Heavenly Blessed Baby: Fleeing Famine, Busy to Prosper!-Chapter 128: Cut the Crap

Watching the woodcutters leave, Qi Zheng then called to Qi Ercai, "Ercai, drive the cart, let’s quickly find a place by the city wall to settle down."

Since they’ve decided to queue up to enter the city early tomorrow, there’s no point in queuing today; finding a place to settle is the main business.

Qi Ercai responded.

Most of the strong men had gone to cut wood, and the few strong ones left were just enough to each drive a cart.

The old men no longer sat in the carts but walked beside the carriage, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Although their eyesight wasn’t as sharp as the younger ones, they were better at judging people’s intentions.

Whenever they spotted someone with ill intent in their eyes, they immediately became wary. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

The children inside the carriage had also been warned by Mrs. Qi, and each one of them stayed quietly inside the carriage, not even making a sound, let alone poking their heads out.

The women were also walking around the carriage with firewood sticks or similar items in their hands as weapons.

Walking along the road, they were initially delighted to see so many people alive, but more than anything, they felt nervous.

The human heart is complex!

Especially in such unfamiliar territory, they couldn’t afford not to be extra cautious.

Five carriages, mostly filled with old people and women, immediately drew the gaze of everyone in line.

Some were curious, some envious, but others had eyes filled with greed and calculation.

Especially since the carriages carried numerous goods, which had a deadly allure to those who had fled from afar.

But fortunately, with soldiers patrolling regularly, no incident was triggered.

As they approached the city wall, Qi Ercai asked Qi Zheng, "Father, where should we choose?"

Qi Zheng looked around and felt a bit troubled.

Outside the city wall, it was a flat open area, with little more than some dried wild grass on the ground; apart from the city wall, there was nothing to shield against the wind.

It seemed that choosing anywhere wouldn’t make much difference.

Yi Meng was on the other side of the carriage and immediately suggested upon hearing this, "Let’s choose a spot closer to the gate, where there are soldiers. If anything happens, we can call for help in time."

Whether calling for help would be useful, Yi Meng didn’t know, but she knew that with soldiers around, anyone with malicious intent would have to think twice.

Qi Ercai saw his father nod and immediately ran to the front to personally lead the group to the edge where the soldiers were stationed.

The soldier he had just gathered information from was still there, and seeing him leading the carts over, looked quite surprised.

Qi Ercai was quick-witted, having asked his questions earlier to this soldier near the edge, and had discreetly slipped him a dozen or so Copper Coins.

That’s why the soldier had shared some information, and now had a particularly deep impression of Qi Ercai.

"What are you doing here? Go to the back of the line!"

Although the soldier had a good impression of Qi Ercai, they weren’t on familiar terms; he immediately raised his spear at Qi Ercai.

Qi Ercai hurriedly calmed his horse and said flatteringly, "Officer, we are at the very end of the line. Even if we could enter today, it’d be dark by then. It’s hard to find a place inside at this hour, so we’re thinking of staying by the wall for a night and entering early tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, the soldier’s expression softened slightly, but he still shook his head, "Then go further aside. This is our post, and you being so close, what are you planning to do?"

"Officer, please don’t misunderstand! It’s just that, with so many elderly and children, we thought being closer to the officers might deter any potential wrongdoers."

After a pause, Qi Ercai added, "We won’t crowd the officers, just stop here temporarily to clear the ground, and then we’ll move over."

The ground was full of dried grass, and if a fire were lit, it would easily turn the field into a blazing inferno.

The soldier glanced at the rest of the convoy. There were only five or six that seemed young and strong, the rest were indeed old people and women, so he said nothing further, just advised them to make it quick before returning to his post.

Qi Ercai ordered the carriages to be parked together, while the women, holding sickles and hoes, rushed to the wall to clear the dry grass on the ground.

"No need to clear too much, just enough for us and the carriages to fit," Qi Zheng instructed.

Everyone acknowledged and started working hard.

Before long, they had cleared an open space.

Under Qi Zheng’s direction, they moved the goods from the carriage boards and stacked them against the wall.

The sides of the carriage boards faced out, while the wheels faced in.

This arrangement could block most of the cold wind.

The space between the carriage and the boards was used as a resting area for the five horses.

The front was blocked with boards as well, to prevent the wild horses from running out at night, leaving an opening wide enough for two people to walk through side by side, for feeding, watering the horses, and adding fuel to the fire.

The rest of the space, now with two layers of windbreakers, was noticeably less cold.

A fire was lit, with the children gathered around it, while the adults began preparing dinner.

With so many people in line, they didn’t know if others would spend the night by the wall, so they dared not cook anything with too strong a smell.

Dried cakes and wild vegetable soups, with bits of jerky in the children’s soup bowls, made up their meal.

The clouds in the sky thickened, and darkness fell rapidly.

The city gates closed early, ending the day’s work, leaving many who had queued up in vain, unable to enter the city.

Everyone cried and pleaded to be let in, but were met only by the soldiers’ glaring weapons.

Even after crying and pleading for a long time, they couldn’t soften the soldiers’ hearts, and eventually had to droop their heads, dragging their weary bodies to find a place to spend the night.

Qi Zheng’s group had prepared early, so they were already resting by the fire when naturally, they caught the attention of others.

"Hey, who allowed you to stay here?"

A burly, unshaven man walked up with about ten others, male and female, but all young, with no sign of old people or children.

Qi Ercai heard them and quickly got up, "We’ve already informed the officer and obtained permission to rest here."

Qi Ercai’s tone wasn’t particularly good, but he wasn’t impolite either, merely stating the facts calmly.

However, the burly man paid no heed, "Stop with your nonsense! This is our place. If you’re smart, you’d better scram, or things will get ugly!"

Saying so, the man waved his fist, the size of a sand pot.

This time, Qi Ercai’s face turned grim, and everyone else stood up nervously, clutching various tools that could serve as weapons.