Chapter 258: Starting To Harvest Wheat
Qin Wanwan became interested watching her: “Who is it?”
The little girl, her eyes full of hatred, pointed at five men in the crowd with her finger.
“They, they ate my mother and my younger brother!”
This statement was utterly shocking.
Qin Wanwan and Keke both looked in the direction she pointed; cannibalism, that was a very serious matter.
Among the five men, one who appeared more shrewd seemed to discover they were being identified. His expression changed, and a glint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes instantly.
Keke confirmed their gaze; they were wicked and evil people.
“They have indeed eaten people, and not just two!”
Qin Wanwan, with Keke, ran towards them.
The shrewd man immediately called to his companions.
“Damn it, we’ve run into someone who knows what we’ve done, let’s go.”
Seeing them about to escape, Qin Wanwan quickly called for support.
“Daddy, catch those few people, they are bad guys!”
Xie Chong, without a word, personally led his men to apprehend them.
The shrewd man’s eyes turned red, and his expression became ferocious.
“Catch that little brat!”
With so many soldiers, they couldn’t escape, so they could only try to grab a hostage.
Many people saw Qin Wanwan being carried out of the city by her Daddy, and the shrewd man was naturally no exception.
He knew clearly that under the circumstances of too great a disparity in strength, only by capturing the little brat could there be a glimmer of hope for survival.
So, several people ran towards Qin Wanwan’s direction.
Three of them were apprehended by Xie Chong and his men from behind.
Xie Chong instantly drew the knife at his waist and threw it, instantly killing one of the two who had run away.
Just as the last one was about to grab Qin Wanwan, Snowflake descended from the sky at an extremely fast speed and gouged out his eyes.
The man, in pain, couldn’t bother with Qin Wanwan at all. He clutched his eyes and rolled on the ground, screaming in agony.
In just these few breaths of time, the shrewd man who had run so fast was captured.
The surrounding crowd fell into a panic.
“Everyone be quiet!”
Under the stern shouts of the border army, the refugees gradually quieted down.
It was mainly out of fear.
Qin Wanwan walked to her Daddy’s side and said in a milky voice, “Daddy, these fellows ate people.”
Xie Chong understood upon hearing this.
The little girl who had identified them also ran over. Seeing her enemies captured, although she felt a sense of satisfaction, she was more filled with sadness.
Xie Chong raised his hand: “Everyone be quiet. These people ate others on the run from the drought. The government will imprison them.”
Although in the face of great disaster, everyone was starving and would eat anything, eating people was something that no one with even a shred of humanity would do.
The refugees present also did not want to live together with people who had eaten others.
After all, once they had eaten people once, there was no longer a bottom line. Who knew if they would secretly kill and eat people?
Hearing Xie Chong’s explanation, some of the refugees recognized the five people, and now all the refugees thanked Xie Chong.
The census continued. Four of the five people were still alive and captured, while the remaining one was directly found a place to be burned and his ashes scattered into the soil.
“Thank you.”
The little girl earnestly thanked Qin Wanwan.
Qin Wanwan gave a harmless and cute smile.
“You all should live well from now on. If anyone bullies you, don’t be afraid, just report it to the officials.”
With her Daddy here, the county magistrate here wouldn’t dare to cause trouble under her Daddy’s nose.
This group of children were all together, either having lost their family members during the escape or their family members had directly died, and they had banded together for warmth.
Xie Chong assigned them all to a village.
“I wonder how the drought in Hongning County is doing.”
If they had any other choice, who would be willing to move their entire family and leave their homes.
The drought in Hongning County had lasted for three years. In the first and second years, the commoners still held hope that they could endure and wait for heaven to send rain.
But in the third year, they really couldn’t hold on any longer.
Xie Chong patted Qin Wanwan’s little head: “I’ve already written a memorial about this matter and sent it by express horse to Shangjing. You’re too young to worry about this.”
Qin Wanwan let out an “oh.”
The border pass was preparing to harvest wheat.
Even if no new wheat seeds were sown this year, with the addition of fertilizer, the wheat this year looked much better than in previous years.
The newly arrived refugees who were strong went everywhere to find work as laborers; helping with wheat harvesting was one way.
Xie Chong, meanwhile, was most concerned about the wheat in the military fields.
Under the scorching sun, at his command, bare-chested men, their skin tanned dark by the sun, picked up their knives and went into the fields, all working with great enthusiasm.
Qin Wanwan, so small, squatted in the field, cutting wheat with a knife for a long time, until she was out of breath.
“I’m so tired.”
Her little hat was askew.
Xie Chong picked up the stubborn little cub and put her under a tree to sit.
“Rest here, don’t run around.”
Qin Wanwan let out a sullen “oh.”
She had only cut a tiny bit of wheat, it was so embarrassing.
“Quack!”
Qin Xiaoe waddled over, a water canteen hanging around her neck.
The canteen contained plum juice.
Drinking a cup of plum juice in the summer was also very refreshing.
She held the canteen and took a big gulp: “I want to save some for Father Xie.”
She stood on her tiptoes and stretched her neck to look into the wheat field. In just this short while, she didn’t know where Daddy had gone.
Since she couldn’t help here, Qin Wanwan could only think of other ways to help Father Xie.
So she took Qin Xiaoe home.
She also made a detour to the military camp to find someone to slaughter a duck and a chicken.
Then she waddled to Father Shang’s manor; her purpose was to pick lotus leaves.
She wanted to eat Beggar’s Chicken.
Shang Wuyang’s luxurious manor had a lotus pond, and it was now the season when the lotus flowers were in full bloom.
She leaned by the pond, stretching her little chubby arms to pick lotus leaves.
“Miss, please don’t take risks. We’ll do it. If you want lotus leaves and seedpods, we’ll pick them for you!”
The servants on the manor watched Qin Wanwan’s actions, almost scared out of their wits.
Qin Wanwan: My arms are too short to reach, it’s a bit embarrassing.
Seeing the chubby koi fish swimming over, she had a sudden idea; her little chubby hands should touch the fish.
The koi fish wasn’t afraid of people and actually actively swam into Qin Wanwan’s hands.
She said in a milky voice, explaining herself: “I’m not picking lotus leaves, I came to touch the chubby koi fish.”
“Since you are so enthusiastic, then pick me some lotus leaves and seedpods.”
“Can lotus root also be eaten? I want lotus root too.”
How could the Little Ancestor’s requests be refused?
A group of people nodded repeatedly.
“Okay, okay, we’ll pick them right away.”
Some went into the water, some picked lotus leaves, and some picked lotus seedpods.
Qin Wanwan looked at the large lotus leaf and also asked them for one to put on her head.
Hmm… it was quite cool.
“Miss, do you want lotus flowers?”
The flowers looked quite good.
Qin Wanwan nodded: “Yes!”
Although lotus flowers couldn’t be eaten, they could be given as gifts.
