At dawn, Chen Huihong woke up on time.

It seems that she didn't adapt to the fact that there was a child lying next to her. When Chen Huihong got up, her first reaction was to eat the bark and leave. She almost stepped on Hui Niang. After seeing Hui Niang, she reacted belatedly and then remembered yesterday.

There was indeed such a person at night.

Seeing that Huiniang didn't wake up, Chen Huihong felt impatient after waiting for a while, so she left first, found the abandoned well discovered yesterday, and started to draw water.

Most of the wells Chen Huihong found along the way were completely dry. The bottoms of the wells were full of dust and sand, and not a drop of water could be pumped out.

A small part of it is not completely dry, and there is very little water. The thin layer of water cannot be evaporated quickly, and only in the morning can a trace of turbid sewage emerge.

This shows how serious the drought is.

Chen Huihong dug three or four times before getting a shallow layer of turbid water from the well. There was no container to put it in, so she just walked back with the bucket.

Fortunately, the refugees who passed the abandoned well didn't take the hemp rope and the broken bucket with them, otherwise Chen Huihong would have to twist the hemp rope and find a bucket.

When Chen Huihong went back, Hui Niang had already woken up, sitting on the ground in a daze, looking dull like a puppet. Seeing Chen Huihong coming, Hui Niang got up excitedly from the ground and ran towards Chen Huihong with some staggering, saying what she said last night

The staggering appearance of a zombie is in stark contrast.

"elder sister!"

"Water." Chen Huihong said concisely and concisely, and put the bucket on the ground. "It's a bit dirty. Let it settle for a while before drinking."

After saying that, Chen Huihong sat down, and Huiniang also nodded obediently and sat down.

"What do you want to ask me, sister?" Huiniang knew that Chen Huihong wanted to ask her something.

"Where are you going to flee?"

Hui Niang lowered her head and thought for a while: "At first, my mother said to escape to the north. I heard that the drought in the north is not as serious as ours, it rains, and the price of wheat has not reached 20 yuan a stone. It is not necessary to work there and work in the fields.

If you borrow usury to buy food, you might still have something to eat."

"But my father disagreed. He said that there was a war in the north. Many people died, including thieves. They might have died on the way. Although the drought became more severe as we went south, a relative of mine who worked as a carpenter in Linxian County went there.

I can also have something to eat." After saying this, Huiniang, who had been lowering her head, raised her head and looked at Chen Huihong quietly.

Chen Huihong was thinking about her own things and didn't pay attention to Hui Niang at all. She asked, "Have you gone to Linxian?"

Huiniang shook her head: "There was a plague in Linxian County. Many people died, including my relatives. The villages that were seriously affected by the epidemic were all burned down, and no one dared to come near."

"I don't know where my parents are going. They may go to Peking or Qin. But on the way we heard from other people that there was also a drought in Qin, but some people said that Peiping would not allow the victims to enter the city and would block them outside.

My father wanted to pick up the train to go south, but many people fell off and died, and some were directly shot to death. My father was afraid that his brother would fall to death, so he didn't pick up the train."

"Are there many people fleeing famine?" Chen Huihong asked.

"More." Hui Niang nodded affirmatively, "It has been drought for three years. It doesn't snow in the winter and it doesn't rain in the spring. In the beginning, there was still a small harvest that could barely survive. Last year, the wheat harvest was so bad that we didn't even have any grain left."

"The wheat harvest has stopped, so we have to pay rent and taxes. Many families in our village have fled. My family has four acres of land. Those four acres are reserved for my younger brother to get married. Dad is reluctant to leave the land and has not left.

.”

"Last year, I sold my eldest sister to pay taxes. I originally thought that this year might be a good year. But I didn't expect that there has been no rain since the beginning of spring this year. I really couldn't survive. My grandparents were afraid of being dragged down, so they only ate Guanyin soil to death.

"

"Last month, my parents buried my grandma, sold the land, and ran away with my brother and me."

"Actually, my father originally wanted to sell me together last year. My mother said that I ate less and could work well. If I were one year older, I would be able to sell it for more money, so I kept it until this year. But this year when people came to visit me, they thought I was too old.

It doesn’t look good, it’s a waste of food, and I don’t want to take any money.” Huiniang’s tone was calm, as if she was telling some ordinary things.

"Sister Chun next door was pretty, so Ren Yazi took her in and gave her two bags of wheat. Ren Yazi said she would sell her to Peking. Sister Chun was so happy that she left her red headband to me and told me

When she goes to Peiping, she might be able to eat white flour steamed buns, and if she's lucky, she might even be able to eat rice."

"Sister, do you know what white flour steamed buns taste like? In our village, only Landlord Zhang can eat white flour steamed buns. I saw one once, but the white flour is so soft, it must be softer than the clouds in the sky. They all say white flour steamed buns

It’s sweet, and it’s still sweet without adding sugar.”

"I know." Chen Huihong said, "The white-noodle steamed buns are not white, the noodles are not white, they are gray, and they are not sweet."

Chen Huihong's sincerity made Hui Niang a little disillusioned, but Hui Niang couldn't help but swallow her saliva. It was obvious that Chen Huihong's words were more true than Hui Niang's description that relied entirely on imagination.

Thinking that Chen Huihong had actually eaten white flour steamed buns, Hui Niang looked at her with even more respect and asked cautiously: "Sister, are you a young lady from the city?"

Chen Huihong didn't answer, so Hui Niang took her as her acquiescence and continued to ask: "Sister Chun went to the provincial capital to work as a servant girl. She said that the girls in the city now all imitate Shencheng, wear foreign clothes, eat foreign food, and even serve

If you study foreign language in a foreign school, do the ladies in your city also eat white-flour steamed buns?"

Chen Huihong choked and said: "To eat, I eat steamed buns everywhere."

After thinking about it, Chen Huihong added: "Let's eat too."

"The rice is white."

Hui Niang asked curiously: "Are the ladies in the city also fleeing?"

"...Flee, all run away."

Hui Niang nodded: "Sister Chun also told me that the master she served before died, and her family members fled. Several aunts robbed a lot of jewelry, and Sister Chun even picked up a silver hairpin.

It’s a pity that the steward found out and snatched it away.”

Seeing that the topic was getting more and more biased, Chen Huihong took the initiative to ask: "If Ren Yazi didn't buy you away, why did your parents take you with them when they fled the country?"

This question can be said to be quite heartbreaking, and Hui Niang was immediately silenced.

After a long time, Hui Niang whispered: "Mom said she couldn't bear it."

"I don't eat much anyway, and I still look for food. I can take care of my brother on the way, so why don't you take me with you, just in case... I'll be useful too."

"Do you know how to find food?" Chen Huihong looked at Hui Niang.

Hui Niang nodded repeatedly: "Yes, I can dig grass roots from the ground, I can look for bugs, I can also look for water, and I can also look for mouse holes. Sometimes with good luck, I can not only find the food hidden by black mice, but also

Caught the rat."

"Although many rivers have dried up, there is always water in some places. No matter how severe the drought is, water can always be produced by digging a well." At this point, Huiniang quietly looked at Chen Huihong again, "Sister,

You don’t seem to have a tank to store water.”

"It's broken." Chen Huihong said perfunctorily, "Go on."

Hui Niang thought for a while and added: "If the price of food had not been too high, the promised relief food had not been seen, and additional taxes had been added this year, my father would not have sold the land and fled."

"I know." Chen Huihong said calmly, "I know you people... Farmers in the countryside who have land at home are considered to be in good condition. Many of them rent land from landlords without land. If they can't pay the rent, they borrow the landowner's stamp.

Money and interest compound until the family is ruined and the children and daughters are sold.”

After saying that, Chen Huihong added: "I heard it from someone at the tea stall."

"Where are you going now?" Chen Huihong asked.

Hui Niang was a little confused, but also a little expectant. She looked at Chen Huihong carefully with deer-like eyes: "I don't know where I'm going."

"Sister, can I follow you?"

"I don't know where I'm going, there's no point in following me." Chen Huihong said.

"Then...can I follow?"

"Whatever." Chen Huihong was like a ruthless gamer who didn't care about the NPC's sad past and only cared about the progress of her own mission.

Although she doesn't seem to have any tasks to catch up on.

"Thank you, sister." Huiniang happily followed behind Chen Huihong, letting her shadow completely blend into Chen Huihong's shadow, as if this would make her feel safe.

"Sister, what's your name?"

"My name is... Matchmaker."

"What's your last name, sister?"

"What's your last name?"

"My surname is Chen."

"What a coincidence, my surname is also Chen."

"Then sister, where are you going?"

"I don't know." Speaking of this, Chen Huihong stopped and asked, "Where...is it safe with a lot of people?"

Huiniang thought for a moment: "Beiping."

"The emperor used to live there."

"What happened next?"

"Then there was no more emperor." Hui Niang said, "But there were many other masters. Sister Chun told me that if I accidentally bumped into the young lady, young master, madam and master in the city, they would kneel down and kowtow. Before.

When the opera troupe comes to our village to perform operas, the people in the opera will also kowtow when they see the emperor. Maybe the emperor is similar to those other gentlemen."

Chen Huihong frowned: "I don't like kowtow to others."

"Sister, you are a young lady, so of course you don't need to kowtow to others." Hui Niang said, showing her first smile after seeing Chen Huihong, "I don't like kowtow to others either. My mother always scolded me for being pretentious and mentally ill. In the village

I always avoided the landlords when I saw them, so I didn’t go when Sister Chun went to work in the city, and I didn’t go when my parents beat me.”

Chen Huihong said nothing and continued walking forward.
To be continued...