Transformed into an extremely evil grandmother and fled to escape famine with her children and grand

Li Lanzhen asked Han Mingjiang to tell everyone not to unload their luggage, but just sit where they were, and drink some water or eat some steamed bun when they were hungry.

Don't take out your own food to attract attention. Look at the refugees around you, each one of them is skinny and lying on the ground, or leaning against a pile of dirt, with dull eyes, staring at the bags or pockets of passers-by.

If a passerby moves his mouth, they will immediately stare at him, wishing they could rush over, take the food out of the person's mouth, and stuff it into their own mouths to eat.

Li Lanzhen was frightened by their eyes. She told the children to follow adults closely and not run around by themselves.

The children were also very smart. When they saw the crowd looking at them as if they were a piece of meat, they were so scared that they shrunk their necks and hid behind the adults.

Li Lanzhen knew from movies, books, magazines and newspapers that some people who fled famine resorted to cannibalism or even ate their own children.

But today, she felt a little scared, because among the crowd, there were only young and middle-aged men or a few young women, and not even the elderly and children. Could it be that no elderly or children were brought out of this village? That was impossible. The most likely possibility was that they were sold by them in exchange for food, or the worst outcome was that they were eaten by their own children.

Thinking of this, Li Lanzhen felt numb in her heart and her throat tightened.

He hugged Miaomiao and Linglong tighter in his arms.

Just as she was thinking about this, suddenly a luxurious horse-drawn carriage followed by two donkey carts came over, and because they were running fast, they raised a cloud of dust.

I saw them walk forward a distance and then stop.

A man who looked like a servant came out of the donkey cart, holding a gong and struck it three times.

He shouted at the top of his voice, "Exchange for food. Girls under five years old can exchange for one pound of old rice, girls between five and ten years old can exchange for two pounds of old rice, and girls over ten years old can exchange for two pounds of old rice and ten wild vegetable cakes."

After Li Lanzhen saw his voice rang out, the crowds on both sides began to get noisy, and the sound of children crying could be heard one after another.

In the crowd in front of them, a little girl about ten years old shouted, "Mom! Mom, I can work. I only need to drink a mouthful of water for three days. Don't replace me. I don't want to sell me!"

The person who was pulling her should be her biological father. He pulled her away like a ferocious monster. When he saw the little girl sitting on the ground and refusing to move, he raised his foot and kicked the child to the ground.

Li Lanzhen felt very uncomfortable. It was really not easy for women to survive in this era!

She turned her eyes away and held the two little girls tightly in her arms.

Miaomiao and Linglong were obviously also frightened by this. They held her tightly and hid their faces in her shoulders.

It seems that this way we can no longer see this miserable appearance.

At this time, a man from Dongjiazhuang, who was following behind Hanjia Village, was also preparing to take his daughter to exchange for food.

The little girl was probably only three years old. She screamed and cried at the top of her lungs, "Mom, Mom, please don't sell Niuniu."

Her mother covered her mouth and cried. Finally, she broke free from her father's hand and ran over to hug the village chief's legs.

"Grandpa, village chief, please, save me. If you tell my father not to sell me out, he will listen to you. Please, Grandpa! When you are old, I will honor you. I treat you as my real grandpa. Please!"

The old village chief of Dongjiazhuang was so angry that he stood up, put the little girl behind him and shouted, "Dong Erlaizi, if you dare to sell Niuniu today to exchange for food, get out of here."

Dong Erlaizi touched his head and said, "Village chief, there is really no way. There is not a single bite of food at home. My son is less than one year old and has nothing to eat. What do you think we should do? We can't let him starve to death."

He looked at his daughter again and said, "I gave Niuniu to those people, and gave Niuniu a chance to live. In exchange for the food, my son can also survive. Isn't that good?"

Niu Niu immediately knelt down in front and said, "Dad, please, don't exchange me, don't buy Niu Niu, I will go find food, if there is nothing left, I will cut my finger and let my brother drink my blood, please don't sell me."

She wiped away her tears and begged, "My little brother is born. I will take good care of him."

Dong Erlaizi's eyes were red at this time. He said, "Niuniu, it's not that Dad is cruel, but there is really no other way. All the food and things in the house have been robbed, and your grandmother was beaten to death by the bad guys when she was protecting you and your brother."

The man held his head and started crying.

Niu Niu slowly came to him, hugged her head and said, "Daddy, don't cry, daddy, don't cry, Niu Niu, find a way, don't buy Niu Niu. There are only four of us left in our family, let's stay together. Don't buy Niu Niu."

Dong Erlaizi hugged Niuniu and burst into tears.

The tragic and touching scene here did not stop other families from selling their daughters or sisters.

For a moment, there was a deafening cry of grief on the official road and beside the donkey carts.

Li Lanzhen looked up and saw more than a dozen girls of all ages crammed into a donkey cart. Their families carried some food that they had exchanged for their daughters or sisters, and walked away with smiles on their numb faces.

The people of Hanjia Village crowded together again, put the children in the middle, and hugged or pulled them tightly.

The children were also frightened by this tragic scene and clung tightly to their parents or grandparents.

At this time, Han Shunde, Xue Bao and others came back.

The news is not optimistic.

Han Shunde looked at his father and said, "Dad, Yongkang City is similar to our Hanjia Village. It has not rained for three years. Food is extremely expensive. Moreover, refugees are not allowed to enter the city, even if they pay money."

Li Lanzhen asked, "If they are not allowed to enter the city, why are there so many refugees gathered here? I heard that there is no water to drink."

"There is indeed no water, but there are more than a dozen wells in the city that have been requisitioned and controlled by the government, and water use is limited every day," said Han Shunde.

Xue Lao Hu frowned, "I heard from them that rich families carry water out of the city at night, and a man who works in the city for three days can provide half a bucket of water for his family.

There were also wealthy families who came out to give out porridge.”

"Soup soup?"

Li Lanzhen was a little confused. Wasn't there a food shortage? Why was there porridge being distributed?

Han Shunde expressed his guess.

"They also said something that I couldn't figure out. They said they could give out porridge. But if two male members of the family went to the city to work for five days, the family could have free porridge for five days."

Village Chief Dong’s son shook his head and said, “I feel like there’s something wrong here.

No one who went in has come out so far.”

The old village chief frowned and said, "There must be something wrong here. We can't have porridge today."

Li Lanzhen said, "Village Chief, I think we can't stay here. Let's go hide in the mountains."

Xue Lao Hu said, "We have to go to Youzhou through Ankang City. Otherwise, if we have to cross the mountain, the journey will be even longer. Besides, there are fan bandits in this mountain."

The old village chief and the others all frowned, thinking about this problem.

Li Lanzhen added, "I am determined to go into the mountains and cannot wait until the afternoon.

Haven’t you noticed that so many people have gathered here? All the little girls have been sold in exchange for food, and there are not many old people left.

I guess all the young and strong ones were taken into the city.

If the porridge distributor comes in the afternoon and forces us to drink porridge, should we drink it or not?

By that time it will be too late for us to evacuate.”

The old village chief nodded and said, "Let's go, let's go now!"

Han Shunde quickly notified everyone to prepare to leave.

People from Hanjia Village and Dongjiazhuang picked up their baskets and packed up their homes. When they had just left the woods with their children on their backs and ran to the foot of the mountain, they heard the sound of horse hooves on the official road.

And I heard the clang of swords being drawn, and I heard the soldiers shouting, "No one is allowed to run, all males over the age of 12 must enter the city and be arrested."