Chapter 21:  Radishes Can Be Used to Stew Meat

They hadn’t walked far when they reached the main road and saw two men pulling a child.

The village head saw this scene and thought they were kidnapping the child, but then he heard the children calling out for their parents.

He then saw the children’s parents not far away, wiping away tears, their eyes full of reluctance.

But they still sent their children onto the carriage.

The man with a scar on his face was ruthless and threw the child into the carriage with a thud, “What are you crying for? Can’t you see that your parents don’t want you?

You are all money-losing things, nothing is more precious than food.”

Yun Laotou and Yun Laotai saw this scene and sighed. The other Yun family members had never seen such a scene before. They wanted to step forward, but Yun Laotai stopped them.

“What are you doing? All of you, stand still.

Those are their parents selling their own children, what’s the use of you stepping forward?”

Yun Laotou nodded from the side, “We’ve just started fleeing famine! These people are already selling their children.

It’s better for the children to be sold… than…” He stopped there and didn’t finish his sentence.

The other Yun family members didn’t understand what Yun Laotou meant by “better than what.”

Yun Laotai naturally knew what her old man was thinking. Now that the children were sold, they would be sold to wealthy families to be maidservants.

Or they would be taken to brothels to be raised.

No matter how difficult their fate would be in the future, at least their lives would be saved.

If they followed their parents and ran out of food later, they might have to do something to these children.

Although it was cruel to think about, Yun Laotou and Yun Laotai had seen such scenes with their own eyes when they fled famine before.

Many families had many children, especially girls. Before fleeing famine, girls could still have a meal.

But once they fled famine, especially when there was no food, the children became their food reserves.

“Waa, don’t sell me, father and mother!

I beg you, I can work! Father, mother.”

One of the children hugged his mother’s leg and wouldn’t let go.

The woman was also ruthless. She shouted to the scarred man in front, “A girl for half a bag of grain, right? You take my girl, and the grain is yours.”

The scarred man nodded. He looked at the little girl in front of him. Although she was thin and pale, her features were still pretty.

Especially her big eyes, he nodded in satisfaction.

The woman had fled famine from a more remote place and had run out of food.

Now, a little girl could be exchanged for half a bag of grain, which could save her family’s lives!

The little girl was carried by the strong man and thrown into the carriage. Then he looked at the villagers who were watching and shouted, “A girl for half a bag of grain! Anyone willing to exchange? If you miss this opportunity, you won’t have another chance.

The children are suffering with you! It’s better for them to follow us back. Besides, a child for half a bag of grain can save a whole family!

Think about it, we won’t be coming back after we leave.”

The villagers heard this and started talking among themselves. Some of them had been hesitant before, but now they thought what the scarred man said was right.

They all pulled out their daughters.

Yun Nian’an frowned at the scene. The only thing these families had in common was their sons, who were treated like precious treasures.

They only pulled out their daughters.  What a feudal, patriarchal, ancient society.

Yun Laotai seemed to have suddenly thought of something and quickly turned to look at Yun Nian’an.

She went to Yun Nian’an and said, “Come on, come on, get on the cart. We’re leaving soon.”

Yun Nian’an nodded when she heard her grandma say this. The village head also shouted from the front, “Come on, don’t look anymore, let’s go!”

The people behind quickly followed. The next two days were relatively peaceful.

After all, they were a whole village of people, especially with the elderly and children in the middle, and men on both sides and in front and behind, it was relatively safe.

That night, everyone found a clearing and started making fires to cook.

The Yun family had a lot of wild boar meat left. Yun Laotai thought it wouldn’t be easy to keep it on the road, so she decided to let the family eat some for the next few days. They needed to eat their fill to have the strength to flee famine.

Yun Nian’an leaned against a big tree and wanted to take a nap, but she saw something unexpected.

She then started digging with a grunt.

Yun Laotou saw that the wild boar meat was almost cooked, so he went to Yun Nian’an and patted her shoulder, “Nian’an, it’s time to eat. What are you playing with here?”

Yun Nian’an heard her grandpa ask and quickly turned around, “Grandpa, look at this, see how many years old it is.”

Yun Laotou frowned when he heard his granddaughter say this.

What was it that she was asking how many years old it was?

When Yun Laotou took a look, he widened his eyes. He saw that his granddaughter was digging a wild ginseng.

The most important thing was that the top half of the ginseng had been dug up, leaving only a small section that hadn’t been completely dug out.

Yun Laotou thought that his granddaughter had dug it up with her bare hands, and he was startled.

He said to Yun Nian’an, “Nian’an, we’ll dig this up later with your father. Don’t dig anymore, or you’ll damage the roots and it won’t be worth much.”

Yun Nian’an nodded and took the flower and leaves of the ginseng to Yun Laotou and asked, “Grandpa, I don’t know how old it is, can you help me see how old it is?”

Yun Laotou nodded. With his years of experience, he immediately recognized the age of the ginseng.

He said to Yun Nian’an with surprise, “Don’t look at how small this ginseng is, it’s actually decades old!”

Yun Nian’an heard Yun Laotou say this and couldn’t help but giggle. She thought that their Yun family was going to get rich?

Yun Laotou looked at Yun Nian’an’s silly smile and kept calling, “My dear, my dear…”

“Nian’an, I’ll go and tell your father and the others to come over. Stay here and don’t let anyone find out.”

Yun Nian’an nodded and looked around. She saw that the other families were all making dinner near the river.

Unlike their family, they had just eaten a mouthful and then went to dig ginseng. She said to Yun Laotou, “Grandpa, I’ll watch here, just tell them when you go back.”

Yun Laotou nodded. If it was an ordinary thing, he would have shouted across to the crowd.

But this was ginseng! If he shouted, the whole village would come over.

Yun Laotou told Yun Laotai and the rest of the Yun family, and the few young men were immediately excited.

“It’s a big radish! We can have radish stew tonight.”