newbobooks Chapter 138 Meeting an old friend
Chapter 138 Meeting an old friend
Lu Tianming looked at everyone and said:
"I'm definitely going to continue heading south. An County is fine for a short break, but it's not safe to settle down here long-term."
Yao County Magistrate also followed suit:
"My family will continue to move south. We fled in the first place to find a safer place to settle down. This An County is still too close. Barbarians..."
What he wanted to say was that just because the barbarians didn't attack this time, it didn't mean they wouldn't be able to attack next time.
Thinking that this was not a good way to put it, he changed his words:
"After all, it's safer to go further south."
Everyone in the team was talking in low voices, and most of them wanted to stay.
Lu Qingqing did not participate. Her idea was very clear: she must continue to go south, at least past Yangzhou.
Lu Tianming looked at the people in the team talking, even his father and brother's family wanted to stay.
Seeing that there was no conclusion to the discussion, Lu Tianming said:
"I plan to stay in An County for half a month, and I will stay in this inn for the rest of the month. Everyone, go back and discuss it with yourselves. If anyone wants to follow us, please come find us when the time comes."
Then, as if he had thought of something, he said:
"These days, we will still send people to the city gate to wait for people. Besides me and Brother Yao's family, who else wants to continue going south?"
Lu Qingqing quickly raised her hand and said:
"Uncle Lu, we'll go with you."
Lu Tianming smiled at her. This child has always been smart.
Seeing that the others didn't speak again, Lu Tianming knew that they all planned to stay.
Although disappointed, there is nothing I can do. Whether to leave or stay is a personal wish.
After Lu Tianming arranged for people to wait at the city gate, he waved his hand and asked everyone to disperse.
Lu Tianming called the old village chief and Lu Tianxin, and the three of them walked towards the room.
Today, Yao Bowen and Qin Lang are scheduled to go to the city gate.
Lu Qingqing prepared lunch for Qin Lang. The city gate was open at noon, so they naturally didn't come back.
After watching Qin Lang and Yao Bowen leave, Lu Qingqing returned to the room, locked the door, and entered the space to get busy.
After everyone dispersed, the Wang family father and son went out. Their family had decided to stay in An County.
The Wang family father and son decided to pick up their original business again and continue slaughtering pigs.
To sell meat, you need a stall, not just a shop.
They went out today to find a location, to determine which place in the county town has a lot of people and is suitable for setting up a stall.
At this time, in Lu Tianming's room.
The old village chief wanted to return to his roots, but Lu Tianxin was frightened by fleeing famine, as too many people died along the way.
Lu Tianming felt that An County was not suitable for long-term residence and wanted to take his parents and his younger brother's family away.
After the father and his two sons communicated with each other, no one was able to convince anyone else.
Not long after, Lu Tianxin, the old village chief, Lu Tianfu and the village chief also went out.
They mainly went to the county government to inquire where they could settle down and where they could buy land.
In the team, each family began to work towards their goals.
On the fourth day, the people who went to the city gate to wait for people brought back a few people from Lujia Village.
The ones who came back were Zhuzi and his wife, Dani, Zhuzi's father, Erxi and their little grandson Gouzi.
When she first saw the person, Lu Qingqing didn't recognize him.
It's nothing, these people are just so skinny.
It looks like a skeleton.
When Zhuzi's wife saw Lu Qingqing, she threw herself into her arms and burst into tears.
I cried for the hardships of fleeing famine during these days, and also for the poor child.
If she could hold on a few more days, Erni would have survived.
After crying for a few times and calming down a little, I felt embarrassed again.
At this time, everyone in the inn came out to greet them, and they felt sorry for them when they saw their miserable condition.
Lu Tianming asked the waiter to open two rooms for them and asked the waiter to bring some hot water to both rooms.
The waiter looked at these people and found them dirty and thin, even worse than the beggars on the street.
If the guest had not paid first, he would not have let them in.
The old village chief's wife looked at them and cooked some porridge in the inn's kitchen and brought it to the two families.
After the two families finished washing up, they saw the porridge and gobbled it up in big mouthfuls, not caring whether it was hot or not.
I ate several bowls of porridge and stopped only when I felt so full that I wanted to vomit.
After the meal, the villagers gathered around and asked a few words of concern.
Seeing that they were too sleepy, everyone left first and let them take a nap and have a good rest.
They slept until the evening, when the two families woke up, just in time for dinner.
At this time, Lu Tianming came over with some food, and the two families each gave a bag of food.
The grain was bought with public funds, and the money left by the robbers was left with Lu Tianming.
Now, no one knows how many people in Lujia Village are still alive, so naturally they will follow the people they meet first.
When the people who received the food saw the food, they bowed in gratitude and expressed their gratitude.
After dinner, the villagers gathered together and Erxi talked about his previous experiences.
"When the barbarians attacked, my family fled in panic, following the crowd. We turned into any small paths we saw. I don't know how long we ran before we finally got rid of them."
When the others heard this, they seemed to remember the situation at that time and looked frightened.
Erxi continued:
"When we were escaping, the cart was too heavy and too loaded with stuff to push through a narrow path, so we had no choice but to abandon it."
"We didn't know how long we had been running. When we looked back, my mother was gone. After the barbarians left, we walked back and saw that she had been stabbed multiple times. Her eyes were still open until she died!"
When Erxi said this, obvious sadness appeared on his face.
"When we turned back, the place where we had thrown the cart was empty. The cart and its contents were gone. The rest of us were afraid that the barbarians would come back, so we had no choice but to keep running for our lives."
"Luckily, after walking for most of the day, we ran into my brother and his family. Their cart was still there, and they had quite a few things on it, so we continued on our journey together."
When Erxi said this, Lu Qingqing clearly saw the disgust on Zhuzi's wife's face.
"The further we went, the more refugees we saw on the road, with no food or water. We lost count of how many times we were robbed."
"During that time, my wife was also knocked unconscious and dragged away by those people because she was trying to protect the child."
Erxi said this as if he was about to cry.
"All the food and water on the carts were stolen. We just had to endure it. We were so hungry that we ate anything we could find. But we walked for a long time without finding any water. Just when we were about to die of thirst, it finally rained!"
"After we had water, even though we were a little hungry, we managed to survive by eating leaves and tree bark. When we reached Enling County ahead, we had to pay an entrance fee to enter the city. We didn't have any money, so we had to take a detour. Fortunately, we made it through."
Erxi wiped away tears as he spoke.
"We were outside the gate of An County and wanted to go into the city, but we had no money. At this time, my father saw Shuhe at the city gate and brought us in."
After Erxi finished speaking, he began to thank the villagers, crying and sobbing, appearing very sincere.
But judging from the expression on Zhuzi's wife's face, what Erxi said might not be so true.