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Shen Rong was about to speak, but Shen Xingwang took a deep breath and said, “If you want to leave, then leave. From now on, I’ll just pretend that I don’t have sons like you.”
“Father…”
Shen Xingwang’s second son was about to speak, but his wife pushed him back.
She said, “You said it yourself. We, as your sons and daughters-in-law, did not force you.”
She had long disliked this old man. His health was worse than his younger brother Shen Xingde, and he even had to hobble on one foot with a crutch. He couldn’t even walk steadily on the road, let alone help out in the fields.
When they were fleeing, since he couldn’t walk, they had to leave an empty space for him to sit on the cart.
They didn’t know how much they could have put on the cart, it would have been better if they let her young son sit and rest than allowing the old disabled man to use it.
Therefore, when she saw her husband trying to keep the old man, she immediately interrupted him and said it would be better for him go to the second uncle’s house, as they would not only be rid of a burden, but also save some food.
The old man and his son and daughter-in-law had an unpleasant argument and parted ways.
Those few people left a few kilograms of grain for the old man as a symbolic “filial piety” offering, but then turned around and ran away.
They ran so fast, as if there were ghosts chasing after them.
The sons and daughters-in-law of Shen Xingwang caught up with the team not long after they had left the Shen family.
When the person at the back saw them chasing, they curiously asked, “Why did you leave your father behind?”
A girl replied, “Oh, he insisted on going with second uncle and the others. We, as younger generations, couldn’t refuse him. But we left some food for him, and second uncle’s family should not mistreat him either.”
The person praised them, saying, “You are filial and even left food for them.”
“But Shen Rong’s daughter is not good. If she had been willing to be submissive, would her family have been driven out?” another person said.
The girl replied, “Auntie is right. My cousin was too spoiled and didn’t know how to compromise.”
….
The people of Shen’s village had already passed through the city gate, leaving only Shen’s family, four people from the Zhang family, and the newly joined old man at the gate.
After calming down, Shen Xingwang also felt that he had been too impulsive earlier. He had originally thought that they could stay together as a family and be safer with more people on the road. However, he didn’t expect that none of his family members were willing to stay.
Instead, it was this old man with a frail body who chose to stay, which would only cause trouble for his second brother’s family.
Shen Xingwang felt guilty and said, “Xingde, I’m sorry. You might as well just go ahead. I’ll be a burden if I stay with you.”
Grandpa Shen pretended to be angry and said, “What nonsense are you talking about, Big Brother? You were so determined just now, and now our family will stick together.”
Shen Yu’an stepped forward in time and reassured the old man with a smile, “Grandpa, don’t worry, with us, you will never go hungry.”
Others also persuaded, “You can stay with us at ease.”
Seeing everyone’s sincere and unprejudiced attitude towards him, the old man felt a little more at ease.
Shen Yu’an watched as the villagers of the Shen family, who were already 100 meters away. She originally thought that there would be plenty of opportunities to take out the food in the space and give it to the villagers. But unexpectedly, the situation turned out like this and they had to part ways.
Shen Yu’an was lost in thought when she was called by her older brother, “Little sister, little sister? What are you thinking about?” he patted her shoulder.
She realized that she had been too absorbed in her thoughts.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Our father is asking what we should do next. Should we keep following them?” her older brother replied.
“Let’s rest for half an hour before we leave. Find a place to rest first, and I’ll go out and take care of something,” said Shen Yu’an.
After finishing her sentence, Shen Yuan calmly left on her own. There was something she had promised someone else to do last night but hadn’t gotten around to yet.
The Shen family didn’t ask her where she was going, they just shouted after her, “Remember to come back soon.”
……….
At this moment, on the west side of the county town, another group of people had gathered together. They all looked dejected, and someone spoke up, “Uncle Li, it seems like everyone over there has already left. When are we going to set out?”
Li, the old village head, was sitting on a stone pedestal, and after taking a look at the lifeless group, he said, “We’ll set out after noon.”
Although others didn’t understand why they had to wait until noon, they thought it didn’t matter when they left, so they didn’t say anything.
They were gathered in a shady spot, about seventy to eighty people in a circle, with no hope in their eyes as if they had lost all hope for life.
Only the old village head would sit or stand from time to time, trying to restrain his excitement and anxiety.
Could last night’s events just be a dream caused by hunger?
But he dared not go against the old immortal’s words. What if they were refused food because he did not follow the old immortal’s instructions?
The anxious old village head could only sit and wait restlessly with mixed emotions.
Shen Yu’an walked into the open doorway of Liangji Grain Store in the west of the county town and found that it was also a mess inside.
She didn’t look for a hidden place and simply took out the food in a clean corner of the shop’s storefront.
She had already replaced the bags for the grain with big hemp sacks, each of which could hold around 200 kilograms of grain.
With a wave of her hand, the grain bags appeared in the clean corner in front of her, neatly stacked together. She wasn’t sure how many people from the old Li’s village were there with him, but it didn’t seem to be more than a hundred people.
So, Shen Yu’an took out twenty-five bags of grain, which was enough for the villagers to eat for several months if they used it sparingly.
After considering this, Shen Yu’an filled several large tubs in the courtyard behind the grain store with water. Finding water was difficult nowadays, so she thought she should help the people as much as she could.
After completing these tasks, Shen Yu’an left quietly once again.
….
Someone spoke up, “Uncle Li, we already went to the Liangji grain store last night. There wasn’t much left, even in the warehouse in the back. Why go again? Let’s conserve our energy here.”
But Old Li couldn’t sit still any longer. With the sun high above their heads, he stood up and gestured, “Let’s go take a look at Liangji grain store.”
Little did they know, the food and water left behind by Shen Yu’an would surprise them.
Old Li Zheng was as stubborn as a bull and said, “What nonsense! Hurry up, everyone come with me.”
Seeing how excited Li Zheng was, everyone reluctantly got up from the ground and followed him.
They turned a corner, and a group of people arrived at the entrance of Liang Ji Grain Store.
The middle-aged man from the village watched as old Li took a couple of deep breaths at the door of the store, but he didn’t go in.
Impatiently, he muttered, “Uncle, what are you doing? I told you there’s nothing inside…” and then suddenly exclaimed, “Wait, there is something!”
The middle-aged man who couldn’t resist opening the door was stunned. What’s going on?
He rubbed his eyes and looked incredulously at the corner of the room.
“Grain, grain, grain… so much food!!!”
The middle-aged man’s scream shattered the calm outside the door.