I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

"Why should I!" Old Man Xi stubbornly retorted, "My son is perfectly fine, why should I call him out! What if one of you is sick and passes your illness on to my son?!"

Seeing that the old man not only didn't call for help but also turned around and accused the man, the man was so angry that he rolled up his sleeves, clenched his fists, and prepared to hit him.

The woman next to him stopped him from hitting him directly.

The family standing next to him was also furious with Old Man Xi. The three families had come together to rent a place because they were poor and had little money.

That family was incredibly lazy; they didn't do any housework or cook all day, let alone take care of themselves.

The stench emanating from them was almost keeping them awake at night.

The eldest son of that family used to sit idly by the door with his sleeves tucked in, watching people pass by. A few days ago, he suddenly disappeared, and later, the sound of vomiting came from inside the house.

Remembering the information he had heard, the man protected his wife and walked into the house.

Seeing that everyone had left, Old Man Xi spat and went back into the house with high spirits.

Inside the room, Xi Dashun was sleeping alone on a bed by the window, covered with a thin blanket, shivering from the cold. Seeing his father return, Xi Dashun perked up and asked, "Father, what did my second brother say?"

"Hmph," Old Man Xi said, sitting to one side, "He's a menace!"

"Not only did they not give me any money, they also poured water on me!"

Hearing that even his own father had failed to obtain the money, Xi Dashun's eyes were clouded with disappointment. His teeth chattered, and he shuddered, saying in a daze, "Dad, I'm cold."

Old Man Xi glared at his eldest daughter-in-law, "Liu, hurry up and cover Da Shun with something!"

Liu thought to herself: Our house is bare, what do we have to cover ourselves with!

She looked around, then unwrapped the bundle she had used to escape the famine and covered Xi Dashun with it.

But Xi Dashun remained cold.

Liu touched his head, but didn't see any fever or anything. The family slept soundly through the night.

Halfway through his sleep, Old Man Xi vaguely heard someone coughing beside him.

Immediately afterwards, a foul, fishy smell wafted over and sprayed all over Old Man Xi's face.

He sat up abruptly, wiped his face, and sniffed his hand—oh no, what's that smell of blood?!

"Da Shun? Da Shun?" Old Man Xi reached out and nudged Xi Da Shun, who was lying on the bed, coughing so hard he couldn't speak.

The commotion startled Liu awake. She sat up and asked from the other end of the room, "Father, what's wrong?"

"Da Shun seems to be vomiting blood!" Old Man Xi was extremely anxious. Xi Er Shun had become an ingrate, and his Da Shun couldn't be allowed to get into trouble!

If something were to happen to Da Shun, who could he rely on?!

The night watchman was striking the gong outside. Liu listened intently and said, "Father, it's almost dawn now. Shall we take Dashun to see him?"

There was still a quarter to go before dawn. Xi Dashun leaned against Liu Shi, while the old man Xi held his grandson's hand. The family went to find a clinic in the city.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a single clinic open.

Old Man Xi thought the clinic was just opening late. But when Xi Dashun vomited blood again after daybreak, Old Man Xi was frantic.

They waited until almost noon, but the clinic still hadn't opened. His grandson was also complaining of being hungry, so Old Man Xi had no choice but to call Liu Shi home.

Fortunately, Xi Dashun did not vomit blood again in the morning, but he was still dizzy and his forehead was starting to feel hot.

As Old Man Xi limped along, he cursed inwardly: Why isn't it that ingrate Xi Ershun who got the disease!

If Xi Ershun were to fall ill and come to him for help, he would make Xi Ershun kneel down and kowtow to him eighty-one times before he would consider whether or not to forgive this ungrateful son!

The four of them walked to the entrance of their rented courtyard. Just as Old Man Xi reached out to open his door, four government officials suddenly rushed in from outside.

"That's them!"

"Sir, it's them! I thought they had run away!"

Old Man Xi turned around and saw that the officials were already surrounding the entrance to the courtyard, staring at him menacingly.

Behind the officials, standing and making a fuss were the two families who had rented the house together!

Old Man Xi, enraged and embarrassed, shouted, "What are you doing!"

"Don't do anything! Your son is sick, you should listen to the officials and go to the north of the city!"

The man who had threatened to beat Old Man Xi yesterday shouted, "We all heard it! Your son vomited first, then coughed up blood. Aren't these exactly the symptoms of the plague the authorities are talking about?"

"What plague!" Old Man Xi retorted, "How dare you curse my son!"

"Alright!" the officer interrupted them. "Our doctor can tell at a glance whether it's the plague. Let's go!"

As they spoke, the officers brought over iron chains, looking as if they would simply lock the person in shackles and take them away if the disturbance continued.

The common people can't fight with officials. Old Man Xi was only good at bluffing when he was talking back to that man. But when he was facing the officials, he immediately lowered his attitude and smiled ingratiatingly: "Officer, sir, my son is really alright, he..."

Old Man Xi tried to argue, but the experienced officers didn't give him a chance. The two officers immediately grabbed him and put shackles on his hands.

Old Man Xi: "Sir! Sir, please don't arrest me! I'm not sick!"

"Take him away!" At the officer's command, Old Man Xi was pulled forward a few steps by the chains.

Xi Dashun, who was on Liu's shoulder, was also taken away by the officials.

Before leaving, Old Man Xi grumbled and complained that Liu hadn't stopped the officials and had just watched them take Xi Dashun away.

Liu: How dare I!

There were only three adults in the house, but two of them were taken away, leaving only her and her son.

Xi Xiaohu lifted his head from his mother's arms and asked fearfully, "Mom? Where are Dad and Grandpa?"

"They took them away..." Liu was terrified. Seeing the neighbors peeking through the broken wall, Liu was startled and quickly took her child back into the house, locking the door from the inside.

the other side.

After Old Man Xi was taken away by the officials, he was also imprisoned in the north of the city after being examined by a doctor.

The only thing that could comfort him was that Xi Dashun was locked up with him.

The two were placed in a side room of a temple in the north of the city. The temple was originally very popular, and the conditions of the side room were much better than the small courtyard they rented themselves.

At least the windows don't let in any draft.

Unfortunately, this is a large dormitory-style dormitory, with about ten people living in one room, and there are no blankets.

Old Man Xi sat down next to Xi Dashun with his neck hunched, secretly glancing at the person next to him out of the corner of his eye.

Most people were groaning in hushed tones, their retching sounds echoing throughout, making Old Man Xi's scalp tingle.

—Has this guy moved into a drug den?!

If you don't leave, even a perfectly healthy person will catch the illness from staying here!

Old Man Xi got up and quietly went into the courtyard.

With no one guarding the courtyard, he easily reached the outside of the temple.

There was still no one guarding the outside, and Old Man Xi swaggered down the street until he reached the street corner, where the straight road was suddenly blocked by a fence.

Old Man Xi's heart skipped a beat.

"stop!"

Someone was shouting from behind.

Old Man Xi turned around stiffly, only to find six government officials behind him!

They were all muscular and vigorous, completely unlike the officials who came to arrest him at his house this afternoon!

The six constables, their faces obscured by thick veils, drew their swords and drove away anyone in the street from a distance, shouting, "Go back now! Take another step forward, and you will be killed without mercy!"

"Alright, alright!" Old Man Xi chuckled awkwardly. "Sir, please calm down, I'll be leaving now!"

As he spoke, he quickly turned around and, using his limping leg, ran as fast as he could back to his residence.

Of the six, the leader snorted coldly and led his men to continue their patrol.

When Old Man Xi ran back in one breath, there was a commotion in the courtyard.

He immediately hid inside the house and quietly observed the movements in the yard.

After listening for a while, Old Man Xi finally understood why this person was making a fuss: no food or drink was provided here, and the officials brought two buckets of porridge every morning and evening, costing fifty coins a bowl.

In addition, there is also medicinal soup, which costs 200 coins a bowl.

I have to pay money to get medicine! What's the difference between being locked up here and being in jail?

At least he won't go hungry at home!

After listening, Old Man Xi touched the money pouch at his waist with a worried expression—it contained all the family's belongings.

He needs to be careful with his money.

He hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch. In the evening, the officials brought porridge. Old Man Xi reluctantly bought a bowl, drank half of it himself, and left the other half for Xi Dashun to eat.

When Xi Dashun was brought in, he was given a bowl of herbal medicine, and he didn't vomit blood again during the day.

He coughed softly every now and then, lying there listlessly, not much better than when he was unconscious a few days ago.

That night, Old Man Xi lay down beside him fully clothed. After a long day of running around, he couldn't resist the overwhelming drowsiness that weighed on his eyelids and fell into a deep sleep.

He slept for a whole day, and was woken up by thirst.

He tried to get up, but his outstretched hand was limp and he couldn't even support himself.

His mind was a complete blank. Old Man Xi thought: What's wrong with me?! Why do I have no strength? No, I have to get up...

He tried again, but instead of getting up, he fell headfirst to the side, knocking Xi Dashun down and making him cough several times.

"Father..." Xi Dashun reached out and pushed, the force of which was no different from a caress.

Using the slope from where he was lying on Xi Dashun, Old Man Xi slowly sat up and asked, "Dashun, why am I feeling a little dizzy?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Old Man Xi collapsed again. This time, Xi Dashun didn't catch him; his head slammed onto the hard board of the dormitory bed with a "bang."

He completely lost consciousness.

Xi Dashun struggled to turn over and looked at his father. His breathing was steady, but no matter how he called, he couldn't wake him up.

A sense of foreboding welled up in Xi Dashun's heart: Could his father have also contracted the disease?

Ignoring his own discomfort, Xi Dashun shouted for someone to come over.

The room was full of half-dead patients, and no one came even as he shouted until his throat was dry.

The father and son were imprisoned in the north of the city, while inside the city, at Old Zhao's house.

After vomiting sour water, Granny Qian started coughing up blood. In severe cases, she vomited and had diarrhea at the same time.

She was afraid of falling into the latrine, so she always needed someone to watch her when she went there.

This was tough on the women in the family, who had to hold their noses and endure the disgust as they watched her.

Cao Rouan claimed that she was pregnant and nauseous and couldn't exert any strength, so she refused to go to the latrine.

Old Zhao San and Old Zhao Tou sat on the bed in the main room, looking worried.

She was fine yesterday, but in just one day, Granny Qian's condition has become so serious.

Old Zhao also regretted it a bit; he should have taken his wife out to see the world.

It's too late to take her out now.

All we can do is pray that she'll feel better after she finishes vomiting.

Before Granny Qian had recovered, two more people from the Zhao family fell ill one after another.

Old Zhao and Mrs. Sun.

This was tough on Zhao Laoda, who had to look after his father while calling for his mother, and his wife also collapsed.

Zhao Laoda was in a terrible predicament, and Wu Shi quietly distanced herself from them even further.

—This is terrifying! Everyone who lives near Granny Qian has contracted the disease!

Cao Rouan was so frightened that she refused to go inside the house, preferring to stay in the yard and enjoy the breeze.

All three members of the family were ill, and the commotion couldn't be kept secret from the outside world. On the third day of the city's martial law, Granny Qian, along with Old Man Zhao and Madam Sun, were all taken away.

After they left, Mrs. Wu quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

At least I'm not afraid of getting infected anymore.

It wasn't right to sleep in the main room all the time, so Wu told Zhao Laosan and Zhao Wenyuan to carry the bed back to the original room and let the room air out for a day before they dared to move in.

Taking advantage of the darkness, Zhao Huilan quietly crept to the back of the courtyard.

Zhao Huilan was relieved to find that the fried rice and noodles were still there.

In case she had to flee famine again, this would be her life-saving food.

Zhao Laosan and Wu Shi hid in a corner of the courtyard. Wu Shi pulled on Laosan and said, "I don't care! What if we both get sick if we stay any longer!"

"Sixia is still so young, can you bear to leave our only daughter?"

Zhao Laosan patted Wu's hand reassuringly, "Qiu Gui, don't worry, I'll go and inquire tomorrow. Even if it costs us some money, we'll escape..."

He made a lot of money; the amount he secretly hoarded was enough for them to escape quietly.

But what happens after leaving Yikang County?

Zhao Laosan paused, then sighed, "It's not enough for just our family to flee the famine. I'll ask the village headman tomorrow if they're willing to go."

Wu: "It would be best if we could travel with the villagers."

The next day, Zhao Laosan wrapped his mouth and nose tightly before going out to find the village head.

After learning that the village head was also observing the situation, Zhao Laosan sighed and went back.

The Zhao family.

After Zhao Ningning returned from another nighttime raid on the county government office, she shook her head and said to her family:

"The city gates are all guarded by government officials, and no one dares to cross the boundary."

"They say it's to protect the people in the city, but there are people in the city who have contracted the plague. It's not a good idea to keep people out!"

"We can't just force our way in, can we?" Ning's mother said. "It's fine if a group of people rush out, but if there are only a few, wouldn't that be provoking the officials?"

Ning's father: "Sigh! We can't keep people locked up forever."

Zhao Qi looked worried and kept rubbing his hands.

The family of four was somewhat worried.

Zhao Ningning: "If all else fails, the Wen family said they can take our people out with them."

Of course, forget about the mule cart. But Ning's mother can secretly put the cart frame in her storage space. As for the mule, she'll just have to leave it in Yikang County.

To be honest, although the mule had its own temper, it had been diligent and hardworking all the way, and had always managed to avoid danger and escape.

Zhao Ningning and her family of four were reluctant to part with their little friend.

"If it doesn't work out, we'll have to keep the mule," Ning's father said dejectedly. "We'll leave it plenty of fodder then."

Since even Ning's father, who loved mules the most, said this, the four of them sat dejectedly in the house, watching the mule swishing its tail in the yard.