northernbook Chapter 132 A Group of Poor and Rich People
Chapter 132 A Group of Poor and Rich People
After the meeting, everyone soon learned about Tianyuan Village from the village chief. Although everyone had not slept all night, they were all very energetic. This village was much richer than before. No matter what, at least they would not starve to death.
It was already 9:30 in the morning when everyone was back on the road. There were people crying and laughing in the team. No matter what their mental state was at the moment, they all ran on their way in tacit understanding.
Su He looked at the sky with gusts of cold wind and began to worry again.
Please don’t snow. When she reaches the next village, she will buy more food and hope that Jinyang City can hold up.
"Brother, there are still horses in the valley, why can't we take them away."
Miaomiao sat in the carriage and watched the valley getting farther and farther away from them. She felt very reluctant to leave because she still had many places to go treasure hunting.
"We are just ordinary people, it is impossible for us to raise horses. We can wait until my brother becomes an official in the future."
Mu Tou followed Miao Miao's promise seriously.
Wen Niang was listening to her brother's words in confusion. "Are you saying that you found more than 200 taels of silver?"
"Yes, we were guarding the intersection. Sister Hehua said that the ten or so people were all ours, so the four of us were very busy. We almost couldn't catch up with the team just now."
Lu Yuan nodded. His father was already laughing now.
"Where's the silver? Didn't you give it to Dad?"
Wen Niang was really worried about her own father.
"No, mom asked me and my brother to leave some silver. I have 30 taels, mom has 10 taels, my brother has 10 taels, and dad has nothing. We left the rest with Sister Lotus."
Wen Niang nodded in satisfaction, then became curious, "Why would Dad agree to this? Isn't he angry?"
"Dad only found 10 taels of silver, mom found 200 taels of silver notes in a fat man's collar, and my brother and I found more than 2 taels of silver on five people. But we told dad that we only found 50 taels. Dad didn't suspect anything, he wanted to keep taels, but my brother snatched it away. Mom gave him coins to keep him."
"So Dad thought it was just 12 taels of silver?"
Wen Niang wanted to laugh while holding the little stone. Her own mother stood up, and she was happier than anyone else. Her husband's family was proud, and her own family also had hope. She never thought that there would be such a good thing when escaping from famine.
"You must repay your sister Hehua in the future. Tell mom that we must follow Hehua closely. When we get there, tell mom to act quickly and live closer to Hehua. We must have a long-lasting relationship."
"Well, sister, don't worry. When we get to the next town, mother said she wants to buy a mule and a carriage. We will say that we borrowed the money from you, sister, remember that."
The brother and sister happily talked about their aspirations for the future, but Wang Laowu, who was following behind them, was extremely sad. He ate his dry food with tears in his eyes while running.
"What sin have I committed? Why am I the only one who can't find the silver?"
As he said this, he looked at the brothers beside him with resentment, wondering how they could find it.
Among Wang Dashu's six sons, Wang Laowu suffered the most. Fortunately, his wife had sharp eyes and dug out a gold tooth from a bandit's mouth. Otherwise, he would have gained nothing.
When the people from Tianyuan Village were on their way, Liu Bai here finally met Chen Shi.
"Master Chen, I'm from Willow Village."
As there were so many people on the other side, Liu Bai had no choice but to report his identity.
Chen Shi squinted his eyes to confirm, but couldn't remember, "Didn't you go to Su'an? Why are you going back?"
"Sir, we were in Huangye Town and encountered someone collecting tolls. No one in the village had money, so we wanted to ask for mercy. As a result, we unexpectedly found a lot of food. Sir, please look, this is a bag of food. We found it in the valley."
Liu Bai dismounted and walked to Chen Shi to hand him a bag of grain.
Chen Shi came from Yunhe and was the leader in tracking down food and wages, so of course he recognized this bag.
"Did you find this in the valley?"
A hint of excitement flashed in Chen Shi's eyes. This must be the food and wages.
"Yes, there are still five or six hundred bags of this kind of food in it. We think it is suspicious that such a small valley has so much food. After asking around, we know that this is the food and wages sent to the border, so Hehua sent me to the border to ask. It would be even better if I could meet you, sir."
Liu Bai lowered his head and described it in detail.
"Okay, you lead the way, we'll go to Huangye Town right away."
Chen Shi felt that the truth was right before his eyes. As long as he found the people in the valley and asked them, and then searched Huangye Town, everything would go well.
On the third day after meeting Liu Bai, they finally reached the valley before the sun set.
A group of people standing at the entrance of the valley were dumbfounded.
"You mean there are nearly a hundred people living here?"
Liu Bai, who was always calm, was speechless at this moment. It was indeed the case three days ago.
Everywhere I looked, there were ruins. There was no one, not even a bird.
Chen Shi rode his horse and looked around. None of the roofs of the houses were in good condition. In one room, there were no tiles as big as a fingernail. The best place was the kitchen. After all, everyone left after dinner and there was no time to start the crushing work.
"You mean Su Hehua and the people in her village were still there when you left?"
"No."
Liu Bai changed his words without any guilt, "Hehua told me to split the troops into two groups. She took the main force to Su'an and asked me to go to the border to find people. I will chase them after I have taken care of the food and salary issue."
Chen Shi turned his head and glanced at Liu Bai, then brought his men to the cave where the grain was stored. The grain inside had indeed disappeared. This was the worst result Su He had thought of, it was empty. Fortunately, there were bags of grain and salary as evidence.
Chen Shi did not blame Liu Bai. "Okay, you have completed your mission. I don't need you anymore. Go chase Su Hehua and the others. This horse is a reward for you."
Chen Shi thought of the food in Su He's family's cellar and decided to be generous and not bother with them about the horses.
Liu Bai thanked him in a low voice, turned around decisively and rode away.
After Xiao Wei and the others left, he approached Chen Shi and asked, "Sir, will the food and money be taken away by Su Hehua and the others?"
Chen Shi shook his head. "It's impossible. Someone who can send out 100,000 grains won't be greedy for such a small amount of food. There is neither grain nor the legendary bandits here. Let's go back to Huangye Town and meet the mayor."
The toll booth was so close to the town, and he didn't believe the mayor was innocent.
The people in Tianyuan Village have already purchased supplies in the new town and set out again.
This time, 90% of the people had cars to ride, and the remaining 10% still needed to run. Everyone took turns and considered it as exercise.
The further south you go, the more horse-drawn carriages there are on the road. People passing by are curious about this long group of refugees. You say they are poor, but there are plenty of horse-drawn carriages, mules and cows. You say they are rich, but these people are dressed in rags, looking like they have just emerged from the mud.
A caravan of a hundred people passed by and spoke to Zheng Da, "Brother, where are you from?"
Zheng Da laughed and replied, "Jinyang City, from the north."
The leader of the caravan looked at the group behind him in disbelief. Isn't the north poor? Are these people so poor that they only have mules and cows left?