Seeing that the three brothers had no intention of exchanging pleasantries, the Song family naturally did not want to get in trouble. They put down their baggage and sat down against the opposite corner, looking at the rainwater falling like a stream from the eaves.
The room was too quiet, and Niu Hua'er couldn't stand it, so she asked in a low voice: "Dad, if this rain relieves the drought, do we have to go back?"
Song Wufu said: "This place is hundreds of miles away from our home, and no one knows whether it will rain or not. Besides, if we go back, we won't have time to grow food. What will we eat in the second half of the year and next spring?"
Niu Hua'er asked: "According to what dad said, when can we go home!"
go home……
Song Wufu recited silently in his heart, and a wry smile appeared on his old face: "I'm afraid I won't be able to go back. Your mother and I made preparations before we decided to take you to escape."
Niu Hua'er was shocked: "Can't go back? How come you can't go back!"
She and her parents' family fled for their own lives, and before they left, they agreed to go back as soon as the drought was over. If she didn't go back, wouldn't she and her parents' relatives never see each other again?
Song Cai on the side quickly comforted him: "Don't worry, we are running for our lives now. Only God knows whether we can go back and when."
Song Wufu shook his head and simply stated his real plan: "Our hometown has no river or water, and it doesn't rain a few times throughout the year. We can only eat at the mercy of God. Growing up, I have experienced major droughts and minor disasters.
I can’t remember clearly. This time our family is going south. It would be a good thing if we can find a place where there is no drought or disaster and we can settle down."
The reason why the old village chief took everyone to escape to Huai'an Prefecture this time was because he learned from a person who was doing business in goods from the north to the south that Huai'an Prefecture had spring-like weather all year round, abundant rainfall, and could grow at least two crops a year.
The common people live a more comfortable life than the wealthy households in their city.
Trees are moved to death, and people are moved to life. Taking advantage of this opportunity to venture south, we may be able to create a future for future generations.
Not only the old village chief thought so, but he and several other old men in the village also thought so.
After listening to Song Wufu's explanation, both Song Cai and Niu Hua'er had blank looks on their faces. They could not accept the fact that they might not be able to return to their hometown for the time being, but they had to admit that the elders' decision made sense.
Song Xixi on the side felt that this decision was a great one. Not to mention anything else, in Songjia'ao, a drought-ridden country with a severe shortage of rainwater resources, the original owner could only bathe and wash her hair a handful of times throughout the year. She couldn't imagine how she would live without being able to bathe.
Just as the family of four was silent, there was a loud noise at the door. It turned out that someone else had come in to take shelter from the rain. They were the group of people who had fallen behind the Song family.
There were six people in this group, including an old man about the same age as Song Wufu, two women in their thirties, and the rest were two boys, one girl, and three children.
Judging from the names they call each other, this is a related family. The two women are sister-in-law, the old man is their father and father-in-law, and the three children are also theirs.
On the way to escape from famine, old and weak women and children are very common, but it is rare to see them without young and middle-aged people accompanying them. This family seems to be too easy to bully, and it is unknown how many hardships they have encountered along the way.
At this time, the six of them were soaked from head to toe, their thin clothes clung tightly to their bodies, and water was dripping from their hair and clothes corners, making them look particularly embarrassed.
Fortunately, the rain did not affect the muggy weather, and they did not feel the cold for the time being.
This family was very cautious. After looking back and forth between the two groups of people in the room, they hesitantly chose a small corner close to the Song family, and at the same time showed a friendly smile to the Song family.
The Song family also smiled back, showing their harmlessness.
Unexpectedly, the three brothers opposite changed their indifference to the Song family and enthusiastically came over to the old man's family and said, "You old and young, you have to change into dry clothes quickly, otherwise you may get sick."
The sister-in-law and sister-in-law seemed to be very scared. They hugged the three children and subconsciously hid behind their father (father-in-law).
The old man wasn't sure whether the three brothers were good or bad, and he didn't dare to offend them easily. He hunched his waist slightly and said, "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. I'll do it later."
The clothes in my baggage were also wet. Where could I find dry clothes to change into?
The eldest of the three brothers could not refuse, but he grabbed his own baggage and stuffed it forcefully into the old man's hand: "You can bear it, adults, but not a few little ones. It's not easy to live these days, so we should take care of each other!"
"
The second and third elders on the side echoed incessantly, urging the old man and his family to change clothes, with very sincere expressions.
The old man looked at each other, then at the poor grandchildren, and had no choice but to take the baggage and thank the three of them.
Niu Hua'er, who witnessed this scene, whispered to Song Cai: "Do you think these three brothers are really kind-hearted or are they plotting something?"
Song Cai said calmly: "I don't know, it's none of our business anyway."
Niu Hua'er patted him lightly and lowered her voice: "This family, old and young, looks really pitiful. What if these three people have no good intentions? How about we just watch?"
Song Cai said with a smile: "What do you want to do?"
Niu Hua'er smacked her lips and said with a lot of self-knowledge: "Let's see first. I can't beat three grown men."
Song Cai shook his head helplessly and said nothing.
Song Xixi listened clearly to the conversation between the couple, glanced at the three brothers who returned to the opposite side, and became alert again.
The heavy rain did not last long. When the old man and his family went to the leaky neighbor's door to change their clothes and came out, the heavy rain had stopped, and only the rainwater falling from the eaves was still ticking.
Song Wufu walked to the door to observe the sky, and saw that the dark clouds on the horizon showed no sign of dissipating. He temporarily gave up the idea of setting off and reminded Song Cainiu Hua'er to be prepared to stay at the inn for the night.
The other two families were also worried that it would rain again, so they did not get up and go on their way. They continued to sit in their own little corners, whispering to their families.
The three brothers across from each other always had a warm attitude towards the old man's family. They would chat with each other and praise the three children from time to time, which invisibly made the old man's family put down their guard, and the relationship between the two parties gradually became closer.
Through the conversation between them, the Song family learned that the three brothers' surname was Hu and the old man's surname was Li, and they both fled from their respective hometowns ten days ago.
In the evening, the dark clouds overhead finally dispersed, revealing the red sunset.
It was getting dark, so the Song family gave up all thoughts of rushing and decided to stay overnight at the inn before setting off early tomorrow morning.
With outsiders present, the family of four naturally couldn't eat and drink as much as before. Fortunately, they had eaten a lot at noon, so they weren't very hungry at the moment, so it didn't matter if they skipped a meal.
After Song Wufu's reminder, Song Xixi did not take out the food in the [Gourmet Bag].
The three Hu brothers across the street took out a portion of dry food and generously gave it to Old Man Li and his family.