The famine-escape cub vs. the fake daughter cub

"From afar, I saw people who looked like villagers going in and out of the city gate, so I went over to ask. The soldiers guarding the city said that we could go into the city to do some shopping, but if we were not locals, the entrance fee would be this much." The man acting as a scout panted and held up five fingers.

"Fifty cents?" the village chief asked tentatively.

"I'm afraid it's about 500 Wen." The clan leader said confidently as he narrowed his eyes and puffed on his cigarette.

The world collapsed in just a few days. How could the money earned by passing through only increase by ten or dozens of times?

"It's five taels of silver!" The scout took a breath of cold air when he said this.

Five taels of silver could buy a cow a month ago, but today, it can only buy a place to enter the city.

"Five taels for both of us to enter the city, or five taels for each person?" The old patriarch sat steadily, his expression unchanged. But the tight grip on his pipe betrayed his inner thoughts.

"For less than ten people entering the city, each person will be charged five taels. For less than twenty people entering the city, each person will be charged ten taels, and they will need to show their residence permit. If they do not have a residence permit, they will also need to show proof of their place of origin, and the amount of silver will be doubled."

The village chief was furious, and slapped the man on the back with his big hand like a palm leaf fan. "It's already this late, and you're still so naughty! Don't you know whether we have done anything wrong? Why didn't you tell me the ten taels of silver earlier? Why are you telling me now? Are you kidding me?"

The man chuckled and didn't hide.

Isn't he afraid that if he mentioned ten taels of silver at the beginning, the old patriarch would be scared and dare not enter the city?

Fortunately, his family had an ox cart, so the journey was not very hard these days. But his eldest brother and third brother did not have one, so they could not drive the cart these days and had to ask him for help. The seats belonging to his wife and children had to be separated and rotated with his nephews, and he had to help his eldest brother and third brother to push the cart. His back and waist were sore after a day, which made it seem that he did not buy the ox cart alone.

He had just inquired and the soldiers guarding the city said that there were still a lot of large livestock in the city.

This time, the elder brother or younger brother must be allowed to go into the city. Even if he can help with one or two taels of silver, he must let them buy an animal themselves!

Without further ado, the clan leader summoned the heads of each household to discuss the matter of going into the city to purchase goods.

"One hundred taels of silver for the city entrance fee? And you can only select ten people to enter the city?!"

When everyone heard this, they were all excited.

"Why is it so expensive? Isn't this just a rip-off for us?!"

"One hundred taels of silver? This is the amount our village can earn in a year! And it's all gone in just one trip to the city?"

The village chief heard this and quickly corrected him, "As long as there are no more than ten people, it will be calculated based on the number of people, ten taels per person!"

The villagers had experienced the shock of paying one hundred taels of silver, but when they heard that it was now ten taels per person, they no longer felt that it was outrageously expensive.

"That's true, but if only one or two of us go in, how can we buy all the things out of the four hundred of us?"

Before leaving, I thought I had prepared everything at home, but after leaving, I realized that this was indispensable and that was uncomfortable. Now that I finally have a place to shop, don’t I want to make up for the things that are missing at home?

Those who had cows and mules were fine, at least they had animals to help them, so life was not that tiring. Those who only had donkeys or no animals felt their legs and feet almost broken after four or five days of traveling.

At this moment they were most eager to enter the city.

Everyone was busy discussing the candidates for entering the city. After the candidates were chosen, someone started to count the things that each household needed to buy.

Yunli overheard a bit and told the village chief that her family had no money to buy things, then walked away leisurely.

She wanted to go to the city, but she knew with her toes that the ten precious places to go to the city would not fall on a little girl like her.

It’s better to find another way.

The whole process of gathering, counting, purchasing, collecting, and distributing would take at least three to five hours. The clan leader also said that they would stay here for the time being and set out again tomorrow.

Yunli said hello to her brother and told him that she would find a way to get into the city. She also asked Aunt Fang to help look after her family. Only then did she feel at ease and changed direction, taking a detour to go to Hongnan City.

On a road about 300 meters away from Hongnan City, two figures were approaching hurriedly. Yunli, who had been waiting for about a quarter of an hour, suddenly had his eyes light up and went to meet them.

The visitors were an elderly couple, their clothes were washed white and full of patches. The old man was carrying a basket on his back, which showed a little green. The old woman was holding a few pairs of straw sandals and straw hats. Their hair was neatly combed, and although they looked sad, they didn't look angry.

"How are you, uncle and aunt? Are you going to Hongnan City?" Yunli greeted with a smile, looking familiar.

The old couple opposite looked at each other and asked with their eyes: "Whose child is this? Do you know him?"

The little girl in front of me was wearing a clean light blue skirt and had her hair tied in a bun (a hairstyle in which the hair is gathered and tied on the top of the head or on the sides). Her eyes were as bright as two stars and there were two small dimples at the corners of her mouth when she smiled.

This child is so handsome.

I don’t know which adult is so heartless to let such a cute child walk outside alone.

"Little girl, whose child are you? Where are your parents?"

I don’t know if it was because she was so old and still being called “Auntie” by such a young and cute child, or because the girl was so pretty, but Mrs. Li’s voice was so gentle.

"Aunt, my family lives in Tiger Mountain in front. My father's name is Yang Xiaoer. He is seriously ill. There is no doctor in our village, and people are not allowed to go in or out of the town. I finally walked all day to get here. I want to go into the city to get some medicine. But I heard from the uncles that if you are not a local, you have to pay five taels of silver per person to enter the city. Aunt, I don't have that much money. Can you help me get into the city? Just say that I am the granddaughter of your neighbor. If that doesn't work, please help me buy some medicine. Please, aunt."

Yunli grabbed the old woman's sleeve and shook her until her heart almost melted.

"What's wrong with your father?"

"Dad fell from the mountain, and he's covered in wounds. Mom said to tell the doctor, and he'll know what medicine to prescribe for me." Yunli gestured on his body a few times.

"Why doesn't your mother come?"

"My mother also fell down. She was lying in bed and couldn't get up. I'm the most capable child in the family, so I was the one who bought the medicine."

"Oh my, you fell down from the mountain, I'm afraid you have injuries all over your body!" The old man slapped his thigh, "Girl, you have to talk to the doctor in person. We haven't seen the wound, if we buy medicine for you, what if you can't describe the wound clearly?"

"Uncle, don't worry. My mother gave me copper coins when I went out. I can pay the entrance fee by myself. Please, uncle and aunt, take me into the city to buy medicine!"