After shouting, while everyone in Shanbei Zhuangzi was waiting expectantly, the other party responded, but instead of shouting, five people were sent over.
"They're coming!" Li Zheng was a little nervous. He was afraid that the people coming from the opposite side would not talk to them politely, but would fight with them, or would not allow them to enter the village, and would not give them water to drink.
Xia Qiyue looked at the five people walking across from them. They were strong and strong, and they didn't look like they didn't have enough to eat. She knew that this area was already in the northern zone. Although it was also dry, it was just beginning. There were people who had stored food.
It hasn't been affected yet, and they don't lack water.
They were thinking about how to deal with it for a while, but the six boys led by An Zihao were already standing around the children vigilantly.
The distance was not very far, and the five people on the opposite side walked quickly. In a short while, they arrived not far away, and looked at Li Zheng, the clan leader, Xia Qiyue and others at the front of the team.
"A few folks, we are from Anyang Prefecture..."
Li Zheng took the initiative to introduce himself, but was interrupted by a person opposite who looked like a manager. He waved his hand:
"Okay, okay, stop talking nonsense! You are going to go through our village to beg, right?"
The words were rude enough, but Sang Xin was rough, tall, and bearded, which made him particularly intimidating.
Li Zheng coughed awkwardly, "This...is, our generation was short of water. We were originally going to Fucheng to flee, but we went in the wrong direction..."
The bearded man waved his hand again, "I know, I know! There have been several groups of people before you, and they all talk about the same thing as you, but there are just a few people! There are quite a lot of people in your group, but I don't know.
Could he be as treacherous and cunning as those people in front of him?"
After saying that, the five people looked at each other, and finally the bearded man spoke, amidst a wave of suspicious expressions in Li Zheng, he said, "It's not that we don't have sympathy, it's that you victims are too cunning and cunning, and you have done all kinds of bad things! You want to drink water?"
It’s not impossible, but you have to spend money to buy it! I can’t give it to you without money! Also! You are not allowed to enter the village, you can only wait outside the village!”
After hearing that there was a charge for drinking water, the people in Shanbei Zhuangzi surprisingly had no objections, because the county magistrate selling water in front of them had already given them a lot of confidence.
So Li Zheng hurriedly said, "Brother, how do you sell this water? Can you sell some to us quickly? We old people and children can't stand it anymore!"
The bearded man looked up and down for a while, probably counted the number of people, and held out five fingers: "Five coppers per person! I'll give you all you can drink!"
After speaking, he observed their reactions carefully, but Li Zheng didn't notice at all. He felt that five copper coins per person was too cheap. After all, there was an example before where five liters of water cost twenty copper coins.
However, Xia Qiyue, who was attentive, noticed that the man opposite him looked away.
She guessed this was not the first time they sold water, but the price was the highest ever.
Just when Li Zheng was about to agree, Xia Qiyue spoke first, "Brother, can we also fill up our water bags? I don't know how far it will be from now on. I can't stand without water!"
The bearded man thought that the little girl in front of him wanted to negotiate the price with him, but he didn't want to deal with such a small problem, so he waved his hand and said that he could pretend to be casual.
At this time, everyone was satisfied, quickly picked up their luggage, and followed the five people forward.
However, when we were about 100 meters away from the entrance of the village, people stopped and refused to let us go, saying that they would bring water out, and several people had already started asking for money on a per-head basis.
Originally, Mrs. An was still clamoring for Xia Qiyue to give this money. Who gave her so much money? There are still twelve people in their family, which is not a small amount of money.
But when she was about to make a fuss, Mr. An stopped her and asked her to give her money with a glare.
An Zihao had neither money nor a water bag, so he was embarrassed for a while.
Because people charge money per person, the price is the same regardless of adults or children, but there is no limit on how much water they can can.
Xia Qiyue took out thirty-five copper coins and handed them over, including An Zihao's and An Qingling's.
"Fourth sister-in-law... I will return this money to you." Seeing this, An Zihao didn't even have the courage to say no.
"I believe you!" Xia Qiyue smiled and didn't take the ten coins to heart.
After collecting the money here, not long after, the men guarding the village left halfway and returned with several carts pushing wooden barrels.
The bearded man said, "You can drink water as much as you want, but don't waste it!"
The villagers had not seen so much water for a long time. Everyone gathered around the buckets to drink. After taking a few sips, they began to rush to fill their own water bags and buckets, fearing that it would be gone if it was too late.
The village opposite is called Maizi Village. It has a large population and an amazing labor force. You can tell from the look of the people guarding the village. There are fifty or sixty strong laborers guarding the village, all of them young men in their twenties.
After Xia Qiyue grabbed the water ladle, she gave the children water first. As soon as An Qingling's mouth touched the water, she started to drink it involuntarily.
A satisfied smile appeared on her little face, her eyes did not open, but the expression on her face felt much more comfortable.
Xuan'er and Ke'er were also very thirsty, but they didn't drink water as vigorously. They felt that the water was not as delicious as the water their mother gave them.
But I drank a lot, just to quench my thirst, I don’t care whether it tastes good or not.
Xia Qiyue took out all the water bladders in the space, gave two to An Zihao, and filled the remaining four with water.
Their own water bladders and those of the two younger ones were also filled, and Xia Yueyue and her sister had already gone to drink and fill their own water.
In the end, everyone in Shanbei Zhuangzi drank enough water to satisfy their parched lips from being thirsty for so many days, and then filled everything they could with water at home with water. This was the end of the matter.
When the people in Maizi Village were about to take the barrel away, the remaining water in it was snatched up and drank clean.
The urge to drink water here has passed, but those guarding the village have no intention of leaving at all. They are all guarding in high spirits, fearing that one of the refugees will run in without paying attention.
Xia Qiyue looked at An Qingling, who was still having a fever. She had already put a wet handkerchief on her forehead, wiped her body, massaged her palms and soles, and did all the physical cooling she could think of.
I also rubbed the mud off my hands, but there was no sign of improvement at all. If it is getting dark today, there is no doubt that I will sleep here tonight.
"Lao Wu, look at the children. I'm going to ask if there is a barefoot doctor in this village. Please come and show Ling'er!"
An Zihao was also anxious, how could he let his sister-in-law, a womanly person, do this? He quickly shook his head, "I'll go ahead!"
Then he walked towards the big bearded man, but he came back soon, with his head lowered. "The big bearded man said that there is a doctor in the village, but he has to give money first, otherwise he will not come out to treat the disease."
Xia Qiyue knew that An Zihao couldn't come up with any money at the moment, but if she didn't help, a life might be burned to death.