Chapter 104: Early Spring Travel
It was foggy in the early morning.
The yard was bustling with activity. People were holding ceramic bowls with white steam coming out of them, and they were eating and chatting.
After breakfast, everyone packed up, rolled up their bedding and tied it to the car.
There was a long line on the road to the village, and everyone was ready to go.
Everyone looked at the unknown village that had taken them in for nearly two months with reluctance.
When it was freezing cold and snowing, and many people were injured, they came across this deserted village. They were refugees with no place to stay, but they spent the winter safely in this village.
Everyone bowed to the village with gratitude, and most of them were reluctant to leave.
How wonderful it would be if I could settle down here! No longer have to worry, endure hunger and cold, travel without a fixed place to live, and use the sky as a blanket and the ground as a bed.
Unfortunately, they are not registered here, have no land, no house, and are illegal residents.
Of course, if they had a choice, they would rather go back to Nanlin Village.
Lin Zisu looked out the car window at the yard, houses, forests, a group of wild boars, a bear, a few pheasants and rabbits, acorn dried tofu, charcoal, and wild vegetables. . .
Not only do they stay here for free, they also eat and take away the food.
Goodbye,... Black Bear Village? Wild Boar Village?
Lin Zisu turned to look at Shen Xianglan: "How about we give this village a name? Black Bear Village or Wild Boar Village?"
"You are so free!" Old Lady Wang smacked her lips. "Let's call it Black Bear Village. It sounds more impressive than Wild Boar Village!"
Old Mrs. Ye smiled gently and said, "All is fine."
Lu thought for a moment and said, "Hmm...why not call it Bear Pig Village?"
Feng frowned, "What? Why not just call it Black Bear Village?"
Lu: "We caught more than 20 wild boars, but only one black bear! There are many more wild boars than black bears!"
Feng: "Black bears are valuable!"
Shen Xianglan: "You are so idle. This is not our village. What's the point of naming it!"
"When we recall it in the future, it will have a name! It will be the village where the bear was picked up, the wild boar was caught, the charcoal was burned?" Lin Zisu disagreed with her mother's statement. Naming is very important, even though this is not our village.
Lin Zisu slapped the steering wheel and said, "Oh, by the way, when the time comes, let's vote on the name. Pick a few names and let everyone choose the one they like. The name with the most votes will be the village name."
Old Lady Ye smiled and said, "What a good idea! Miss Su is really smart!"
Shen Xianglan: . . . . . .
The long line stretched out on the path. After resting for nearly two months, everyone was in good spirits after having enough food and sleep.
On the first day, we rested only twice during the whole day. At night, we settled down in the wild as usual.
After dinner, everyone voted in Black Bear Village, Wild Boar Village, Golden Charcoal Village, Bear Pig Village, Winter Blessing Village, and Acorn Village. Among more than ten village names, Golden Charcoal Village won with the highest number of votes. The second place was Winter Blessing Village, and the third place was Black Bear Village.
After several days of traveling, more and more people appeared on the official road.
There were people walking on the road, some in ragged clothes, some in neat and clean clothes, some with three ox carts, and some wearing fine cotton coats and driving horse-drawn carriages. . .
I didn't expect the official road to be so lively at the beginning of spring.
Since more people have been traveling on the road, there are fewer wild vegetables near the official road.
While taking a short break today, Lin Zisu saw a young couple arguing, and two little girls were crying beside them.
There are more people walking on the official road, so it is very popular and noisy sounds can be heard from morning to night.
The two children kept crying. The young woman squatted down, holding one child in each hand and broke down in tears. The young husband stood beside her, at a loss what to do to comfort her.
The daughter-in-law and the child were crying together, so the young man had to squat down and coax the child, then turned his head and said something to his daughter-in-law.
A family of four was squatting on the road. The people in their team walked around them and continued walking forward. No one was waiting for them.
Lin Zisu came back from the toilet and saw the family of four still crying. She didn't want to get involved, but she saw that one of the younger children was crying in a strange way, with a purple face and lips.
She quickly said to Shen Xianglan who was walking behind her: "Mom, look at the child's face, he is obviously lacking oxygen."
Shen Xianglan is a mother herself, and she couldn't bear to see a child suffer. "He's been crying for too long and must be holding his breath." As she said that, she walked over there, and Lin Zisu quickly followed.
Shen Xianglan told the couple about the child's situation. Because of their different accents, both sides used gestures.
The young woman hugged her younger daughter in fear and tried to comfort her, while the young husband quickly hugged his older daughter and tried to comfort her.
The couple was filled with regret and fear, and they were so busy venting their emotions that they almost harmed their little daughter.
After comforting the two children, the couple thanked Shen Xianglan.
Shen Xianglan asked them why a family of four was traveling together?
As the young woman spoke, her eyes became red and tears came out.
It turned out that the group that left in front was from their village, but their parents and brothers had left long ago, leaving behind the four of them.
When my parents, brother and sister-in-law heard the news that soldiers were coming, they quietly fled at night. When they woke up the next day, the house was empty and there was no money, only some coarse grains left for them.
The villagers blamed their parents, brother and sister-in-law for being inhuman, not telling the villagers when something happened and running away quietly.
The young woman's surname is Liang. She said her parents-in-law disliked her because she gave birth to two daughters in a row. The eldest daughter is four years old and the youngest is two years old.
The young man's surname is Zhao. Although he is the youngest son in the family, he is not favored by his parents. His parents prefer his eldest brother's family.
The couple followed the villagers to flee, bringing their two young children with them. They were tired and scared, and quarrels were inevitable.
The two little girls looked like their mother, with big eyes and red noses from crying. They spoke in baby voices and called Lin Zisu "sister".
Lin Zisu couldn't help but touch her pocket, but unfortunately there was no candy. She really wanted to take out two pieces of candy and give them to the two little girls.
Because of the incident in which the bandits had sent people undercover in their team, Shen Xianglan and Lin Zisu did not dare to recruit people into the team. They just asked them to follow and help if they could.
The mother and daughter returned to the team and told Lin Youcai about the family of four. They looked pitiful. If it was true as they said, the two young couples had few coins and little food, and they couldn't walk far with two young children.
Lin Youcai: "Let's wait and see."
After resting for more than 20 minutes, the team continued to move forward.
The next afternoon, they arrived at the gate of Tong'an County.
The navigation shows that we need to go through the city, so we need to pass through Tong'an County.
In addition to the soldiers guarding the gate of the county town, there were also tables and chairs at the gate. A middle-aged man was sitting on the table with a pen, writing and drawing, and occasionally looking up at the people entering the city.