The two walked in quickly. An Shuyi bought some embroidery thread and three bolts of fabric. These were all brightly colored, but her trading system indicated that they were gray fabrics. After buying them, the two went to buy grain, but it was too expensive. They bought a shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice and went back. They really didn't know what to buy; everything was too expensive.
When they returned to the outskirts of the county town, almost everyone had returned. Village Chief Lin was already counting the number of people. Seeing that the eldest brother was already able to drive the horse-drawn cart, he told Xiao Si to put the rice on the oxcart, the cloth in the horse-drawn cart, and tie up as much of the things in the baskets as possible to the back of the horse-drawn cart.
"Now that everyone is here, let's set off. We'll stop for a rest and lunch at noon," said Village Chief Lin, before driving the oxcart away.
Now, every family in the group has an ox, and those without oxen have mules. People no longer need to pull carts, so the speed is significantly faster. The older generation and the younger generation ride in oxcarts, while the younger ones carry baskets on their backs.
An Shuyi also got into the carriage, but she was with her stepmother. The eldest brother drove the carriage, and his wife sat next to him with the child in her arms. The second brother drove the oxcart, and his wife sat next to him. The child was held by the fifth brother and sat on the horse.
The third and fourth brothers carried baskets on their backs, and when they got tired, they would take turns sitting with their two sisters-in-law.
Mother An touched her daughter's face and said with heartache, "Shuyi, what happened to you? This isn't just a bump, did you get into a fight?"
Knowing she couldn't hide it any longer, An Shuyi said, "The day before yesterday, the second brother, along with the third and fourth brothers, pulled up the vegetables of a family in the village and took a chicken. They agreed to compensate one tael of silver, but that woman was heartless and hit me on the head with a stone."
Madam Chen covered her mouth in astonishment, "Heavens, how can there be such a heartless person? Shuyi, didn't you call the authorities?"
“No,” An Shuyi shook her head. “My child was also at fault, but I hit her too. The village chief saw that she was badly injured, so he made me pay two hundred coins to settle the matter.”
"Don't worry, Mother and Sister-in-law. After this incident, I've come to terms with it. You have to be tough. Otherwise, you won't even know how you've been bullied. If you're not strong enough, you won't be able to control those kids at home."
"I'm fine, but I feel bad for the children's father. Yesterday, I saw that the third son went gambling again. People from gambling dens come to our house. If I hadn't been firm, the house would have been emptied out long ago."
Mother An nodded, "We should be firmer, but it will be tough on you, my daughter!"
“Mother, I’m not suffering,” An Shuyi said. She wasn’t suffering at all; if she was suffering, it was others who were suffering.
It was noon when An Shuyi got off the carriage. She asked her sister-in-law to take good care of her parents. Everyone was already preparing to cook, but they were only making simple meals. She went to brew medicine for Xiao Wu and asked her two daughters-in-law to prepare food.
After finishing their meal, they hurried on their way again. They didn't travel much that day, and only rested and cooked dinner after dark.
They were taking a side path, not the main road, because they were afraid of encountering other refugees fleeing famine or bandits along the way. You see, their group of refugees used oxen, horses, and mules to pull their things, which was much better than other refugees who had to walk. Although there were nearly three hundred of them, half of them were elderly people and children. As long as it wasn't a large group of refugees, they weren't afraid. But if they encountered bandits, that would be troublesome.
After dinner, everyone sat and chatted. The weather was incredibly hot, so we could just lie down anywhere and go to sleep.
"Mom, look over there, isn't that the county town? Why is it on fire?" Xiao Si asked, tugging at An Shuyi. He had just gone to relieve himself and saw flames shooting into the sky over the county town in the distance.
"What?" An Shuyi put down the clothes she was sewing, stood up, and looked in the direction of the county town. The others also heard Xiao Si's words and looked at the county town like her.
"Oh no!" An Shuyi's heart sank. This must have been done by refugees. Although they were close to the north, there were even poorer families further on, in a desolate and flat area where they probably had nothing to eat.
Now the refugees are starting to flee this way, it seems they can no longer travel at the same pace as today, they need to speed up.
"Shushu!" Xia Hua walked to her side and supported her trembling body. She knew what she was afraid of: refugees, the kind of refugees in novels who would eat people. Luckily, they ran fast. If they had been half a day later, they wouldn't have been able to escape. This county town was the best example of that!
“Sister-in-law, I know you have the best ideas, but what should we do now?” Since yesterday, Village Chief Lin has been looking at this sister-in-law with new respect, especially after seeing the burning county town.
He's the village chief, after all; how could he be so brainless? This must have been done by the refugees. If they hadn't listened to his sister-in-law, they probably would have been killed by the refugees long ago, since those refugees had to pass through their village to get to the county town.
The others were also looking at her. They all knew that it was An who had led the discussion about fleeing the famine, and they figured she must have a solution now.
“Don’t rush,” An Shuyi said, looking at them. “The county town must have been ransacked by those refugees. Right now, they’re only focused on making food and don’t have time to travel. Let’s get a good rest tonight and speed up our journey tomorrow. Don’t stop to cook lunch either; try to make some dry rations to eat during the day.”
"But don't make too much, it's hot and you can't keep it. Also, keep your kitchen knives and hoes where you can easily reach them. Now everyone should take a break. If you're a family that needs to make dry rations, then send one or two people to do it."
Village Chief Lin nodded, agreeing with his sister-in-law's reasoning. "Now that everyone has heard what she said, let's hurry up and make some food and rest as needed."
"Hua Hua, come to the carriage and help me change my dressing." An Shuyi pulled Xia Hua to the carriage, where the horse had already been taken by the eldest brother to feed it hay.
Xia Hua took off the cloth wrapped around her head, washed it again, and wrapped it up in the cloth. It was a pity that the crazy woman who beat Shu Shu didn't come, otherwise she would have beaten her again. But she's probably dead now.
"Shushu, the wound isn't infected, but you still need to be careful, it's so hot." Looking at her clothes, she really wanted to take them off and just wear a bellyband; she was dying of heat.
"Okay, did you broadcast today?" An Shuyi whispered in her ear.
Xia Hua nodded, "It's on. Don't worry, there were even more people today than before. I've already earned back half of the money I spent today. As for the other half, I'll broadcast it again when there's a suitable opportunity, and that'll be settled."
She doesn't plan to continue live streaming tomorrow. Today was the first day of the famine relief effort, and many people watched. If she continues the famine relief effort tomorrow, it won't be interesting. She'll wait for a suitable opportunity to start live streaming again and make a fortune.
“That’s great,” An Shuyi nodded. “Then you should go back and rest. I’ll go pick up the clothes that were thrown outside earlier.”
"Alright, let's go out together." The two got off the carriage, and the fire had been lit again in their resting place, where they began to prepare dry rations.
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