Rebirth of an Old Farmer: Escape from Famine with Children and Grandchildren

But it is a safe place that we have built with the sweat and sweat of our families. Therefore, it now belongs to us and is not public property. Do you understand?

A woman nearby retorted unconvincedly, "Why are resources allocated like this?"

Bai Xiuqin replied directly, "Because we arrived earlier than others and started building this shelter, we naturally enjoy corresponding preferential treatment. If you don't agree with this, then you should just leave immediately and stop pestering me!"

When the villagers of Sujia Village reached the top of the mountain one after another, they began to follow the example of Bai Xiuqin and others and quickly set up tent structures to provide a temporary shelter for the elderly and children in their families.

It doesn’t matter if these shelters are small or a little simple, as long as they can protect relatives from the ravages of wind and rain.

However, there are always a few people who want to get something for free and are greedy for small profits, looking for opportunities to take advantage of loopholes and sneak in.

When they saw that there were still spaces left for Bai Xiuqin and her friends, they were unwilling to be left out and were eager to cut in line and occupy the limited space resources.

Someone said, "This is Sujia Village, after all. As a member of the village, you certainly have the right to stay here overnight. But the question is, why are you accepting two non-village families and your elders to stay here as well?"

Then he added a stronger demand.

"Anyway, please ask them to move out immediately to make room for the rest of us villagers."

Hearing this provocation, Bai Xiuqin immediately responded with a domineering tone, "Let's see who dares to break in! Is this really a tent built by Sujia Village? It's so shameless! If you are so thick-skinned, why don't you just stop the flood? It's simply disgraceful."

"This tent was built with the hard work of my mother's family and my two in-laws. When we were fleeing the famine, you didn't think of taking us with you, leaving us, an orphan and a widow, to fend for ourselves. How dare you mention Sujia Village now?"

Bai Xiuqin's voice was filled with anger and disdain.

Bai Xiuqin caught a glimpse of the village chief standing far away, not wanting to interfere. She then made her own plans. She knew that she needed to be tougher at this time to protect her family.

"I'm telling you, we are indeed from Sujia Village, but I can also choose not to be a member of Sujia Village anymore. Can't you see how many good things my two relatives have done along the way? If it weren't for my relative Zhang who discovered that the water was muddy and rising, you would have drowned long ago."

Bai Xiuqin's every word was sonorous and powerful, and her dissatisfaction was clearly revealed in her tone.

"A bunch of ungrateful bastards are standing here talking to me about Sujia Village. Bah, how shameless! Get out of here now, or I'll teach you a lesson with my dog-beating stick technique."

After she finished speaking, her expression became even uglier, and she seemed to be really thinking about how to drive these people out.

Then, she turned to Su Mingjiang, Bai Guangyang, and Daniu who were standing behind her and warned, "Second Brother, watch out. If anyone dares to force their way in, teach them a lesson and throw them directly into the flood."

After explaining these things, Bai Xiuqin returned to the tent and began to prepare important betrothal items.

This matter is very important to them because it is related to whether her youngest son can successfully take the imperial examination in the future, so there must be no mistakes.

After entering the shed, several families naturally divided their own territories, which allowed them to take care of each other without affecting each other. This arrangement allowed everyone to live in peace.

Bai Xiuqin was seen rummaging through her backpack. In fact, this was just a trick for people outside to see. Finally, she took out these things from the bag: half a pound of black flour, half a pound of corn flour, two pounds of wheat bran, a pound of soybeans, a handful of brown sugar and a piece of printed cloth.

These were the important items she had specially selected for this engagement.

The village chief and his wife Aunt Lihua have three children, two sons and a daughter.

Their eldest son was named Zhu Yousheng, and their only daughter was Su Shulan, whose nickname was Shulan; the second son, Su Shunkui, met his father-in-law on the way to escape, and learned that the latter was planning to move in the opposite direction of the capital, so the two parted ways.

Their daughter's full name is Su Yanyan, and she is also the darling of the family.

Bai Xiuqin knew that the village chief's family had split up, so she decided to go directly to Zhu Yousheng to discuss important matters.

After preparing everything, Bai Xiuqin put the supplies into the backpack and called Su Yaozong on the way out.

"Son, come with me to Uncle Shunde's house to pay your respects. Oh, and we need someone to help us connect. Who do you think can take on this important task?"

Bai Xiuqin looked at her eldest son Su Yaozong with some worry.

After hearing his mother's question, Su Yaozong smiled and offered a suggestion: "I think we can go find Aunt Zheng, the one from Uncle Dazhong's family. I remember that my father had a good relationship with her husband, and she's a nice person too. She should be the most suitable person to do this."

Bai Xiuqin nodded in agreement after hearing this. "Well, you're right. Wait for me for a moment. I'll go prepare some gifts for the matchmaker. After all, it's always embarrassing to show up empty-handed."

Bai Xiuqin turned around and went back into the house again. She carefully selected some gifts and put them into an extra cloth bag: a handful of brown sugar wrapped in paper, two pounds of rye bran, and some millet and other items.

I heard that Uncle Dazhong's daughter-in-law is pregnant recently, so I can use these things to nourish her body.

After everything was ready, the mother and son each put on a hat made of oilcloth and began their journey.

Their first stop was Su Dazhong's home.

The other person was one of the residents who moved to the top of the mountain. He built a temporary thatched hut at the door of his house to shelter from the wind and rain.

When knocking on the door and asking, Bai Xiuqin asked, "Excuse me, is Sister Zheng home?"

Then I heard a response from inside the house, "I'm here! Come in and take a look!"

Zheng Dani responded to the call from outside the door in a cheerful voice, with no intention of refusing at all.

Bai Xiuqin was well aware of Zheng Dani's straightforward and cheerful personality, so she didn't exchange pleasantries with her and directly explained her purpose. "Sister-in-law, today we would like to ask you to act as our matchmaker and go with us to Brother Shunde's house to propose marriage."

As he said this, the bag filled with gifts that had been prepared long ago was placed on a wooden block nearby.

After hearing Bai Xiuqin's words, Zheng Dani immediately expressed her willingness to help. "Don't worry, leave this matter to me! Letting me be the introducer shows that you trust me enough to entrust such an important matter to me. Then we can set off now."

She accepted the small gift from Bai Xiuqin without hesitation, because she understood that according to convention, this was a necessary form of reward. If she refused, it would seem less natural and close.