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

The dozen or so women ran over, knelt down with a thud, and began to kowtow to Lu Qingqing.

Lu Qingqing quickly stepped aside and helped Pan Di and the others at the front to their feet.

Just then, Old Man Zhuang returned from outside.

Seeing that Lu Qingqing was talking to them, he walked over and handed them a bundle.

"This is a calming herbal medicine."

Women who suffer from mental illness and have persistent headaches can boil this herbal soup to drink, which can relieve their headaches.

However, the medicinal herbs may be incomplete, so the effect might not be as good.

Pan Di gratefully accepted the bundle, then pulled his mentally challenged younger sister down to kneel and kowtow to Old Man Zhuang.

Old Zhuang was also not used to the scene, and although he wanted to help the person, he felt it was inappropriate.

After making a few excuses, he quickly walked away.

At this time, Qian Chengzhi also found some fast-growing vegetable seeds, such as radishes, in the team and gave them to the women.

Seeing that everyone else in the group had given gifts, Bai Song scratched his head, called Yan Xu over, and whispered a few words to him.

Before long, Yan Xu led more than twenty soldiers, carrying a pile of knives.

Most of them were machetes, and a small number were daggers or broadswords.

These were all seized after they killed the refugees on the road.

Originally, he kept these things in case he might encounter them later.

If you really don't need it, you can sell it for some money once you get to a safe place.

Unexpectedly, it was sent out first.

He had someone call Pan Di over and pointed to the pile of knives on the ground.

"These knives are for you."

Knowing how rare these knives were, Pan Di, along with a dozen or so women, repeatedly expressed their gratitude.

Bai Song rarely received such gratitude, especially from a woman, and awkwardly turned her head away.

"In the future, if you encounter anyone who dares to bully you, pick up a knife to protect yourselves!"

Don't act like some little girls who only know how to cry!

As he spoke, he realized he wasn't addressing his soldiers and coughed awkwardly.

"Well, what I mean is, even women have to stand up for themselves and not let others bully them."

Pan Di already knew that these people disliked being knelt before, so he led his men to bow deeply to Bai Song.

"I understand, thank you!"

Bai Song waved his hand dismissively, but as he turned to leave, a smile played on his lips.

Before everyone left, Pan Di asked them their names one by one.

Her grandmother was a fortune teller in the village, and she had spoken to her about it before.

If one erects a shrine in honor of someone who has done good deeds, one can offer sincere worship.

It will bring blessings, longevity, and protection from disasters and illnesses to those who do good deeds.

Their benefactors pulled them out of hell and saved so many of their lives.

In the days to come, she would lead her sisters in daily prayers and kneeling to pray for their benefactor.

Bai Song knew she wanted to build a shrine for him, and the slight reluctance he felt when giving away the knife vanished instantly.

He raised his head with a hint of pride, eager to boast to his former colleagues.

Look at him, he's even ended up in a shrine to the living now.

It should be noted that in the past, those who erected shrines in honor of the living were all high-ranking officials or local upright officials.

For a mere battalion commander to reach such a position, it must be because of his noble character that commands respect.

The more Bai Song thought about it, the more he felt that this was the perfect time to show off to his colleagues who looked down on him.

Of course, this was just his own thought.

Putting aside how far he is from where he was an official now, I doubt many of his former colleagues are still alive.

Before Lu Qingqing could leave after packing her things, Pan Di called her back.

"My benefactor, may I ask you to give me a new name?"

Lu Qingqing looked at Pan Di, whose eyes were bright, and after thinking for a moment, she said:

"It's already spring, so how about you name yourself Chunhe?"

Grain symbolizes new life and abundance.

Chunhe murmured the name, growing happier with each recitation.

"Springgrass, Springgrass, the grain of new life and abundance, from now on I will be called Springgrass!"

Chunhe knew that Lu Qingqing disliked her kneeling, so she bowed deeply to her.

"My benefactors, Chunhe wishes you peace and safety in the days to come!"

Lu Qingqing got into the carriage and waved to her.

Goodbye, Chunhe!

The carriage swayed and wobbled away in the light rain, with a group of women following behind to escort it to the main road.

Only when the carriage was completely out of sight did they turn around and walk back.

Chunhe led the women back to the village, looking at the broken wooden door and then at the patch of weeds in front of the village.

She wiped the raindrops mixed with tears from her face and gave a big smile.

Things will definitely get better and better!

......

At night, Sun Laohai and his family secretly pushed their cart to the outskirts of Dongyuan City.

These days, they keep a close eye on the city gate.

However, because the garrison had previously come out to clear out the refugees, they did not dare to come over during the day.

Moreover, after watching for so many days, they still haven't seen Steward Zhou and the others leave the city.

Nearly ten days have passed since Lu Qingqing and the others entered the city.

The Sun family became increasingly anxious.

Every day before dawn, he would go to the crossroads to keep watch until it was completely dark before returning to the foot of the mountain.

Even so, there has been little progress.

Until the day before yesterday, the family could no longer wait and decided to risk going outside the city to wait.

However, for safety reasons, they always went there at night and returned before dawn.

In this way, although it was a bit of a hassle, it also made me feel more at ease.

That night, the family stayed at the campsite where Lu Qingqing and the others had originally stayed, as usual.

Several fires were burning under a few sheds not far from them.

Those were the refugees who had come to the outskirts of the city in recent days.

Looking at the drizzling rain, Sun Dahai wiped the rain off his face.

He told his father to be on guard, while he and Erhe started building a shed.

On the cart, Sun Xiaobao's childish voice rang out.

"Mother, have we reached the outskirts of the city?"

Beside the car, Dahai's wife noticed the tarpaulin had moved slightly and quickly pressed it down with her hand.

"Little Bao, it's still raining outside. Don't lift the tarpaulin, you'll catch a cold."

"Okay, Mom, Xiao Bao won't move anymore."

Dahai's wife touched Xiaobao's head through the oilcloth, and rubbed her hands together as she withdrew her hand.

The rain was cold and damp, and even wearing a simple raincoat, one could not avoid getting wet.

Having walked all the way from the foot of the mountain, her hands and feet were already freezing cold.

To make matters worse, it's been raining non-stop these past few days.

Although the water problem is no longer a concern, the firewood for cooking and heating has become a major problem.

Even after searching the entire area, they only found a small amount of firewood.

They don't know when they'll be able to enter the city, so they have to be careful with their money.

Aside from cooking and boiling water, they rarely use firewood.

This means that the wet cotton clothes on their bodies and the wet shoes on their feet can only be dried by body heat.

These past few days, the whole family has caught a chill to varying degrees.

But there was no other way; if they didn't get into the city soon, they really wouldn't be able to catch up with Lu Qingqing and the others.

It was 15 minutes later when the family settled in.

The shed was covered with straw curtains on three sides.

The only piece of oilcloth was placed outside the straw curtain on the side where the wind blew.

The remaining side was completely empty.

At this moment, Dahai's wife was wrapping Sun Xiaobao in a quilt and holding him in her arms.

To her right was her husband, Sun Dahai.

To the left is my mother-in-law.

Further to the left are Sun Erhe and Sun Laohai.

Tonight, it's Sun Laohai's turn to be on duty for the first half of the night.

Right now, he's sitting on the outermost edge of the shed, listening to the sound of rain outside.

The pattering raindrops hit the shed, making a crackling sound.

Outside of Dongyuan City, there was no other sound except for the sound of rain.

Logically speaking, the sound of rain is the most soothing sound.

But none of Sun Laohai's family members were asleep at this moment.

After making sure Xiao Bao was asleep, Sun Dahai's wife whispered:

"I wonder if Brother Lu and the others are still in the city."

So much time has passed, he must have left long ago.