Spring comes to the desperate place

At this time, everyone was more inclined to continue moving south, not only because almost all the people here were running away, but also because of the high prices. Before they fled the famine, the price of grain in the county was already sky-high, and here it was twice as expensive. They were all farmers, and the money they had could not buy much even the cheapest wheat bran. Maybe they would have to flee again by then, so it would be better to continue moving south.

Seeing that everyone had unanimously decided to continue heading south, the village chief said without further ado: "Rest for an hour. If you want to buy anything, you can go to the town to buy it. Ask a few people for directions. We are now in Weihe County. It won't be far to Langya. After passing Langya Mountain, we are almost in the Jiangnan area."

Hearing that they were almost at Jiangnan, everyone became very excited, and quite a few even said they wanted to go to that street together to take a look. Seeing their great enthusiasm, the village chief did not stop them, but just let everyone disperse and go shopping in groups.

Song Chunlin also followed Song Qinshi in. The town was indeed not big. It was only a hundred meters from one end of the long street to the other. You could see the end at a glance.

Although the town was small, Song Chunlin was still very interested in it. This was the first time he had seen a human town since he came here more than a month ago. The previous villages were empty, but it was different here. At least there were still some residents living here and there, as well as grain stores, grocery stores, cloth shops, and even a small restaurant.

The purpose of Song Qin's coming here this time was to buy two feet of coarse cloth. Song Xiaobao has grown taller recently, and his clothes are a little short. Since birth, this child has always been wearing his brothers' old clothes. When they set out before, in order to travel light, everyone only brought one set of clothes to change, and the clothes of the whole family only took up a small backpack, which was always carried by Grandpa Song.

Song Xiaobao only has this set of clothes, and he has no other options if it gets shorter. It was late summer when he set out, and now it is autumn. Although the weather is still hot, what if the temperature drops before he reaches the south?

Song Qin spent a long time picking and choosing in the only cloth shop on the street and chose a piece of indigo coarse cloth. The shopkeeper glanced at it lazily and quoted a price.

"Fifteen cents a foot, no bargaining."

Song Chunlin didn't know how much these things cost, so he didn't react much, but Song Qinshi frowned.

"This coarse cloth is only eight cents a foot in our place, how come you charge twice as much here?"

The shopkeeper was a little impatient: "What good things can you get from your poor and remote place? This is the price in my shop. You can buy it if you want. If you don't want to buy it, just leave. Don't dirty my goods."

Song Qin laughed angrily: "How can you talk like that, shopkeeper? We are here to buy things, not to be bullied."

However, the shopkeeper still refused to budge: "If I say fifteen cents, it's fifteen cents. If you can't afford it, get out. It's unlucky."

"Hey, you..." Song Qin wanted to argue with this man, but was stopped by Song Chunlin. He shook his head at Song Qin. Song Qin could only sigh and left with Song Chunlin in silence.

Song Qinshi knew that her current appearance was disgusting. Anyone who had been traveling for a month would be covered in dust and dirt. Song Qinshi was still a clean person. She would try her best to wipe her family's faces and hands with clean towels every day, and keep her family clean within her ability. But even so, in the eyes of the shopkeeper, she was still like a beggar, disgusting.

Song Qin was walking along in a depressed mood and didn't notice that Song Chunlin suddenly turned around and gave the shopkeeper the middle finger. The shopkeeper didn't know what he meant, but judging from Song Chunlin's expression, it was definitely not a good thing.

The shop owner was so irritated that he wanted to chase him out and continue scolding him, but he tripped and fell flat on his face. When he got up screaming, before he could even stand firmly, he fell on his back again. This time, his chest and back were all bruised, and he was completely paralyzed on the ground, unable to get up.

He lay on the ground and kept shouting, which finally attracted the shop assistant. The assistant helped him up from the ground. After he finally got up, he couldn't help cursing Song Chunlin and her son. As expected, he fell again after taking two steps. The shop owner thought it was weird and stopped cursing.

Song Qin naturally didn't know that so many things had happened in the store after she left, but Song Chunlin knew them all clearly, because these were all caused by his special ability. He was very familiar with using the roots of plants to attack the enemies. Humph, this time he just wanted to teach that person a lesson. If that person kept chattering, he wouldn't mind giving him another big one.

The mother and son strolled around the street casually and then went back. The Song family was not surprised to see them coming back empty-handed, because everyone else also came back empty-handed. It was not because they had no money in their pockets, but because the prices here were too high. Not only the cloth shop just now, but even the grocery store and the small restaurant, the prices of things there were basically two to three times more expensive.

"Prices are high in this disaster year. I don't know if the money we have will be enough to support ourselves in the south."

Many people expressed their concerns. They had sold their houses and land and saved some money in order to settle down in the south. But this is not Jiangnan yet, and the prices are already so high. If they really went to Jiangnan, the money they had would only be enough to buy a few acres of land, and they would not have money to eat after that.

People live on food, clothing, housing and transportation, and everything requires money. Without money, they can't take a single step.

While everyone was still worried, the person who went to ask for directions had already returned.

"I figured it out. Taking that dirt road will lead you directly to Sili Village. It will be faster to get to Langya from Sili Village. If you take the official road, you will have to take a longer detour, and you may not be able to find a place to stay at night."

After this was said, of course they would take the dirt road. The village chief immediately made a decision. If a group of people took the dirt road, they could reach Langya earlier and go to the south of the Yangtze River earlier.

So everyone packed up their bags and continued on their journey.

As soon as their main force left, several horses galloped past on the official road. The soldiers guarding the gate were so frightened that they stood upright. However, those people galloped all the way until they stopped at the gate of the largest house in the town.

The door opened from the inside, and an old servant welcomed everyone in. Then the door closed, blocking everyone's prying view.

The leader, a man in purple riding suit, irritably tore off the towel on his face, and spat out sand. The old servant brought him tea and a hot towel. The man took the tea and took a big gulp. Only then did he feel that his internal organs came back to life.

"Comfortable! I've been so thirsty all the way!"

The man took the towel and wiped his face. Under the gray dust was a fair and handsome young face.