Heavenly Blessed Baby: Fleeing Famine, Busy to Prosper!-Chapter 130: The Sky Looks Off
People naturally sympathize with the weak.
Although Qi Ercai’s group had many people, most of them were old folks and children, so the soldiers naturally believed their words.
The injured person was dragged away and locked in the city’s prison. Starting tomorrow, they will be brought out for public display every day when the city gate opens and thrown back in when it closes.
Although two meals are provided daily so they won’t starve to death, similarly, no doctor will be appointed for treatment.
The public display could last anywhere from ten days to a month, and whether or not they survive until release depends on their resilience.
As for the accomplices of the robust man, they dispersed and ran away amid the surrounding crowd at the time the soldiers were capturing people.
It’s too time-consuming to catch them all one by one, and since those people didn’t really act, they could only be left alone.
After this incident, others will weigh their options even if they think of doing something bad.
Yi Meng hurried to find her daughter after seeing the bad guys taken away.
The cries just now were too heartbreaking, making her heart ache.
Who knew that as soon as she held her child in her arms, the little girl stopped crying.
Blinking her large eyes, she grinned at her.
Just look at those eyes, bright and clear, with no trace of tears, not a hint of having cried!
"You, you..."
Yi Meng looked at her daughter’s smiling face, momentarily at a loss for words.
This girl, she was pretending to cry!
And she faked it very well!
Looking around at the other children, they all had tears and snot running down their faces, crying miserably.
"Mom..."
Qi Manman tugged at her mother’s clothes, calling out in a childish voice.
Yi Meng’s heart melted instantly, she kissed her daughter’s forehead and whispered, "No more crying and fussing, be good and listen to Grandma, Mom will go check on your brothers."
"Mm-hmm!"
Qi Manman quickly nodded, looking extremely obedient.
Once Yi Meng was sure her daughter was really fine, she hurried to check on her three sons.
Qi Liulang, only a year older than his two younger brothers, was still just a child at the age of seven.
When Yi Meng found her three sons, she saw Qi Liulang crying while wiping the tears of his twin brothers.
Heart aching, Yi Meng hurried over, scooped the twins into her arms, pulled her eldest son Qi Liulang in front of her, and wiped his tears with a handkerchief.
Although she favored her daughter more, to say she didn’t care for her sons would be a lie.
Yi Meng gently wiped her three sons’ tears and comforted them, only then did the three kids stop crying.
Qi Ercai and four other men stood guard outside, holding kitchen knives and machetes, constantly surveying their surroundings.
The elders soothed the children, while the women continued their chores.
Boiling water and wiping the children’s faces and hands.
The sky grew darker.
The other side of the city wall also started to light up with fires, where many people gathered around each one.
No one spoke; even the small children nestled quietly in their mothers’ arms, eating and dozing off.
The temperature remained low, everyone huddled close together, using each other’s warmth to combat the cold brought by the wind.
"Is there still no sign?"
In Qi Zheng’s pipe, there was no tobacco, yet he habitually puffed twice on it.
He came over to Qi Ercai as he spoke, looking into the distance.
But there were clouds in the sky, no moonlight or starlight, so no one could see far.
"Not yet."
Qi Ercai shook his head, raising his hand to rub his face, stiff from the night wind: "Dad, you go by the fire! It’s cold here, catching a chill could make you sick."
"Ah!"
Qi Zheng sighed, turned to glance at the others resting together, and said lowly, "I don’t know what it’ll be like when we enter the city tomorrow. The money for the city entry fee and settling in could come from selling ginseng, but we still need money for buying or renting land and building houses. The colder it gets, the more money we’ll need for food and drink."
These matters had been weighing on Qi Zheng’s mind.
During the day, with so many people around, he hadn’t voiced them, fearing that they would all start worrying too.
Now that the younger ones were out gathering wood and hadn’t returned, he could only talk to his second son.
Qi Ercai felt a lump in his throat.
He had thought about these things too, but didn’t dare express too much concern, in fear the elders would get anxious with him.
He responded cheerfully, "Dad, you don’t need to worry about this. Ginseng is valuable, surely enough for us to settle down. Like you said, we can rent a place for the winter if need be."
"Winter here in Tabei Prefecture is even longer than back home, we’ll have plenty of time to plan the next steps then."
"And about the food and drink, there’s nothing to worry about. Look at our supplies, especially all those chestnuts, they’ll last us a while."
"Besides, we’re all strong, worst case we can carry heavy loads for work, we’ll get by, don’t worry!"
Qi Ercai spoke lightly, but felt no lightness in his heart, it was just to ease his father’s concerns.
Qi Zheng wasn’t naive, he understood that his son’s words were more for comforting him.
The children weren’t having it easy either; best not to burden them too much.
Qi Zheng patted Qi Ercai’s shoulder and turned back to rest by the fire.
After dark, without stars or moon, it was hard to tell time.
All they knew was the wind had picked up, even with boards to buffer it, the flames flickered uneasily, more frequently now.
"The wind is rising."
Mrs. Qi tucked the quilt over Qi Manman tighter.
Yi Meng quickly pulled the quilt over Mrs. Qi up, "Mom, tomorrow we won’t have to sleep outside anymore, we’ll boil more hot water, you can have a warm bath and relax."
"Not just me, everyone has to have a good soak."
Mrs. Qi smiled at the sky, "Haven’t slept indoors for so many days, the thought of it feels strange."
Tomorrow they’ll enter the city.
It’s like the carrot dangling in front of a donkey, it’s hope.
Yi Meng also smiled, looking up at the sky.
The pitch-black sky, not a single star in sight.
Such a sky tightened Yi Meng’s heart, she whispered, "This sky looks odd, are we going to have snow?"
"It shouldn’t!"
Mrs. Qi said this, but the smile on her face was gone.
In such cold weather, if it snows, it could be deadly!
As the two women worried about the weather, a shout suddenly rang out, "They’re back!"
Instantly, everyone, even those by the other fires, stood up with a start.
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