Archives: FS

Lanzhi nodded vigorously: “I can, I’m good at sewing clothes.”

“Then you go, I’ll do things here.” Mrs. Chen waved her hand.

Lanzhi arrived at the house, discussed with Gu Fei and Li Chunhua, took a pair of scissors, and started cutting the leather. It had to be neatly cut before it could be sewn.

Mrs. Chen came over after washing the dishes, and the women worked together in full swing.

While sewing the leather, Mrs. Chen asked Gu Fei, “Xiao Fei, tell your father, can’t we leave in the spring? It’s getting cold now. If we travel in winter, we might freeze to death.”

Gu Fei shook her head, “Mom, we can’t wait any longer.”

“When we go to the south, we have to pass through several counties, which cover thousands of miles. It will take 2 or 3 months to get there.”

“Plague is easy to occur in spring, and we don’t know how many people will starve to death this winter. If we are late, if we catch the plague on the road, it will be over for us.”

“I would rather be cold than leave later.”

Mrs. Chen was worried when Gu Qing came in and said: “Sister, what did you just say you want to buy?”

Gu Fei nodded, “We need to buy ginger, charcoal, a hand stove, a foot stove, ointment, and all kinds of commonly used medicinal materials. I’m afraid we also need to buy more fodder for the mules. Also, we need to buy a lot of water sacs. It’s best to buy a leather one. I’m afraid it’s hard to find clean water along the way.”

“If we need anything else, we can buy on the road.”

Gu Qing rubbed his hands, “Aren’t we going to buy food?”

“The price of food will continue to rise.”

Gu Fei glanced at the people in the room and felt relieved: “I still have food here, enough for our family to eat in the south.”

Everyone in this family was well aware of her miraculous abilities, so she won’t hide it anymore. After all, she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to hide it to the south.

She took out one hundred taels of silver: “Let’s pay back brother-in-law’s money in a while, then go to the village chief to pay back the money, and get back the mortgaged land deed.”

“Then you and Dad can use the remaining silver as you see fit.”

Gu Qing took the money and was about to leave when Mrs. Chen suddenly stopped him: “I’m afraid I still have to buy some coarse grains. If you don’t put some grains in the carriage, we won’t be able to explain our food.”

Gu Fei looked at her mother, then at Gu Qing, and nodded. Mrs. Chen was thoughtful and wanted to cover up others’ ears.

The next day, everyone in the family who should report the news went out to report the news, and those who should buy things went out to go shopping.

The two brothers and Gu Zhang went into the city again.

The few remaining women in the family were mixing dough, steaming buns, and making pancakes at home.

It was more convenient to carry steamed buns and pancakes than flour on this road.

Mrs. Chen planned to steam as much as she could in the past few days. Then she quietly asked Gu Fei to put them away. If she put it in hot, it would still be hot when she took it out.

The only thing Mrs. Chen was dissatisfied about was that there were only fine grains and no coarse grains. This was too painful to eat.

In the evening, the father and son who had gone out came back.

Gu Sanlang still stayed in the city.

Gu Zhang looked very excited.

The family sat at the table and prepared to eat. Gu Zhang smiled and said to Gu Fei: “I bought a map today.”

Gu Fei’s eyes lit up, and Gu Zhang added: “That’s not all. When I went to the carriage and horse station, I happened to meet an old man surnamed Ma. He heard that I was going to the south and said he was willing to be my guide.”

“When he was young, he went to the south many times and was familiar with the roads.”

“Now that he is old and can’t work as a bodyguard, he just drives in the carriage dealership, takes care of animals, and so on. He will be a good help.”

Gu Fei nodded and smiled: “That’s great, this is just giving you a pillow when you feel sleepy.”

 

Gu Fei still had candy, but she was unwilling to give it to them.

Whether it was the young one or the old one, if they ask her for something, can’t they speak politely?

But each of them was aggressive and accused her as if she owed them something.

She won’t give it to them!

Gu Fei just shook her head: “It’s all gone.”

The old lady leaned on her cane and sneered: “I can tell, this girl hates me.”

“Your family keeps protecting you, a white-eyed wolf, let’s just wait and see!”

The old lady turned around and left. Gu Qing stepped forward and said, “Grandma, let me help you over.”

The old lady shook off Gu Qing’s hand: “I don’t need you. I can go by myself!”

Not long after the old lady left, Baoer’s crisp voice came from the yard next door: “Grandmother, where’s the candy you asked for?”

The old lady whispered something.

Baoer suddenly cried again: “I don’t care, I want to eat candy, I want to eat candy——”

People in the room looked at each other in confusion. Gu Qing sighed: “Bao’er, this kid has such a stubborn temper.”

Everyone picked up their chopsticks and ate in silence.

After eating for a while, Gu Zhang told Gu Erlang: “Go to your uncle’s house tomorrow and talk to him. It’s best if he can come with us.”

Then he looked at Li Chunhua and said: “The same goes for your natal family. You go back tomorrow and tell them what the village chief said. If they also want to leave, we can go together.”

Li Chunhua nodded her head.

Her natal family was in the next village, so it was easy to go there.

After dinner, Lanzhi volunteered to wash the dishes.

Mrs. Chen didn’t want her to do it, but she insisted.

Lanzhi was very anxious.

She was now a slave that Gu Fei bought for 1,800 taels. This much money was enough to buy a hundred servants. If she doesn’t work hard and just eats for free, the Gu Family will sell her.

Gu Fei returned to the house, lay down on the kang, and counted her things in the space.

There were more than a hundred bags of rice and flour in total, each weighing twenty kilograms. The total amount was more than two thousand kilograms, which should be enough to eat in the south.

There were also more than fifty boxes of mineral water from several brands in total, and one box contained twenty-four bottles. It seems like a lot, but it was not enough on the road. Drinking two bottles of water a day can be considered a small amount for a person.

There were many people in the family, she was afraid that it be wiped out in one day.

There was quite a lot of cooking oil, there were more than twenty of them.

All kinds of condiments were also available, and the rest included some snacks and other miscellaneous things.

There was only that little bit of fruit, so Gu Fei decided not to eat it for the time being and would eat it again when she had no other choice.

After taking inventory, Gu Fei took out the leathers that Gu Qing bought from the space. There were dozens of them in total, and they were piled together on the kang.

Mrs. Chen walked in and was stunned for a moment: “This leather is——”

Gu Fei guessed that Mrs. Chen had gone wrong and thought she was the one who conjured it up again: “Eldest brother went to buy it today. I was thinking about, making some sheepskin coat for you and Dad to wear in the winter.”

Li Chunhua also opened the curtain and came in, interjecting: “There are so many leathers, if they are better cut, everyone in the family can wear sheepskin coats.”

As she was talking, there was a crisp sound from the kitchen. Mrs. Chen slapped her thigh and said: “My bowl——”

Mrs. Chen rushed to the kitchen and saw Lanzhi looking at her with tears in her eyes. There was a bowl broken into eight pieces lying on the floor.

Mrs. Chen sighed. Her daughter didn’t say anything, but she could tell that this Lanzhi must be either a high-class maidservant or a young lady from the Marquis Mansion. She has thin skin and tender flesh. She must not be used to work.

Her daughter wanted to keep her, so she couldn’t do anything about it.

Ms. Chen softened her voice and said: “Forget it, just try not to drop it. It’s not like you do this kind of work in the first place.”

“Do you know how to sew clothes? Go to the room quickly. Xiao Fei told me to make a sheepskin coats.”

 

Lanzhi straightened her neck and swallowed while looking at the white flour pancake in the bowl. She quickly put the pancake into Gu Fei’s bowl again: “I’ll just eat this.”

Gu Fei shook her head: “I can’t even eat it. How can you eat it? Don’t make it difficult for yourself.”

Lanzhi waved her hands vigorously: “No, I must eat it. Whatever the aunt and others eat, I should eat. I, I will get used to it soon.”

Gu Erlang looked at Lanzhi trying to swallow and felt a little uncomfortable for no reason. He stood up, took a bowl, filled a bowl with vegetable soup, and placed it in front of Lanzhi: “If you can’t eat it, soak it in the soup until it softens. It will be easy to swallow.”

Lanzhi smiled gratefully at him, tore the pancake into pieces, and put it into the soup.

Gu Fei sighed: “Mom, from now on, either everyone will eat white flour or everyone will eat whole grains. I can eat it all by myself.”

Mrs. Chen was silent for a while and then said: “Xiao Fei, you don’t know how expensive the firewood and rice are. And now, we have to flee the famine. I don’t know how long it will take. There are so many people in the family who need to eat and drink. Even a mountain can be empty. Why don’t we save some money?”

Gu Fei didn’t say anything else. She didn’t know how much rice and flour she still had in her space. She would have to take a good look at her inventory.

At this moment, a trembling figure suddenly walked in at the door.

In farmers’ houses, the courtyard gates were not always closed.

Gu Qing was sitting facing the door. He quickly stood up and went to help people: “Grandma, why are you here?”

Mrs. Chen also stood up and said: “Mom, have you eaten? Let’s eat together.”

The old lady waved her hands with a worried look on her face: “I won’t eat your food.”

She turned to look at Gu Fei, staring at the white flour pancake in her hand: “The sun is coming out in the west. I, the grandmother, don’t even have white flour pancakes to eat, but you, a little girl, can eat it without care?”

Gu Fei said nothing, took a big bite of the pancake, and went to pick up the vegetables.

Mrs. Chen quickly apologized and smiled: “Mom, isn’t Xiao Fei recovering from her injuries? I made her something good to eat. There is also some white flour. I will make it and send it to you later.”

The old lady pushed the cane hard into the ground and shouted: “I don’t want to eat. I’m not that lucky. I didn’t raise a good son or daughter-in-law. I don’t deserve to eat such a meal!”

Gu Zhang stood up helplessly: “Mom, then have a good meal. What are you doing? If you have any dissatisfaction with your son, just say it.”

The old lady turned and glared at Gu Zhang: “I want to ask you, how do you teach your daughter? How can she eat alone? How can she be so unfilial to her elders and unkind to her brothers?”

“She is reluctant to give even a piece of candy to her nephew. What’s the use of raising this girl!”

Gu Fei sneered in her heart, it turned out that she stood up for Bao’er, no wonder.

She said calmly: “Grandmother, you can’t blame my father. I was sold when I was 6 years old. My father wanted to teach me, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the chance to listen to his teachings at home.”

The old lady’s face suddenly turned pale with anger. The second brother had been arguing with her for a long time about selling this girl, and she insisted that she was sending Gu Fei to the Marquis’ Mansion to enjoy happiness.

She said so much, but he didn’t believe it.

Gu Fei’s words were accusing her again. She was trembling and speechless for a moment.

Seeing that the old lady’s face was pale, Gu Zhang quickly calmed down the matter and said, “Xiao Fei, do you still have the candy? Take it out quickly and ask your grandma to bring it to Bao’er.”

Gu Fei shook his head, “No, I gave one to each of Huzi and Xiao Cao, and I ate the last one myself.”

The old lady glared at Gu Fei: “I know you still have some, take them out quickly!”

 

Gu Zhang asked in a deep voice: “Erlang, why did you beat Baoer?”

Gu Erlang’s eyes were red as he looked at Gu Fei’s hand: “Baoer bit Xiao Fei’s hand with all his strength. I couldn’t pull him away. What can I do aside from hitting him?”

At this moment, Gu Zhang saw that Gu Fei’s finger had been bitten with deep teeth marks.

Gu Zhang was angry: “Brother, your son is precious, but my daughter is also precious. Watch your son carefully from now on, and don’t let him mess with my Xiao Fei!”

Mrs. Chen ran over at this time, saw Gu Fei’s raised fingers, and looked at Mrs. Qian’s desperate look, and immediately cried, “Oh, my heart and soul. My daughter is already injured, but now, she is hurt again.”

Gu Fei touched her mother with her elbow: “Mother, the drama is over.”

Gu Zhong’s lips twitched. He looked at his son sitting on the ground, and then at Mrs. Qian, who was desperately trying to break free. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally.

At this time, the village chief saw the commotion everywhere. He stood on a stool and shouted at the top of his lungs: “It’s time to disperse. Let’s go back and cook. Let’s discuss the matter of escaping slowly. Don’t rush. There are still a few days left before we leave.”

“Those who want to leave, hurry back and make preparations. We will set off in 5 days!”

Gu Zhang looked worried: “Let’s go home.”

Gu Erlang quickly picked up Gu Fei on his back. Gu Fei glanced at Baoer on the ground and suddenly shouted, “Baoer!”

Baoer stood up, sniffed, and looked at Gu Fei.

Gu Fei took out a piece of candy, shook it at him in her hand, and then slowly stuffed it into her mouth.

Baoer cried “Waa waa” and started rolling on the ground crazily: “I want to eat candy, I want to eat candy -”

Gu Fei’s lips curved into a smile, and then she patted Gu Erlang’s shoulder: “Second brother, let’s go.”

Lanzhi covered her mouth and laughed beside her.

After arriving home, Lanzhi quickly gave Gu Fei medicine.

Gu Fei was lying on the kang breathing heavily. Suddenly, Mrs. Chen came in and said angrily: “From now on, you are not allowed to go anywhere. You are not allowed to go out until you heal your injury!”

She took Gu Fei’s finger and looked at it carefully: “Fortunately, the skin is not broken.”

“This child is terrible. He is already 6 years old, but he still bites people!”

After saying that, she turned around and went out to cook.

After a while, the meal was ready, and the family sat around the table to eat.

Suddenly, Baoer’s heartbreaking cry came from next door: “I want to eat candy—I want to eat candy—”

Then Mrs. Qian’s voice sounded: “Bao’er, don’t cry, Mother will kill the chicken for you to eat.”

Baoer’s cry changed immediately: “I want to eat chicken, but I also want to eat candy——”

Gu Fei couldn’t help but laugh out loud, and Lanzhi also pursed her lips and smiled.

Gu Zhang cleared his throat and said: “Eat, just eat.”

Today, they bought some meat in the city. Mrs. Chen was reluctant to cook it all, so she cut half of it and fried a bowl of beans.

There was a basin of cornmeal pancakes and two white flour pancakes on the table.

Mrs. Chen brought two white flour cakes to Gu Fei: “Xiao Fei needs to recover from her injuries, so she needs to eat something good. Don’t be greedy.”

Xiao Cao was the first to express her opinion: “Grandma, I’m not greedy, so I’ll eat cornmeal pancakes.”

Lanzhi had never eaten cornmeal pancakes before, so she happily picked one up. The pancake was golden and must have been delicious.

Gu Fei looked at her calmly.

Langhi’s pancake was quite delicious after taking a bite. After chewing a few mouthfuls and swallowing it, she felt her throat like swallowing sand and she couldn’t swallow it.

Gu Fei sighed, she knew that the second young lady’s delicate throat could not handle coarse grains.

She took a piece of cake from her bowl and put it into her bowl.

Mrs. Chen was about to speak but stopped.

While Gu Zhang frowned.

Li Chunhua lowered her head to feed Xiao Cao and acted as if she didn’t see it.

 

Huzi covered his mouth: “No, there was only one, and I ate it all.”

Baoer turned around and ran, wandering around in the crowd, and finally found Gu Fei.

He stretched out his hand to Gu Fei angrily: “Give me some candy!”

Gu Fei was just about to take one out of the space, but after thinking about it, she put it back.

This baby has been very aggressive since he arrived. Does she owe him some candy?

She rolled her eyes and said: “No more.”

Baoer couldn’t help but grabbed Gu Fei’s pants and said: “Give me candy. If you don’t give it to me, I’ll ask my mother to beat you.”

Gu Fei turned her head away and said, “Then go, your mother is there, let her beat me.”

Mrs. Qian was talking to several women, and she was spitting.

Baoer ran over and grabbed his mother’s pants: “Mom, Xiao Fei gives Huzi some candy, but not me. Help me beat her up.”

Mrs. Qian gave birth to three daughters before she got this son. So she treated him like a rare treasure.

After listening to Baoer’s words, she led him towards Gu Fei without thinking.

“Xiao Fei, why don’t you give your nephew some candy if you have it?” Mrs. Qian asked as soon as she came.

Gu Fei smiled: “No more.”

“Even if there is more, I won’t give it to you.”

“I can give my things to whomever I want, after all, it’s none of your business, right?”

Mrs. Qian’s eyes widened: “You girl, why are you like this? Baoer is also your nephew. Although we have separated, we are still one family in the end. You can’t bear to part with a piece of candy. Why are you so stingy!”

Gu Fei smiled and said, “I learned this from you, Eldest Aunt. Our family borrowed a couple of silver, but you came to collect the debt in less than an hour. Do you think an Aunt should act like that?”

Mrs. Qian was furious: “You’re too small-minded, girl!”

She pulled Baoer and said: “Let’s go home. Mom will make maltose for you.”

Baoer said stubbornly: “I don’t want to eat maltose, I want to eat the candy that Huzi eats. Huzi said it is a hundred times more delicious than maltose.”

Gu Fei looked at Baoer and felt a little soft-hearted. After all, he was just a six or seven-year-old child and had nothing to do with the adult’s business.

Just as Gu Fei was about to take out a candy from the space, Baoer suddenly rushed towards her, grabbed her hand, and bit it.

Usually, if his sister, Xing’er disobeyed him, he would bite her hard. Xinger didn’t dare to fight back, she only compromised in the end.

Baoer used this trick against Gu Fei without even thinking about it.

Gu Erlang saw him from the side and hurriedly grabbed him, “Baoer, let go of your Aunt Xiao Fei quickly!”

Who would have known that Baoer’s mouth was so harsh that he bit Gu Fei’s finger to death and refused to let go?

Gu Fei screamed in pain.

Gu Erlang became anxious and slapped Baoer’s head away.

The force was a bit too strong, and Baoer fell to the ground. But he didn’t feel the pain and rolled around: “I want to eat candy, I want to eat candy!”

When Mrs. Qian saw her son being beaten, she felt so painful that her heart throbbed.

She pounced and slapped Gu Erlang: “You dare to hit my Baoer, I will fight with you!”

Gu Erlang didn’t want to be hit by her, so he dodged with one side of his body.

Gu Zhong, Gu Zhang, and Gu Rong were all standing nearby.

Originally, they were talking about escaping from famine and didn’t pay much attention to their surroundings.

Seeing that the fight started, several people hurriedly stepped forward and pulled them away.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to him anymore, and the adults were all fighting, Baoer stopped rolling and sat on the ground to watch the fun.

Mrs. Qian tried hard to break away from Gu Zhong, but Gu Zhong hugged her tightly.

Mrs. Qian turned around and hit Gu Zhong: “You useless thing, your son was beaten, and you still held me back. If you have the guts, go and beat Gu Erlang up.”

 

The village chief looked at everyone with a complicated expression. Who wants to leave? He doesn’t want to leave either.

His family has a row of brick and tiled houses and dozens of acres of land. Such a large family property must be thrown away in the blink of an eye!

He felt the pain of having his heart and liver ripped out, but there was nothing he could do.

It was written in the Book of Heaven. People were dying of hunger for thousands of miles, plagues were rampant, and they could not survive without leaving!

The village chief didn’t care after he finished speaking. It was up to everyone to decide whether to leave or not. He couldn’t put a knife to someone’s neck to follow them.

The crowd became confused, everyone was looking for advice from their acquaintances, friends, or brothers and sisters.

Gu Zhong looked around and finally found Gu Zhang, and quickly grabbed him: “Second Brother, why didn’t you tell me about such a big matter first? Are you planning to escape?”

Gu Rong, the third son of the Gu family, also squeezed over: “Second Brother, it’s not like we have to flee. If we do, what will happen to our house and land?”

Gu Zhang sighed: “I only got the news last night, and I haven’t had time to tell you yet.”

“Third Brother, don’t worry about the house and the land. There is no food in the land anyway, and I’m not afraid such a house would be stolen. We have to live first.”

Gu Rong was startled: “Second brother, do you want to leave?”

Gu Zhang nodded cautiously.

Gu Rong only thought about it for a moment before making a decision, “Okay, then I’ll go with my Second Brother.”

He gritted his teeth and said: “Anyway, there are only three people in my family, and we don’t have a few acres of land. I don’t feel bad if it was thrown away.”

His Second Brother was the only scholar in the family, no, in their whole village. Although he and the eldest brother were also literate, they could barely recognize a few words. His second brother was also smart. If there had not been an accident in the family that year, his second brother would have been a scholar by now.

He has been accustomed to letting his second brother decide on everything for decades.

Gu Zhong was still hesitating: “I still have to think about this matter.”

Gu Zhang did not persuade him, and turned to Gu Zhong and said: “Go to the eldest sister’s house tomorrow and tell her that no matter what, she should go with us.”

Gu Zhong’s heart skipped a beat and he even called the eldest sister. This second brother had made a big decision.

He was already inclined to leave, but he still said: “I’ll go back and discuss it with Mrs. Qian.”

Gu Rong sneered: “Brother, my sister-in-law is a woman with long hair but short knowledge. Why do you have to talk to her?”

Gu Qing stood nearby, and only then did he understand the purpose of the girl asking her to buy a mule cart.

Escape!

At this time, Gu Rong’s son Huzi ran over and hugged Gu Fei’s leg: “Aunt Xiao Fei, I want to eat candy.”

When Gu Fei went out, she stuffed a toffee into Xiao Cao’s mouth.

There was a bulge in Xiao Cao’s mouth. She hadn’t finished eating yet, but Huzi saw her mouth moving, and when she came closer, she smelled another sweet fragrance.

He asked what she was eating, Xiao Cao said vaguely: “Candy given by my aunt.”

So he came running.

Gu Fei took out a candy quietly tore off the packaging and called Huzi: “Open your mouth.”

Huzi opened his mouth, and a candy slipped into his mouth.

His eyes widened, feeling the sweetness imparted to him by his taste buds. This was too delicious!

Before Gu Fei could say anything, Huzi ran away quickly again.

He ran to a few friends and showed off vigorously: “I have candy to eat, but you don’t!”

A child pouted: “Who has never eaten candy? I just came out of the house after eating maltose.”

Huzi opened his mouth and said: “It’s not maltose. It was given to me by my Aunt Xiao Fei. It’s delicious. It’s a hundred times better than maltose!”

The friends couldn’t imagine what it tasted like a hundred times better than maltose, so they all looked at Huzi with envy.

Baoer, Gu Zhong’s son, suddenly pulled Huzi and said, “Give me some candy!”