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

"Muramasa! It's Muramasa!"

When the remaining villagers of Chenjiagou saw Chen Youjin, whom they hadn't seen for a long time, their eyes reddened, and they surrounded Chen Youjin, weeping bitterly.

"Waaaaah—Uncle Muramasa, my parents died so tragically!"

"Uncle Jin, those beasts killed more than fifty people from Chenjiagou! More than fifty people!"

"Youjin, if I had listened to you and left with you guys, do you think we wouldn't have encountered so many terrible things along the way? Sigh..."

Chen Youjing was filled with sorrow, and now, after hearing the villagers recount the tragic events they encountered on their journey, he cried along with them.

Oh, how pitiful, so pitiful.

Passing by, everyone released all the pent-up emotions they had been holding in for days and started asking about going to the city again.

"Uncle Jin, what's the situation at the city gate? Why isn't anyone going into the city?"

"There's gold! I see there are soup kitchens set up on both sides of the city gate. Can we newcomers ask for a bowl of soup to fill our stomachs?"

Speaking of this, some of the clever ones had already silently slipped into the soup kitchen.

Unfortunately, the porridge distribution time had already passed, and they had to return empty-handed.

After calming himself down, Chen Youjin explained to everyone, "The porridge shed will distribute porridge every day, but only once in the morning. There will be no porridge in the afternoon. It's best if everyone gets up early tomorrow to line up for porridge."

"Entry into the county town is allowed, but an entry fee is required."

Someone blurted out, "How much is the entrance fee? We can afford a hundred or two coins."

Before Chen Youjin could speak, Granny Mei let out a cold snort and sneered, "One or two hundred coins? What unrealistic dreams are you having? If it only cost one or two hundred coins per person, would so many people be gathered outside the city gate?"

At this moment, Chen Youjin glanced at her sideways and continued, "The entrance fee is five taels of silver per person, for both adults and children."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than someone exclaimed in surprise.

"My goodness! Five taels of silver per person? This magistrate is outrageously greedy!"

"That's right. Even if we farmers don't eat or drink, and work hard all year round, we can't earn five taels of silver."

Some people lay prostrate on the ground, on the verge of tears.

"God is not giving people a way to live! There's no food or drink, and now they won't even let people into the county town. How are we going to survive?"

His wailing caused everyone in Chenjiagou to show expressions of utter despair.

Hearing the cries of the Chenjiagou villagers, the other refugees nearby felt a deep sense of sympathy for them.

Their hometown was hit by disaster, and they finally managed to escape to Wei County. However, the magistrate of Wei County refused to allow them to enter the city. They were filled with anxiety and wondered what the future held for them.

With this interruption, everyone suddenly forgot about Wang Feng's matter.

She hurriedly got up from the ground, and no matter how much Yang Zhangshi gave her a hard time, she just wouldn't leave.

When it comes to shamelessness, Yang Zhangshi really can't compare to her second daughter-in-law.

Seeing that she couldn't be chased away, Yang Zhangshi glared at her fiercely and ignored her.

It's good that you're not leaving; then I'll stay and serve her like a slave.

"Everyone, stop crying. Let's go back with Uncle Muramasa first, and then we can talk about other things."

Chen Chong pulled everyone back to reality from their sorrowful mood and looked at Chen Youjin.

"Uncle Muramasa, do you think we should all stay together? It's safer with more people."

Chen Youjin had the same idea; otherwise, he wouldn't have taken the initiative to come to him.

"Okay, everyone come back with me first. We'll talk about other things after we're settled."

The villagers of Chenjiagou unanimously agreed.

"Okay, we'll listen to Uncle Muramasa."

Yes, we're still together.

At this moment, the villagers of Chenjiagou finally found their leader again and all agreed to follow Chen Youjin.

Chen Youjin was very pleased with this.

It seems that after experiencing the hardships of fleeing famine, everyone has finally seen its value.

Only Liu Guifang was unhappy. When she met Yang Zhangshi's eyes on the road, her expression instantly turned cold.

So many people have died, why not let that old hag Yang Zhangshi die?

God is truly blind.

……

When Zhao Yan and her group entered Wei County, they were immediately taken aback by the bustling scene before them.

It wasn't fear, but surprise.

Outside the city, refugees were huddled together, all dressed in rags and with unkempt hair.

On the main streets of the city, vendors lined both sides of the street, and people came and went, creating a lively scene.

Zhao Yan watched coldly, her heart filled with despair.

Whether you're rich or poor, whether in your past life or present, you live a life of extremes.

Making money is the most important thing she absolutely cannot forget next.

"Wow, so many people."

Zhao Yunjie poked his head out of the carriage, his mouth agape, and stared in astonishment at the passersby.

Upon seeing a vendor selling candied hawthorns, a longing look immediately appeared in his eyes.

"Wow, there are also candied hawthorns, they must be delicious."

Hearing this, Zhao Yan smiled and tapped his little head, "You glutton, just you wait."

Having said that, he walked towards the vendor selling candied hawthorns.

She bought more than ten skewers of candied hawthorns in one go, which made the vendor so happy that his eyes lit up.

Despite the large crowds on the street, very few people actually buy his candied hawthorns.

This is not hard to understand. Most of the pedestrians on the street were refugees from the south. They would save their money to buy food to survive, and would not spend money to buy his candied hawthorns, which would not satisfy their hunger.

"Here you go, one skewer each."

Zhao Yan distributed the candied hawthorns to everyone, but her own hands were empty.

Yang Sanlang's dark eyes widened for a moment before he handed over the candied hawthorn in his hand.

"I don't like sour food, you eat it."

You don't like sour things, but I do?

Zhao Yan internally cursed a certain brainless man, not wanting to argue with him any further, and decisively took the candied hawthorn from his hand.

Just as Yang Sanlang's lips were about to curl into a smile, he saw Zhao Yan stuff the candied hawthorn into Chen Qingjiao's hand again.

"Jiaojiao, Aunt Zhao's teeth hurt from eating sour things, so you can have this too."

There aren't many candied hawthorns on a skewer, so it's fine for Chen Qingjiao to eat two skewers by herself.

Yang Sanlang's face froze instantly, his feelings indescribable.

I'm very frustrated and helpless.

His wife was heartless and indifferent to him.

The others didn't say they wouldn't eat it; they wanted a change of pace after eating wild vegetable porridge and sweet potato congee every day.

Especially Zhao Xiaomi and the others, they ate until their teeth were visible and their eyes were closed.

The candied hawthorn is sour, but the sugar syrup on the surface is very sweet.

Chen An and the other adults were much more straightforward, eating one candied hawthorn at a time, and finished the whole skewer in no time.

Zhao Yan had been observing the situation on both sides of the street. Thinking of the scene outside the city gate, she discussed with Yuan Yutang and the others: "Uncle Yuan, shall we rent a house?"

She originally planned to find a hotel to stay in, but then she thought that there were too many people and too many eyes in the hotel, and she was afraid that the little kids would run around and be kidnapped by bad people, so she decided to rent a house instead.

We won't rent it for too long, just a month first, so they can rest and buy food before leaving.

This may not be a place to stay for long; it's best to leave and head north as soon as possible.

Yuan Yutang stroked his beard and pondered for a long time before agreeing to Zhao Yan's proposal.