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Shen Yu’an thought about what her third uncle had just said. The porridge distributed by the wealthy residents in the city was becoming thinner and scarcer.
This indicated that the food supply in the city was not limitless.
As more and more people gathered outside the city, relying on the generosity of the wealthy residents was not a sustainable solution.
If the refugees outside the city became restless, Dashan County would end up like their hometown, with chaos and unrest.
Therefore, Shen Yu’an said, “Grandma, we have enough money, but let’s discuss it further before deciding whether to enter the city or not.”
“What? Not entering the city?” exclaimed Grandma Shen in surprise.
However, she knew that Shen Yu’an always had her own ideas, so she added, “Alright, let’s discuss it further.”
The two of them returned to the group.
When Grandpa Shen saw Shen Yu’an coming back, he asked, “Yu’an, what do you think? Should we enter the city?”
Shen Yu’an looked around at the crowd before explaining her thoughts that she had just considered.
Finally, she said, “It’s not safe to stay outside the city with so many refugees gathered. Moreover, we’ve come across many corpses on our way here, and if they’re left unattended for a long time, it could lead to an outbreak of disease. Let’s continue heading south.”
Shen Yu’an’s remarks were indeed sensible, and Grandpa Shen didn’t refute them. The others listened quietly and agreed with her reasoning.
Grandpa Shen looked at Shen Rong and asked, “Eldest son, take a look. If we don’t enter the city, how can we bypass it?”
Shen Rong took out a topographic map from his bag and laid it out on the ground.
It was already dark outside, and they didn’t dare to use the electric lamp given by Shen Yu’an here. Instead, they lit a few oil lamps for illumination.
Everyone gathered around, including Fei Yanchen and Ji Xun, who came closer to take a look.
Fei Yanchen was seeing the topographic map they carried for the first time. It wasn’t as detailed as the ones used in the military, but it was still usable.
Shen Rong said, “If we want to bypass this city, there are only two routes. Going east means crossing that mountain, while to the west, there is a large expanse of forest.”
The group looked up in the direction Shen Rong pointed to and could vaguely make out the towering mountain peak, even though it was already dark.
It was easy to imagine the dangers posed by wild animals and beasts on the mountain.
Therefore, without hesitation, everyone chose to go through the forest to the west.
“We have both ox carts and flatbed carts, so crossing the mountain will definitely be troublesome. Let’s go through the forest,” Shen Rong suggested.
Fei Yanchen thought for a moment but couldn’t find any information about that forest in his memories.
He turned to Shen Yu’an and asked, “Yu’an, where do you think we should go?”
All eyes turned to Shen Yu’an, waiting for her decision.
Shen Yu’an said, “… Why is everyone looking at me?”
She took out a copper coin and tossed it in her hand, saying, “Heads, we go through the forest; tails, we cross the mountain.”
After saying that, she threw the coin into the air, and it flipped a few times before landing in Shen Yu’an’s hand.
Shen Yu’an opened her palm with everyone looking on, and the coin was facing heads up. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Shen Yu’an said, “However, we still need to go into the city once to replenish some medicinal herbs and other supplies.”
“There will definitely be snakes, rats, insects, and ants in the forest. Tomorrow, we’ll buy some insect repellent powder and get some other things as well.”
Shen Yu’an would never admit that she was craving something, even though there were plenty of things in her space. She couldn’t just use them without any concerns.
After making the decision, everyone felt relieved.
Since there were still thousands of refugees nearby, the Shen family and their group didn’t want to attract any trouble, so they didn’t start a fire to cook.
They had their usual meal of fried pancakes with their favorite sauce, and drank water from their respective water bags. That was their dinner.
Even so, their situation was much better than many of the people outside the city gates.
Due to concerns about safety at night, they arranged for a few more people to take turns keeping watch before going to sleep. Each shift had four people.
In the late night, Shen Yu’an, Fei Yanchen, Shen Rong, and Shen Ming were on watch together.
The surroundings were quiet, with only occasional whispers between Fei Yanchen and Shen Yu’an.
A few people who had been lying outside the city gate quietly stood up and walked towards the Shen family’s group.
“Wang Mazzi, if you make money from this deal, you better give me my share,” whispered a thin man with triangular eyes.
The other man, called Wang Mazzi, replied irritably, “I know, if you stick with me in the future and work well, you won’t be left empty-handed.”
The man with triangular eyes rubbed his hands together and asked, “I noticed that the boys who arrived today are much livelier than the ones you sold a few days ago. Can we make more money?”
Wang Mazzi glanced at him and replied unhappily, “Even if there are more, you can only take thirty percent. Otherwise, there are plenty of people willing to work with me.”
“Hehe, you’re right, thirty percent it is,” the man with triangular eyes said happily without any objection.
The two of them continued to sneak towards the Shen family.
However, their target was not the Shen family’s food, but rather the Shen family’s children.
Wang Mazzi would scout for handsome-looking boys outside the city, and the next morning, people from the city would come out to meet them and take over.
The people from the city would give food to Wang Mazzi, and in return, he would hand over the children they had captured during the night.
Every day, people from the city would come out to exchange food for children with the people outside. They were willing to exchange half a bag of food for a girl, which was acceptable to them.
However, they were reluctant to exchange their sons.
But the people in the flower houses in the city had a demand for beautiful boys, and these people were unwilling to sell their own sons. That’s why they came up with this method.
Wang Mazzi would scout for people during the daytime, and at night, he would steal the children and hand them over the next morning in exchange for food.
Today was their second time doing this, and they unexpectedly came across a few valuable goods.
When the Shen family’s group arrived today, they happened to be at the back of the crowd and immediately noticed these children, thinking that they could fetch a good price.
As a result, they changed their original target to include Shen’s youngest boys, Wulang and Liulang.
When the four people on night watch noticed the approach of the man with triangular eyes and Wang Mazzi, they became aware of their presence.
Originally, they thought these people were attempting to steal food, so they weren’t extremely angry. However, when they approached and heard their conversation, their anger became uncontrollable.
Selling boys? Trying to earn more?
It became clear that they intended to steal several children from the Shen family and sell them.
Just as Shen Rong and Shen Ming couldn’t hold back their desire to stand up and beat them up, Shen Yu’an stopped them.
She exchanged a glance with Fei Yanchen and whispered, “For the sake of justice, are you in?”
“I am. Let’s go!” Fei Yanchen nodded in agreement. The two of them silently stood up and stealthily positioned themselves behind the two individuals.
The two of them swiftly made their move, almost simultaneously. With a single strike, they rendered the sneaky individuals unconscious.