He coughed a few times, cleared his throat, and then continued, "We need someone smart to go down the mountain to investigate. I'm thinking of sending Ermao, Dahu, and Wencheng together."
Wencheng is a scholar in our village, smart and knowledgeable; Dahu is strong and can take care of us if anything happens; Ermao is also smart and will definitely be the first to notice any disturbance. Everyone, tell me, what do you think about this arrangement?
The village chief swept his eyes across everyone's faces, waiting for everyone to express their opinions.
When everyone heard that they didn't need to go to the dangerous and unknown foot of the mountain to find out the situation, they all nodded in agreement, with a hint of relief on their faces.
Only Widow Wang, upon hearing that her son was to go down the mountain to investigate, became furious. She immediately threw a tantrum and rolled over, tightly holding her son with both hands, refusing to let him go. She kept muttering, "Son, you can't go. It's too dangerous. If anything happens to you, how will I live?"
The village chief looked at Widow Wang's tantrum and frowned, his face looking a little unhappy. He raised his voice and said, "Okay, why are you acting like this? We're just going to investigate the situation, not to fight on the battlefield. How could it be dangerous? Ermao, tell me yourself, are you willing to go? If you don't want to go, we'll find someone else. We won't force you!"
When Ermao heard this, he quickly shouted, "Village Chief, I'm willing to go!"
As he spoke, he pulled his mother aside and patiently comforted her: "Mom, you don't understand me yet. I've always been smart. If anything really happens, I will definitely be the first one to run away. I guarantee that I can bring myself back safely. Don't worry!"
Ermao was full of fighting spirit at the moment. He thought that he was often accused of doing nothing in the village. This time, he was finally given such an important task by the village chief. He had to perform well and complete the task smoothly. This would also allow those people in the village who looked down on him and spoke ill of him to get to know him again and know that he, Su Ermao, was not a useless person!
After a lot of consolation from her son, Widow Wang finally calmed down. Although she was still a little worried, she had no choice but to agree, hoping that her son would be safe and sound when he came down the mountain tomorrow.
The village chief continued loudly, "Listen up everyone! We are about to go down the mountain, so it's time to pack up your belongings. When we first went up the mountain, everyone's carts and ox carts were abandoned at the foot of the mountain because the mountain road was difficult to navigate.
Now that we're heading down the mountain, we need to get the oxcart and the cart back in order so we can travel more easily. "While we still have time tomorrow, everyone should hurry up and cut down some trees and start building the carts. Don't delay the rest of our journey. Do you understand?"
The villagers shouted in unison: "Village Chief, we know!"
The voice was full of enthusiasm, as if everyone was ready to get busy preparing for the journey down the mountain.
The next morning, just as the sky was getting light, Su Wencheng, Dahu and Ermao, carrying the earnest expectations of everyone in Sujia Village, resolutely set out down the mountain.
Although they could see the winding official road from afar when they were on the mountain, it took a lot of effort to actually walk down the mountain step by step. It took them a full hour to finally arrive.
When the three of them finally reached the official road, the scene before them made them gasp.
I saw groups of refugees walking slowly forward with numb faces, their eyes showing endless misery. They were dressed in tattered clothes and seemed to have lost their souls, moving like zombies.
Seeing such a tragic scene, the three people's scalps tingled and their hearts were terrified. For a moment, they did not dare to go forward and ask questions.
After waiting for a long time, they finally saw a dozen people who seemed to be a family, driving an ox cart passing by on the road.
Seeing this, Su Wencheng took a deep breath, mustered up his courage, and reached out to stop the family.
The family was suddenly stopped on their way and immediately showed a look of terror on their faces. Their faces turned pale as paper, and even their voices were trembling. They shouted tremblingly: "You, what are you doing? We don't have any money, please let us go!"
Seeing this, Su Wencheng hurriedly stepped forward, a gentle smile on his face. He respectfully performed a standard scholar's salute to the leading elder and said calmly, "Hello, old man. Don't be afraid. We are not bad people. We just came from the mountains and don't know much about the outside world. So we just wanted to ask you, where is this place?"
Seeing Su Wencheng's gentle, kind, and polite appearance, the old man's fear subsided a little. After calming down, he replied, "Oh, this is Lihua Town, not far from Huainan Prefecture, only a day's journey."
When Su Wencheng heard that this place was very close to Huainan Prefecture, he couldn't help but feel secretly happy, feeling that he was one step closer to his destination.
He hurriedly continued to ask: "Old man, where are you from and where are you going?"
The old man sighed deeply and said helplessly, "We are from Changliu County. We are suffering from drought. The fields have no harvest. We have no choice but to flee the famine with our family.
We didn't have a specific destination in mind, but we just kept going south with everyone else, hoping we'd find a place to settle down one day."
After hearing this, Su Wencheng was filled with emotion. After thanking the family, he left silently with Dahu and Ermao.
As he walked, he felt sad and thought to himself that because of this drought, he didn't know how many people, like him, were forced to leave their homes and embark on this journey of fleeing famine with an uncertain future.
I don’t know how many people can safely reach the south and eventually find a place to settle down during this long journey.
Thinking of this, his steps became heavier.
After leaving the official road, the three of them discussed it and decided to return to the camp quickly to prevent everyone from getting anxious on the mountain.
So they hurried back and soon returned to the camp.
As soon as we arrived at the camp, everyone gathered around and asked about the situation.
Su Wencheng, Dahu and Ermao did not delay and immediately told the village chief all the information they had obtained.
When the village chief heard that this place was only a day's journey from Huainan Prefecture, a smile immediately appeared on his face, as if he saw new hope.
But then he remembered the most crucial thing and asked hurriedly, "Wencheng, have you guys found out whether this place is conscripting men?"
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