Chapter 26 Tired
The village head pulled Lin Youcai aside and asked softly, "Youcai, was that scary noise just now coming from the car of the Taoist priest you mentioned?"
Lin Youcai was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes, no."
"What is it? It's not."
"It was the car that made the noise, but it wasn't the car itself that made the noise. It was the people in the car who pressed the button because they were too sleepy to bear it any longer."
The head of the village said with a look of realization, "Oh my, I was scared to death in the middle of the night." He patted his chest and turned around, "Boss, take the gong and walk around and tell everyone. Then see if anyone has any problems and ask if the number of people is correct."
"Okay, Dad."
"Uncle Benshu, I'll go with you."
"Old Four, let's go."
Lin Benshu walked while beating the gong, "Rest for half an hour, then set off again. Go and relieve yourself if you need to, eat and drink quickly, and rest if you need to."
Lin Youcai whispered beside him, "Uncle, let me ask you one more question. Is everyone at home here? We're walking at night, and we don't want anyone to get left behind."
"Take another look to see if all the family members are here. Don't let anyone be missing without us noticing."
The two men rang the gong and gave instructions from the front of the team, then walked to the back.
"Oh my, I'm so tired." Mrs. Zhang sat down on the spot, and a little girl next to her was massaging her legs. "You are so stupid! Ah! You can't even massage your legs properly!" She stretched out her hand and pinched the girl hard. The girl shrank and trembled, crying in pain, and dared not make a sound.
"You're just a money-loser! You only know how to eat, but can't even do a little bit of work." After the old woman finished speaking, she took a sip of water from her water bag and turned to the old woman next door. "You're deliberately making things difficult for us! They have cows and mules! We're almost dead if we walk on our legs!"
The old woman of the Wu family curled her lips and said, "Who said it wasn't true? We have been walking for a day, how can there be any refugees or war disasters? That's nonsense!"
"I told him that he didn't want to stay at home, but believed their lies and ran away to suffer. But my son just wouldn't listen. Have pity on me, an old man!"
"My son is the same. I cried and scolded him at home, but he insisted on following me." Old Mrs. Wu clapped her hands in anger. "Thank God this year, we paid the grain and the surplus is much more than in previous years. I was thinking I could have a good New Year, but now look what happened! He has become a refugee!"
Old Lady Zhang approached the old lady from the Wu family and said, "I think what the old lady from the Zhu family said makes sense. The Lin family must have done something shameful. They have to hide away from home and even drag us into it!"
Mrs. Wu looked as if she had remembered something. "You know what? Everyone in the village knew how poor Lin Benzhu was before. Things got better in the past few years until his fourth son passed the imperial examination and became a scholar. His fourth son must have done something shameful outside to make a lot of money. His children went missing last year, which was retribution."
Mrs. Zhang curled her lips and nodded, "Who knows if his children are really lost! They were missing for more than a year, and suddenly they were found. As soon as they came back, they said there was a war! They wanted everyone to run away together, tsk... who would believe that there is no trick! And his car covered with straw mats, there must be a lot of good things in it, I don't know where they came from."
The little girl poked at Mrs. Zhang's hand, but Mrs. Zhang was talking excitedly and ignored her. The little girl continued to poke. Mrs. Zhang turned around and raised her hand to slap him, "You stupid girl!"
“Ding ding! Ding ding ding!!!”
The sound of a gong exploded in her ears, scaring Mrs. Zhang so much that she trembled and instinctively retracted her outstretched hand to cover her ears.
"You're going to die! You want to scare me to death?" Mrs. Zhang stood up and turned around, only to see Lin Benshu, Lin Youcai, other young men from the village, and her son Tiedan standing there looking at her.
Mother Wu quickly turned around, climbed up swiftly, and muttered, "Oh, I'm suffocating, I'm suffocating..." She snatched the torch from her daughter-in-law and walked away.
Mrs. Zhang looked at them and pretended to be dumbfounded, "What are you doing, nephew Benshu?"
"Aunt Zhang, please don't say anything careless."
"What did I say? I didn't say anything." Mrs. Zhang patted her body and her legs.
Lin Youcai snorted coldly, "Uncle, let's go."
A few minutes later, Lin Benshu struck the gong, "Ding ding ding! Ding ding! Everyone, come over here! I have something to say!!!"
Everyone in the team, young and old, male and female, gathered around.
Lin Lizheng took the gong and said, "Ding ding! We are all tired from traveling! Let's all sit down!"
After everyone sat down, he struck the gong again, "Ding ding ding! Quiet, listen to me!!"
"We have been running for our lives day and night, in the heat of summer and the cold of winter, in the wind and rain, and it is so hard. Before we set out, I told you that it is up to you to go, stay or not, or where to go. Whether you choose to stay in the village, hide away, or go to other places to seek refuge with relatives and friends, your life and death are your own responsibility, so don't blame others! Since we are fleeing together, whether you are forced or leave voluntarily, it is not too late to regret escaping now. You can turn around and go back. It is only a day's journey back to the village. We are still a long way from leaving Nan County. Don't wait until you have been on the road for a month, two months, or even longer, then it will be too late to regret it."
The head of the village took a puff of his pipe and continued, "If you have any complaints, don't say them behind my back or tell me. Just leave. Don't waste everyone's time or affect everyone's mood. If you don't want to escape with us, leave now! If I find someone gossiping behind my back next time, I will confiscate their food rations."
Before the head of the village could finish speaking, the crowd started to talk and become noisy.
Mrs. Wu and Mrs. Zhang sat next to their family with gloomy faces, looking stern and not saying a word.
"Ding ding ding ding! Stop making noise! Those who want to leave can take their luggage and leave now. Those who don't want to leave can do so at their own pace." Lin Lizheng was holding a gong and walking towards his own ox cart.
Everyone returned to their respective teams and continued on their journey to their respective seats.
Regardless of the noise coming from the back of the team, the people walking in front walked forward at a moderate pace.
After walking for more than two hours, by 4 a.m., Lin Zisu had pinched her thighs until they were purple.
What a sin! Will I die of sleepiness? Lin Zisu looked ahead with despair. Driving at night really made her sleepy.
"Shiso! Don't fall asleep!" Shen Xianglan stared at her daughter anxiously, "Have another sip of mint water? It's ice cold."
Lin Zisu half-closed her eyes and said, "If you drink any more, I'm going to pee my pants..." Then she honked the horn. As soon as the horn sounded, Lin Youcai immediately blew the whistle in response.
Lin Benshu, who was leading the team, struck the gong and the team slowly stopped.
Lin Youcai checked the time and went to find the village head.
Lin Zisu parked the car and immediately rushed to the bathroom to relieve her bladder. Then she sat back in the driver's seat, lowered her backrest, closed her eyes, and squinted for a while.
Lin Youcai walked over yawning and looked at the headman who had just been woken up in the carriage. "Headman, this is the time when people are most sleepy. How about walking for an hour, resting for half an hour, and doing this until Si hour? How do you think?"
"Okay, okay, okay." The headman waved his hand.
Lin Benshu called his second brother Lin Benshui and his cousin Lin Youcai, and Lin Youcai called Lin Youfu, and the four of them went to tell the people at the back of the team that they would walk for two hours, rest for half an hour, and then they could rest for the whole day until 4 o'clock in the morning.
The four of them came back from their walk, holding the sleeping child in their arms and put him to sleep in their car. There was a bunch of other children following behind them, all of whom were children of families without cars.
When their own ox carts and mule carts could no longer accommodate the people, they would discuss with those families who had animals to pull the carts, and let the young and middle-aged people get off the carts, and each family would cram a few children in to sit for a while.
The grown man had been in the car for a long time, so it was okay to get off and walk around. Some people who were reluctant to go agreed reluctantly after seeing Lin Lizheng's expression and the skinny child outside the car.
Before Mrs. Yang of the Zhu family could object, her sons agreed and quickly got out of the car to make room. She looked at Lin Lizheng and several strong men from the Lin family standing outside the car, and finally held back, turned her head to one side, and closed her eyes to rest.
After arranging the children in the team and resting for half an hour, the team set out again.