Even at night, someone has to take turns keeping watch, otherwise if a child is taken away in the middle of the night, no one will know, because they have so many children.
Song Tantan had already fallen asleep wrapped in a tattered quilt. Dry grass was laid on the ground, and she and Ye Moxun were sitting together. Chunsheng, A Si, and a few others were next to her. Zhong Qingyi kept watch for the first half of the night, while Song Zhuiyan and Zhu Xiu kept watch for the second half.
The night passed peacefully. As dawn broke, Song Tantan and Ye Moxun took Azhu and the others to collect firewood and then boiled some water to make rice porridge.
Other refugees were also making fires to cook breakfast, but all they could cook were some dried wild vegetables and water, like dishwater. It was enough to keep them from starving, but they couldn't last long like this.
Some refugees were lucky enough to find a bag of rice or millet when they went out to collect firewood. The bag was about two liters long. Later, more and more people found rice wrapped in rags.
Seeing that some people were still sitting there lifeless, looking numb and waiting to die, Song Tantan sighed heavily and said loudly, "We were supposed to be out of food today, but luckily we found a bag of rice while we were gathering firewood."
Upon hearing this, the refugees who had been gathered at the city gate lost their appetite for cooking and rushed out to find food.
Ah Zhu and the others were completely bewildered. How come they didn't know?
"Tantan, why didn't you say so sooner? We'd go pick them up too." Ah Zhu led Ji Xiang and the others to leave.
"Don't go. I found a bag last night when I went out to pee. Let's finish eating and leave quickly so no one notices, or someone will try to steal it again." Song Tantan's face was tense.
The food was naturally taken out of her spatial storage beforehand, and the food that the refugees found was also something she had painstakingly prepared by wrapping in small packets of tattered cloth and scattering them here and there for them to pick up.
Zhu Xiu and the others also wanted to look for food, but when they saw Song Tantan dragging out a large bag of grain from under the hay, they swallowed hard and gave up the idea for the time being.
"Each of us gets a little, and we adults each take a little." Song Zhuiyan acted quickly, distributing some to the adults on an equal footing. It was mainly because it was unrealistic for one person to carry all the dozens of kilograms of grain, so it had to be divided up.
"I... I'm strong, I can carry some too." Ah Zhu was very anxious; he felt insecure if he didn't get a share.
"Don't worry, you guys can stay with Brother Zhong. You won't go hungry." Song Zhuiyan knew what he was thinking, but Azhu was too thin, and even traveling was a problem. Carrying a few more pounds of weight would only make it more difficult.
Ah Zhu wanted to say something, but Ye Moxun pressed down on his shoulder and said in a cold tone, "Sister Song said she wouldn't let you go hungry, so what's there to worry about? When has Sister Song ever gone back on her word?"
Seeing that Ah Zhu had lowered his head and stopped talking, Ye Moxun continued, "Tan Tan found the food. If Sister Song didn't want to share it with you, she would have left quietly last night. Why would she wait until now? Don't you have brains?"
Everyone's expression changed slightly, and they all felt a little guilty. When Song Zhuiyan distributed the food to them, they thought it was only natural, but this food was found by Song Tantan. Even if Miss Song kept it all for herself, it wouldn't have been wrong for her not to share it with them. The reason she shared the food with them was because she was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see them starve to death.
“Miss Song, I remember your kindness to Tantan, and I won’t be ungrateful,” Zhu Xiu immediately declared.
The others also expressed that they would be grateful and would not accept the food for nothing.
Previously, Zhu Xiu and the others all called Song Zhuiyan "heroine," which Song Zhuiyan found awkward and forbade them to call her that. So later they called her Miss Song.
Song Tantan was somewhat surprised that Ye Moxun actually spoke up for her and her aunt. This guy was subtly expressing his gratitude to her, and his serious demeanor was rather cute.
Song Zhuiyan felt a little gratified. Although she and Tantan had never expected anything in return, the fact that Zhu Xiu and the others knew how to be grateful showed that they were worth helping, and that her and Tantan's efforts had not been in vain.
“Everyone has their difficulties. Since you trust us and are willing to come with us, we are all on the same side. It’s only right that we support each other along the way. There’s no need for formalities. Let’s leave here quickly to avoid any unforeseen complications.” After saying this, Song Zhuiyan went to help Zhong Qingyi up.
Zhong Qingyi opened his mouth, wanting to say that he didn't need help and could walk by himself, but Ye Moxun tugged at his sleeve and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "Uncle, hurry up and go, don't disappoint Sister Song's kindness."
But he really wasn't that weak. Zhong Qingyi struggled internally for a moment, but when Song Zhuiyan's soft little hand rested on his arm, he looked down at her fair hands and swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
Zhu Xiu's Azhu walked at the very back, with Song Tantan and Ye Moxun in front of them. The four of them kept watch behind.
"Ye Moxun, when can we find a carriage? I'll trade it for grain. Do you think they'll be willing to trade?" Song Tantan was thinking about getting a carriage.
"It's hard to say, but we'll find one eventually, and we'll get a carriage." Ye Moxun said calmly. He hoped for a carriage even more than Song Tantan did, because he was in poor health.
After walking for an hour, Song Zhuiyan told everyone to stop and rest. There was no other way; with so many children, they couldn't walk too far at once. Well, she was mainly worried about Tantan's little legs.
Although Ye Niang and Wang Yu's child was younger than Tan Tan, they carried her with rags tied to their bodies, unlike Tan Tan who insisted on walking on her own despite her young age. When Ye Niang wanted to carry her, the little one was unwilling.
Ye Niang and Wang Yu were both young women, each with a child.
Everyone had just sat down and drunk some water when they heard screams coming from not far away, followed by the sounds of fighting.
Song Tantan's eyes lit up, and she immediately jumped up, tugging at Ye Moxun, "There must be a carriage."
Ye Moxun: There is definitely danger, but there may not be a carriage.
"Don't be impulsive, let's see what's going on first." Ye Moxun pressed down on her shoulder, preventing her from rushing forward.
"Mo Xun is right. Tan Tan, stay here and don't move around. Protect everyone. I'm going to check on things." Song Zhuiyan took the knife and was about to leave.
“I’ll go with you.” Zhong Qingyi also stood up.
"Brother Zhong, you stay here and protect Mo Xun and Tan Tan. I'm just going to check on them." Song Zhuiyan ran off before she finished speaking.
"Uncle Zhong, you're here protecting everyone, I'm worried about Auntie." Song Tantan's small body turned into a blur and swept past Zhong Qingyi, giving him no chance to object.
Not far away, a carriage was surrounded by six or seven burly men. A middle-aged man was holding a knife and fighting desperately, guarding the carriage and refusing to move an inch.
It was clear he was trying to protect the people inside, but he was about to give up. He had been stabbed many times and probably wouldn't last another quarter of an hour.
"A carriage!" Song Tantan exclaimed in surprise. Song Zhuiyan tried to cover her mouth, but it was too late. She simply stopped hiding and stepped forward.
The burly men surrounding the carriage had already looked over upon hearing the commotion. Seeing that it was two young girls, one big and one small, they didn't pay much attention. One of the dark-skinned, thin men winked at the big man next to him, signaling him to go and deal with the two girls.
"Brother, should we spare her?" The big man saw that Song Zhuiyan was quite beautiful despite her tattered clothes, and he began to have designs on her.
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