Refugees Gather at the County Seat, and Zhang Sheng Takes In Two Little Girls

"Breaking through to level 10 was already within reach, yet somehow I was starting to feel a little nervous."

Zhang Sheng stood by the window, looking at the distant sky as he murmured to himself.

"Eldest Son! Are you up?"

"I'm up. What is it, Auntie?"

"It's nothing much. Your Uncle Dashan just needs you for something."

"Uncle Dashan?"

Zhang Sheng didn't ask any more questions. Once he had found out where Uncle Dashan was, he went over on his own.

"Eldest Son of the Zhang Family! You're here!"

"Uncle Dashan! What are you doing?"

"Oh! I wanted to fix the roof of the house, and there's a lot of lumber to move.

Your auntie isn't quite strong enough, so I figured you could lend a hand, since you're stronger."

"Mm! That's no trouble!"

And so Zhang Sheng and Uncle Dashan began repairing the roof, which had collapsed under the weight of the snow. He didn't know what else to do with his time anyway, so helping fix the roof wasn't a bad way to spend it.

Time often flew when they were busy. By the time they had finished repairing the roof, the snow had mostly melted, though the roads were still a little muddy.

"Eldest Son of the Zhang Family! I'm going to the county seat tomorrow to buy a few things. We're almost out of oil and salt at home, so I need to stock up. Do you need to go?"

"Mm! I might as well come along. It's not like I have anything else to do."

After making plans with Uncle Dashan, Zhang Sheng set out with him before dawn the next day. They took the same road as before,

but it was a little harder to travel than it had been. Their feet were covered in mud, slowing them down.

When they were nearly at the county seat, they noticed something was wrong. There seemed to be many more people on the road, dragging their families along with them. Their faces were blank as they walked silently toward the county seat.

Only when they reached the city gate did Zhang Sheng and his companion learn that these people had come fleeing disaster. Several refugee camps had sprung up outside the gate, and some people were handing out porridge.

"Alas! I never thought things would get this bad. I wonder if the imperial court can send relief in time."

"Uncle Dashan! Have you been through this before?"

"Once. It was much more brutal than this. You could see corpses lying by the roadside everywhere along the way, and people even exchanged children to eat. It was unbearable to look at."

Zhang Sheng had only heard about such things before and had never seen them with his own eyes. Now, hearing Uncle Dashan speak of them,

and looking at the scene before him, he felt that these things didn't seem so far removed from him after all.

At the same time, he silently encouraged himself. He would never let such a tragedy befall his own people.

After taking a look around, Zhang Sheng and Uncle Dashan entered the city. This time, there were actually more soldiers guarding the gate, all looking wary.

"Uncle Dashan! What's going on with the soldiers at the gate today?"

"They're there to prevent a riot, in case the disaster victims attack the county seat."

Once Uncle Dashan said that, Zhang Sheng quickly grasped the key to it. If the disaster victims had nothing to eat,

their only way to survive would be to rush the county seat. That would inevitably cause chaos inside, and might even lead to a greater disaster.

"So that's why officials in ancient times didn't readily let refugees into the city. There were so many serious considerations behind it."

After entering the city, they found it somewhat more desolate. The bustle of their last visit was nowhere to be seen,

and only a few scattered people were walking the streets, all of them in a hurry.

Seeing this, neither Zhang Sheng nor Uncle Dashan was in the mood to browse the streets, so they headed straight for their destination.

When they arrived and asked the price, they found it was twice as expensive as usual, and the shopkeeper acted as though he didn't care whether they bought it or not.

Because of the snow disaster, many shops had closed, and they couldn't find another one for the moment. They had no choice but to buy what they needed there.

Afterward, Zhang Sheng was also rather angry. He decided that once he got back, he would look for a salt mine or something of the sort. He never wanted to swallow this humiliation over salt again.

"Eldest Son of the Zhang Family! Don't be angry about it. This is all normal. Today's shopkeeper was actually one of the better ones.

He only doubled the price. If you run into a worse crooked shop, it's perfectly normal for them to raise it four or five times."

"I just can't stand the sight of those faces. When I get back, I'll produce salt myself, and I won't come here to buy it anymore."

"I know you're capable, but salt is controlled by those big families.

It's very hard for ordinary folk like us to get our hands on it. Even when we can, it's from poisonous salt mines that can't be eaten."

"Poisonous salt mines? Are there any near our village?"

"There are! Why? You're not thinking of going after poisonous salt, are you? No! That stuff is poisonous. You can't eat it, or you'll die!"

Seeing how excited Zhang Sheng had become at the mention of poisonous salt mines, Uncle Dashan grew worried, afraid that he would go and mine one.

"Uncle Dashan! Don't worry. I have a way to turn poisonous salt into edible salt, even better than what we buy now.

Uncle Dashan! Didn't you see it in my kitchen? I processed that from the salt I had on hand.

When you ate it, didn't you notice it had no bitter taste? And the dishes made with it tasted better too, didn't they?"

Hearing Zhang Sheng say this, Uncle Dashan realized that when he had eaten at Zhang Sheng's house lately,

the food really had tasted better than before. He had thought all along that his wife's cooking had improved, but it turned out to be the salt.

Once he realized the key reason, Uncle Dashan grew excited at once.

"Eldest Son of the Zhang Family! Are you sure you can turn poisonous salt into salt we can eat?"

"Mm! I'm sure!"

Seeing how certain Zhang Sheng was, Uncle Dashan immediately became excited.

"Wonderful! Wonderful! We won't have to worry about salt anymore."

Seeing the happy look on Uncle Dashan's face, Zhang Sheng felt a little pleased himself, and at once threw his earlier frustration to the back of his mind.

Once they had bought everything they needed, Uncle Dashan couldn't wait to head back. It seemed he wanted to hurry home and see whether what Zhang Sheng had said was true.

When they hurried to the city gate, there seemed to be even more refugees than before. Big and small, old and young, they made a noisy, chaotic crowd.

Zhang Sheng didn't have many thoughts about the scene before him. He could only blame the cruelty of the times.

But just as he was about to leave the city gate behind, he spotted two little girls crouched beneath a large tree by the road.

They looked like sisters, and they were shivering in thin, worn-out clothes.

If no one helped them, it was hard to say whether they would even survive the night.

Perhaps his heart had been stirred by pity. Zhang Sheng walked straight toward the two sisters under the tree, hoping to see whether he could help them.

"Eldest Son of the Zhang...!"

Seeing Zhang Sheng head toward the large tree by the road, Uncle Dashan wanted to ask him what was going on.

But when he saw the two children under the tree, he said no more and followed him instead.

"Hello!"

The sisters jumped when they suddenly heard someone speak, thinking someone had come to bully them. The older girl immediately grabbed her little sister and prepared to run.

"Don't be afraid! I just wanted to ask whether there's anything you need help with."

Seeing that he had frightened them, Zhang Sheng hurriedly spoke up to reassure them.

But it didn't seem to do much good. They still looked at Zhang Sheng warily.

This left Zhang Sheng at a loss. He couldn't help looking at Uncle Dashan, hoping he would come up with an idea.

Catching Zhang Sheng's pleading look, Uncle Dashan stepped forward and said directly:

"Would you two like to have enough to eat and warm clothes to wear from now on? If you do, you can go home with this young master. You won't have to worry about food or clothing there; you'll just need to do a little work."

"Uncle Dashan! I..."

Before Zhang Sheng could finish, Uncle Dashan stopped him with a look.

For a moment, he was puzzled by Uncle Dashan's behavior and didn't know what he was trying to do.

"Uncle! Can we really have enough to eat? We can work."

"I wouldn't lie to you. You'll definitely have enough to eat."

Thump!

"Thank you for taking us in, Uncle!"

The older girl immediately pulled her little sister down to her knees and hurriedly began thanking him.

"Don't thank me. You should thank this young master. You're going to his home."

"Thank you, young master! Thank you, young master!"

"No need to thank me! Get up, quickly! The ground is cold!"

After a few twists and turns, Zhang Sheng took in the two little sisters.

It added a little life to the house, and even if Uncle Dashan moved out later, he wouldn't feel lonely.