On the way, they found that many villages and fields were submerged, and many refugees were rushing towards the county seat.
Hua Manman asked curiously.
"Is the county seat not flooded?"
Jin Ling'er explained: "I heard that a canal has been dug near the county seat, and the water flows away along the canal, so it won't accumulate in the city."
Hua Manman asked again: "In this case, why not build canals in other places?"
Jin Ling'er said embarrassingly.
"I don't know that.
We came here from other places to look for relatives, not locals in Fu'an County.
Many things are just hearsay and I don't know much about them. "
Hua Manman asked: "The relative you are looking for is in the county seat of Fu'an County?"
Jin Ling'er nodded, and then explained with some embarrassment.
"Actually, we were originally going to the county seat, and we just dropped by to show you the way."
Hua Manman waved his hands, and said indifferently: "It's okay."
The place where they are located belongs to the jurisdiction of Fu'an County.
There are many towns that were affected by the disaster this time, and Fu'an County was the most severely affected, but because of the construction of canals in the county, the county seat of Fu'an County is still intact.
Many refugees flocked to the county seat of Fu'an County, hoping to find a way out there.
They were all yellow and emaciated, dressed in ragged clothes, and their eyes were full of bewilderment and numbness to the future.
They don't know what the end result of this road will be.
But they have no other way out but to move on.
The distance from the county seat is relatively far, and the road is slippery in rainy days, Hua Manman and his party's progress is even slower.
On the way, Jin Ling'er and her brother almost fainted because they were so hungry.
Hua Manman and Li Ji were not much better either, both were starving.
They wanted to hunt, but all the low-lying places around here were flooded, so they could only go to higher places, and finally they were lucky enough to hunt a nest of rabbits in the high woods.
They roasted the rabbit and ate it.
This is barely a bit of a feeling of fullness.
In order not to go hungry again on the road, they spent some time searching in the mountains.
This time they found two snakes and some wild fruits.
They dried the two snakes, wrapped them together with wild fruits in clothes, and took them on the road as food reserves.
Relying on such a little food, they rushed to the county seat with difficulty.
But they could not enter the city.
Because the city gate is closed.
The refugees who came from all directions were turned away, they had nowhere to go, they could only stay in the wasteland outside the city.
Hua Manman looked around, almost all the mountains and plains were full of refugees.
Many of the refugees set up temporary tents with thatch to avoid the wind and rain.
But there are also many refugees who don't even have a tent, so they can only squat on the ground and hold their arms tightly to endure the wind and rain.
Li Ji looked up and saw many officers and soldiers standing above the city wall.
Those officers and soldiers were looking down at these refugees from a high position, their expressions were very indifferent.
It seems that in their eyes, those below are just a group of insignificant ants.
A family was hiding at the base of the wall near the city gate. Among them, a little girl had fainted from hunger, and a woman was holding her and crying.
Hua Manman walked over and handed over the last remaining wild fruit.
When the women saw that there was food, they stopped crying immediately.
She snatched the wild fruit, stuffed it into her mouth, crushed it, and then fed it to her daughter.
A wild fruit can't change the current bad situation, but at least it can make the little girl's breath no longer so weak.
After the woman finished feeding her daughter, she turned to Hua Manman.
There was a look of embarrassment on her withered and thin face.
"Sorry, I was too anxious just now, I..."
Hua Manman waved her hand to indicate that it was okay.
She knelt down, looked at the daughter in her arms, and asked, "Why don't you go to the city?"
Because of the wild fruit, the woman is very grateful to Huamanman at this time.
Hearing Hua Manman's question, the woman didn't hide it and said the truth.
"It is said that the county magistrate did not allow us to enter the city."
Hua Manman was puzzled: "Why?"
Women: "I don't know the details.
It was said that it was because refugees had caused trouble in the city before, which aroused dissatisfaction among the people in the city.
The county magistrate was afraid of affecting the public order in the city, so he ordered the city gates to be closed and the refugees were strictly prohibited from entering the city. "
Hua Manman: "Since you can't enter the city, why do you still stay here and refuse to leave?"
"Because the Gao family, Deng family, and Cao family in the city will give porridge outside the city."
When the woman said this, she couldn't help swallowing.
Although it was just a bland water porridge, it was considered a rare good under the current circumstances.
Hearing this, Li Ji suddenly spoke.
"Who are those three families?"
The woman took advantage of the situation to look at Li Ji.
After several days of traveling, Li Ji's clothes had become wrinkled, his hair wet by the rain stuck to his face, his lips were pale, and he looked much more downcast than before.
But even so, his tall and straight figure, as well as his outstanding appearance, still stood out among a group of sallow and emaciated refugees.
Therefore, when the woman saw him, she couldn't help being stunned.
Hua Manman introduced: "This is my husband-in-law, his name is Li Ergou."
We just met by chance, so there is no need to introduce names.
Hua Manman is clearly trying to make Li Ji narrower on purpose.
Li Ji smiled slightly: "She is my daughter-in-law, you can call her dog wife."
Hua Manman: "..."
The woman didn't notice the maneuver between the two, and continued with the previous topic.
"The Gao family, the Deng family, and the Cao family are all rich local families in Fu'an County.
It is said that many powerful figures have emerged from their clan, and some even entered the court and became high-ranking officials.
Even the local county magistrate has to be courteous when they see them.
The three of them are kind-hearted and good people. When they learned that we were flooded and had nowhere to go, they gave everyone porridge at the porridge shed outside the city every other day. "
When she said this, she raised her finger to a grass shed not far away.
That's where the porridge is served.
Now the hut has been occupied by a group of refugees, and it is full of people.
Hua Manman sighed: "So the three of them are good people."
The woman nodded vigorously: "Yes, they are all great kind people, even better than the county magistrate!"
The county magistrate didn't care about their life or death, but the three families were willing to give them porridge.
Comparing the two, you will know who is superior and who is inferior.
Li Ji asked: "Has the imperial court ever served porridge?"
The woman pouted, her tone quite resentful.
"That group of officials is the most vicious, they don't treat us refugees as human beings, so how can they be willing to give us food
I heard that there is a lot of grain stored in the warehouse of the county government.
But the county magistrate is unwilling to take it out, and we have no choice but to watch. "
At this time, Jin Ling'er, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke.
"Is the Gao family very powerful locally?"
(end of this chapter)