Armed with a machete and a gun, armed with a system, they fled the famine.

"This isn't right."

The constable in charge of checking the household registration changed his expression and pointed his index finger at the information on the household registration, "This shows only three people, but there are a dozen or so of you in this large group. Your number is wrong."

He threw the household registration documents into Yuan Gang's arms and said, "You can't go in. Take your things and leave now."

He only returned the household registration documents, but his companion kept the sixty taels of silver.

Upon seeing this, the soldiers behind him immediately drew their swords and stepped forward.

Zhao Yan's face darkened abruptly. Just as she was about to take out a cleaver from her basket, Yuan Gang quickly stepped forward and discreetly slipped a hundred-tael silver note into the hand of the constable. He then pointed at Zhao Yan and the others and explained, "Sir, you've misunderstood. These are all servants my master picked up on the road. It's just that it's inconvenient to handle paperwork while traveling, which is why we've been delayed until now. Could you please make things easier for us?"

The constable glanced down at the face value of the banknote and was immediately stunned by the amount.

I rely on!

Rich people are arrogant!

One hundred taels of silver was enough to support his entire family for several years.

They toil away here every day, exposed to the wind and sun, finding it hard to earn any extra money.

He gave his companion a wink, and the two quickly reached an agreement.

He waved his hand dismissively: "Let them pass!"

They didn't even check the contents of the carriage.

Zhao Yan breathed a sigh of relief as the group successfully entered Weixian County.

The villagers of Hejia Village who followed them all the way to the South Gate were furious.

Made.

We let a big, fat sheep escape for nothing!

That kid Wenchang really made a huge mistake this time!

Zhao Qiaolan, who was queuing outside the city gate for porridge, looked blankly in the direction of the city gate.

She thinks she just saw Yang Sanlang.

But is that possible? Isn't he already dead?

Thinking of a certain possibility, a glimmer of hope suddenly rose in her heart.

Perhaps Yang Sanlang didn't die?

If he were still alive, would I have a chance?

"Qiaolan, Qiaolan."

Just then, a hurried call interrupted her daydreaming.

Her husband, Chen Peng, urged from the side, "What are you thinking about? It's almost our turn."

"...No, it's nothing."

Zhao Qiaolan glanced at her short and unattractive husband beside her, her heart skipped a beat, and she lowered her eyes, quickly concealing her true emotions.

Coward.

When her two sisters-in-law ganged up on her, her husband never spoke up to defend her.

She was utterly disappointed in her husband and became increasingly indifferent to him.

If it weren't still uncertain whether that person was actually Yang Sanlang, she would really like to dump this bunch of scoundrels from the Chen family and go to Yang Sanlang right now.

Soon it was Zhao Qiaolan's turn.

Chen Youjin's entire family of more than a dozen people came, including his youngest grandson, Chen Zirui, who was only five years old, who was holding a broken ceramic bowl.

The yamen runner in charge of serving the rice was a slightly older man who couldn't bear to see such a young child suffer. When serving Chen Zirui rice, he deliberately scooped the soup spoon down a few times, making the porridge much thicker.

Chen Youjin was moved to tears.

They have gone through so many hardships, and it is truly remarkable that the whole family has survived to this day.

The soup kitchen was set up jointly by the magistrate of Wei County and several wealthy families in the county.

The county magistrate of Wei County provided manpower and labor, while the wealthy families were responsible for providing grain.

The grain is old rice with an off-flavor and some mold on the surface, but it is still edible after washing.

The newly arrived refugees were able to eat two meals of thick rice porridge a day.

However, as time went on, the magistrate of Wei County did not expect the disaster in the south to be so severe, and more and more refugees were coming from the north.

Several wealthy families in the county town were already resentful because they were forced to donate grain.

Seeing that more and more refugees from the south were gathering outside the city gates, it was clear that donating grain was a bottomless pit, and they all said that they had no money left to donate.

The magistrate of Wei County then ordered that the porridge sheds should only provide one serving of rice porridge each day in the morning, and no longer provide the afternoon serving.

Even so, the grain donated by the wealthy households was only enough to last for half a month. After that, the soup kitchens would close, and who knows what would happen to the refugees outside the city.

In the event of a refugee riot, a mere few hundred constables would be no match for tens of thousands of refugees.

Some time ago, the magistrate of Wei County was really worried. In the end, it was the county clerk who suggested collecting a fee to enter the city. Part of the money was used to pay the wages of the yamen runners, and the other part was used to buy grain from wealthy households.

The magistrate of Wei County was named Tao Fu. He thought to himself, "This way I won't have to pay out of my own pocket. Excellent, excellent."

That's why there were soldiers guarding the city gates and yamen runners collecting money.

Although it's not very ethical, I have to admit that this method does seem alright.

That said, when Chen Youjin and his group left, they were from three families. Behind their house were Liu Guifang's family and Tian Xiu'e's mother-in-law, Granny Mei's family.

They left early and encountered virtually no vagrants robbing or stealing on the road.

However, when they reached Weixian County, they ran out of food. Fortunately, the magistrate of Weixian County sent people to distribute porridge outside the city gate, which is why they have been stranded until now.

After returning to the camp where the three families were, Granny Mei couldn't help but complain to the others, "This porridge is getting thinner and thinner. It's just watery soup every day. People won't be able to stand it for long."

Her eyes glanced at Chen Youjin.

"Brother Jin, have you thought about what we should do next? Are you going to stay here any longer?"

She was surrounded by refugees with their families, so densely packed that she couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.

"Let's wait a little longer. We're out of food. If we stay, at least we'll have something to eat. If we leave, where can we go now? And how far can we go?"

Chen Youjin was also feeling distressed.

He really didn't know what to do next.

Liu Guifang's family lived right across from Granny Mei. Upon hearing this, she glanced at her sideways, snorted coldly, and whispered to her husband, Chen Youshu, "And Brother Jin? Bah! Calling him so affectionately, anyone who didn't know better would think Chen Youjin was someone to her."

Chen Youshu slurped up the watery soup in his bowl, then smacked his lips eight times. "Why are you worrying about that? Think about what to eat tonight."

Every day, with so little salt and no oil, his mouth was practically bland.

Liu Guifang rolled her eyes at him.

"What else can we eat? Let's keep gnawing on tree bark."

The refugees stripped the bark off the trees along the way. If they wanted to eat something good, they either had to go to the city to buy food or go up the mountain to hunt wild game.

Many were so hungry that they ran up the mountain in search of food, but most never returned, dying tragically in the mountains.

Chen Youjin had warned everyone from the beginning not to go up the mountain unless necessary, as it was full of wild animals and dangerous.

"Hey, life is hard."

Chen Youshu sighed and was about to lie down to sleep when someone suddenly rushed into the camp where the three families were located, hugged Chen Youjin, and excitedly shouted, "Uncle Village Chief, I've finally found you!"