Zhang Juxiang wore a sorrowful expression, looking completely helpless.

The main reason was that the refugees moved too quickly.

As soon as the cart toppled over, they rushed in to grab the food, leaving the people around them with no time to react before everything was taken.

The village head arrived and saw that the grain had already been stolen.

At this point, arguing was meaningless.

“Pack up and keep moving. We’ll deal with the food situation later,” he said.

As soon as the village head spoke, Widow Chen no longer dared to make a fuss.

She quickly instructed her son to gather their belongings and continue on their way.

Since the village head had spoken, she was certain that her family would not be left without food.

At present, every household in the village had sufficient grain.

When the time came, each family could spare a little, which would be enough for Widow Chen’s family to survive.

Thinking this, Widow Chen’s expression softened slightly.

The group continued their journey, but more and more refugees with hungry, watchful eyes appeared along the way.

The village head did not dare to let them stop, so they pressed on.

Now that they had an additional cart, everyone could take turns riding, making the journey much easier.

The Lu family still had no idea what Lu Jiaojiao had been through, and Shen Qingwan had not told them.

Lu Jiaojiao herself did not seem to want to bring it up either, so the Lu family simply assumed she had been frightened and felt sorry for her.

Shen Qingwan only learned after returning that Lu Jiaojiao had been captured because she stayed behind to accompany Xiao Chen.

This improved Shen Qingwan’s impression of her sister-in-law even more.

Shen Qingwan wanted to strengthen her body, so she and Zhou Huiniang took turns riding the mule cart.

Lu Wenguang pulled a wooden cart by himself, but since it only carried some light clothing, it was not too heavy.

“Sigh, I wonder how the third son and his wife are doing now. If we run into them, I’ll surely teach them a lesson!”

Old Madam Lu sighed, sounding both resentful and regretful.

It was clear that although she was scolding them, she was still worried about them.

Shen Qingwan remained silent, but Old Man Lu snorted coldly, his tone firm.

“Just act as if we never had that son. All those years of education were wasted on him! Selling his own nephew and niece, stealing the family’s mule cart—when they fled, did they ever think about whether we would live or die? From now on, don’t mention him. As far as I’m concerned, he was never my son.”

Hearing her husband’s heartless words, Old Madam Lu’s eyes turned red.

No matter what, he was still her flesh and blood.

How could she not feel heartbroken?

But the old man was right—such a cruel and ungrateful son was truly disappointing.

What they didn’t know was that Lu Wenzhi had already been on the verge of death ever since he lost track of their group.

Without food or water, he wandered for a day before being trampled to death by a speeding carriage.

The village convoy finally stopped to rest after sunset.

Worried about being robbed by the refugees, the villagers took out their long knives for intimidation.

As expected, this deterrent made the refugees behave themselves.

Since they had enough food, no one in their group starved to death along the way.

However, a few elderly people succumbed to the hardships of the long journey, and some villagers were killed by roaming bandits.

After traveling for over forty days, they finally arrived in Suzhou.

The long trek had left most of the villagers emaciated, their faces gaunt and sunken from malnutrition.

Although they had food, it was barely enough to keep them alive—they certainly weren’t eating well.

Only the Lu family appeared relatively unchanged, except for being a little tanned.

Shen Anning, Lu Jiaojiao, and the three children hadn’t even darkened; instead, they looked even fairer and healthier than before, their faces glowing with vitality.

Compared to the others, they seemed completely out of place.

Fortunately, Shen Qingwan had used dark-colored foundation to blend their faces in with the rest of the group.

Otherwise, their appearance would have been far too conspicuous.

Suzhou’s situation was slightly better than Youzhou’s.

The weather was noticeably cooler here, but the food shortage was still severe.

Due to the ongoing war, most of the grain from the nearby towns had been requisitioned, leaving no surplus to aid the disaster victims.

With hundreds of thousands of refugees pouring into Suzhou, the situation had become a serious problem.

Outside Suzhou City, there were designated shelters for refugees.

Those with household registration documents could check in and have an official assign them to a village.

For entire villages migrating together, they could either be allocated a new area to settle and build homes or be dispersed among existing villages.

Each village had a limited number of available slots for new residents.

It was impossible for an entire migrating village to settle in one place, as local villagers would not agree to such an influx of outsiders, fearing potential trouble.

The village head took their travel permits and official documents to find the registrar, with Shen Qingwan following to observe.

“Is your village planning to settle together and form a new village, or will you disperse and join existing ones?”

The registrar asked sternly.

The village head rubbed his hands together with a flattering smile. “We’d like to settle together, Sir. May I ask if there are different types of land available? Can we choose a location?”

The official sneered.

“You’re lucky to have a place to settle at all, and you still want to be picky? Suzhou has plenty of wasteland—you could choose forever and still not find the perfect spot.”

Without hesitation, Shen Qingwan discreetly slipped a silver ingot into the registrar’s hand.

It was a five-tael piece.

The official stroked his mustache, then quietly pulled out a map from under his desk, unfolding it for Shen Qingwan to see.

“Take a look. The red dots mark villages, and the circled areas are towns. This is Suzhou City. The unmarked empty spaces can be freely chosen, but you’d better hurry—I’ve got a lot to do.”

Shen Qingwan nodded, then focused on a location near a forest.

“Sir, is this a lake?” she asked, pointing to an area marked with wavy lines beyond the forest.

The registrar glanced at it and nodded.

“Yes, that’s a lake. But that forest is vast and full of wolves and wild beasts, which is why no one dares to settle there.”

Shen Qingwan showed the location to the village head.

The village head thought it looked promising—the forest provided wood, and the lake made water access convenient.

But the mention of wolves made him hesitate.

“Uncle, we’ve fought wolves before. Do you really think we can’t handle them? Besides, before we grow crops, the villagers can hunt in the forest to survive, and the lake can be used for fishing. It’s a much better option than barren land. Plus, it’s close to both the county and state capitals, making trade easier.”