Chapter 92: Little Rascals

Qin Fangniang felt a bit panicked in her heart. “Those people just now, were they refugees? Didn’t they say the refugees were all stopped? How come there are refugees here?”

Sang Luo shook her head. “I’m not sure. Let’s go back and ask Shopkeeper Xu to help find out the situation. We women and children have ten miles of mountain road ahead of us. It’s too unsafe to go back like this.”

Those people, whether they were refugees or not, looked like they had been exiled for a long time and were extremely hungry. They seemed to have nothing left but skin covering their bony frames, and they walked as if they were about to stagger.

Such starving people were actually very dangerous. If they really went back like this, they would be easily targeted.

Sang Luo and the others had just left the city gate and turned back. The city gate official squinted his eyes. Before he could ask, Mrs. Gan took the initiative to say, “We saw a few people who looked like refugees ahead. We women and children will go back to the county first to take shelter.”

The three city gate guards glanced at each other. This time it was rare; they didn’t ask for the entrance fee again. They waved their hands to let Sang Luo and the others enter the city. One of the guards quickly left the city gate, presumably to report to the mountain peak. The other two guards remained dutifully at the entrance of the city gate, their undrawn swords hanging from their waists, exuding a somewhat intimidating aura.

Sang Luo didn’t linger any longer. She led Qin Fangniang and the others straight to the back door of Dongfu Restaurant.

By this time, it was already past noon, and the back kitchen of Dongfu Restaurant had basically finished work. It was the same teenager that Sang Luo recognized earlier who was now washing dishes and plates. When he saw Sang Luo and the others, he smiled and greeted them, asking in surprise, “You haven’t gone back yet today?”

Sang Luo forced a smile and said, “Something came up. I came to find Shopkeeper Xu. Is Shopkeeper Xu here now? Little brother, can you go check for me?”

Saying “check” was actually asking the boy to help pass on a message.

The boy knew that the shopkeeper valued Sang Luo quite a bit, so he didn’t refuse. After wiping his hands, he asked Sang Luo to wait a moment and quickly went to the front. It was probably just a matter of delivering a message to the front hall and then returning. Shopkeeper Xu came to the back kitchen with the boy. Seeing Sang Luo and the others, he asked, “I heard you encountered some trouble. What happened?”

Sang Luo nodded and recounted the incident of meeting several suspected refugees outside the city gate just now, saying, “You see, we women are bringing two children. It’s quite unsafe to return the ten-mile journey like this. We came back to ask for your help to find out the situation. If possible, I can give some silver. Can you see if the staff here at the restaurant can send us off?”

Shopkeeper Xu’s expression tightened when he heard it was refugees. Knowing that Sang Luo and the others had greeted the guards when they entered the city, he said, “There’s no need to mention silver. If there really is such a situation, it’s not a big deal for me to find someone to send you off from this side. In that case, don’t wait outside. Come inside the restaurant and sit in the private room. I’ll send someone to find out the situation first.”

…

Shopkeeper Xu sent out two reliable helpers. It took them more than half an hour to return. One of them had gone to check the situation outside the city, and the other had gone to inquire about information from a familiar bailiff in the government.

The one who went outside the city said that when he went there, he didn’t see any refugees outside the city anymore. He looked around but found no trace of refugees.

The news from the bailiff’s office revealed that the county magistrate had also sent people to investigate. However, by the time the robust bailiffs went out, the suspected refugees had already disappeared. Despite searching the mountains and forests, the bailiffs couldn’t find them.

The only thing that could be confirmed was that there were currently only scattered individuals nearby, not a large group of refugees.

Sang Luo breathed a sigh of relief but couldn’t completely relax.

Seeing her expression, Shopkeeper Xu said, “In that case, today I’ll have four or five of my staff escort you back. I’ll also continue to inquire about the situation. If there are any changes, I’ll have someone send a message to your village.”

It had to be this way. Sang Luo got up to thank him.

Shopkeeper Xu thought for a moment and asked, “Can you still deliver tofu and vegetarian tripe tomorrow?”

If it wasn’t convenient for them to deliver, he could arrange for his staff to pick them up. Business couldn’t be delayed.

This matter had to be decided by Qin Fangniang and the others. After discussing it, they unanimously concluded that they should continue selling tofu, pickled vegetables, and vegetarian tripe until the situation worsened.

They couldn’t just give up their livelihood because they saw a few refugees who disappeared after a turn around.

Shopkeeper Xu also breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this and specially selected several tall and sturdy staff members to escort Sang Luo and her group on their way back.

They didn’t encounter anyone resembling refugees again along the way. Sang Luo felt slightly relieved. When the staff members were about to leave, Sang Luo gave each of them half a string of coins and said, “Thank you, gentlemen, for your hard work. Use this money to have some tea.”

Fifty cents!

Divided among five people, each would get ten cents!

The five staff members all had smiles on their faces and repeatedly thanked her.

Sang Luo didn’t think she was giving too much. Fifty cents might sound like a lot, but when divided among each person, it was only ten cents each. They were taking risks to escort them. If they really encountered refugees, it would be a big problem.

She personally saw them off and instructed them to be careful on the way. After they were out of sight, she returned to her courtyard.

Qin Fangniang and the others were busy taking out ten cents each, but Sang Luo pushed them back and said, “No need. It was a favor I asked for. They were doing me a favor as well. You don’t need to share the cost. Instead, you should come up with a plan for how to go to the county tomorrow. We need to make money, but we also need to ensure safety.”

“Regarding the refugees, we should also inform Zhou Cunzheng. The people in the village need to be more alert.”

Just because the refugees couldn’t enter the county town didn’t mean they couldn’t come to the surrounding small villages.

…

Zhou Cunzheng attached great importance to this matter. He was somewhat acquainted with a distant relative of the Wang family and had heard some news earlier. He always felt uneasy in his heart.

The subsequent tax collection, soaring grain prices, and the disasters and epidemics in the north had made Zhou Cunzheng sleepless at night. The appearance of refugees seemed like one boot after another dropping, with another one falling after the first.

Zhou Cunzheng didn’t know if more boots would continue to fall.

Right now, most of the young and strong men in the village were serving their corvée labor. Because men who married and had children would be allocated separate households, the young and strong men from every household had gone out, and there weren’t many left in the village.

Either they were like him, with sons going to serve, or they were like his third son and the third son of the Lu family, who were already adults but not yet married. The manpower available for defense was very limited.

It was rare that Zhou Cunzheng exercised his authority as the village head and had three of his sons who were still at home notify the men of each household to come to discuss matters at his home.

On the other hand, in the Chen family’s courtyard, after hearing the news brought back by her daughter-in-law, the first reaction of Mrs. Chen was worry. After discussing with several other families, Old Man Chen, Old Man Lu, and Lu Sanlang went together to escort them to set up their stalls, then pulled Sang Luo aside.

“You come down to stay tonight as well. Don’t stay in the mountains for now. It’s far from the village, and if anything happens, the people in the village won’t hear about it. Besides, your Uncle Tian is also not at home. You and An Ning should squeeze with Fangniang. The little girl can sleep with me, and Xiao An can stay with Ershan.”

Sang Luo naturally had no objections. She truly cherished her life. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have turned around so quickly in the county town. After thanking them, she went home to pack up and then brought the two children to the Chen family.

As for Zhou Cunzheng, he had already organized the men and boys in the village to take turns keeping watch at night.

While other children in the village were still unaware, Shen An and Shen Ning were a little nervous because they had seen refugees with their own eyes. It wasn’t until the little girl asked about what she saw in the county town that they gradually put aside their anxiety.

Speaking of what they saw in the county town, Shen Ning remembered his snacks. He took out two things from his bag, which were not easy to preserve, and gave one to the little girl and the other to Chen Ershan.

There were still three buns left.

The siblings glanced at each other. Since they hadn’t eaten, they wrapped the buns back in the oiled paper bag.

After the little girl finished eating, Shen Ning pulled her aside and whispered something in her ear. Soon, the little girl ran out with the oiled paper bag in her arms.

…

By the riverbank of the village, which was the place Shen Jin and his two younger brothers often played, the little girl found her three brothers as she wished and ran to them from afar, shouting, “Shen Jin, Shen Jin!”

Shen Jin turned his head to look, seeing it was Chen Xiaoya, he pursed his lips and didn’t say anything.

Recently, whenever the children in the village saw the three brothers, they would always laugh and say that their parents were thieves. Shen Jin was already not very willing to play with the children in the village.

The group led by Erniu and Huzi were fine, but most of the time they hung out with Shen An and Shen Ning, so Shen Jin didn’t want to go with them.

Chen Xiaoya ran up to Shen Jin two steps away, panting and handed him the oiled paper bag.

Shen Jin: “What’s this?”

He asked like this, but his nose couldn’t help but sniff. It seemed to have a fragrant smell?

Chen Xiaoya smiled, “It’s what An Ning brought back from the county. It’s buns made in a big restaurant. She asked me to secretly give them to you three.”

Shen Jin’s hand paused as he was about to open the oiled paper bag.

Seeing him like this, Chen Xiaoya said, “An Ning and Xiao An didn’t eat after they came back, and there are only three left. I’ll give them all to you three.”

It wasn’t just because Uncle San and Aunt San sneaked into An Ning’s house in the middle of the night that they blamed Shen An and An Ning. It had been awkward for so long.

Chen Xiaoya couldn’t quite understand.

She delivered the goods, patted her butt, and ran off.

Shen Jin: …

Shen Yin and Shen Tie came over, “Third Brother, did Sister give us buns to eat?”

Shen Jin nodded.

The two brothers looked at him expectantly.

He remained silent for a moment, then opened the oiled paper bag.

The buns had cooled down, so there wasn’t a strong fragrance, but his nose was sensitive, and he could still smell a wonderful scent.

He divided the buns, giving one to each of them. “Eat, but don’t mention it when you go home.”

If their mother found out they ate Shen Ning’s food, she would definitely scold them.

Shen Yin and Shen Tie took a small bite of the bun, and the aroma rushed into their nostrils. The taste was even better.

“So delicious!”

The two brothers exclaimed in unison, and Shen Jin took a bite too.

It was truly delicious, something he had never tasted before.

As they ate, Shen Yin said, “Third Brother, we haven’t been to Sister’s house in a long time. Why don’t we go?”

Why indeed?

At first, he thought his mother would urge him to do something bad, but then his parents did it themselves. His father was punished with two months of corvée labor, and his mother scolded the eldest sister-in-law and Shen An and Shen Ning every day.

Shen Jin said, “Mom and Dad don’t like us going over there.”

He felt a bit uncomfortable himself.

Most importantly, Shen Jin wasn’t sure if his parents would make him do something like last time in the future. If they did, he’d rather not go there now, at least to cut off his parents’ intentions.

The word “thief” didn’t sound good at all, and he didn’t like being called that by the children in the village.

He couldn’t tell his two younger brothers these things, so he picked the only thing he could say.

Shen Yin pouted, “I really want to go to Sister’s house to play. Stone and the others go there every day.”

Sister and Stone wouldn’t call him a thief.