The end of natural disasters: the daily life of child brides in ancient times

When Lu Qingqing passed by in her carriage, many men ran out and shouted.

"Sir, do you need a temporary worker? I'm very energetic and a good worker!"

"My dear, choose me, choose me. I'm strong!"

“…”

Amidst the shouts, Lu Qingqing drove the carriage past quickly.

The two of them didn't look any further and went straight to Su Xiu Fang.

The weather was so hot that the waiters who were soliciting customers outside the door were forced to huddle under the eaves due to the sun.

Seeing the carriage coming, he hurried out to greet it.

When he found out that it was Lu Qingqing and the other person, he smiled and welcomed them into the store.

When Lu Qingqing entered the store, Manager Cheng was drinking tea behind the counter.

Seeing her coming, he quickly got up and came out.

"Miss Lu, why are you here today?"

But he quickly reacted and said with a smile:

"A few days ago, a little kid came over and said he was your brother, and left his address so we could contact him.

Is this why you came here today?"

Lu Qingqing smiled and said:

"That's right, Manager Cheng. I don't have many acquaintances in Yining County, so I had to ask him to trouble you."

When Manager Cheng heard this, he said with some worry:

"It's just a message, it's really no big deal.

It’s just that the city is a bit chaotic now, and your brother lives under the shade of the trees behind East Street.

That place is close to the red-light district and has always been a place where all kinds of people gather and it is not very peaceful.

I wanted to let your brother live in the backyard, but he refused to stay.

He left only his address and hurried away.

Lu Qingqing wrote down the address and, thinking of the changes outside the city gate, asked about it.

Upon hearing this, Shopkeeper Cheng sighed and said:

"Alas, it all started today.

The temperature has been getting higher and higher in recent days.

The villages below that did not have dams gradually ran out of water. People in other villages were unwilling to use the dams, so they had no choice but to come to the city to seek a living.

The river water in the west of the city is diverted from the Lingyuan River and flows directly into the city from the west to supply the people in the city.

There was plenty of water, and the people from the village below came here to drink water without being stopped, so they settled down outside.

Look at those who can enter the city, they are lucky because they can afford the entrance fee.

Those who are living outside with their families are in a miserable situation; they can’t even afford the entrance fee.”

Lu Qingqing thought about the scene she had just seen and sighed as well.

Shopkeeper Cheng said again:

"These past few days, the county government has been organizing wealthy households to donate money and grain.

The donated grain was cooked into porridge and provided to the people outside the city.

As for those in the city, apart from being occasionally called away to do odd jobs to earn money.

The rest mostly gather at the homes of the rich to beg."

Having said this, he continued:

"I asked my boy to check under the trees on East Street. Your brother is living there with a man. They don't even have a tent.

I was thinking of asking someone to send some things over, but before I could get close, your brother persuaded me to leave.

Miss Lu, that place is really unsafe. I think you should take the person back."

Lu Qingqing agreed, said a few words to the shopkeeper, and then said goodbye and left.

The two men drove the carriage straight to the shade of the trees on East Street.

When we arrived, there was a large group of people under the shade of the trees.

When they saw a carriage coming, they thought it was recruiting workers and gathered around it.

Seeing that she couldn't persuade these people to leave, Lu Qingqing could only let Qin Lang turn the carriage around and go back.

After walking for a while, she let Qin Lang drive the car and stay where he was, while she walked among the crowd to look for people.

This time, no one came over.

But she walked a long way and still didn't see Dazhuang.

I walked all the way to the end and finally saw Da Zhuang wiping his tears in a corner.

And lying next to him was Boss Lu.

However, at this time, Boss Lu had a bloody white cloth wrapped around his head.

He closed his eyes and let Dazhuang wipe his head and face without any reaction.

Da Zhuang didn't notice until Lu Qingqing came closer.

Lu Qingqing frowned and called softly:

"Da Zhuang, what's going on?"

Da Zhuang turned his head and saw several scratches on his face, which had turned purple.

At this moment, his eyes were red and swollen from crying, and he saw that it was his eldest sister.

All the pent-up emotions suddenly burst out, he stood up, rushed into Lu Qingqing's arms, and burst into tears.

After all, he was just a child of seven or eight years old.

I was being bullied and my father was beaten like this. I really couldn't bear it anymore.

Lu Qingqing looked at her brother who was crying in her arms and patted his back with heartache.

It took a while for Dazhuang to recover.

As he told her story, Lu Qingqing finally understood what was going on.

It turned out that when Boss Lu entered the city a few days ago, there were not so many refugees inside and outside the city.

After entering the city, he found a job recruiting people and, thanks to his strong physique, found a job loading and unloading goods.

Because Old Man Lu only gave them ten cents, which was not enough for a hotel stay, the two of them stayed under the shade of the tree for free, just like other temporary workers.

It's hot this season, so even the bedding is simple. Just a roll of tattered straw mat is enough to sleep on.

After Boss Lu found the job, he would leave at dawn every day and only come back after dark.

Da Zhuang couldn't stay idle during the day, so he went wandering around the streets, trying to see if he could find something.

This city is indeed different from the countryside.

The city not only has places to eat, drink and have fun, but also schools.

Da Zhuang squatted under the back window of the school, listening to the people inside reading, and unconsciously followed them in reading silently.

Every word was engraved in my mind.

Slowly, Dazhuang felt his heartbeat getting faster and faster.

He didn't know why, but when he leaned on the window and saw the neatly dressed students inside, he seemed to understand something.

But when I thought about my own situation, I silently gave up the idea.

People have to live so that they have the opportunity to choose what they like.

He only stayed in the school for a short while before wandering off to the side.

Not far from the school is a restaurant.

Food scraps are dumped into the泔水袋 at the back door of the restaurant every day.

Boss Lu gave Dazhuang two cents, but Dazhuang was reluctant to spend it, so he thought of picking up some leftovers from the泔水袋 to eat.

However, all resources in the city have been allocated.

For example, the泔水袋 at the back door of this restaurant was divided up by the little beggars in this area.

When the little beggar saw that Da Zhuang was going to rob, he joined forces with his friends and started a fight with Da Zhuang.

Thanks to his ferocity while fleeing the famine, Da Zhuang actually managed to snatch some leftovers.

But there are not leftovers in the泔水袋 every day. When the restaurant business is not good, the leftovers are taken away by the waiters and kitchen staff.

Da Zhuang had no choice but to continue wandering around the city.

After wandering around for two days, Dazhuang gradually gained some experience.

He discovered that things were occasionally thrown out of the back doors of wealthy families.

Worn-out clothes, leftover food scraps, etc.

But this also requires snatching, and it is not available every day.

Da Zhuang had no choice but to wander around every day, hoping to find food somewhere.

During this period, he fought with those little beggars several times and snatched things away despite getting injured.

But it was this behavior that attracted the attention of the nearby beggar gang.