Tieniu defrauded money and killed people, so he deserved his death; Village Chief Qian was an accomplice, and he deserved it when his hands were disabled.
As Song Xixi expected, the government did not hold the victims accountable for their crimes, and even worried about causing riots, it sent a moderate official to appease the victims and promised to provide an additional 300 resettlement places...
Everything that happens after that has nothing to do with the Song Jia'ao people.
Following the old village chief's order, everyone packed their bags and set off again on a breezy morning, continuing southward towards Huai'an Prefecture.
But this time, everyone was fully prepared. Not only did they prepare enough water, but each family also brought a lot of scones.
The Song family bought these pancakes for the villagers after running several times a day with access cards, which made the villagers very grateful.
Since then, the Song family's prestige in the village has risen again, and they are vaguely on par with the old village chief.
The old village chief didn't mind this.
After encountering two big pits in Lucheng and Yangcheng one after another, everyone became cautious and no longer easily responded to the passing cities with the expectation of staying and settling down.
The whole village is united like never before, knowing that in this precarious world, only by working together towards the same goal can we overcome difficulties and survive well.
I traveled for more than 20 days and encountered various troubles on the way. Fortunately, they were all resolved smoothly in the end.
There are only three hundred miles left from Huai'an Prefecture, and it can be reached in six days at most.
Early that morning, before the villagers who were resting in the open woke up, it began to rain lightly, directly waking them up.
Everyone hurriedly packed up their things and looked for shelter from the rain. Finally, they found a small village and decided to go into the village to see if they could be taken in by the villagers.
As early as ten days ago, the villagers discovered that the drought along the road had been greatly alleviated. Not only were there no scenes of people fleeing the famine, but the fields were gradually becoming greener, and there were no shriveled and smelly corpses on the roadside...
All this tells them that the situation will be better the further south they go, and as long as they arrive at Huai'an safely, they don't have to worry about starving to death or thirsting to death!
As soon as the group stepped into the village, they were discovered by local villagers.
The old village chief decisively stopped the villagers who were walking forward, and asked Song Cai to explain the situation to them, and asked them to use the eaves to take shelter from the rain.
I thought it would take a lot of effort, but I didn't expect that this villager was particularly easy to talk to: "I escaped from Yongzhou. It's not easy... Come on, come on, come with me, don't let the children get wet!"
Song Cai was extremely grateful: "My little brother is kind, thank you very much!"
The villagers waved their hands and led the way.
More than a hundred people from the Song family followed him, slowly heading towards the center of the village.
This village is called Shili Village, so named because it is ten miles away from the nearest town, which is under the jurisdiction of Huai'an Prefecture.
Shili Village is a village with a common surname, and all the villagers in the village are surnamed Miao. The person leading the way calls himself Miao Daniu. Both his parents are dead, and he lives with his younger brother Miao Xiaoniu.
Miao Daniu was very good at talking, and he introduced the situation in the village clearly in a few words. At the end, he said a little embarrassedly: "Our village is not rich, so it's okay for you to stay and take shelter from the rain. You have to prepare food by yourself.
"
Song Cai hurriedly said: "We will take care of the food ourselves and will never cause any trouble to Brother Miao."
As he spoke, he said half jokingly and half seriously: "Brother Miao, you brought us into the village so easily, aren't you afraid that we will have bad intentions?"
Miao Daniu pointed to the elderly and children in the crowd: "You have escaped from such a far away place, and you still have the elderly and children with you. It shows that you are all conscientious people, so naturally you will not have bad intentions towards innocent people."
Song Cai laughed: "Brother Miao is really a wonderful man!"
There are only two brothers in the Miao family, but the yard they live in is not small, with three main rooms and a utility room.
However, it was still a bit crowded to shelter more than a hundred people from the rain. Before Song Cai could speak first, Miao Daniu took the initiative to go to the neighbor's house and asked the neighbors to take in some people.
The neighbors on the left and right were also hospitable, and they agreed immediately and even boiled hot water for them. They said it was easy to get sick if you don't take a hot bath after being caught in the rain.
Song Jia'ao was very embarrassed. After thanking them for their kindness, he borrowed their pots and firewood, boiled several pots of hot water and gave the children a hot bath.
Shili Village is hardly affected by drought, and water is naturally not rare. There is plenty of it in the ponds and wells.
"Come on Xixi, Mommy will give you a bath!" Niu Hua'er carried the hot water and walked to a corner where the rain could not hit her, calling loudly to Song Xixi to come over.
Song Xixi looked at the unobstructed corner and twitched her lips slightly: "Niu Xiaohua, are you sure?"
There were people all over the yard, but she was allowed to take a bath in the open air? What a joke!
"Don't be shy, doesn't everyone wash like this? Come here quickly, the water is getting cold." Seeing Guabao standing still, Niu Hua'er simply put down the bucket and came over to pull her.
Song Xixi looked around, and sure enough she saw naked children standing in every corner.
I haven't taken a bath for more than a month. This time I was able to take a hot bath. The children were very happy. They laughed and played with each other in the water. They didn't seem to feel uncomfortable at all.
Song Xixi even saw Song Niannian, who had stripped naked, being pushed into a basin by Zhang Chunlan and rubbing the mud off her body.
In contrast, Song Qingqing's side was much more normal. She asked Huang Qiuyun to find a rope and use a few pieces of clothing to build a simple curtain so that no one outside could see what was going on inside.
Song Xixi breathed a sigh of relief and ignored Niu Hua'er's shouting. She followed Song Qingqing's example and made a curtain for herself and drove Niu Hua'er out. She took off her clothes and scrubbed her whole body carefully.
She hadn't taken a shower for more than a month, and she had almost forgotten what it felt like to take a shower.
After rubbing it hard for a while, Song Xixi felt relaxed physically and mentally.
Just looking at the indistinguishable color of sewage in the bucket, deep disgust flashed across her face. She really couldn't imagine herself being so dirty.
"My dear, you've been washing for too long, what should I do if you get cold..." Seeing Song Xixi coming out with a bucket, Niu Hua'er quickly stepped forward to take it and pour it out, still muttering in her mouth.
Song Xixi looked at the sky and uttered a few words: "I don't have enough appetite."
When Niu Hua'er heard this, she felt very distressed: "My dear, the food given by our ancestors is enough. From now on, you should eat and drink as you should, so don't skimp on it."
Song Xixi rubbed her forehead and reminded: "My ancestors said that my appetite has become smaller, which means my health has improved."
To say that it has become smaller, it means that the food intake of three adults has become that of two adults. If you want to completely get better, you have to feed (eat) for a while.
Niu Hua'er slapped her head violently and said happily: "Yes, Mom has forgotten such an important thing!"
Song Xixi emphasized seriously: "So my health has improved and I won't fall down like before when the wind blows. Niu Xiaohua, you should rest assured!"
Niu Hua'er stared blankly at her daughter with a calm face, and her eyes suddenly turned red: "Okay, okay, my dear, your health is well. Mom can finally sleep peacefully..."
Song Xixi sighed secretly, held her hand gently, and stood on tiptoes to wipe away her tears: "You are already dozens of years old, and you are not afraid of being laughed at if you cry in front of your daughter."
Niu Hua'er smiled through her tears, hugged her daughter tightly and rubbed her again and again.
Hearing that a group of people fleeing from famine came to Miao Daniu's house, all the villagers in Shili Village came to watch the fun, and chased the Song Jia'ao people to ask them about their experience of fleeing from famine.
When they learned that they were going to Huai'an Prefecture and wanted to settle down in Huai'an Prefecture, some villagers said, "Why bother with this? Can't you just settle down in Ping'an Town? It's much cheaper than going to Fucheng (Huai'an Prefecture)!"