Chapter 33

Chapter 33

In the end, most of the villagers of Qingfang Village gathered together, just as Yang Poxiao had feared. Those who came later, the villagers without food, all asked the Village Head for rations.

The Village Head's family had to ration their own food, so how could they lend any out?

Apart from the Village Head himself, the Yang family refused to lend anything, and the other two families were even more unwilling to lend. Then the villagers of Qingfang Village erupted into a great battle. In the end, the three major families emerged victorious, of course.

The three major families were unwilling to let those people follow them, and the Village Head, under pressure, dared not be soft-hearted anymore.

Mu used to do all the physical labor in his family, but after he left, the work fell to his older and second older brothers. However, the whole family had grown lazy, and no one was willing to go out and fetch water or forage for wild vegetables.

Mu's Mother had the rations that Mu had left for her, and with this small amount of rations, she sustained the whole family for a month. When the rations were finished, they all complained that Mu should have left more.

Mu's Mother didn't explain; Mu had only brought out this small amount of rations, leaving it all for them.

She also complained about Mu, asking why he had to make such a fuss and cut off ties. Wasn't everything fine? And he didn't even know when to come back.

Now there wasn't even anyone to fetch water or dig for wild vegetables. In the bitter cold, the whole family huddled together to keep warm, but it was no use.

The first to freeze to death was Mu's Mother. Until her death, she resented Mu's unfilial behavior and never looked for the reason within herself or realized that she had done anything wrong.

Those disaster victims without clothes stripped the clothes off the dead to keep warm, though it didn't help much, but it was better than nothing, allowing them to live one more day.

The surviving disaster victims headed for the mountains, hoping to find caves to shelter from the cold. With so many people, trouble was bound to arise. Disaster victims often fought over caves, or those with fewer people who found a cave would have it snatched away by those with more people.

In the snowy fields lay those frozen to death, as well as casualties from the struggles between people. It was a cruel competition, the survival of the fittest.

But further north, it was relatively peaceful, with no competition. Everyone found shelter for their own family, and if they couldn't find a place to shelter from the cold, they built houses themselves.

Some people also learned from Old Gu Six and dug caves in the mountains, coming to learn from Old Gu Six.

"Dad, do you think we chose the wrong place? Look, Old Gu Six went north, so maybe it's not as bad there as we thought."

"We've already come this far. Once the weather gets better, it'll only take three more months to reach Lingnan. To change course and go north would take almost another year. How could we afford to waste that much time? Let's just go to Lingnan."

When they fled the famine, they at least had cotton clothes and quilts, but even those weren't warm enough in this weather. The Yang clan all lived together in a cave, huddling around a fire to keep warm, which was still better than freezing to death outside.

As for the Yang Poxiao brothers they were so concerned about, they were living more than comfortably—eating their fill, dressed warmly, and in a nice, toasty house.

Living together, the brothers discussed their parents, "I wonder if our parents have found a place to shelter from the cold?"

"Don't worry, Brother. They're heading toward Lingnan, and with all those mountains, they're bound to find a cave to shelter in."

Yang Mingxiao truly wasn't worried at all. Their father wasn't stupid, and he was with the rest of the clan, too. Those elders wouldn't just stand by and let anything happen to their father.

Mu sat alone by the fire in the cave, lost in thought, imagining the fate that had befallen his mother and two older brothers. No matter how decisive he tried to be, he never expected them to meet such an end.

Blood ties and family affection weren't something that could be severed with mere words after over twenty years together with his mother and brothers. There were bound to be some lingering feelings.

But he only grieved for three or four days before getting over it. This was a natural disaster, not something man could control. Once he was settled, he would set up memorial tablets and make offerings for them.

Fear of cold couldn't keep Chang'an huddled in the bedding forever, she thought. But there was still an outsider at home, so she couldn't go for days without eating, could she?

With the cold weather, the cooking chores were handed over to Old Gu Six and Chang Le. Chang'an supervised while warming herself by the fire, and these clever folks learned quickly.

Their cooking might not be outstanding, but at least it was passable. Chang'an took on the role of idle proprietress, beginning her days of fattening up.

During their flight from the famine, Old Gu Six and Chang Le hadn't bathed at all. They felt disgusted with their disheveled state, so they went out, scooped up snow, melted it indoors, let it settle, then boiled the water for bathing.

Their peaceful cat's winter life was suddenly disrupted by a group of unexpected arrivals. These were no ordinary disaster victims—they demanded Chang'an's house for their master's lodging as soon as they arrived.

They certainly knew how to pick on the vulnerable.