On the Difficulties of Escape in Ancient Times

Chapter 25 Search
  After a while, Achang was sent back to reply, so as not to worry them: "Master and Master Xiao are still asking people carefully. Let us wait in peace and not panic."

Mrs. Xiao was flustered after hearing this and looked around: "Then let's go find some wild vegetables and firewood?"

She was almost out of food, and she dreamed of eating Guanyin soil. Those days were really miserable.

Xiao Xiao looked back and saw that for just a moment, there were more than a dozen oxcarts and mule carts lined up behind them, followed by many people.

There are old people using tree branches as crutches, and more are ordinary people pushing wheelbarrows or two-wheeled vehicles, with faces covered with dust and weather.

But what made her uneasy was that there were also two or three strong men among them. They were only carrying a medium-sized package on their backs, and they could not conceal their fierceness.

It would be better if they were all soldiers dressed in ordinary clothes who came to inquire about the situation, but I was afraid they were gangsters.

"Grandma," Xiao Xiao motioned her to look behind her and whispered, "Let's not move around until dad comes back."

Now no one dares to mess around because there are officials guarding the place a few feet away.

But if you go far away, it will be too late to call for help even if you encounter danger.

Besides, today's official officers are not policemen. When someone calls for help, they may pretend they didn't hear them.

Mrs. Xiao took a deep breath and lowered her voice: "Mom, so many people came here in a short time?"

"Everyone, please be careful," Mr. Xiao also frowned and whispered to everyone with a serious look: "Don't leave your car."

Along the way, they had seen several times that refugees who were fleeing the country bullied those who were in large numbers and stole their food and ran away.

The refugees who were knocked to the ground could only fall to the ground and cry in despair. When they saw them, they prayed to be taken with them.

The most the Xiao family could do was leave some salt or a handful of rice for them, and they would never dare to take them with them.

Not only was he afraid that they would wait for everyone to rest at night and secretly snatch the mule cart and run away, but it was also because three mule carts and a horse carriage were just enough to carry them, and no more would be enough.

There were also refugees who saw their group, like hungry wolves seeing meat, but they showed their swords to stop them.

This is also because the opponent is only a ragtag group of twenty or thirty people. If the opponent had more people, it might be a life-and-death battle.

Anyway, in the past two days, everyone tried to avoid people. If there was a convoy that happened to meet, they just exchanged news with each other, and no one dared to go together.

Now that Mr. Xiao mentioned it, everyone subconsciously gathered around the mule carts of each family. There were knives and sticks on the mule carts. If someone dared to rob the carriages and mule carts, they could resist them.

The mule cart contained all of everyone's belongings, which was too important to everyone, and they were afraid that those people would target their mules and horses.

Xiao Xiao also helped her grandmother get on the mule cart: "Sit down and have a rest first. Think about what we will buy when we get in."

"You don't know the difficulties of running a household!" Mrs. Xiao habitually complained to her granddaughter: "We have twelve people in our family. If we have three meals of rice a day, we will need at least more than ten kilograms of rice."

"The most important thing is to buy rice, noodles, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea. We only have a jar of salt left and nothing else."

"There are two mules that have only been eating grass these days. They have lost a lot of weight and are walking slower. I have to buy some wheat bran, bean cakes, and rice bran to supplement them."

"Buy more rice bran this time. If there is a shortage of food, we can make do with it..."

Xiao Xiao was not happy when he heard this. It was not like they had no money, so why did they have to compete with the mules for rations.

It is true that along the way, there were people who had fled and had to eat chaff and wild vegetables, but she felt that she could not be worse off than now.

She firmly believes that if a person wants to live well, he must be capable.

After she has mastered her archery skills, tigers will not dare to dream, wild boars will not dare to hope, but hares and pheasants can still think about it, right? She is also very lucky that it is summer and there are many wild vegetables and fruits that can fill her stomach.

It would be really miserable to flee in winter. There are few edible wild vegetables outside, and most of the wild animals are hibernating.

It would be even worse if you encounter tigers and wolves that do not hibernate. Nine times out of ten, they will become prey that comes to you automatically.

After half an hour, Xiao Youfu came back with Mr. Wu.

Xiao Youfu pretended to be relaxed: "In the past, the city gate would only be closed if there was trouble at the city gate. Now it has been opened. We have household registration and a guide, and we can get in with a little money."

Mrs. Xiao, who cares most about money, immediately grasped the key point of her son's words: "How much does one person have to pay to enter?"

In the past, they didn't have to pay to go from their hometown to the town.

But if you want to enter the county town, you have to pay five cents per person. Horse-drawn carriages and mule carts are more expensive, and you have to pay ten cents.

Therefore, Mrs. Xiao has already taken out her purse and is ready to count the copper coins.

Xiao Youfu sighed: "Now each person has to pay one tael of silver, and a mule cart is also required."

Even he felt that the toll was too expensive, and he could understand why the refugees rioted earlier.

If you don't have money, you will starve to death if you can't make it, so you have to risk your life.

"What did you say?" Mrs. Xiao's eyes widened in shock, suspecting that she heard wrongly: "One tael of silver per person?"

Seeing her son nodding, she could hardly breathe and patted her chest hard: "This is killing people!"

Although I have this money, I really feel distressed.

Xiao Xiao thought more: "I'm afraid the prices inside will also rise ridiculously."

She felt that the adults in charge were being too ruthless in searching for money now.

She originally thought that her 60 taels of windfall money could buy a lot of rice, but now she felt that she was ready to borrow a sum of money from the Wu family.

Xiao Youfu glanced at his youngest daughter again and felt that her youngest daughter's smart temperament was like his own, and she could think of these things so quickly.

Ashamed to say, he only came to his senses after hearing what Master Wu said to him after Master Wu stuffed him with a hundred taels of silver notes on his way back.

"Don't worry about the money," Xiao Youfu looked around vigilantly and then whispered: "Old Wu lent me fifty taels of silver. Let's go in first."

In fact, he was also afraid of another riot and banditry.

This was all what they found out. They were lucky enough to not encounter bandits who killed without blinking an eye. They heard that there were bandits nearby, and they had the courage to come to the city gate to rob people.

Like now, the gate of the city is full of people who want to enter. If the bandits come, the bandits here will rob a few people and run away by the time the guards inside come to rescue people.

Mr. Xiao also frowned and sighed: "In the future, I will take more care of the Wu family. Now that I have helped them, when we get to the place, we have a lot of things to ask for help from others!"

Xiao Yougui was an honest man and responded with a grimace: "Hey, after borrowing so much money, when can we pay off the debt?"

　I’m so happy to receive recommendation tickets and monthly tickets from you guys. I’ll update both from today.

　　I love code words, code words make me have no worries, only happiness, (づ￣3￣)づ╭～

　　
  　
  (End of this chapter)