frightfiction Chapter 193 Refugees 1
Chapter 193 Refugees 1
"Village chief! Something bad has happened! A large number of refugees are coming outside!" The people living at the entrance of the village hurried to the village chief's house and shouted.
"Tell me slowly, what's going on?"
"I saw the snow had melted outside, so my wife and I planned to go to town to buy some things. But when we were halfway there in Uncle Lu Gen's ox cart, we saw a large group of refugees coming our way. We didn't go to town, so we just came back."
"How many refugees are there? Did you see clearly?"
The man thought for a moment and said, "About a hundred people...most of them are old, weak, sick, and disabled. There aren't many men."
The village chief frowned. Why would these refugees come to such a small village like Dashi? And there were so many of them. And since they were here, we couldn't just ignore them, nor could we handle them all. What should we do...
He suddenly thought of the girl Huanxi. This girl always had ideas and might have a solution.
So he hurried to Huanxi's house and told her everything.
"Ah... this... Uncle Village Chief, I'm just a woman, what good ideas can I have? Don't make things wrong... and then implicate the villagers..."
It's not that she doesn't care. After all, if the refugees suddenly rise up, she will definitely be the first to be robbed. But she can't be the first one to stand out. Otherwise, she will be hated...
"Girl, I came to find you because I believe you have an idea. Don't worry, I will only tell others what I mean and won't reveal a single word to you, okay?"
Seeing that the village chief said this, Huanxi had no reason to refuse.
"Uncle Village Chief, with so many people coming to Dashi Village, there's definitely not enough room for them. The only solution now is to bring them into Rongshan Town. Once we get there, the county magistrate will handle it."
"That's easy to say. We are all weak people here. It will take several hours to walk to Rongshan Town..."
"Don't worry, Uncle Village Chief. Call out the men in the village first and form a guard. Don't let the refugees into the village. And don't be soft-hearted. Don't give them food. If any family gives it, it will open a loophole, and we might not be able to resist when the time comes."
"Ah, isn't this too cruel, girl?"
"It's okay, Uncle Village Chief. They're going to town. Coming to a village is already a problem. We can first drive some wooden stakes to block the entrance to the village. Then we can cook porridge in the name of the village and won't let them starve to death."
The village chief sighed. They were just ordinary farmers. After paying the grain tax, they didn't have much grain left. The spring tax wasn't even due. What were these refugees asking for? Northwest wind?
"Okay, then I'll listen to you first."
"Uncle, wait, Yuanzhen, go get ten taels of silver." He took the silver and said:
"This money is for the guards. Those who have money can contribute money, and those who have strength can contribute strength. I will also do my part for our village."
The village chief took the silver and said he would be lying if he wasn't moved. Money makes the world go round, and now with the wages, he could mobilize the young people in the village.
The village chief was indeed a man of action. He immediately gathered dozens of strong men to cut down trees in the mountains, dragged thorns and placed them at the entrance of the village, and organized a team to patrol in shifts.
At first these people were reluctant to do it, but when they heard that there was money to be made they immediately signed up.
Later we heard that we were not allowed to give food to the refugees. Some people felt sorry for this, since they were all fellow villagers after all.
Some people think that this is what should be done. Feeding the refugees while starving yourself is a sick thing.
The village chief has not mentioned setting up a big pot yet. He will wait and see the situation first and then set it up if it doesn't work.
"Village Chief!! Here he comes!"
A man shouted.
The village chief looked over and saw a group of ragged people stumbling towards him, supporting each other. Everyone present was excited.
It’s not that they haven’t seen refugees before. Not only that, some of the older ones here have been refugees.
"You... Youmao, why are there so many of them at once? It's winter, this shouldn't happen."
Chief Lu stood at the entrance of the village, leaning on a cane with a serious expression.
"Uncle, it's okay. We've protected them from entering the village. If they can't get food, they'll leave soon."
"That being said... If we really just ignore it, it's unacceptable... They're just old people and children, this..."
At his age, he had experienced both escaping disasters and starvation, and he knew what it was like to be a refugee. He knew he couldn't be soft-hearted towards refugees, but he couldn't help but feel pity for them.
"Grandpa Chief, we pity them, but who will pity us? If our village hadn't earned some money from Miss Huanxi this year, we wouldn't be much better off than these refugees."
"That's right……"
"But those children look so pitiful..." One of the women felt a little sorry.
"Who wouldn't feel sorry for him? If you feel sorry for him, you can take him home and raise him. Then when your family has no food to eat, go beg for food and see who will feel sorry for you!"
A middle-aged man on the side said in a bad tone. He had also escaped from disaster. At that time, he was pitiful and almost starved to death, and no one felt sorry for him.
Although these words were sharp, they did make sense, and those soft-hearted people calmed down.
Yes, my butt is full of holes, how can I treat other people’s hemorrhoids?
At this time, a man dressed as a refugee came out from outside the fence and said.
"Uncles, brothers, aunts, and cousins, please be kind. We are villagers from Hetang Village in the neighboring county. A while ago, a heavy snowstorm crushed all the houses in our village. We are really desperate and have to beg all the way here. We hope that you will be kind and give us some food."
The village chief stepped forward and said, "Brother, I understand your situation, but you see, our village is just an ordinary one, and every household doesn't have much surplus food. You should hurry to Rongshan Town. The county magistrate there is fair and honest, and he will definitely help you."
"We have come all the way here, and the children are so hungry that they can't walk anymore. Please give them some food so that we can continue our journey."
That being said... who knows if they'll leave after they've eaten their fill? We don't know the temperament of these outsiders, so if we let them in, wouldn't that just bring scabies to our village?
The village chief suddenly thought of a solution.
"There is food, but you have to go far away from the village. We will set up a pot on the road and cook some rice porridge to send you to town. But this is all we can make. There will be no more."
When the man heard that there was food to eat, he immediately became happy. His mother, wife and children could finally have something to eat.
Dozens of men were left in the village to guard the gate. He took a dozen men with him to drive Uncle Lu Gen's ox cart, took out the big pot from the public kitchen, and took 50 kilograms of brown rice from the public kitchen, loaded the ox cart and went out of the village.
Huanxi was worried, so he asked Zi Dieyi to follow them secretly. He was a martial arts expert and was not afraid that the refugees had any bad intentions.
"I say... Don't you know who I am? And you still order me around?" Zi Dieyi didn't want to go. What did the life and death of these villagers have to do with him?
"A general is not bound by his sovereign's orders when he is away. The situation has changed. I beg you to come back and make some beauty soup for you."
Huanxi has been with him for so long and knows that he loves his face like his life, so she can only use this method to seduce him.