mesbooks Chapter 170 Cuijiaao's Experience
Chapter 170 Cuijiaao's Experience
Yun Qingbai brought the wooden barrel over and said, "Duo'er, look, these are all taken from the bandits and the house. There are still several thousand kilograms of food in the warehouse at the back.
We found nothing in the rooms of the leaders in the central hall and the heads of the household. They may have hidden it. Let's look for it tomorrow."
Yun Qingbai felt quite regretful after he finished speaking.
Yun Duo thought to herself: The money on the heads of the central hall has already gone into the pockets of Cheng Yuheng's four bodyguards.
At that time, when Yun Duo asked them to divide the money they received from those leaders equally among the four of them, Qiu Shoule was so happy that he kept saying "Thank you, Madam, for the reward".
Qiu Shou secretly revealed that each of the four of them could get more than 200 taels.
As for the belongings of the three heads of the family, they were all moved into her space.
"Uncle San, you keep this for now. Count the silver tomorrow and distribute it tomorrow! Okay, everyone who's on duty in the second half of the night should find a place to rest!"
Yun Duo looked at the village head and his wife of Cuijiaao after she finished speaking, "Village head Cui, Granny Cui, tell me now! What's the situation in your village?"
When Village Chief Cui and Granny heard that Yun Duo had finally asked about them, they felt relieved. They were about to kneel down and kowtow to Yun Duo and Cheng Yuheng. Yun Duo helped them up, "Village Chief Cui, Granny Cui, you don't have to do this. Saving you is just a matter of convenience."
"Benefactors, you are the lifesavers of our entire village! If it weren't for you, our entire village would have been taken away to mine, and the women would have been killed by these beasts..."
Village Chief Cui wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve and continued, "Our village is not far from here. It is in the valley after crossing two mountains. There are only fifteen households in our village, with more than 200 people. Because there are few people and a lot of land in our village, as long as we are not lazy and are willing to work hard, we will not starve if we open up more wasteland.
At dawn this morning, more than a hundred bandits entered the village. They took two children from each family as threats and first asked us to hand over our money, food and other items. They also threatened our entire village to go to the mountain stronghold with them. They all had big knives in their hands. We knew we couldn’t resist and had to do as they said. Two young people resisted and were…”
At this point, the villagers began to sob, and one woman couldn't help but cover her face and cry.
"Those young men were beaten up by the bandits on the spot! They were all seriously injured. If I hadn't agreed to go up the mountain with the bandits, the bandits would have taken their lives?" Village Chief Cui said with a sob.
The villagers' faces showed expressions of grief and anger, but they dared not make any sound.
He took a deep breath and said slowly, "I have no other choice. I cannot watch over 200 people in the village die. It's all because of my incompetence as the village chief..."
When Granny Cui saw Village Chief Cui, she was choked up and couldn't speak. She patted Village Chief Cui on the back and continued, "The bandits looted all the food, money, and livestock in the village, brought them all to the bandit den, and set our village on fire. On the way, I heard them say that they wanted to send us to mine. As soon as we arrived here, they locked up the men, the elderly, and the children in the dungeon and took the women away.
Thanks to the timely arrival of our benefactor, who knocked out those damned bandits, the women in the village were not persecuted. It was a blessing!" She covered her mouth and started crying.
"Village Chief Cui, we are from Beining County, which is not far from here..." Yun Duo then told them the purpose of their coming here.
After hearing this, the villagers of Cuijiaao felt as if they were struck by lightning. Their village was remote and they were not well-informed, so they had never heard of these things.
I thought I was rescued and had escaped the fate of mining.
Although there was nothing at home when they returned to the village, there was still unharvested grain in their fields. In the summer, they would go into the mountains to dig some wild vegetables and pick up some mountain products to last until the grain matured in autumn.
It's all over now, all gone. If we don't flee, we'll probably wait for the northern invaders to invade, and we won't be able to save the food in the fields, let alone our lives.
They all collapsed upon hearing the sad news and hugged each other and cried loudly.
"This is God not giving me a way out! Wuuuuuu"
"Wow, wow, wow... We are penniless. Even if we get out of Ningping Mountain, we can't get to the south! We will still starve to death on the road! Village chief, what should we do!"
"My poor baby! You are still so young, wuwuwu..."
The young people were crying in grief and anger, while the old people were crying silently in despair.
Yun Duo looked at the desperate villagers of Cuijiaao and felt pity for them. "Cui Village Resident, Grandma Cui, don't cry for now. There is always a way out." She comforted them gently, hoping to bring them some hope and courage.
Yun Duo turned around and looked at Yun Qingbai who was standing beside her, and said firmly, "Uncle San, give each household in Cuijiaao ten taels of silver. This is a small token of our appreciation to them, and we hope it can help them through this difficult time."
Then she turned around and said to Village Chief Cui and the villagers, "Village Chief Cui, take this money for your journey! Tomorrow I will arrange for someone to distribute some food, bedding, pots and bowls and other daily necessities to each of your families so that you can have enough food and clothing on the road. As long as everyone works together, I believe we will be able to successfully reach the south and start a new life."
The villagers were deeply moved when they heard Yun Duo's words. They knew that this was not just money, but also a hope for survival. In this difficult time, such a kind act is undoubtedly a timely help.
The villagers of Cuijiaao knelt down and kowtowed, their eyes filled with joy and gratitude.
Yun Duo looked at the kneeling scene in front of her and couldn't help feeling a little uncomfortable. Growing up in modern society, she was not used to this kind of behavior of kneeling and kowtowing at every turn.
However, she understood that this was ancient times and the customs were like this, and she could not change these deeply rooted ideas.
So, she silently comforted herself in her heart: "When in Rome, do as the Romans do..." For these ordinary people, asking them to kowtow might make them feel at ease and satisfied.
"Everyone, get up. We are all country folks. That's all. You can follow us from Yunjia Village. We have more people and can take care of each other."
Cui Zhuzi ran to Yun Duo and knelt down in front of her. "Fairy sister, you and this big brother saved our family. I will work like a cow and a horse for you in the future to repay you. Fairy sister, please accept me. I can work now."
Yun Duo didn't expect that the child still remembered his promise to her. She smiled with relief and pulled up Zhuzi. "Zhuzi, you are too young now. Help your sister with work when you grow up."
"Yeah! When Zhuzi grows up, he will go and help the fairies with their work." Cui Zhuzi nodded vigorously.