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

He reached out his hand to pull her up from the ground, brushed the dirt off her body, and tidied her messy, furry short hair.

"Dad, Mom, sister-in-law and second sister-in-law, they have started to march. We just need to follow the team." Zhou Dacang ran back breathlessly.

No one said anything. They were about to leave. It was unclear whether they could come back after leaving here.

The people in front gradually started to move, and behind them, people pushing carts carrying large and small bags and their families followed the crowd. Of the one hundred or eighty households in the village, about ten were left behind. With so many people following, except for the few people talking in front, the only sounds left were the crying of children and the impatient voices of scolding children, and the only sounds were footsteps and wheel sounds.

Zhou Guo walked out from the side, looked forward, then turned around and looked back. Good, they were neither in front nor behind, but sandwiched in the middle.

"Hey, Guoguo, come back quickly, don't run around. There are so many people here and it's dark. It will be hard to find you if you get lost." Zhou Mai quickly pulled her back.

There were old people and children in the crowd. Everyone was pushing carts carrying things and not walking very fast.

But even so, Zhou Guo couldn't bear it anymore after walking for more than half an hour.

After all, she was still young, and had been well taken care of by her family for the past eight years. She had never worked in the fields, so how could she bear to walk all the time?

Her feet were aching terribly, but when she looked around, she saw many children among the people who were hurrying forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow. There were also many people younger than her who were following the adults. They couldn't see the road clearly, so they walked unsteadily and cried as they walked.

The younger ones were tied in their mother's arms and on her back. Her mother was carrying several large bags in each hand. Zhou Guo felt tired just watching them.

The gray-haired old men were carrying a huge bag on their backs, and some were even carrying two baskets, with the shoulder poles bent from the weight. They were trotting along with the large group. They should have been spending their retirement in peace, but at their age, when their legs and feet weren't working well, they still had to flee with so many things.

She looked around and seemed to be the most relaxed person in the team with nothing in her hands. Some people of her age were carrying younger brothers and sisters on their backs, and no one was empty-handed.

The large group walked from dusk till dawn, and Zhou Guo didn't know how long they had walked. In the middle, Zhou Mai saw that she could not walk anymore, so he squatted down and wanted to carry her on his back. She refused. The child was carrying a small bag on his back. He was not more than two years older than her and looked mature. But he still wanted to carry her. Even if her legs were disabled, she couldn't lie down on him.

After daybreak, they gradually met other refugees on the road. Some were from the same village or clan as them, and there were also many individual refugees, some walking together in groups of dozens of people. There were also some who were walking alone, wearing tattered clothes and with unkempt hair. They had numb faces and no one knew what had happened to them.

In order to hurry on their journey, they even ate breakfast while walking.

Huang opened the bag on her back and took out some steamed buns, half for the children, one for the adults, and an egg for each of them. She distributed them to everyone, "Come on, you haven't eaten since last night. You must be hungry after walking such a long way."

Zhou Guo was also given half a steamed bun, but the difference was that Huang gave her a whole egg. No one in the family said anything, not even the youngest Zhou Suli and Zhou Tao.

She held the steamed bun and egg in her hands, and looked at Zhou Suli and Zhou Tao who only had half an egg. She felt unworthy of it. Moreover, she was too tired and could not eat any more. She just wanted to sit down and rest for a while.

I don’t know how long I have to walk before I can rest.

At this moment, she really had no image at all. Her hair had been wet with sweat, and there were dust marks on her face. Because she fell twice, her clothes were covered with yellow dirt. Her lips were pale and cracked, her legs were limping, and her eyes were so tired that there was no light at all. She was no different from the fool she used to be.

Li happened to be replaced. Seeing her daughter in such a miserable state, tears welled up in her eyes. This child had never suffered such hardship since she was a child. Now that she was finally freed, she had to endure such suffering. She had walked such a long way without saying a word. Even Zhou Xing complained about her several times.

Zhou Su and Zhou Tao had been sleeping on the cart for several hours. Now they were in great spirits. Zhou Su sat on the cart and called to Zhou Guo, "Sister, sister, you should sit too. Come and sit."

Zhou Tao also shouted that she was the youngest of three in the family, and she had been told to take good care of her elder sister since she was a child. Everyone said that her elder sister was not very smart and very pitiful, and she was also happy to take care of her elder sister.

When Huang heard this, she noticed that Zhou Guo had been following them all the way until now. She had been busy pushing the cart and asking others for news all night, thinking about the future and Dalang and Erlang who had been exiled.

My mind was a mess and I didn't pay much attention to the situation here. Now seeing her pitiful appearance, I feel so heartbroken. The child has never suffered such hardship since she was a child.

She hurriedly said, "Guoguo, ouch, how did you get so tired?" Thinking of her granddaughter who was dazed and couldn't cry out in pain, she questioned Li dissatisfiedly, "You too, you didn't take care of the child even though she didn't tell you. She's already like this, and you don't know what's wrong with her feet. You're still a mother, don't you feel sorry for your own child?"

Li said, "Yes, mother, it's all my fault."

As the two spoke, everyone turned their eyes to Zhou Guo.

The family members were all shocked when they saw this. This child had always been well raised. Although he was a little stupid, Li had always kept him clean and tidy, and his little face was white and clean. Looking at his current appearance, it was hard to recognize him.

"Oh, Zhou Er girl is now just like the other girls and boys in the village. You can tell she's a villager now."

"Yeah, this kid has been different since he was young, he's fair and clean like a city kid, it's a pity he's a little dull, otherwise I don't know how he would cherish people."

……

Mrs. Xu looked at her daughter who was sitting comfortably on the cart and said with a hardened heart, "Tao'er, get off quickly. You have been sitting for so long. Let your sister sit too."

Zhou Tao nodded obediently, "Okay, Mom, I've wanted to get off the bus for a long time. My butt hurts from sitting in this car."

In this way, Zhou Guo finally got on the cart.

She looked at Zhou Tao who was forced to walk down, feeling a little embarrassed. She had never expected that one day she would have to compete with the kids for a ride in the car. But the piercing pain in her feet reminded her that her body was only that of an eight-year-old and she had never walked such a long distance. If she continued walking, her feet would be rubbed to the point of bleeding.

Zhou Su was chattering excitedly beside him. Zhou Guo was lying in the car, looking at the gray sky above his head and feeling the breeze. Although the car was a little bumpy, it was much more comfortable than walking. He didn't sleep for long last night, so he fell asleep quickly after being rocked like that.

When she woke up again, she found that the team had stopped.

I sat up and looked around. There were groups of people all around. Some were sitting down to eat, and some were taking this opportunity to sleep. No one had slept much after being busy all night last night. I fell asleep before I even had time to eat.