Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

When these refugees suddenly saw so many people appearing, they were frightened at first. They looked alert and took positions to protect their belongings.

But when they saw their large and small carts, they were stunned. Who would come here with so many things?

Zhou Guo was even more alert. Although all of them had some weapons with them, they were obviously no match for them. If the other side had bad intentions, it would be another fierce battle.

The timid one almost cried on the spot.

Zhou Guo secretly tightened his grip on the hoe, moved forward inconspicuously, and stood with his uncle Zhou Dacang.

Zhou Dacang caught a glimpse of her, frowned, and whispered, "What are you doing here? Go back quickly. There is a family of old and young behind you. I don't need you here."

Zhou Guo didn't even bother to look at him, and said, "Let's see first, it shouldn't be a fight."

He seemed calm and composed, as if he was very confident, at least that's how it looked on the surface.

Zhou Dacang opened his mouth, but thought of her inexplicable luck and strength, and said nothing.

The person opposite looked at them and curled his lips. They were all the same, their eyes were sunken from hunger. Who was more noble? After a few glances, he turned around and left.

When everyone saw this, they relaxed a little. At least they didn't rob openly, which meant that these people hadn't reached that point yet, or they didn't dare to offend them yet. Whichever it was, it was good.

When they set out on the road, the twenty-eight members of the duty team were placed fourteen in the front and fourteen in the back. Each of them was holding a hoe or a machete, and was paying close attention to the movements around them. Their mission was to protect the families behind them.

Among them, the elderly and children were surrounded in the innermost part, intentionally or unintentionally, and the food was also surrounded inside. The middle-aged men and women were surrounded outside.

Zhou Guo followed her mother, carrying a hoe and pushing a cart. If a fight broke out, the whole family would be her responsibility.

In order not to attract attention, they drank water secretly in the crowd.

Fortunately, the morning passed and nothing happened.

In order to get rid of these people, they never stopped. The children who could not walk sat on carts, and their parents carried them on their backs. In any case, they could not stop.

After walking non-stop for the entire morning, those people were left behind.

Zhou Guo, however, felt that this was of no use at all. These days, there was a shortage of everything except refugees. They were everywhere. Could you get rid of one or two batches of people along the way? Or could you find another way for yourself and take a different road from others?

She always felt that leaving like this was not a good idea and was very tiring, but she couldn't think of any good solution.

"Hey, it would be great if the people around us were all rich people. No one would care about each other and everyone would go their own way. No wonder we have to hurry when escaping. It is a blessing to follow the first group." Unfortunately, they didn't get the news, and by the time they got the news, the rich people had already left.

Look, there is another one in front. Looking back, the ones behind have also caught up, and some are resting on the side of the road and can’t move anymore.

There was a ragged, skinny woman on the side of the road, holding a child tightly in her arms. She saw that the child was only two or three years old, a little younger than Zhou Suli. The child was lying in the woman's arms with his eyes closed, and she didn't know if he was still breathing.

Whenever someone passed by, the woman would look over vigilantly, like an old hen that had gone mad while sitting on her nest. If someone approached, she would look crazy, as if she wanted to catch that person and bite him or her. Her eyes were full of red bloodshot, and she looked really scary.

The children were silent as they watched this shocking scene, and Zhou Su held her sister's hand tightly.

Along the way, we saw many adults lying on the roadside, but it seemed that no one was watching the children. I'm afraid that this mother and daughter were abandoned by their family.

But the further he went, the more such cases there were. Most of them were women with children digging grass roots and tree bark. Zhou Guo was puzzled. Why were these people abandoned by their families? The women didn't want them, and even their own children. There were also many boys among them. Why didn't they want these incense sticks?

She was puzzled and looked around. She saw her grandmother pursed her lips tightly and looked at these people with a dazed look and sadness in her eyes.

She was even more confused. After thinking about it, she felt that it might be because she was thinking of her father and her dead grandfather, so she also became sad.

Zhou Guo and his group had cars and livestock, and carried large and small bags. Although they were thin, they were in high spirits. It was obvious that they were different from those who had been hungry for many days. They must have food in their hands.

But seeing so many people in the group, all holding hoes, sickles and sticks and staring at them eagerly, no one dared to step forward.

Finally, someone couldn't bear it anymore.

A dishevelled, ragged woman, holding a dying child in her arms, knelt in front of them and kowtowed desperately. Soon, her forehead turned red and her voice was hoarse and low. "Kindhearted people, please give him something to eat. This child is so sick that he can't even eat tree bark or grass roots. He's about to die. I beg you to be kind enough to give him something to eat and save him. Save him, save him. I kowtow to you..."

Many people turned their eyes away, unable to bear to watch.

Zhou Guo felt uncomfortable too, but she didn't turn her head. There were so many people like this along the way. Could she just cover her eyes and ears? The inevitable things existed whether she saw them or not.

She stared closely at the people around her, fearing that some of them would be merciful and give food to others. If that happened, they might not even be able to keep their own food.

Fortunately, everyone in the team was still rational, and no one reached out for help after knocking for such a long time.

Zhou Guo looked at the woman again. In just a short while, her forehead was already broken and blood was flowing. She just wanted to give the child in her arms some proper food. If other refugees around were not watching her covetously, she really wanted to help. She had never seen this in her two lifetimes combined.

Just as they were thinking about it, a woman in the team walked out. Everyone watched her holding a few cakes. Without saying a word, she walked up to the woman, gave her all the cakes in her hand, and looked at the child infatuatedly and said, "Here, eat it. After eating it, your child will be healed and can live."

The kowtowing woman was extremely grateful. She thanked him repeatedly and ran away with her child in her arms.

Everything happened so fast that everyone was still in a daze, looking at each other and left and right, not knowing what would happen next. It seemed that nothing had happened.

Only Zhou Guo, with his scalp tingling, immediately went into alert while holding his hoe, and said in a deep voice to the people around him: "It's time to fight, hold the things in your hands."

At the same time, Huang said seriously: "Protect the things and the children."

The people around picked up sticks, hoes and sickles in confusion, not understanding why a fight was about to break out.