novelaction Chapter 278 The World is So Big
Chapter 278 The World is So Big
After running for more than twenty miles in one breath, the two stopped to rest.
Zhou Guo took out the bags the old lady gave them, and when he looked inside, he found that one bag contained a bag of steamed buns and a dozen eggs, and another bag contained mountain products, including dried wild mushrooms, walnuts, and even chestnuts.
Zhou Da Cang came over to take a look. Seeing these things, he sighed and said, "I don't know how far the old lady ran in the mountains to find these few things. I'm afraid we took them all."
At this point, I reminded her, "Take out the money the old lady gave you and see how much she gave."
Zhou Guo took out the cloth-wrapped purse from the bag in front of him. It looked quite big. He peeled off layer after layer of cloth. After peeling off six or seven layers, he finally saw the money.
Suddenly there were two dimes and a few strings of copper coins in it!
Zhou Guo glanced at Zhou Dacang. Both of them had heavy expressions and did not speak for a long time.
After a long while, Zhou Dacang sighed and said, "I still remember the night before your father and your uncle went out to find work, the whole family sat together for dinner, and your grandmother said that we still had one hundred and thirty-six coins left in our house. One hundred and thirty-six coins is all our family's property!"
Zhou Guo counted the money in there and found that it was probably only about one or two taels. It must be very difficult for an old lady to save so much money.
She shook her head and said, "Uncle, it's okay. When I left, I secretly put three strings of money under the old lady's pillow. I've returned it, and I still have two strings left."
When Zhou Dacang heard this, he was relieved immediately. "That couldn't be better. I thought that even if the old lady gave it to us, it would only be a few dozen coins. I didn't expect it to be so much. If we really take all this in our hands, we will feel ashamed to accept it."
Zhou Guo nodded. Of course, they were young people. How could they ask an old lady from a farming family for money? The old lady lived alone and had no one to rely on.
The two men felt both moved and heavy-hearted. They ate something, rested for a while, and then rode away again.
Now the weather was gradually entering deep autumn, and it was getting colder in the mornings and evenings. The two men were anxious, so they traveled day and night and arrived at the next county, Wei De County, the next day.
Because they didn't have a pass, the two men spent ten taels of silver as an entrance fee to deal with the soldiers at the city gate.
I stayed in the city for four days and found some beggars in the city in the same way. However, the beggars here were not as diligent as those in Huaiyang. Perhaps it was because Wei De was a big county, twice as big as Huaiyang, so they didn't have to worry about food and drink here.
I had no choice but to look for it myself. I didn't rest for four days and four nights, and searched all the beggars' dens in the city. Fortunately, I had experience in Huaiyang, so I didn't take any wrong paths when looking for these places.
After a few days, I was exhausted but gained nothing.
On the fifth day, Zhou Guo could not hold on any longer, and Zhou Dacang was not much better. The two of them collapsed in the inn and slept soundly, regardless of whether it was day or night.
I don’t know how long I slept. When Zhou Guo woke up, he heard some noise at the door. He turned around and saw that his uncle was still sleeping.
I got out of bed and opened the door. I saw a lot of people gathered outside. They seemed to be waiters of the inn. Both sides were stunned.
Zhou Guo was puzzled and asked, "What are you doing around my door?"
The waiter who was entertaining them smiled and said, "It's okay, sir. We just saw that you hadn't come out for a day and a night, and you didn't take anything. We were worried that something might have happened to you in the room, so we were thinking about going in to check. I'm glad you're okay, we'll go down now."
After saying this, the group turned around and left.
Zhou Guo understood. They were not afraid that something might happen to them, but they were worried that they would leave and not pay the rent.
Since they didn't find it here, they couldn't stay here any longer.
After Zhou Dacang got up, the two of them had breakfast outside, bought a lot of food, and then left the city, leaving this prosperous provincial capital.
They spent another five days traveling to various counties under the provincial capital, but still couldn't find it.
Then continue eastward, enter any town you see, and ask any refugees you meet.
After asking all along, he got nothing. For the first time, Zhou Guo began to doubt his judgment. Did the little guy really come east? Among so many refugees, no one had seen him.
The two men became more and more silent as they walked, and it seemed like only at this moment did they truly realize for the first time how big the world was.
Zhou Guo had been to many places in his previous life, but those were all by plane or car, and he only arrived in a few hours. He ignored the journey along the way. Unlike now, he had to walk all the way by himself.
It's so hard to find someone in such a big world. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. She seemed to have thought things were too simple before.
Could it be that the little guy could never be found in this lifetime, just like those lost children?
Zhou Dacang saw his dejected little niece and wanted to comfort her but didn't know where to start. He had never seen the child like this before. She was always full of energy and vitality.
He patted her hands, thought for a moment, and comforted her softly, "It's okay. We've only been to a few places, and there are still many places we haven't visited. At worst, we won't go back for the New Year. We have sir, second sister-in-law, and Zhou Gu at home, so nothing will happen. If you can't find us this year, we'll find us next year, and if you can't find us next year, we'll find us the year after."
Zhou Guo forced a smile, she was afraid it would be too late. How many beggars and refugees could not survive a cold winter, without food, thick clothes, or houses to shelter from the wind and snow. It was still unknown whether they could survive until the next spring.
I just hope that the little guy is smart and can hold on until they find him.
On second thought, they felt that maybe people were not as pitiful as they thought. They might be huddled somewhere, eating meat and eating rice, and their lives were better than theirs. It was not impossible.
While riding a horse like this, I was thinking about this and that, my head was dizzy and my body was shaking.
Zhou Dacang was watching from the side and was frightened, fearing that she would fall off the horse. If she hit her head or neck or something, it would be the end of her.
Looking up, he saw an open space in front of him and said, "Let's go over there to rest. Let the horses eat some grass and drink some water. We can also eat something."
Zhou Guo was in a daze at the moment, and whatever he said was what he meant.
The two men got off their horses in front. Zhou Dacang took out some dry food and ate it simply. No one was in the mood to prepare something delicious.
Just after finishing a dry lunch, I heard noises coming from the front, including crying, screaming, running, and the faint sound of horse hooves.
The two looked at each other and saw heaviness in each other's eyes. They were very familiar with this scene.
He climbed onto his horse, drew the broadsword from the horse's back, and was about to walk away when people swarmed over him, crawling and tumbling.
Screams and children's cries filled the air. Zhou Guo's heart sank. They were indeed refugees.
The sound of horse hooves came in waves, and dust rose up.