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

As long as everyone didn't burn the clothes, they would listen to her and tell her how long to cook them. No one dared to ask why and they were extremely obedient.

The two children were washed thoroughly, and their clothes were boiled and dried before being put on.

Everyone saw that the children they had picked up had all been washed, but their own children were still very dirty, so they simply washed them too. Even Zhou Guo was caught and washed.

The men didn't have so many concerns. They chose a deserted place and took a bath happily.

But the women didn't want to take a bath in the wilderness, so they just wiped themselves and washed their hair.

But even so, it is much better than before washing. At that time, my hair was unkempt and my face was not washed for a long time. My face was so dark that you couldn't recognize its original appearance.

After this wash, the whole team suddenly became different. Their spirits and outlook were refreshed, their hair was neatly done, their hands and faces were clean. Although the clothes were not washed very clean, they were much better than before when they were so black that one could not see their original color.

You can't tell they are refugees.

Zhou Guo stretched, took a bath and washed his clothes. He suddenly felt as light as if he had lost two pounds of weight and felt refreshed.

Everyone was very happy. This was the first time they had taken a shower since they had been away for so long. After taking a shower, they looked the same as before when they had a home in the village. They didn't look like homeless refugees at all.

Everyone continued on their journey happily.

After walking for most of the day on the fifth day, they arrived at a vast river in the afternoon. Looking across the river, they could not see the opposite bank.

The river was calm, and there was not a single boat on the surface. There were quite a few people on the shore, but most of them were refugees. The refugees sat together in groups of three or four, and some were fishing along the river bank.

There was not a single large ship moored at the river bank, but there were more than ten black-sailed boats lined up in a row, probably because the ferry was small.

Zhou Guo frowned. There were so many of them, and so much luggage on carts. How could they get across without a big boat?

Everyone had lived in the village all their lives and had never seen such a big river. They were stunned by the river that was so wide that they couldn't see the other side at a glance.

"This, this, how can this river be so big?? I am really surprised that I can see such a big river in my life. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, even if someone told me about it, I would just think that person was talking nonsense and I would never believe it."

Many more people were so shocked that they were speechless.

"I, are we going over there? How do we get over there?" someone asked.

"How? Of course we took a boat across. How else can we cross? Are you stupid?"

"You are stupid. You still want to take a boat? What else can we take? They will take you for free. And you see this boat is so small. We can't abandon our carts, and we can't abandon the headman's cows. Tell me, how are we going to get across?"

Yes, everyone was silent.

Zhou Guo looked around. The ferry here was a bit small, and he didn't know if there was a larger ferry nearby. Maybe there were big ships crossing the river there?

The village head was also thinking about this problem, and said to Mr. Zhao who was standing beside him: "Old man, look, what should we do now? These boats can't carry us. You are knowledgeable and experienced, so please give us some advice."

The old man said, "This place is not far from the official road. There should be a large ferry nearby. Let's go and ask."

The head of the village responded happily and went there immediately. Seeing this, Zhou Guo followed him.

There were quite a few refugees around, but none of them had any spirit and looked like they didn't want to be approached by strangers, so the two men didn't ask any questions.

Go straight to the first pontoon boat on the shore.

Zhou Guo originally thought that there was no one inside, but when he got closer, he found that there was actually a family living on the small boat. There were three people in the family on board, a middle-aged couple and a little son.

The three men were not dressed much better than them these days. They were dark and thin, and looked more like refugees than they did.

The youngest son looked only four or five years old, but his brain didn't seem to be very smart. He drooled a lot and wore patched clothes that didn't fit him well. It was obvious that he was wearing adult clothes.

When the couple saw people coming, their originally numb faces relaxed a little and their eyes brightened, thinking that they were here to take a boat ride.

The village head coughed lightly and asked, "Boatman, I want to know if there is a big ship nearby?"

When they heard that they were going to take a big boat, the couple showed extreme disappointment on their faces, their eyes dimmed, and they held on to their last hope while rubbing their hands carefully and said, "Hakka, although our boat may look small, it is actually very stable. We have been in charge of boats for a lifetime, and we guarantee that we can take you across the river safely. You can take my boat and pay as you see fit, or you can give me something in exchange."

When the village head and Zhou Guo heard that they could exchange things, they were tempted, but they had a lot of things, not only things, but also a lot of people. "Boatman, we have a lot of people and things, your boat is too small."

"Too small? Not small, not small. Look, we have so many ships. If one trip isn't enough, we can just make a few more. We don't ask you to pay more." The man said with a rare smile.

The head of the village shook his head and said, "You can't carry our things. All I can do is tell us where there is a big ship."

The couple fell silent, obviously not wanting to talk.

The village head was in a dilemma.

Zhou Guo stood up from behind and opened her mouth but didn't say anything. When the couple saw her, their eyes widened, and they put their hands together and bowed.

Zhou Guo: “…”

She is really not a monk. Is this hair really that similar?

"Young Master, are you going to the other side?" the woman whispered.

She nodded, took advantage of the situation, and clasped her hands together, "Excuse me, sir, where can I find a big boat?"

"Downstream, about four or five miles away from here, there is a big ferry with big ships." The woman pointed the way to her.

The head of the village glanced at Zhou Guo's hair and the corners of his lips twitched. He wondered if cutting hair could have such an effect.

She sincerely thanked him, clasped her hands together and said, "Amitabha, may the Buddha bless you."

The couple was so excited that if she hadn't walked so fast, they would have kneeled down in front of her.

The village head was speechless, wondering if his grandson would have the same effect if he cut his hair like this.

The two men got useful information and led everyone downstream.

After walking for about four or five miles, we saw many boats moored on the river bank in the distance. There were large ships, medium ships and small ships, countless of them.

People come and go here, there are refugees and even traveling merchants. Although there are not many, in Zhou Guo's opinion, this is a good sign.

After fleeing for so long, all she saw every day were refugees. This time, she finally met people other than refugees on the way. It seemed that there were still people different from them in this world, who could live a normal life as long as they had ideas, instead of the whole world becoming a refugee camp.

Zhou Guo was very excited inside, but tried not to show it on his face.