After the marriage was severed, I fled with my golden finger to protect my mother

Seeing that snow was already falling from the sky, Xu Linzhi's family had no choice but to pawn some of the things they had bought before.

For things like thick cotton coats and trousers, everyone in their family had prepared several sets before, but now they think that there is no need for that. After all, when they were in Xujia Village in the past, everyone only had one set of tattered cotton coats to wear.

In fact, Yuxiu did not touch their clothes, and took away all the valuable things like jewelry.

Only the daily necessities such as tables, chairs, benches, pots, pans, etc. were kept in the house, and the rest were all taken to the street and sold at low prices by the brothers of the Xu family.

Even so, after searching the house for most of the day, the family only managed to get seven or eight taels of silver.

This time, the few people did not dare to buy any good food. They only picked and chose some old grain. The charcoal that they had bought at a high price a few days ago was gone. So they simply borrowed a flatbed cart and followed the people who went out of the city to chop firewood, and pulled back a few carts of firewood.

A few days ago, other families were clamoring to build a kang. Xu Qingrong's family thought that they had so much charcoal stored up, so why would they need a kang? They said it was built with bricks and mud. Isn't that a rip-off?

It was too late to regret the things that he had disdained in the past. The craftsmen who built the kang had all left. Even if someone was willing to build a kang for his family now, the Xu family would not have a single penny in their pockets.

Fortunately, Xu Linzhi's brothers are all strong men. When they were in Xujia Village, they were good at going up the mountains and down the fields. In addition, the family has suffered a great disaster now. In order for the family to get through this winter smoothly, everyone is trying their best to chop wood.

Xu Linzhi and Huang also went with them, helping to bundle up the chopped dead branches and picking up some soft leaves for starting a fire.

After all, Xu Linzhi still had some luck on her. When the heavy snow really fell, the Xu family finally stockpiled enough firewood for several houses.

Although there is not much food, as long as everyone saves on food and drink, there should be no problem getting through this winter.

Yuxiu also took advantage of these few days to bring Xu Qinghe and Cui together, and the three of them used the space to find the mine where Xu's family was sold.

It turned out that this was a coal mine under the direct jurisdiction of the imperial court. After the people of Xujia Village were sold there, although they were beaten and scolded and urged to work all day long, their lives were not in any danger for the time being.

Yuxiu's family went there in broad daylight, and it was not convenient for them to suddenly appear in everyone's sight, so the three of them stayed in the space, eating melon seeds and drinking milk tea, while admiring the hard work of Xu Qinghai and his brother digging coal through the transparent wall of the space.

Xu Qinghai's three sons were also here. They were very strong and each of them was responsible for a wheelbarrow with a large basket full of coal on it. As long as the wheelbarrow was full, they would push it out immediately.

Even the young boy Xu Wenfeng from the third room was no exception. Being small and not very strong, he carried a basket and went to pick up the broken coal that had fallen on the aisle.

Because the road was uneven, the person pushing the wheelbarrow had to use all his strength to control the balance of the wheelbarrow. Even if coal fell out, he dared not bend down to pick it up.

So this became the job of Xu Wenfeng and the other children. If the people in charge of guarding found any coal on the ground that had not been picked up, the whips in their hands would not recognize anyone.

While Yuxiu and the others were talking, Xu Wenfeng alone was whipped several times.

Not to mention the others, they were also beaten up at any time.

Perhaps because the demand for coal was so great and the person in charge was pushing them very hard, the guards only whipped them on the back a few times and did not kill them.

After all, if one person is injured, there will be one less person to do the work, and they will not be able to keep up with the progress. If the people above blame them, they cannot bear the responsibility.

Yuxiu was still sighing that these men were so pitiful, and she didn't know how Gao and other female relatives were doing now.

I soon noticed a group of women appeared. They were also pushing a few large buckets on wheelbarrows. Looking at the steaming food, it should be time for dinner.

In addition to Xu Guihua and Gao, who Yuxiu was familiar with, some other women from Xujia Village were also on the list.

Judging from the numb and frightened looks on their faces, they must have suffered a lot in the past few days.

After a busy day, we finally had a break. Everyone held the bowls and wolfed down the food without caring about the heat.

Looking at Gao, his biological mother, Xu Wenfeng could not help but run over and hug her arms and cry bitterly. The guard happened to see this and beat up the two of them.

The whip, accompanied by a whistling sound, fell heavily on the mother and son. Gao still loved her son very much. Even at this time, she still tried her best to protect Xu Wenfeng in her arms and endured the beating herself.

Compared to her, Xu Qingjiang didn't seem like a father. He never put down the bowl in his hand from beginning to end. When he heard the screams of his wife and son, he just rolled his eyes and looked over there, then continued to drink the bowl of porridge that was so thin that you could see your reflection in it.

"Alright, alright. We don't have enough people to begin with. Don't hurt any of them..."

Seeing that Gao's already tattered clothes had been beaten into rags, another manager spoke, and the guard put away the whip in angrily and spat at the person crying on the ground.

"Let's go. Even if these people were tortured to death, it can't be blamed on us. Looking at them like this, it can be considered retribution."

Cui didn't want to see any more of this. She was satisfied knowing that these people didn't have a good end.

"After we find out my background, our family will just live a good life. Whether these people live or die is none of our business."

Xu Qinghe held Cui's arm, but his eyes stayed on the faces of the two brothers Xu Qinghai and Xu Qingjiang.

The old princess didn't let him interfere in this matter, so he naturally believed that his own mother would find out the truth as soon as possible so that he could return to his ancestral home as soon as possible.

As for these people in Lao Xu's family, even if they were his biological brothers, they had cut off all ties with him the day they cruelly pushed him off the cliff, and they no longer had any connection with him.

When the family returned home, Zhang Wentang and his son were busy collecting medicinal herbs from others.

Because this winter was very cold and everyone had nothing to do, Cui decided to take everyone to make a batch of pills at this time.