Archives: FS

That evening they stopped in the wilderness again.

As they got closer and closer to Xishan County, the number of victims increased. The bark of the trees on both sides of the official road has been stripped clean, which was shocking to see.

Fortunately, the place Uncle Ma found for them was not far from a small river, so there was no shortage of water.

Every family quickly set up a stove to cook.

When Mrs. Chen saw there was water, she boiled a large pot of water to cook the dumplings.

She didn’t dare to cook the pork-filled dumplings, so she asked Gu Fei to secretly take the wild vegetable-filled dumplings and cook them in two large pots.

Mrs. Chen also sent Gu Fei and several brothers and gave a few dumplings to each family.

The dumplings sent to Mrs. Qian’s side were naturally for Bao’er alone. Mrs. Qian made some grain paste, scraped the bottom of the pot, and divided it into three bowls. Gu Zhong had a big bowl, and she and Xing’er had one small bowl.

Lian’er was carrying water and making fire, but she had no shares.

Lian’er stood in a daze for a long time, then suddenly walked up to Mrs. Qian and said loudly: “Madam, why don’t you give me my dinner?”

Mrs. Qian didn’t expect that this girl would dare to ask her for dinner. She raised an eyebrow, picked up a fire stick, and hit her head and face: “How dare you talk about having dinner? What have you done all day? You deserve to eat?”

Gu Fei looked furious and was about to say something when Mrs. Chen held her back and whispered: “I told you to leave her alone. That Mrs. Qian is doing this so that you can see it. If you give Lian’er something to eat, she won’t take care of her food anymore.”

She sighed: “It’s a good idea. She can get help, but our family raises the helper for her!”

Gu Fei thought about it, maybe that was the case.

Even this person can’t escape the word “love”.

Although Gu Fei felt pity for Lian’er at first, it was just kindness to strangers.

Having been together for a few days now, and watching Lian’er go through such a tragic incident, Lian’er was no longer an irrelevant person, and it’s not easy to pretend not to have seen it anymore.

Gu Fei was eating dumplings and thinking about her mother’s words. When she saw Mrs. Qian still beating Lian’er with a fire stick, she couldn’t help it anymore. She gritted her teeth and stood up with the bowl, walked to Mrs. Qian, and said coldly: “Auntie, stop fighting. Since you don’t like this girl Lian’er, why not sell her to me and I’ll give you a bucket of coarse grains.”

Mrs. Lian’er’s eyes lit up when she heard this, and she looked at Mrs. Qian with expectation.

Mrs. Qian looked at Gu Fei twice and suddenly smiled. Gu Fei was a stupid girl. She can’t stand watching her beat Lian’er, right?

Mrs. Qian stood up and said: “Xiao Fei, nothing is so cheap in the world. If you want to buy Lian’er, it’s not impossible. If you give me 10 buckets of coarse grains, I will give you Lian’er. 5 buckets of white flour will also do.”

Mrs. Chen hurriedly came over at this time and spat on the side: “Sister-in-law, I think you are crazy!”

She pulled Gu Fei and said: “Let’s go and ignore her. She can sell 10 buckets of coarse grains to whomever she likes. Our family won’t agree.”

Gu Fei looked back at Lian’er, who shook her head and signaled her not to worry about her.

After walking a few steps, Gu Fei suddenly heard Bao’er’s cry: “Mom, she snatched my dumplings!”

Gu Fei turned around and saw Lian’er holding a dumpling in her hand, her mouth bulging and chewing hard.

Mrs. Qian screamed in shock: “You damn girl, you’re rebelling!” She ran toward Lian’er with a fire stick in hand.

When Lian’er saw her coming, she quickly walked left and right in the crowd and ran away.

It was already dark at this time, and there was no other light except the stove fires used for cooking in every household. Lian’er ran into the darkness, but Mrs. Qian didn’t dare to chase her, so she had to turn around, cursing.

 

After a startling glance, the curtain of the carriage was lowered, and the young man’s face could no longer be seen, and the carriage gradually moved away.

The Gu Family also set up their mule carriages and set off.

There were more victims on the road than in the previous days, and everyone in the convoy cheered up and headed on their way.

At noon, Uncle Ma asked them to stop and have a rest and eat solid food.

Gu Fei drank some water and ate the steamed bun. As she was eating, she saw Mrs. Qian next to them taking out a coarse grain steamed bun, breaking it into two halves, handing half to Lian’er, and putting the other half in her sleeve.

Gu Fei frowned and couldn’t help but say: “Auntie, you just give Lian’er half a bun. Won’t she feel hungry? Besides, she has to walk with Bao’er on her back!”

Mrs. Qian rolled her eyes and said, “It’s none of your business. Lian’er is the girl I bought. Even if I don’t feed her, it has nothing to do with you.”

Mrs. Chen pulled Gu Fei: “Forget it, it’s useless even if you tell her, you can’t control it.”

Just as she was talking, Bao’er came over with an egg in his mouth, knocked the steamed bun in Lian’er’s hand with a snap, and stuck out his tongue at Lian’er: “Damn girl, you crybaby!”

Lian’er cried a lot this morning, and Bao’er saw it.

Gu Fei was so angry that he picked up half of the steamed bun and handed it to Lian’er. He glared at Bao’er fiercely and said, “You kid, why are you so bad? You can’t even let others eat peacefully. If you dare to do such a thing again. I’ll let Third Brother hit you!”

Bao’er made a face and ran away.

Lian’er’s face was blank. She took half of the steamed bun and stuffed it into her mouth without dusting it off.

Gu Fei hurriedly grabbed it, patted it, pulled Lian’er aside, handed her the steamed bun, and broke off half of the bun for her.

Lian’er held the steamed bun in her hand and looked at Gu Fei blankly: “I know you are kind-hearted. But you don’t need to worry about me. It doesn’t matter whether I eat or not. Anyway, I don’t want to live anymore.”

Gu Fei frowned: “What nonsense are you talking about? Look at these people, who are not struggling to survive!”

“Have you forgotten why your mother sold you?”

Lian’er lowered her head and remained silent.

Gu Fei continued: “Your mother sold you so that you could survive. Those people who beat your mother and brother to death for food also wanted to survive.”

“How can you say such a thing when you still have something to eat?”

“Do you want your mother to die without feeling at ease?”

Lian’er raised her head and gave a smile that was uglier than crying: “What’s the point of living for me? My parents and brothers are gone. I’m a lonely ghost in this world.”

“You can still burn paper money for them during the Ghost Festival if you are alive, but if you die too, your family will not even have anyone to burn paper money in the underworld. Your whole family will still suffer from poverty. Think about it.”

Lian’er blinked slowly and suddenly said: “Yes, I have to burn paper money for them and burn a house for them to live in so that their life in the underworld will be easier.”

Gu Fei smiled: “That’s right. Only when people are alive can they have hope. Eat quickly. Eat, so you can go on your way.”

Lian’er quickly stuffed the steamed bun in her hand into her mouth. Once a person has the motivation to live, she will find ways to live.

She knew that if Mrs. Qian saw this white-flour bun, she would take it away!

Mrs. Qian had seen it a long time ago.

It was just, that Gu Fei was over there, so it was hard for her to go and grab it.

She quickly calculated in her mind. Since Gu Fei was willing to raise Lian’er for her, it was just right. She didn’t have to give her half of the bun.

 

Lian’er slowly put down her brother’s body, turned around, and kowtowed to everyone: “All kind-hearted uncles and aunties, please help me bury my mother and brother. I will repay you by working as a cow or a horse in my next life.”

Gu Zhang sighed: “Girl, please get up and stop kneeling. We should help each other.”

He turned around and shouted: “Dalang, Erlang, help carry people.”

“Xiao Fei, go get the shovel from home.”

Gu Fei quickly ran to the inn, took the shovel from the mule carriage, and ran back. Gu Zhang hurriedly took it.

Gu Qing and Gu Erlang carried the woman, and Lian’er carried her brother on her back. The group turned the corner and arrived outside the town.

Gu Zhang found a flat piece of land and asked Gu Sanlang to dig a hole.

Gu Sanlang dug for a while, sweating profusely, and then Gu Erlang continued digging.

In a short time, a pit was dug one meter deep and as wide as one person.

Gu Erlang and Gu Sanlang put the woman down. Gu Fei took out the tattered cotton jacket from the woman’s bag and covered her face, and Lian’er put her brother next to her mother.

She took the other tattered cotton-padded jacket left in the bag and covered it with her brother, staring blankly at the two people lying together in the pit.

Gu Erlang went up with the shovel, shoveled the soil, and sprinkled it.

The soil on the ground was getting more and more less. Gradually, people could only see the piece of clothing, and then nothing could be seen.

A few people built a grave together, and Gu Zhang found a wooden board and planned to insert it into it.

Gu Fei suddenly said: “Dad, I have a knife here.”

She took out a dagger. Gu Zhang nodded, took it, and asked Lian’er, “What are your mother and brother’s names? At least make a monument. Maybe you can find them later.”

Lian’er shook her head numbly: “I don’t know, I just know that my mother’s surname is Zhang, my grandma calls her Erya, and my aunt calls her Erjie.”

“My brother’s name is Liu Song.”

Gu Fei felt pity in her heart. In this era, women were a kind of existence without names. They can be called whatever they want.

Gu Zhang took the dagger and reluctantly carved a few words on the wooden board, the tomb of Zhang’s second sister Liu Song.

Gu Zhang inserted the wooden plank in front of the grave, and Lian’er knelt and kowtowed several times.

Aunt Liu pulled her up and said, “Girl, let’s go. It’s not a bad thing to leave this world, so as not to suffer anymore. They are going to enjoy the blessings.”

Lian’er was pulled by Aunt Liu in a daze, and the group of people circled back to the inn.

As soon as they entered the backyard, Mrs. Qian pointed at Lian’er and screamed: “You damn girl, where have you been? You just ran away while I was cooking. Do you think I won’t beat you to death?”

Gu Zhang shouted sharply: “Sister-in-law, please calm down!”

“Lian’er’s mother and brother are gone, so we have to collect their bodies!”

Mrs. Qian was startled for a moment and then stopped talking.

Lian’er walked over numbly, mechanically picked up the firewood, and stuffed it into the stove hole.

The backyard was quiet, and everyone looked sympathetically at the thin girl squatting in front of the stove to light the fire.

*

After having breakfast and filling the tanks with water, everyone drove the mules out and put them in harnesses.

At this time, the black-clothed guards from the inn came out. Those who led the horses led the horses, and those who harnessed the carts were in good order. After a while, they were all sorted.

The beautiful middle-aged woman came out of the inn and was helped by several maidservants into the carriage. The young man also came out, changed into a light blue brocade robe, with a black jade hairpin on his head, and got into another green carriage.

Their carriage moved slowly.

The young man suddenly opened the curtain and took a look at the girl wearing a blue floral jacket and skirt.

Gu Fei looked over accidentally and met the young man’s eyes.

The clear and cold gaze was like a mountain stream, clear and clear.

 

The whole family slept in the main bunk of the inn that night.

The old lady went to bed early, Uncle Ma went for a walk somewhere, Gu Fei took out the remaining sheepskins, and several women were sewing sheepskin jackets under the oil lamp.

It was getting colder day by day, so this jacket will come in handy soon.

While sewing, Gu Fei secretly took out some scraps of silver and asked Mrs. Chen and the others to sew them to the corners of their clothes: “I see that the road is getting more and more unsafe. If something happens, and someone in the family gets separated, at least, you have a little money with you. It’s better than nothing. If we get separated, we will find a way to meet up in Ping An City.”

Gu Sanlang came over and said with a smile: “Then let me sew more silver into that coat of mine.”

Mrs. Chen patted him and said: “This is just in case. Our family members have to be together.”

Around midnight, Mrs. Chen blew out the oil lamp and told everyone to sleep.

Everyone was planning to cook in the yard again when they got up early. The shopkeeper was a very particular person and did not allow them to cook in the front yard. They drove them all to the backyard.

While making breakfast, two guys from the inn came to the backyard to chop firewood and started chatting.

A waiter said: “There is a dead person on the corner of the street, do you know? I just went to see it.”

The other one shook his head and struck down with an axe: “It’s not surprising, I heard that an old man died outside the town a few days ago, saying he died of starvation.”

The guy waved his hand and said: “These two did not starve to death. It’s a woman and a boy. They should be mother and son. I heard that they were beaten to death. Their food must be robbed. There was a broken pot thrown on the ground. The woman has blood on her head!”

The two were talking, and everyone making breakfast in the backyard heard it. Lian’er, who was lighting the fire, suddenly dropped the firewood in her hand and ran out like crazy.

Mrs. Qian was scolding from behind: “Damn girl, where are you running? You’re crazy!”

Gu Fei was startled and ran out as well.

At this time, several men also reacted, looked at each other, and walked out in unison.

Gu Fei followed Lian’er to the corner of the street and saw a broken pot thrown on the ground, the inside of the pot was clean.

Two people were lying next to the wall.

The woman was lying on her back with a blood hole on her forehead. The blood had already solidified.

The boy was sitting against the wall, his neck tilted to one side and his face was purple.

The baggage of the two men was scattered on the ground, and a few tattered cotton-padded jackets were exposed.

There were some scattered grains spots on the blue stone floor, which looked like coarse grains.

Lian’er rushed towards her and burst into a heart-rending scream: “Mother——”

“Younger brother–”

Gu Fei bit her lip, tears flowing down silently.

Two people who were still alive yesterday died here just like that today.

She thought that the coarse grains could let them live. Who would have thought that it would be the cause of their death?

Several men also came here and watched silently.

At this time, a house next to me opened the door, and a woman stood at the door: “Is this someone you know?”

“Take it away quickly and bury it, it would be unlucky to die here!”

Everyone was silent.

Lian’er lay on her mother’s body and cried for a while, then crawled next to her brother, hugging her brother’s body and shaking her body: “Xiao Song, wake up, wake up, sister is here, sister will take you home. ”

The boy’s head hung weakly on one side, shaking continuously with Lian’er’s movements.

Aunt Liu, the village chief’s wife, also followed over. She sighed, walked forward, and put her hand on Lian’er’s shoulder: “Girl, your mother and brother are gone. There is nothing you can do about it. Human life is worthless in this world.”

“It’s better to bury them quickly and don’t let wild dogs eat them.”

 

The shopkeeper took the silver, weighed it in his hand, and said with a smile: “No need to weigh it, this is 2 taels. I have been doing this for decades, and I have handed over a lot of silver, and I never make a mistake.”

“Here’s the 500 copper coins~”

The shopkeeper took out a bunch of copper coins and put them on the counter.

Gu Fei took it and put it into her arms.

The shopkeeper looked at her with a smile: “You don’t count, what if a few are missing?”

Gu Fei smiled and said: “You look like a kind person. Besides, you have such a big business, how can you be short of a few copper coins? No need to count.”

After Gu Fei finished speaking, she went out to help Mrs. Chen.

The shopkeeper looked at her back and said to the waiter next to her: “This little girl is not an ordinary person. She openly does things.”

The waiter smiled and said: “Why not? I think she is no different from other girls.”

The shopkeeper shook his head and pointed at the village chief who was still hesitating at the side: “Look? Who among these peasants didn’t count their copper coins and hesitate to take them out?”

“Looking at that girl’s appearance, she is not a rich person, but she is very generous in her actions and pleasant in her words. If she marries one day, she will be a good person in charge of the family.”

“Also, do you think any family would give their money to a little girl for safekeeping? What does this mean? Either she is favored at home or she has the ability, neither of which is easy.”

The young man in blue brocade was passing by the counter. Hearing this, he glanced outside and saw only a slender figure wearing a blue floral jacket and skirt.

The village chief was not willing to pay the money in the end.

He went out to the yard to discuss with the other families.

Several families were shocked when they heard that Gu Fei’s family spent one silver and five hundred copper coins on accommodation and water.

In the past, such an amount of money was enough to spend half a year.

Mrs. Qian first shouted: “It’s so expensive, I can’t afford to live there. I’d rather live in the wilderness.”

Zhang Laoda also shook his head: “I can’t afford it. It costs fifty cents per person and one hundred cents for a bucket of water. If this continues, within a few days, our family will be completely depleted.”

Aunt Huang clutched the waistband of her trousers tightly. It was so expensive that she really couldn’t live with it.

Everyone discussed what to do.

In the end, Gu Zhong came up with an idea: “I think we should discuss it with the shopkeeper if we can rest in the yard at night. However, we still have to buy water and the mules have to eat fodder.”

Everyone nodded, this was a good idea, and the family could save several hundred coins.

In the end, the village chief had some good discussions with the shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper finally agreed that they should build a floor bunk in the corner next to the stable.

Besides the stable, the animals were pooping and urinating, which was stinky, but there was nothing anyone could do. At least this place was protected from the wind and was safe.

With Lian’er in his sight, Gu Zhong didn’t even need to carry the water. He ordered Lian’er to follow the waiter to carry the water.

Lian’er’s mother and brother did not dare to enter the inn. They found a sheltered place at the corner of the street and were cooking cornmeal paste.

They followed the convoy today and finally got water.

Mrs. Chen started cooking the rice.

Li Chunhua was cutting cabbage and planning to make cabbage soup.

Gu Fei came to her mother’s side and said: “Mom, aren’t you going to eat meat today?”

Mrs. Chen shook her head and said: “No, we can’t.”

“Didn’t you see? Our family can sleep in the inn and eat white flour steamed buns. Who wouldn’t be jealous after seeing this? I’d find a way to eat the meat secretly in the future.”

Gu Fei licked her lips. Alas, how miserable their life was they couldn’t even eat meat.

 

Mrs. Chen hurriedly said: “Uncle Ma, you can’t drink this raw water. You will have diarrhea if you drink it.”

Uncle Ma smiled and said, “It’s okay. I run out all the time, and I’m used to it.”

After filling up the water, they continued to move forward.

Because they were delayed for half an hour on the road, and it was already dark, their group arrived at the small town.

Every house in the town was closed, except for a small inn with its lights on.

Everyone drove over, and several young men were standing at the door of the yard.

Several people looked at their motorcade and asked: “Do you want to stay in the inn?”

Gu Zhang nodded hurriedly: “Is there any room left to stay in the inn?”

A few people got out of the way: “Come in, there’s still room.”

The people drove the mule cart in and saw several carriages parked in the yard, and there were many horses in the stables.

There were two empty carriages, and the loads on them must have been unloaded.

There are also two carriages, a green carriage and an eight-treasure carriage.

Gu Fei often sees carriages like this in the Marquis Mansion.

It’s just that at this moment, all the pearl decorations that should be on the carriage were gone, and only the brocade car curtain was glowing faintly at night.

There were noble people in this inn.

Gu Fei and Lanzhi exchanged a look, and both of them understood that the status of a person who could ride in such a car was extraordinary.

The Eight Treasures Carriage can only be ridden by a woman of high rank.

Everyone unloaded the carts and took the mules to eat fodder.

Gu Fei followed Gu Zhang to the inn door.

There were three tables of guests sitting in the lobby.

At one table were a beautiful middle-aged woman and a boy of seventeen or eighteen years old wearing blue brocade clothes. Several maids were standing nearby waiting for her.

At the other two tables were eight guards in black clothes.

Gu Fei only glanced at it and quickly looked away.

Lanzhi touched her arm and whispered: “It’s the county governor’s wife.”

Last year, the young master in the Marquis Mansion got married, and this lady attended the wedding banquet.

Gu Fei said “Mmm” in a low voice. No matter who this lady was, she had nothing to do with them.

The village chief came up and asked the shopkeeper directly: “How much does it cost to stay?”

The shopkeeper looked up and said, “50 cents per person.” He glanced at the grandson beside the village chief: “Half the amount for children.”

The village chief was stunned for a moment, suspecting that he heard wrongly, “50 cents? We lived in the shared room a few days ago, and it only cost 20 cents!”

The shopkeeper smiled and said: “Brother, that was a few days ago, the price change every day.”

He pouted outside and said: “When you came in, you saw those people standing at the entrance of the courtyard, right? They are all hired by me. It costs a lot of money a day. How can I pay them without raising the price?”

The village chief asked in confusion: “Why hire those people?”

The shopkeeper spread his hands and said: “There is nothing I can do. If I didn’t hire someone to stand at the door, the refugees would keep coming. They’ll keep coming and begging for food and drink. I won’t be able to continue my business.”

He sighed: “I think, I won’t be able to keep this business a few more days. I’m just taking it one day at a time.”

The village chief was reluctant to pay and stood at the back hesitantly.

Gu Fei took out a piece of broken silver and said: “We’ll live in the open room. 10 adults and 1 child. We also need 4 bundles of fodder and 6 buckets of water. How much do you think it will cost?”

The shopkeeper glanced at Gu Fei, rattled his abacus, and said with a smile: “This girl is so generous, I’ll calculate it for you. The accommodation is 525 cents, the 4 bundles of fodder are 80 cents, and the 6 buckets of water are 900 cents. In total, It’s 1 silver and 505 copper coins.”

“Well, I’ll give you 5 copper coins discount. Just give me 1 silver and 500 copper coins.”

Gu Fei shook her head. The accommodation fee has gone up, and the price of water has also gone up. But they have no other choice, they have to stay.

She put the silver on the counter: “Here are 2 taels of silver, please check it.”