Chapter 694: The Exodus Begins

dchildren sooner. We'll be busy again when we get back to work."Zhang Yongcheng said with a strained smile.After visiting his future in-laws and discussing collaboration projects between their familie...Having heard Zhang Laogtou's words, everyone looked at each other and felt that their own men were still safe. They also had a little more confidence in leaving Zhangjiacun.

Soon, every household in the village will run out of food. If our chimney is still smoking and the smell of cooking drifts out, the villagers will surely know what's going on.

It's not that I'm selfish and unwilling to help others. As Lian Yi said, if our Zhang family can spare a mouthful of food to save a life, it would be great. But how can we help others when we ourselves are unable to fill our own stomachs

Old Zhang sighed and said.

"Mother, where is Big River"

Old Zhang asked his own daughter.

He went to Songjia Village early in the morning to see if he could borrow some food. If he couldn't borrow any, he would tell the Song family clearly that our family was going to flee and beg for food.

Hui Niang didn't hide anything, she said directly.

"Humph! As for the stingy Old Madam Song, you supporting them is only right. Right now, on this crucial occasion, they wouldn't even give a grain of rice!"

>Old Zhang said without hesitation.

As Lao Zhang had predicted, when Song Dachuan came to the door, Old Song's face turned sour. Old Songtou, at least, saw the injuries on his son's face and asked a couple more questions.

"Father, I know things are difficult at home, but I really couldn't help it. The last bit of silver I had only bought half a bag of coarse rice, which was mixed with sand. Halfway there, it was robbed from me. If it weren't for traveling with my two cousins, I wouldn't be here to tell you this."

Song Dachuan stood inside the house, telling about his difficulties.

"Is it that bad outside now"

Lao Songtou touched the dry tobacco pipe in his hand and frowned, asking.

"Yes, even the County Magistrate is withholding grain, and the number of refugees from outside has been increasing."

Song Dachuan lowered his head and said.

"Ouch!"

Old Song only sighed, but refused to mention his son's purpose for being here. This chilled Song Dachuan's heart. At least during the hardest times at home, his son had sent back silver. Even if it was to deter them from bothering their lives in Zhangjia Village, those five taels of silver were real and genuine.

"Father, could you lend me half a bag of grain"

Song Dachuan's words hadn't finished when Old Song started to flail and kick, muttering incessantly:

"Now you're only coming to us for help Why didn't you come sooner Our pantry is bare, if we give you anything, my husband and I will starve. That's how filial you are! You've truly lost your conscience, corrupted by that woman."

Hearing Lao Song's words, Song Dachuan's face turned even gloomier, but he still shifted his gaze to Lao Songtou. After all, this was his own father.

Lao Song's eyes darted around, then he sighed heavily and said:

"Daguang, it's not that your father doesn't want to help you, our family was devastated by Da Shan last year and haven't recovered yet. The money you gave us barely kept us from starving. We truly have no food stores left."

To put it simply, there's no food for you.

Song Dachuan said he wasn't disappointed, that would be a lie. He stared straight at the two elders, making them both feel a little uneasy. He then opened his mouth and spoke:

"Father and mother, this is my last time calling you. I couldn't borrow any grain, so I have to take my family and flee as refugees. Whether we can survive or ever see you again is unknown."

"Fortunately, when the family split, I took nothing. I left all the land for you to support yourselves in your old age. And last year, I brought back five taels of silver as well. As a son, I think I've been filial enough. From now on, please take care of yourselves."

Song Dachuan finished speaking, then knelt down and kowtowed three times before turning around and leaving the Song family courtyard.

"Hey! Dawan"

Old Song Tou felt pity and just opened his mouth to speak when Old Song Shi pulled him back.

"Bah! You're just listening to him coax you! Their family is out of food, isn't there still Old Zhang's family Do they really want to watch their own daughter and her family starve You worry for nothing. Just wait and see, they won't starve."

Old Song said disdainfully.

To their dismay, they soon learned that Song Dachuan's family and Lao Zhang's family had already left Zhangjiacun to escape the famine. They were truly panicked, but it was too late. They never saw each other again for the rest of their lives.

And in the end, the two of them could not escape this natural disaster. Because they were elderly and only consumed food, they were abandoned by their eldest son and eventually starved to death on the roadside, leaving not even a complete corpse behind.

Song Dahai abandoned his parents and didn't end up well. In the end, he also lost his wife and children, and spent his later years in misery. These are all things that happened later.

When Song Dachuan left Songjia Village, he didn't avoid people. When asked, he said that his family couldn't afford food and came to borrow grain from his parents', brothers' houses. Needless to say, the people of Songjia Village also saw it, they could only say that Song Dachuan was unfortunate, watching him leave dejectedly.

Privately, people in Songjia Village also discussed the matter and felt that the Old Song family's actions were indeed inappropriate. After all, when they were at their most difficult time, as a son, he emptied his savings to support them. Now that he was in trouble, his family did this, which was very disheartening.

Song Dachuan was seething with anger. By the time he got back to Zhangjia Village, it was already afternoon. Fortunately, his wife and children were waiting for him at home. After having a bowl of hot porridge, he told them about what happened to the Song family.

"I think there should still be some grain left at my parents' place, so we won't go hungry for a while."

"That's good, now we just need to take care of our little family of four."

Hui Niang could only say, dryly.

She was truly worried that her husband had lost his mind, wanting to help Old Song's family. If he did that, their meager supply of food wouldn't even come close to filling the other family's bottomless pit.

"I'm going to talk to my father-in-law about some things."

After dinner, Song Dachuan went to see Lao Zhangtou alone. Now that there were no obstacles, they wanted to act as quickly as possible.

Song Dachuan waited until the sky was full of stars before returning to his small courtyard.

From the next day on, the whole family was busy packing. This time they were leaving Zhangjiacun and going somewhere far away. There was a lot to prepare, especially turning their existing food into dried rations. On the road, they might not have the opportunity to stop and cook, and it was also to avoid the smell of food attracting more refugees.

After five days of preparation, Song Dachuan and his family of four, along with the entire Zhang family, left Zhangjia Village pushing four carts.

When they left, many villagers came to see them off, including the village head. But when it was time to part ways, everyone remained silent.

“Village head, if we could survive, who would want to leave their homes Now, there’s simply no other way. We'll take our first step and you should make your plans as well. I sent Dazhong and Shito to the county to find out more. As of now, the magistrate hasn't come up with a plan. It seems that many places will be affected this time.”

"I understand! We'll wait two more days. If it really doesn't work out, we'll go after you."

That's all the village head could say.

Then a team of over twenty people walked further and further away, disappearing from the village head's sight. Every time he thought about this, the village head regretted it deeply because on the fifth day after they left Zhangjia, a group of starving refugees ransacked Zhangjia Village.e had been in charge of keeping track of their earnings so far, remembering each day's income clearly. Once a month, she would summarize the total, ensuring that all three knew how much they had earne...