Chapter 4: Asking for Information

Su Yin left the rice and grain store and went straight to the grocery store, where she picked out the necessities for her future escape. These included things like salt, oilcloth, a water bladder, and other items.

Su Yin wanted to take these items directly from the Su family to save money, but Old Mrs. Su kept a tight control over everything, including salt, oil jars, and rice grains. Old Mrs. Su checked everything daily, and she could tell if even a single grain of rice was missing.

Su Yin didn’t expect to get much from the Su family. After more than ten days of trying, she couldn’t get much from the public stores. On the contrary, it would attract Old Mrs. Su’s attention, which would not be helpful for them to do anything in private.

She didn’t want to lose big because of small things, so Su Yin didn’t think about it anymore.

After leaving the grocery store, Su Yin turned around and went to the drug store next door.

Medicine is expensive, but it can save lives in emergencies. No matter how expensive it was, Su Yin had to buy some gold sore medicine to stop bleeding. She didn’t dare to buy too much, let alone anything too expensive.

“Shopkeeper, give me another bag of sulfur powder.”

“Okay.”

Su Yin asked in a relaxed tone, as if chatting: “Shopkeeper, these things are much more expensive than usual.”

“Oh, don’t mention it. There’s a lot of trouble in Yunzhou, Minzhou, and Ganzhou. The cost of transporting goods is high and the raw materials have increased a lot. This thing has naturally increased.”

“Is it a big trouble?”

“Isn’t it? I heard that many people died.”

“Will it affect us?”

The shopkeeper said with a smile: “We are still across Yuzhou from there. I heard that the imperial court has sent high officials to come to provide relief. I think it won’t be long before things become more stable.”

Su Yin nodded. People in the village did not believe Li Rui’s words in his previous life, and they must have been affected by this rumor.

“Shopkeeper, which are the prefectures below our Meizhou?”

The shopkeeper became interested and said with a smile: “You have asked the right person. When I was young, I traveled to many places, including the north and the south. Get more. If you go from Meizhou, you will arrive first…”

In her previous life, Su Yin never left the county until her death. She had a limited view of the outside world and knew very little about it.

To escape, she needed to understand something about the world beyond her village to cope with what might happen.

She was fortunate to meet a chatty and knowledgeable shopkeeper.

Whenever she encountered something she didn’t understand, Su Yin would ask.

The shopkeeper patiently explained everything in detail, and if she didn’t understand, he would speak frankly.

“When we arrived in Ruzhou, we didn’t go any further. It’s a pity now that I think about it.”

“Shopkeeper, why don’t you take your family for a walk south and go over and have a look. There’s so much money to be made.” Su Yin suggested tactfully.

She looked at the boy playing at the door, “There is a saying that it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books. If you teach your children to gain knowledge and read books, you will get twice the result with half the effort.”

If the shopkeeper could really listen, it would be a good idea, a meritorious deed.

The shopkeeper laughed and said, “You girl still knows that ‘reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles’ is not bad, not bad. Your suggestion is even better. I will listen to you when I settle down.”

After saying goodbye to the shopkeeper, Su Yin took her things and left.

Her backpack was filled with large and small bags of things, and the money in her purse was about the same.

“Pork is for sale, good quality pork legs.”

The shouts in the alley attracted Su Yin’s attention, and she looked over there.

On the way to escape from famine, if there was meat, it could also supplement protein. It was not good to just eat dry food.

The meat could be smoked and dried to make jerky, which was a good ration.

The stall owner noticed Su Yin and greeted, “Girl, do you want a pound? I’ll give you a cheaper price.”

Su Yin touched the pocket with only a few coins left and shook her head.

Alas, they were still short of money!

The money could only be used to buy urgent things. She couldn’t afford meat.

After buying the things, she met up with Su Baozhu.

Su Baozhu looked at the sack full of rice, and then at the stuffed things in the basket.

“Wouldn’t it be too eye-catching to take these things back?”

“Don’t take them back to the village.”

“Then where to put them?”

“Do you still remember that there is a cave on the mountain to the north. I plan to store these things there first.”

Su Baozhu’s expression changed slightly when she mentioned the cave, “There have been many deaths in that cave, and it’s also haunted.” Su Yin looked up at her and asked in a calm voice, “People are more terrifying than ghosts.”

Baozhu thought of the death scene in her previous life and immediately no longer hesitated.

That cave was the best place to hide things. On weekdays, people in the village would take a detour. Children in the village were sternly warned by adults not to go near that place. With fewer people going there, the chances of being discovered were smaller.

They only needed to store it there for eleven or twelve days.

Unless they were really unlucky and couldn’t even hide it for more than ten days, and they were discovered by chance.

Su Yin covered the things with worthless sundries. After making a disguise, the two of them shared some supplies and hurried back carrying the things on their backs.

They must rush home before the sun went down.

“How’s your inquiry going?”

“The area in Minzhou, which is separated by two states from us, is plagued by locusts and the drought is severe. However, I heard that the imperial court has sent an official called a governor there to provide relief. Everyone in the teahouse is talking about the governor.”

“What else?” Su Yin asked.

Su Baozhu shook her head, “Nothing else.”

It seemed that everything about the refugees had been kept well.

Just after leaving the city gate, Su Yin noticed the beggars on the roadside.

Su Baozhu noticed it and asked, “What’s the problem with the beggars?”

“Have you noticed that there are more beggars in the county than before?”

Su Yin rarely came to the county, and occasionally came with her father. The last time she came to the county was during the Lantern Festival at the beginning of the year.

When Su Baozhu heard this, she looked around at the beggars nesting in the corner. After paying attention, her eyes gradually widened.

“It’s true.”

Su Yin’s expression became solemn, “I hope the speed of the refugees’ arrival has not changed.”

When the refugees were mentioned, Su Baozhu’s face turned pale.

The two couldn’t help but speed up their pace.

On the way back, Su Yin and Su Baozhu gathered a lot of grass on the roadside and covered the top of their baskets, making it look like they were carrying a basket of pigweed.

They were worried about meeting acquaintances along the way, but until they turned into the mountains, they didn’t meet anyone in the village, which made the aunt and nephew feel inexplicably relieved.

When approaching the cave, Su Baozhu’s expression became frightened, and she was a little afraid to approach. However, seeing Su Yin striding forward, she could only grit her teeth and move forward.

There were overgrown weeds at the entrance of the cave. Su Yin beat the surrounding area with a wooden stick to drive away snakes, insects, rats, and ants.

She put down her backpack, tied a strip of cloth on the wooden stick, put a little oil on it, made a simple torch, lit the torch, and walked towards the cave.

The cave was still dry, so the two began to look for a suitable place to hide things.

Su Yin’s sharp eyes found a small hole seven feet high. She moved a stone and climbed up using the protruding part of the cave wall.

Su Baozhu was watching from below, “Be careful.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard an exclamation from Su Yin’s mouth.

“Fuck!!”