The other old men looked at them with a hint of pity in their eyes.
And in this village, the people guarding the intersection were not right. Gu Xinran couldn't help but ask:
"Uncle, why do you send old people and children to guard the village entrance? Shouldn't this be done by young and middle-aged people?"
Village chief Li, Grandpa Gu and others also looked at the father-in-law, curious about the reason.
When the elderly heard this, their eyes turned red, and the young boys also looked sad.
The old man wiped away the tears that were about to overflow from the corners of his eyes, sighed, and glanced at everyone, then spoke sadly:
"To be honest, our village is in dire straits! My youngest son and eldest grandson disappeared while going to the county town to fetch water.
A while ago, someone told us that free water was available in Hong County. Coincidentally, the well in the village had dried up, so more than 40 young and middle-aged men went together to get water. However, after many days, none of them returned.
The remaining strong men in the village also went out to look for people."
A teenager nearby said with tears in his eyes, "My father and uncle are both gone."
After hearing this, everyone's eyes were sore and they hurried to comfort them.
We talked back and forth, and it took a lot of effort to persuade several people.
Gu Xinran found it unbelievable. Women and children were easy to abduct because they were weak. How could a group of strong men abduct them?
Grandpa Gu, the village chief and others were worried for them. In this world, it is impossible to escape famine without young and middle-aged people.
Village Chief Li asked, "Has this happened only in your village recently, or is it happening in other nearby villages as well?"
When my father-in-law talked about this topic, his energy seemed to be drained away. "There are two other villages like this. Everyone went to the county government to report the case, but they couldn't find the person. Now no one cares."
The father-in-law wiped his tears as he spoke.
It was really a case of adding insult to injury. Gu Xinran didn't know how to comfort these people. All words seemed pale and powerless at this moment.
She took out a bag of white radishes and handed it to her father-in-law. "Don't be sad, uncle. Maybe he will come back one day. These are your rent."
The father-in-law was shocked to see such a juicy radish. He quickly took it and thanked me with a forced smile.
With a heavy heart, I returned to my temporary residence. The two connected courtyards were quite popular and were already full.
The Gu, Qiu, Zhang, and Zheng families were the last to arrive. They had no choice but to move into another small courtyard fifty meters away.
The house is close to the mountain and consists of three thatched houses and a yard surrounded by a fence.
Pushing open the fence gate, there is only a small flat area in the front yard, which is not enough to accommodate several families' livestock vehicles.
Everyone went to the backyard, which was quite large. It must have been a vegetable garden in the past. Even after seven animal carts and a cart were parked, it was still very spacious.
The house was quite clean, and it seemed someone had lived there not long ago. We all cleaned it up a bit and settled in.
The two better rooms were given to the women to sleep in, while the men all slept on the floor in the main hall.
Having a roof and a wall is much better than sleeping in the wilderness, but Gu Xinran doesn't like having several people squeeze into one room, especially not being used to sleeping in the same room with people she doesn't know. She would rather sleep in the carriage.
After settling in, it was already dark. Everyone had traveled excessively in the afternoon and was exhausted. After arranging the night watch, they had a quick meal and went to bed.
Gu Xinran, who had the carriage to himself, released a large vat filled with water from the space and blocked the door.
The first thing I did after entering the space was to take a nice bath.
I haven't taken a shower for six days since I left Chengzhou Prefecture.
This dry winter is warmer than in previous years. Vigorous exercise will make you sweat. Yesterday evening when I was hunting, my clothes were soaked with sweat.
She felt like she was rotten all over, but after soaking in the warm water, she instantly came back to life. It was so comfortable!
Thanks to Jin Datui for bringing Lingquan Courtyard!
I wonder if he is still in the capital city. I miss his handsome face a little.
The person she was thinking about was not far away from her. He was leading a group of people through the mountains where they were hunting and approaching the gold mine.
Why, then, is the expansion of this space always so closely connected to Xiao Mingzhan? Could it be the fate of the four-leaf clover?
It would be great if doing good things could expand my space. Although it is said that if you do good things, you don’t have to worry about the future, but if there is a reward, I will be more motivated to do the work.
After taking a beauty bath, she lay on the big bed in the main room, eating an apple and admiring the jewelry, feeling so comfortable.
This bed is so exquisite, and the jewelry is beautiful too. Poor Miss Sun, I don’t know what’s going on with her now.
Haha, Miss Sun is in a miserable situation right now. She is sleeping outdoors and she is unhappy, smashing cups and bowls and getting angry with Mrs. Sun.
Oh, she is no longer Mrs. Sun now. After Sun Xudong was buried, Prefect Sun divorced her in order to protect them.
There was no choice but to take his daughter south, accompanied by several guards and maids, back to her mother's home in Yunzhou.
Now, she uses her own name Li Shiyin again, and will be called Li from now on.
There was only a two-day journey between them.
Gu Xinran, who had admired enough jewelry, felt drowsy and really wished she could lie in bed forever.
I look forward to settling down soon. When that happens, I will definitely buy a house in the local capital that is more beautiful than Lingquan Courtyard, and enjoy life with my family.
With good wishes in mind, Gu Xinran fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, she was awakened by the sound of rapid knocks on the door.
He quickly dressed, put away the vat, and opened the car door.
The Gu family and Xiao Ba gathered outside the carriage door anxiously, and only felt relieved when they saw that she was safe and sound.
Mother Gu breathed a sigh of relief and sobbed, "Xinran, I'm glad you're okay. Something big happened last night!"
Grandpa Gu was very emotional, his eyes red, "Ran Ran, the village is embarrassed! Fortunately, you are here."
Brother Gu was in a low mood, and Xiao Ba spoke calmly, "Many young and middle-aged villagers living in the other two houses have disappeared."
"What?"
Gu Xinran stood there in a daze, digesting this shocking news, so her family banged on the car door because they were afraid that she was missing as well.
She quickly came to her senses and wondered, "Dozens of people being dragged away, there must be some noise." She blurted out:
"How is this possible? The sea was calm last night."
As soon as the village chief and others came over and said that someone was missing, everyone went to the backyard to look for her, but they didn't know the details yet.
Xiao Ba also spoke in confusion: "It is indeed strange. Let's go and hear what the village chief has to say."
Gu Xinran hurriedly got out of the car and went to the front yard with everyone.
There were quite a few people in the front yard, and the younger generations of the four families were gathered at the door of the main hall, all looking very angry.
Gu Xinran followed her grandfather into the main hall and saw Village Chief Li, Doctor Guo, Uncle Wang and others sitting on the floor wiping their tears, with Uncle Zheng, Uncle Zhang and others comforting them.
Grandma Gu poured a cup of tea for everyone. The Gu family’s tea was not ordinary, it was all blessed with spiritual spring water.
Village Chief Li drank it in one gulp and felt a little better. He wiped away his tears and forced himself to calm down. He looked at Xiao Ba, Gu Xinran, Master Qiu and others and spoke slowly:
"When we woke up, we found that forty-five young men were missing, and all our food and money were stolen. We must have been drugged.
You are all knowledgeable and experienced, please help me think of a solution. Without them, our family will be broken."
The village chief staggered to his feet and bowed to them. His weather-beaten face seemed to have aged ten years.
Xiao Ba calmed himself down and asked the village chief, "Where are the villagers here?"
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