readytorunbook Chapter 227: Breaking news: refugees enter the village
Chapter 227: Breaking news: refugees enter the village
The family was having dinner when suddenly a rustling sound was heard outside.
"Is it raining?" It would be annoying if it rained on such a cold day.
Yinuo put down his bowl and chopsticks and ran out. After a while, he ran back and said, "It's snowing!"
"It's snowing?" Everyone ran out to take a look, and it was indeed snowing, with quite large snow grains.
"Wow! It's so cold! Go back to the house quickly, Yinuo, don't get sick! It's too cold!" Yao Qingnian shivered and went back to the main room to continue eating and warming himself by the fire.
In just a quarter of an hour, a thin layer of snow had accumulated on the stone table in the yard. After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms early to sleep.
The next day, Yao Qingnian got up and opened the door. Wow, it had been snowing for most of the night, and a thick layer of snow had piled up in the yard. She ran out excitedly, feeling the cool touch of the snowflakes falling on her face. The whole world was covered in white, as if she was in a dreamy fairy tale world. She ran and jumped happily, leaving a trail of footprints in the yard. The mountains in the distance were also decorated with white snow, which was picturesque and beautiful. Yao Qingnian was intoxicated by this beautiful snow scene and was in a particularly good mood.
When Lu Huaijin came out, he saw Yao Qingnian having fun in the yard. He stood there quietly, with the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.
"Lu Huaijin, get up!" Yao Qingnian played for a while before noticing the man behind him.
"Ok!"
"Ha! Look at me!" Yao Qingnian held a snowball in his hand and threw it at him. The snowball hit him right on the body. His body was immediately covered with snowflakes, and he looked very funny, which made Yao Qingnian laugh.
"Madam, watch out!" Lu Huaijin was not angry, but chuckled. He walked to the yard, made a snowball and threw it at Yao Qingnian.
"Hey, you can't hit me!" Yao Qingnian dodged, but her feet slipped. Just as she was about to fall, Lu Huaijin caught her. Their eyes met, and the air seemed to stand still.
"You guys are having a snowball fight! I want to play too."
Yao Qingnian quickly stood up and, while Lu Huaijin was not paying attention, threw another snowball at his face.
"Hahaha!"
Yinuo and others were awakened by the noise of the two people fighting, so they got up and joined the snowball fight.
We didn't stop until everyone was tired and out of breath. Everyone was wet, but their faces were filled with smiles.
"Okay, I'll go cook breakfast! You guys play." After playing for most of the hour, Yao Qingnian felt a little hungry, so he went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Yinuo and Jiang Jingyi built a snowman in the yard.
After breakfast, Lu Huaijin went out with a broom to sweep the snow. The snow at the gate of the courtyard was already quite thick. If it was not swept away, he would not be able to get out.
Yao Qingnian also came out to help. After working for most of the day, they finally cleared the snow at the door.
Just as she was about to go back to the yard, she heard footsteps behind her: "Girl, please be kind and give me some food and clothes!"
Yao Qingnian turned around and saw an old woman with white hair outside the door. She was wearing a tattered cotton coat and was walking towards him tremblingly with a wooden stick. She was holding a broken bowl in her hand and shaking it constantly.
"Grandma, where are you from?"
He doesn't look like someone from the village.
"I came from the north. The snowstorm collapsed our houses. We had nowhere to hide. We couldn't just stay home and wait to die, so we all moved to the south where it's warmer. Unexpectedly, it snowed here all night last night as well. We were so cold and hungry that I separated from my family and went out to find something to eat. If I hadn't come here, my grandson would have either frozen to death or starved to death."
The old woman wiped her tears, thinking that she was an old woman and it didn't matter whether she lived or died. She felt sorry for her grandson who just turned one year old and had to suffer with them. She came all the way from the village entrance, but no one paid any attention to her and she didn't even get a bite of food.
Yao Qingnian thought, this is not right, she came from the village entrance, isn't there someone guarding the village entrance day and night, how did my mother-in-law get in? Why didn't anyone notify me, and I didn't hear any movement.
"Mother-in-law, wait here!"
Yao Qingnian pulled Lu Huaijin into the yard.
"Did you notice something was wrong?"
"Okay, I'll go find the village chief and go to the village entrance to take a look." Lu Huaijin was a smart man and understood what she meant without her saying anything.
"Well, be careful!"
Lu Huaijin turned around, left the yard and headed towards the village entrance.
Yao Qingnian was cautious. She cooked some porridge with brown rice and gave the old woman a worn-out cotton jacket.
"Mother-in-law, there was a rat plague in the village two days ago. All our food has been eaten by rats. The gate of the county town is closed, so we can't buy food. I can't help much. Please take this brown rice porridge back, and this coat back for the child to keep out the cold."
It’s not that Yao Qingnian is stingy. It’s just that this is an extraordinary period. If she takes out delicious food and drinks, not only will her mother-in-law be unable to take it back, but it will also cause trouble for her family.
Looking at the big bowl of porridge and the coat, the old woman's eyes were filled with tears: "Thank you, girl. Good people will be rewarded. The Bodhisattva will bless you with a long life."
The old woman took the things, thanked her and left.
Yao Qingnian looked at her back and felt a little sad. She was so old and still had to flee and wander outside because of the bad weather.
As for Lu Huaijin, he first went to the village chief's house to tell him what happened. The village chief realized something was wrong and immediately took a few people to the village entrance.
As a result, nearly a hundred refugees poured into the village and could not be stopped.
The village chief was so angry that he wanted to beat Huang Jiabao and his men to death. If they hadn't been lazy, how would the refugees have been able to get in?
These refugees had haggard faces, wrapped in thin and worn clothes, shivering in the biting cold wind, their eyes full of helplessness. There were old people, children, and families who came into the village to beg.
Some villagers felt sorry for them and secretly stuffed some cakes into their mouths. Little did they know that this action gave the refugees hope. Knowing that there was food here, they simply stayed and crowded outside the dilapidated house at the entrance of the village.
It was snowing that day and they didn't even have a place to hide. They just found some straw and spread it on the ground to block the elderly and children.
In this way, even if they don't go into the village to beg, they will still freeze to death at the entrance of the village at night.
Taoxi Village was already poor. After paying taxes every year, the food was barely enough for the family to have enough food to eat. In addition, the attack by rats a few days ago had eaten up most of the food. Many people in the village could not even afford to eat, so how could they have any extra food to give to others?
The village chief had no choice but to watch people freeze to death at the entrance of the village. After discussing with the villagers, he found a few larger empty courtyards and separated the refugees into different courtyards. This way, at least they would not freeze to death before the snow stopped.
In addition to sending more people to guard the village gate, Lu Huaijin and others also set up a checkpoint at the entrance of the village to prevent any outsiders from entering. If another wave of refugees came, their village would really not survive this winter...