The woman's name was Zhou Taohua, and she fled to Lucheng with her mother and young son half a month ago.
In order to keep herself and her mother and son alive, she tried her best to collect food every day. She was also one of the first people to go into the river to catch loaches, snakes and fish.
Instead of being caught and eaten by others, she would bring the loaches, snakes and fish into the city in exchange for dry food.
After all, the number of loach snakes and fish is limited, which is not enough to feed a family of three, but the dry food exchanged can save a family of three from hunger.
Song Xixi wanted to see the situation in Lucheng, so she agreed to Zhou Taohua's proposal. After landing, she talked to Song Cai.
Song Cai didn't know Zhou Taohua, so how could he rest assured that she would leave with a stranger and offered to go with them.
Zhou Taohua was willing to take Song Xixi into the city without revealing the method of entering the city to a third person, so she refused without hesitation.
As a result, Song Cai became more and more suspicious that Zhou Taohua was harboring evil intentions and did not agree with Song Xixi leaving with her.
Song Niannian and others also wanted to go to the city to watch the excitement, but they all looked at Song Xixi eagerly.
Song Xixi couldn't help it, so she found a wooden stick that was as thick as an adult's arm and easily broke it into two pieces: "Song San'er, Aunt Zhou will not have bad intentions towards me."
Zhou Taohua swallowed hard and shook her head wildly: "Don't dare!"
This girl is so scary. Her thin arms and legs are not even big enough for her to fold back and forth.
"Go ahead, go ahead, go back early, so your mother and the others don't have to worry." Seeing that Zhou Taohua was so frightened, Song Cai couldn't say anything else.
Seeing that Niuniu wanted to follow, Song Xixi pinched her little face and said, "Follow them and I'll be back soon and bring you something to eat."
Niu Niu was a little disappointed, but she still said obediently: "Niu Niu is waiting for Sister Xixi to come back."
Song Xixi told Song Cai to keep an eye on her and take a few children back as soon as possible, and then left with Zhou Taohua.
Looking at his daughter's back without looking back, Song Cai sighed.
Alas, it's not good for Guabao to be too powerful, which makes him useless as a father and makes him less and less confident.
Zhou Taohua took Song Xixi to the foot of the city wall and walked along the city wall in the southeast direction. After walking for about half an hour, they stopped at a place full of weeds.
Song Xixi's mouth twitched, and she had a guess in her heart.
Sure enough, Zhou Taohua dug through the weeds and revealed a small hole that could only be passed by one person. It was not known whether it was dug out by a dog or dug through by someone.
Zhou Taohua is also a talent for finding such a hidden place!
"This is directly connected to the market. If we get in from here, we can find someone to exchange for food."
Zhou Taohua said happily that today's harvest was good. In addition to the snake fish weighing more than a kilogram, she also had a dozen loaches, which could be exchanged for a lot of dry food.
Song Xixi glanced at the mud on her legs and feet, took two handfuls of grass and wiped it carefully, and smoothed her slightly messy hair to make herself look less embarrassed.
Zhou Taohua saw her and muttered that she was a particular person, but she also tidied herself up a bit.
The two of them got in through the hole one after the other and came to a remote corner. They could faintly hear the noise of people not far away.
Zhou Taohua led Song Xixi through twists and turns, walking through a maze for a while, and finally arrived at the most prosperous street market in Lucheng.
Affected by the drought, the market is much deserted than in previous years. Only a few shops are open to welcome customers, and the pedestrians are also in a hurry. After buying something, they run away covertly, for fear that there will be people who are struggling to survive.
Come out and grab it hard.
Therefore, although Song Xixi and Zhou Taohua looked like they were fleeing famine, passers-by did not give them a second glance.
In such a famine year, there are many people in the city who are as destitute as they are.
Song Xixi observed secretly and inadvertently heard two people who looked like shopkeepers standing at the door chattering:
"Oh, the price of food has increased again. If this continues, the family will be in trouble."
"Who says it's not the case? Your family is fine, and you can open a business from time to time. I've been here for half a month, and there's not even a trace of a ghost. When will this end!"
"Forget it, there are more and more victims outside, and I heard that the government is going to let them in. How can we feed so many people? If such a day comes, I will definitely have to close the shop. If the victims rob me,
There’s no place to cry!”
"Don't worry, brother, those victims can't get in. My brother-in-law's second uncle's father-in-law and nephew are working at the government and said that the government is trying to expel the refugees. I guess it will happen in the next few days."
"..."
Not only Song Xixi could clearly hear the conversation between the two, but Zhou Taohua also heard it, and her expression suddenly turned ugly.
"Oh God, this is not giving us a way to survive!" Zhou Taohua's eyes were red and filled with tears.
The Zhou family of three could still make ends meet by relying on a bowl of gruel given out by the wealthy households in the city every day and digging up loach, snakes and fish in exchange for food from the city residents.
Once they are driven away by the government, they have to embark on the road of fleeing again. This kind of wandering and precarious life never knows when it will end.
Song Xixi's heart was also heavy, and she wanted to say that the boat would be straight when it reached the bridge, but this light comfort was related to three living people and could not give Zhou Taohua any help at all.
Zhou Taohua is a strong woman. She quickly wiped away her tears and regained her composure. She smiled and said to Song Xixi: "The place where we need to exchange food is right in front. Let's go there quickly. If we get there late, I'm afraid they won't exchange it."
Song Xixi nodded and followed her footsteps.
The two came to the back door of a restaurant. As soon as the gatekeeper saw Zhou Taohua, a smile appeared on his face: "What good things did you catch today?"
Zhou Taohua handed the broken wooden bucket to him: "I caught a snake fish weighing more than a pound. If I didn't deliver it right away, seven or eight people in the family, young and old, would be hungry all day and all night."
At first, she was afraid of being kicked out of the restaurant, so Zhou Taohua did not dare to say that she was a disaster victim outside the city, and the people in the restaurant did not suspect it.
"Oh, it's not easy!" The uncle showed sympathy and turned sideways to let the two people in.
The two of them stood in the yard waiting, and soon a person who looked like a manager came over.
When he saw the big snake fish in the broken wooden barrel, the steward's eyes lit up and he happily offered fifteen multigrain steamed buns in exchange.
Zhou Taohua was very surprised. After asking Song Xixi for her opinion, she agreed.
She caught more than a dozen loaches, and the manager generously gave them two multi-grain steamed buns.
Although life is difficult these days, it does not have a big impact on people with financial resources. Such rich people do not need food, so they just want this delicious food.
The multi-grain steamed buns in the restaurant are very solid, each one is about the size of a fist. If you save some food, one steamed bun can last a person all day.
Before leaving, the steward kindly reminded: "I'm afraid there will be big changes outside the city in the next few days. Madam Zhou should not leave the city to avoid being targeted by people with malicious intentions."
Zhou Taohua and Song Xixi looked at each other and quickly thanked the steward for his kindness. However, their original good mood disappeared without a trace under the blow of this bad news.