"Qing'er, your eldest sister is already dead..."
"Big sister, don't leave us behind!"
"Waaaaah, big sister, Yueyue will stop crying now, big sister, wake up!"
Who is wailing in my ear, and who is babbling on and on?
Chenxi suddenly opened her eyes. Perhaps she opened them too quickly, and the sunlight was a bit too bright, causing her eyes to hurt and making her feel dizzy.
She squeezed her eyes shut and took a moment to catch her breath. She clearly heard a girl calling out, "Big sister is awake! Big sister isn't dead!"
A splitting headache struck, and an extra memory that didn't belong to her flooded her mind. The usually composed woman almost couldn't contain herself.
Damn it, did I transmigrate? Of all the things to transmigrate into, I had to become a thirteen-year-old girl who lost both her parents, and on the road during a famine!
This girl was also named Shenxi, the same name as her. She was the daughter of a scholar from Shenjiazhuang. The scholar, Shen, ran a private school, and his mother was literate and the daughter of a merchant. They were a well-off family with a happy life. But then a famine struck, and refugees flocked to the village, causing chaos. Many people in the village discussed fleeing the famine, including the village chief.
Unexpectedly, on the way to escape the famine, Shen Xiucai fell ill and passed away. Shen's mother, who had come all the way and was seeing that they were getting closer and closer to their destination, also passed away a few days ago.
The reason why Shenxi almost died—oh, the original owner had already died—was because the person who came was Shenxi, a business elite of the new century.
The original owner of this body was fatally struck on the head by a refugee.
Recalling this, Shen Xi pressed her temples, feeling a headache coming on. When she opened her eyes again, she saw ten-year-old Shen Qing wiping away tears. She was the original owner's older sister. The one who had been wailing just now was her three-year-old younger sister, Shen Yue. The one with tears on her face but already showing joy was her seven-year-old younger brother, Shen Hai.
With both parents dead, drought raging, an uncertain future, and refugees everywhere, how can four orphans, whose average age is less than ten, survive?
However, now that she has transmigrated here, there is no going back. In her previous life, Chenxi died suddenly from overwork while preparing for a project. She must be buried by now. Since she can't go back and has transmigrated to this chaotic world, she must live well.
She murmured to herself, "Don't worry, I will take good care of your younger siblings. I hope you are born into a good family and live in a good world."
"Xiaoxi, it's a good thing you're awake. Otherwise, how would your younger siblings survive?"
An aunt with a concerned face said in a rambling voice, "You are the eldest sister of them, you must live well, you can't let anything else happen to you, and if you encounter refugees in the future, stay away from them quickly."
Shenxi looked at her aunt with gratitude and said weakly, "Thank you, Fifth Aunt. I will live well."
This is an aunt from a village who is five generations removed from her kinship. According to the village's generational hierarchy, Chenxi calls her Fifth Aunt. She is also the wife of the old village chief.
Fifth Aunt glanced around cautiously, then secretly pulled a dark, grimy pancake from her bosom, quickly stuffed it into Chenxi's hand, and whispered, "Don't tell anyone."
After saying that, he gently patted Chenxi's hand and went to the old village chief. The old village chief was there arranging manpower. Just now, the refugees had attacked their villagers' group, robbing some of the villagers' food and water. More people had died, and several were injured. Along the way, they had lost more than half of their people. When they left the village, there were more than 1,100 people, but now only more than 300 people remained.
Those who were still alive had no extra expressions on their faces; the tragic experiences along the way had long since dulled their hearts.
At this moment, the one who can give them a way out is a living bodhisattva.
Aunt Wu approached the old village chief and quietly asked, "How much food is left?"
The old village chief sighed, "We just decided to gather all the food together and give it to the able-bodied men in the group so they can continue onward. We should be close to our initial destination, where there might be a way out. The elderly, women, and children should stay where they are and find a secluded place. Whether they survive or not is up to fate!"
At the beginning of his escape from famine, he heard that the south was more prosperous and there might be some way out, but he still had to travel more than a thousand miles. He thought that if he could find a good place along the way, he would stop. But as he traveled, more and more refugees and people were fleeing famine. Now, he saw corpses everywhere along the roadside and even in the middle of the road. Dust filled the air and the land was as if it had been baked dry. The land was barren for thousands of miles. Where was there a place with smoke rising from chimneys and green mountains and clear waters that would allow them to stop?
The old village chief had aged considerably along the way. He had led the villagers, young and old, on this long journey, but they couldn't see a way out at all.
Let the able-bodied men continue forward. Once they find a place to live, they can turn back to find them. As for whether they will live to see that day, that's up to fate!
Chen Xi calmed herself down and touched the large bump on her head. "Ouch." It really hurt. That refugee really didn't hold back.
She looked at the piece of bread in her hand. It wasn't big, but it was very hard. If it hadn't been soaked in water to soften it, it probably would have broken her teeth before she could bite it open.
"Qing'er, do we have any more water?"
Shen Qing shook her head. The last half-full of water in her water bag had been spilled while she was fighting with the refugees, and she had even been slapped by one of them.
"Big sister, I'll find water."
Shenxi only asked a few questions. At this time, she dared not eat the pancake casually. This mixed flour pancake was already the best food among the villagers.
It was already autumn, but the heatwave still lingered, enveloping their bodies with nowhere to escape. They could only find temporary respite under the leafless trees.
The old village chief then announced the results of the discussion, and everyone fell silent. The village's able-bodied force consisted of nearly seventy able-bodied men, while the rest were the elderly, women, and children.
The vast majority of people agree that it's better to leave the hope of survival to the young and middle-aged, since these people are too old to continue.
However, some people disagreed. Li Si disagreed. He was a bachelor, and had been a bachelor for decades. He was fifty-three years old this year. Although he was still in good health, he couldn't compare to young people.
Li Si sneered: "Why should we give them food? I want to live too, I won't give it to them."
Some people jumped out to object, and some families with more stored grain, which hadn't been robbed of much by the refugees, also began to express their dissatisfaction in hushed tones. But they still had some dignity, or perhaps other concerns, so they didn't dare to speak out loud.
Although the old village chief's authority was frequently challenged along the way, he was ultimately wiser than most. Hearing these whispers, he ignored the quiet ones and said directly to Li Si, "If you disagree, you can act alone. I won't interfere!"
Then, with a solemn expression, he glanced at the few people whispering among themselves, and they immediately shut up.
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