's go, keep up, don't fall behind!" She and Huahua stayed at the back, with the village chief leading the way, and the group set off for the county town in a grand procession.
They didn't arrive in the county town until dawn. An Shuyi's family saw them and hurriedly drove over in a horse-drawn carriage and an oxcart. An's father stepped forward and asked, "Young Lin, is Shuyi with you?"
Village Chief Lin nodded, "They're together, but her family is at the back. Uncle An, why don't you go to the back and tell my sister-in-law that the others can walk in front, okay?"
Uncle An's family only had two children, an older son and a daughter. The older son was also a scholar and used to be a teacher at the county academy. Later, when Uncle An got old, he sent him back to the village to work as a teacher.
He only had two sons; the elder son was already a student of the Imperial Academy, while the younger son had only attended school for a few years.
"Thank you, young man Lin, but it's not necessary. We'll stay with Shuyi so we can look after each other," said Father An.
"Then we'll go first, Uncle An will wait for Sister-in-law and the others." He instructed his son to drive the oxcart forward. The Lin clan members behind them nodded and greeted them. Soon they reached An Shuyi and the others.
"Father!" An Shuyi ran forward a few steps, "Are Mother and Sister-in-law in the carriage?" Her adoptive father and elder brother were both scholars, and their family was better off than other families. They not only had a horse-drawn carriage, but also an oxcart.
"Inside, Shuyi, what happened to your head?" Father An looked at the injury on his daughter's head and felt heartbroken.
"It's alright, Dad. You bumped into something. Get in the carriage quickly, let's get going." An Shuyi turned around and called out, "Second brother, go tell your village chief uncle that we should go directly through the county town. See if there are any people left in the county town. If there are, buy some things first, and then take the side roads instead of the main roads. Hurry up."
"Understood, Mother!" Upon receiving the instruction, the second brother quickly carried the basket on his back and ran forward. He and his elder brother not only had to pull the cart, but also had to take turns carrying things.
Looking at his decisive daughter, An's father felt as if he didn't recognize her at all. His daughter used to be gentle and quiet, and she had never spoken so loudly before.
"Father, I know what you want to ask. Can we ask later? Let's get going now."
Father An nodded, "You can take the carriage; there's room up there."
An Shuyi shook her head. "Father, don't worry about your daughter. Get in the carriage quickly. I have things to do."
"Alright, then Father, get on the carriage first."
Seeing him go up, An Shuyi hurriedly pulled Xia Hua aside and told the others to go first. "Hua Hua, let's go to the county town first and see if there are any horses or cows to sell. Otherwise, we don't know how far we can go if we rely on people to pull us."
Although buying cattle requires registration at the government office, by this time, the county magistrate might have already fled. They would buy the cattle first and then register them later once things had settled down.
Xia Hua nodded, "Okay, Shu Shu is so thoughtful. Let's go quickly."
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