"Miss Huang, you were just joking. Why did you take it seriously? We're going south with the village."
After Lin Zhaohui's guidance last night, Lin Qiutao came to her senses and stopped flattering Huang Yinyin.
"You, so you were just teasing me."
Huang Yinyin was so angry that her chest heaved violently. She raised her hand to slap Lin Qiutao, but Lin Zhaohui stopped her hand.
The surrounding villagers all turned to look at them.
Taking advantage of the situation, Lin Zhaohui said loudly, "Miss Huang, my sister is not your servant. Don't shout for violence here."
Upon hearing this, the villagers immediately began to whisper among themselves.
"This person has been used to being a pampered young lady, and even on the run, she still wants to act like one."
"Tsk tsk, they start hitting people at the drop of a hat."
"Such a big temper at such a young age."
Huang Yinyin had never suffered such a loss before. She flung her sleeves, covered her face, and ran back to her own camp.
"Yinyin, what's wrong?" Madam Ge asked, seeing her daughter sitting silently, sulking.
Huang Yinyin wiped away her tears of grievance, her eyes filled with resentment.
"Mother, when we get to my uncle's place, I'll make them all kneel on the ground and beg me."
Huang Chengwen stared at the ugly scar on his hand, his face contorted in pain.
"Hmph, now you know what it feels like to be a tiger fallen into the plains and bullied by dogs."
"Shut up, all of you!"
Huang Guichang roared. He was in a hurry to get on the road every day, afraid of falling behind. He was relying on his last breath to wait for things to turn around. These ignorant brats actually had the energy to argue and spite each other. It really made him furious.
Gudao County is located in a remote area, surrounded by mountains, and the entire county is notoriously poor in the prefecture.
Bad mountains and bad waters breed unruly people. The rampant bandits in the mountains of Gudao County were known throughout the entire prefecture and even the Great Yan Kingdom.
Therefore, when the refugees saw the road marker at the crossroads leading to Gudao County, they all took a detour.
This morning, led by the Yun family, the group turned onto the small road leading to Gudao County.
After leaving the wide official road, the narrow path could barely accommodate one carriage, and not a single refugee was seen on the road.
After Lin Yinan finished relieving herself on the hillside not far away, the sharp-eyed Qianwu pointed halfway up the mountain and exclaimed, "Girl, look! There's someone there!"
Looking in the direction she pointed, three men were carrying firewood down a small path from the mountain.
They heard Qianwu's exclamation and stopped in their tracks, looking at Lin Yinan and the others from a distance.
When they saw the large group of people resting at the foot of the mountain, they were so frightened that they turned around and ran up the mountain.
Lin Yinan wanted to ask them about the situation in the county town, but it seems that's out of the question.
Back at the camp, Grandma Zhao distributed wild vegetable pancakes to everyone. Qianxia only took one, tore it open, and shared it with Qianwu.
Grandma Zhao handed them another one, saying, "Take it. How can you travel if you don't eat your fill? If you get sick from hunger, you'll have to spend money to see a doctor."
Qianxia silently accepted it. After a short period of interaction, she knew that Old Mrs. Zhao was sharp-tongued but kind-hearted.
Having traveled such a long distance, the two sisters had been walking the whole time, and they refused Lin Yinan's offer to take turns getting on the car to rest.
Lin Yinan took out two pieces of dried meat from her bundle. "Eat this meat. We still have to travel this afternoon."
"Girl, we'll have enough with just some flatbread." Qianxia was touched by the girl's kindness to them.
"Take it, or Grandma will scold me again when she sees it."
Qianxia reluctantly accepted it, while Qianwu stared at the jerky and swallowed hard. She had originally wanted to keep it, but Qianxia made up her mind and gave her a piece.
She couldn't bear to eat the remaining piece, so she put it in her personal purse.
After a 15-minute rest, the group set off again.
The further you go, the more barren the surrounding groves and hillsides become, with very little even dry weeds to be seen.
Based on experience, Lin Yinan knew there should be a village ahead.
As you follow the road downhill, you'll see a small village built into the mountainside.
The village is small, and consists entirely of low thatched houses.
"Look! There are people in the village ahead!" someone shouted.
Everyone looked toward the village without prior arrangement.
At the entrance of the village, a fence was erected using tree branches, sticks, and thorns.
A group of villagers, pale and thin, dressed in tattered clothes, no better off than the group, stood guard there, carrying hoes and carrying poles, staring menacingly at them.
They had an attitude that said, "If you dare to break into the village, I will fight you to the death."
As the group drew closer, the villagers, seeing the menacing Yun family guards, quickly shouted to stop them.
"Halt! Outsiders are not allowed in the village. Please take a detour."
The procession slowly came to a stop. Yun Mo, riding his horse, looked down at the villagers, who, though frightened, showed no sign of backing down.
Just as he was about to speak, the village chief stepped out from the group.
The village chief stepped forward and bowed. "I am the village chief of Linjia Village in Pingcheng. We are just passing through your village on our way to Gudao County and will not be entering the village. If we have disturbed you, please forgive us."
Fearing the other person wouldn't believe him, he pulled out his household registration book from his pocket, saying, "This is my household registration book."
The villagers of Chengjiagou looked at each other, and finally looked at their village chief. The village chief spoke in a literary style, but many of them did not understand what he was saying. They hoped that he would come out and take charge of the situation.
The village chief was at a loss, but he had no choice but to step forward. He took the household registration certificate from the village chief and glanced at it.
He doesn't recognize many characters, but he can recognize the seals on the household registration documents.
The household registration is genuine; the person in front of me shouldn't be lying.
Village Chief Cheng returned the household registration to Village Chief Lin, saying, "Excuse me, this is Chengjiagou, and everyone in the village is surnamed Cheng. Things are not peaceful around here right now, so it's better to be careful than to make a big mistake. We are doing this for the sake of our families."
Village Chief Lin said, "I understand. Our ancestral hall in Linjia Village was burned down by the Hu people, so we had no choice but to go south to find a way to survive."
The villagers, who had left their homes, didn't seem like robbers, so Village Chief Cheng felt relieved and started talking non-stop.
“Alas, we are almost unable to survive here. This year there is a severe drought, and the harvest is less than 30% of what it used to be. The crops were barely saved only because our village relied on a little water flowing down from the mountain.”
Village Chief Lin nodded repeatedly, "Brother, you guys are much better than us."
Many people chose to flee south to escape the famine, and Village Chief Cheng couldn't help but ask, "Is there any way to survive if we go south?"
Elder Lin, tears streaming down his face, said, “Who wants to leave? But the government won’t settle them. In their old age, they’ll die far from home.”
The people of Chengjiagou fell silent. They were currently surviving on grass roots mixed with wild vegetables and chaff. Who knew how long they could hold out? The village chief had said that if next year was not a good year, they might have to flee south with the villagers.
Village Chief Lin glanced at the pale-faced villagers of Chengjiagou and kindly offered a reminder.
"Brother, I'm telling you, you really need to make plans soon."
Village Chief Cheng knew the other party was telling the truth, and his heart softened. He also advised, "You probably won't be able to get into Gudao County. The magistrate has already ordered the city gates closed."
"Don't worry, we won't go into the city. We'll meet up with our relatives outside the city and then head south."
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