Others are fleeing famine, but I am a salted fish

Team leader Shen, who was in charge of leading the team to Wanbao Town, took a deep breath and said solemnly, "Those people have a hard time. If we can say a little more, we might be able to help them a lot."

Other team leaders: ...If I hadn't seen you glaring at those refugees a few days ago, I would have almost believed your lies.

Team Leader Shen: I won’t tell you about what the three of us already know, in order to avoid the hassle of having an extra competitor for no reason.

Other team leaders: ...I always feel that this old guy must be hiding something, but they have no evidence.

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Before nightfall, the group finally reached a fork in the road, where the leaders would go their separate ways tomorrow.

But because there was no village in front and no shop behind, the team leaders shouted for everyone to stop and rang gongs to inform everyone that they would sleep outdoors tonight.

We should have stayed at the post station, after all, there was a post station every thirty miles. But today's team was too large and the speed was slow, so we couldn't make it in time to check into the post station.

Even if they could catch up, there were hundreds of them, and it was hard to decide which team should stay and which team should sleep outdoors. If the coordination was not clear, they might end up fighting, and there would be no conclusion. Therefore, when they led people to the nine counties and seventy-two counties, they would discuss it the night before and sleep outdoors on the ground.

Some of the refugees protested quietly, while others began to look around to see if other families had extra food so they could get a share.

In short, as soon as the crowd stopped, all kinds of noises rang out, making this quiet and wide area bustling and noisy, like the quacking of hundreds of ducks, which made people feel upset for no reason.

There were some people in the team who were like the Lin family team. They had stayed in the state city for one or two nights. Now, they had to sleep in the wild again, using the sky as a roof and the ground as a hut. Those people began to sob and cry.

To be honest, if they had continued to stay in the wilderness every day like they did when they were fleeing from famine, perhaps these people's emotions would not have fluctuated so much.

But, after finally staying in the city for two days, they were now asked to stay in the wilderness. The gap was huge. How could they not be sad?

But before those people could say anything else, the accompanying officers and soldiers glared at them with stern faces. The refugees were frightened by the solemn atmosphere of the officers and soldiers, and they immediately choked back the words that were about to come out of their mouths, not daring to say another word. They were afraid that the officers and soldiers would think they were troublemakers at the city gate and drag them away to be tattooed and forced to do forced labor.

"Everyone, be careful and don't lose control and commit crimes. You have walked hundreds and thousands of miles and finally have something to strive for. But at the last minute, you are dragged into the army or forced to serve as a conscript. Is it worth it? You can decide for yourself."

A soldier with a loud voice warned the crowd with full energy. There was a murderous air in his tone, which made all the refugees' scalps tighten and instantly restrained their eagerness to cause trouble.

In fact, most of the lower-class refugees had never entered Yongzhou City. They had always stayed outside the city, living in sheds built by the government, which was not much different from living in the open air.

Those who were jumping up and down were nothing more than a few big landlords who had lived in the city for a few days and had real houses to shelter them from the elements, or those who had powerful connections.

They made this fuss just to show off their standing out from the crowd and to feel the sense of superiority they hadn't felt for a long time.

However, instead of feeling superior, he was scolded by the officers and soldiers.

Instead of showing off, they lost face, and these VIPs were secretly resentful.

A bunch of brainless brutes who only know how to pick up knives and shout for fighting and killing. No wonder they can never make it in their lives.

But no matter how these people with backgrounds gritted their teeth and secretly hated them, they had no way to deal with these officers and soldiers. They could only accept the scolding and silently restrain their arrogance.

What else can I do? I can't be forced to do corvée and get tattooed. That would mean I would lose all my dignity. Even if someone backs me up, the tattoo on my face would be indelible. I wouldn't be able to go out and see people for the rest of my life.

Most of the refugees ignored these VIPs who were seeking to make a name for themselves. Instead, after their leaders and officials divided the areas for their respective teams, they quickly began to cook and lay out mattresses.

The Lin family's team has long been accustomed to outdoor camping life.

As soon as the team stopped, Chun Xing took out some medicine powder and sprinkled it in the area where they were, to isolate them from harassment from snakes, insects, rats and ants.

The men drove the animals to a place and tied them to a barked tree nearby. The women took off their backpacks, took the baskets that the men had taken off the animals' backs, took out the pots and pans from them, and prepared to wash and start cooking.

After the men settled the livestock, some went to dig holes and build stoves, while others went to collect firewood nearby. Everyone was making preparations in an orderly manner, and no one was idle.

Oh no, except for Old Man Lin. He was moved down from the backpack by Lin Xiaoyue and sat aside, still continuously tightening the horse nails.

Although they were able to settle down soon, Old Man Lin was always restless, and there were still some materials left that Lin Xiaoyue gave him, so he simply finished unwrapping them all and kept them for the future just in case, as they would always come in handy.

The officials and team leaders on the high ground looked down at the group of refugees below, who were busy cleaning up their own mess. By the time they finished, the Lin family had already opened the steaming pot lids and were holding empty bowls to prepare the rice.

As the lids of five or six large pots were lifted at the same time, a strong and overbearing aroma immediately spread in all directions, and even the officials upwind couldn't help but raise their eyebrows. Not to mention the hungry refugees around them, who were almost attracted by the strange aroma here.

This is too fast.

Not to mention other refugees, even the dry buns brought by the officials were not even soft yet, but they were already preparing to eat.

Moreover, the smell was full of an evil and overbearing aroma, which made people's internal organs protest. The officials glanced at the Lin family team opposite who were loading food one by one, and then looked at the dry buns in the pot on their side, and they felt that they were not fragrant anymore.

They couldn't eat, they couldn't eat. The food cooked by the Lin family over there was so fragrant and tempting that they had no appetite at all for the dry buns they brought.

Therefore, the officers became unhappy and united to instigate Team Leader Shen and the soldiers who were leading Lin Xiaoyue's group to ask them for some food.

All the leading officers and soldiers: Were you just chatting and having a good time? Go, go, if you don't hurry up now, then all the chats we just had were in vain?

Team Leader Shen and two officers: ...

Don't they want to go?

They want to do it, but they can’t bring themselves to do it, right?

It just so happens that with the instigation of my colleagues, I have a ready-made excuse, right?

Go, go, go, go, go quickly.

Look at that group of people lining up to get food, each of them is very fast and precise. But don't wait until they pass by, the pot will be empty, and they will just have to stare blankly.