Several families have lost one member, and it doesn't seem to make any difference.
The other families pretended not to see the grain that Shi Laoer brought back. Old Man Xu even refused Shi Laoer's move to hand it over to everyone to eat together, and only let him keep it for himself.
It's just a bucket, not much. Even if it were taken out, it wouldn't be enough to feed so many people.
But Shi Laoer didn't eat it alone. Instead, he cooked porridge for several children. The adults could still hold on even after eating the wild vegetable soup. These children were already so thin that they lost their looks.
Eat some rice porridge, I really can't stand it anymore.
The corn that had been saved before was completely gone. The several families went around picking up wild vegetables, leaves and bark every day, getting farther and farther away, and there was nothing left to pick up around them.
Xu Yinyin was so hungry that she couldn't stand it anymore. She went out to look for wild vegetables and used two opportunities to exchange for compressed biscuits. In addition to the original piece, she and Xu Chunshan started a small stove and mixed it with water mixed with glucose powder.
Had a good meal.
I want to eat the canned meat, but I don't dare to eat it. No matter how careful I am, I'm afraid it will taste bad. People who have been hungry for a long time have very good noses.
The last time it was Wuya, it was okay, but if I eat it again and someone else smells it, it will not end well.
So I only ate compressed biscuits, and several people wiped their mouths carefully, drank water and rinsed their mouths before they dared to go back.
After eating compressed biscuits, I feel full in my stomach and I can sleep better at night.
There was something in his stomach, and Xu Dajun's ears were open to the sound of wind, so he didn't waste much energy.
In the night wind, Xu Dajun could only hear someone talking on the tower.
"What? A mud-legged guy who is running away dares to call himself a mighty general, and he is not afraid of laughing his head off!"
"What clay-legged guy? I heard that he has been studying for a few years and can read and write the Eight Classics! How can an ordinary clay-legged guy have such courage? He can command nearly ten thousand people now! He won Huahua
Yang County, and Boyang County has just been captured, and the heads of officials are hanging on the towers of the city! How can you compare with his courage?"
"What kind of world is this? Do those who are on the run want to become kings on their own?"
"Look at this posture, you can't tell for sure! I heard that our magistrate is requesting the Jinping Guards to mobilize troops for support! Otherwise, it won't be long before this mighty general, who is useless, will fight all the way to the capital!"
"No wonder, I said that our magistrate has persuaded the rich households in the city to give porridge and persuade them to use grain to buy people. There are so many refugees outside the city. If the mighty general really comes here, these...
It’s hard for a person not to join the ranks of a mighty general just for a bite to eat!”
"But can Jinping Guard have troops mobilized? I heard that the patron king has come to Weining Mansion in Yunzhou. Can't we all Qingzhou's troops be mobilized in one place to deal with the patron king with all our strength?"
"Who knows? We soldiers just follow orders from above."
…
In the next two days, when people came out to buy people in the city, it was almost impossible to buy young girls. Gradually, some people began to sell their sons.
Later, even if I wanted to sell it, no one in the city would come out to buy it.
Some people spread rumors to encourage these refugees to continue going north, saying that the Songyang Mansion ahead would accept the refugees into the city.
But few of the refugees have the strength to leave here and go to Songyang Mansion, and only a small number of them have left.
The Xu family didn't have the strength to leave. Besides, they came to Yiyang Mansion just to join their relatives. Why did they go to Songyang Mansion?
Besides, Xu Dajun had already heard that these so-called rumors were spread by people specially sent by the city, just to make the refugees leave here voluntarily and not gather outside Yiyang City.
No one in the city came out to buy people, nor did they give out porridge. Gradually, a large number of people outside the city collapsed from hunger. Every day, people who died were carried by their relatives and thrown into the woods opposite. They didn't even have the strength to dig a hole.
None, just left in the woods, dead in the wilderness.
When Xu Yinyin went to the convenience store with Zhang Xiulan, she saw with her own eyes the refugees lying in the makeshift mass grave, eating carrion. She turned pale with disgust, and Zhou, who went with them, fell ill when she came back.
Not only the Zhou family, but also many people in several families fell ill one after another, some fell down from hunger, and some fell down because their bodies could not hold them back.
Among them, the one who fell seriously ill was the elderly old man Zhou. When he fell down, he immediately developed a fever that did not go down for a long time.
Zhou Dachuan and his sons took turns guarding Mr. Zhou, but there was no other way except to guard him.
Mrs. Xu also cried for a while watching Mr. Zhou, and then she also fell ill.
Among the few old men and women, the only ones who were still holding on were Old Man Xu and Old Man Zheng.
The heads of several families were gloomy and gloomy.
Old man Zhou's fever became more and more severe, and he rolled his eyes just looking at it.
Xu Chunshan couldn't help but secretly pulled Xu Yinyin and asked: "Yinyin, can you redeem some antipyretic medicine?"
Everyone else was hungry and weak, but old man Zhou had a fever. If he didn't take medicine to bring down the fever, he would definitely not be able to survive the night.
Everyone is fleeing famine together. Let’s not talk about revolutionary friendship. Old man Zhou is also Xu Chunshan’s biological uncle. How can we just watch people die?
People's lives were at stake, so Xu Yinyin did not hesitate, and quickly took advantage of an opportunity to exchange for antipyretic medicine, added it to the water in a bamboo tube, and gave it to Xu Chunshan.
Xu Chunshan held the bamboo tube and squeezed Zhou Dachuan away, "Come, let me give uncle some water."
I'm rolling my eyes at this, what else can I drink?
But Zhou Dachuan didn't stop him. He had already resigned himself to his fate. His father couldn't survive it. Just drink water. There is nothing you can do about walking hungry, but there is water to drink. Don't walk away thirsty.
Everyone watched Xu Chunshan pour water into Old Man Zhou, and they felt in their hearts that Old Man Zhou couldn't hold on any longer.
But until the evening, old man Zhou didn't die. Zhou Dachuan stretched out his hand and said in surprise: "Dad doesn't have a fever anymore!"
In the morning of the next day, Old Man Zhou woke up.
"Dad, are you okay?"
Old man Zhou rolled his eyes and looked at the children and grandchildren surrounding him. His mind was still a little unclear. He knew that he was ill and thought that he was going to see the King of Hell. But in a daze, he could just do it on his own.
Already?
Old Man Zhou grinned, his body was still a little weak, but he also knew that he would not die, "It's okay, the King of Hell won't accept me!"
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Old Man Zheng said with red eyes: "We are so lucky that even the Lord of Hell dare not take it away! What do you mean, if you survive a disaster, you will be blessed later!"
Old Zhou, who was the most seriously ill, was fine. The others who were hungry and weak were still able to hold on even though Xu Yinyin secretly put glucose powder in the water they drank.
Compared to other refugees who were being carried out one after another, none of the families were in serious condition, which is something to be thankful for.
Even more fortunately, the city gate opened again, and the soup kitchen started again after having stopped for several days.
On the day of giving out porridge, the refugees outside the city burst into tears.
I cried for my relatives who starved to death, and I also cried for myself who almost starved to death and finally drank porridge.
Several families also received porridge, and everyone finally had something in their stomachs by eating two mouthfuls of it.
After eating porridge for three days in a row, Mrs. Xu could sit up even after lying down for several days.
After a few days of giving porridge, officials from the city came out and brought disaster relief instructions from the prefect.