Chapter 143: Deserted

When Huang Xu was in the army, he had a conflict with a military officer while guarding the border. He killed him in anger and escaped with a team of less than 100 people.

Because the Shuo Dynasty was already a little busy at that time, Huang Xu easily escaped the pursuit. Later, as the peasant armies in the north revolted one after another, the green forest heroes in various places also established their own bases. Huang Xu also claimed to be the descendant of the famous Langya general Huang Jian, and won over many people, and later attracted many people to join him.

He went south and gathered the people along the way. Now that he has taken Renzhou without spending a single soldier, the team has reached 10,000 people.

Compared with the wild teams of hundreds or thousands outside, it is already quite large.

Although there are many old, weak, women and children in the team, it is also very intimidating to carry out the banner of 10,000 people. Didn't the governor of Renzhou run away in fear when he heard it?

Originally, the team planned to pass through Jiangxi and go south to Fujian or Guangdong and Guangxi. Unexpectedly, as soon as Renzhou was in hand, Huang Xu led the team to camp outside Renzhou City.

Su Qingmei didn't know what Huang Shenzhi and others were thinking. But she was relieved that the team could stop, and finally she could take a break.

No matter how chaotic the war was and how the people fled, Renzhou, as the capital of several counties, should still have merchants and shops, right?

Su Qingmei planned to go to the city to buy some fine grains.

Since she stopped giving Lv Xiaobao rice porridge and milk powder, Lv Xiaobao has been protesting and crying for many days. Su's father and mother Su Qingliu cried so hard that their hearts trembled and they felt pitiful. They said that he had to suffer with adults all the way at such a young age, and he couldn't even eat fine grains.

Every time he cried, Su's mother would shed tears.

As for Su Qingmei, she knew her own child's temper. She knew that this child just cried more and shed less golden beans. But, seeing such a little thing that was born with great effort, howling so miserably, was also quite heartbreaking.

So this time when the large army was stationed in Renzhou, she planned to quietly go to the city to see if there was any fine grain, buy some, and buy some sweet things for the children.

Not only did Lu Xiaobao lose a lot of weight because he was not used to eating coarse grain porridge, but Yaya, Jinhai, Qingyang, Qingxing and other children were also in poor spirits, and their little faces were sunken. The adults saw it and felt pain in their hearts.

Since Huang Xu moved into the governor's mansion in the city with his family and close subordinates, the large army of 10,000 people stationed in an open area outside the city.

Because they were not in a hurry for the time being, some people and soldiers with private money also planned to go to the city to stroll around and buy some necessities of life.

"Qing'an, have you decided what to buy?" asked the eldest aunt.

"Well, I'm going to buy some food. Let's see if there are some snacks, and I plan to buy some for the children. What about the eldest aunt, do you want to buy anything?" Su Qing'an replied.

"Your mother and I will stay tomorrow to look after the children and our belongings. You and your sister can take Qixia and Hongxiu to look around. Bring back some cloth for everyone. Your mother and I will make a few pairs of shoes for everyone. You can buy some needles and red brains."

"Okay."

Su's father listened from the side and said, "You're not going? How can we feel at ease if the women go. Then Dahu and Dajiang will go with them. It's okay for the four of us old people to stay behind. We will look after the belongings and take care of the children."

Su Qing'an saw Dahu and Dajiang nodded in agreement, so she thought it was a good idea. They didn't know what was going on in the city, and it was indeed not safe for the women to go out. So she agreed.

Looking back, she saw Qingyang and Qingxing looking at her with burning eyes, and she felt a little uncomfortable.

The two children followed the adults and suffered all the way, but they didn't complain or feel tired. They were sensible and considerate. They ate whatever was given, helped the adults with work, and helped take care of the younger children, so as not to make the adults worry.

Then she rubbed the twins' heads and said, "Wait for sister to go to the city to find out first. If it's safe, I'll take you to the city next time."

"Okay."

"Sister, see if there are any books for sale. If there are any books I can read, please buy me one." Qing Yang said.

Su Qing'an agreed. This child has been studying in a private school for almost two years and is very eager to read. Now that he is following the adults, he is still thinking about reading. He can often be seen reading and reciting books that he has read countless times.

The next day, Su Qing'an and a few others went into the city together. There were also many people who went into the city like them. They just kept their heads down and rushed all the way, which made the road a little suffocating. They all planned to go into the city to change their mood.

Since the governor ran away, there were no guards guarding the city gate in Renzhou City. But there were not many people entering and leaving except for those in their camp.

After entering the city, the streets were very deserted, and you could see the end of the street. Many merchants on both sides closed their doors. Some houses were half-hidden, and when they saw people on the street, some people inside carefully poked their heads out and looked at Su Qing'an and her group.

Probably because they heard that the governor had fled with his family, many residents in the city also followed him. Those who were capable had fled in advance, or followed the governor, and those who had nowhere to go were hiding at home.

Su Qing'an expected the streets to be deserted, but she didn't expect it to be so deserted.

There were only a few shops open in the city. In less than half an hour, they had finished touring the not-so-small city of Renzhou.

They didn't buy any grain either.

Grain stores have always been the primary target of invaders, so when they heard that a team was coming in, the well-informed shopkeepers closed their doors early and ran away.

However, they bought a few pieces of cloth, some needles and thread, and other items in a half-hidden cloth store, and bought all the shoes that the Su family could wear in the store, including all the soles of the store.

Although they brought a lot of shoes when they left Fengting Town, they wore out a lot of shoes during the march. They didn't have a chance to make soles, so they bought them all when they saw them for sale. Although it looked like a lot, there were only about three or four pairs per person.

However, there were many of them, and they could wrap them in old cloth to make a big bag.

These days, ordinary people can't even get enough food, and no one is willing to spend money on clothes. The new cloth in the cloth shop's warehouse has accumulated into old cloth, so Su Qing'an also bought a lot of thick linen cloth that is durable and hard to wear.

The shop owner may be eager to clear the warehouse and go out to avoid the limelight, so he is very hard to sell. Seeing that Su Qing'an and others bought a lot, he was very happy.

Hearing that she wanted to buy food, he kindly took them to the residential area in the city and stopped at the back door of a resident. He introduced that this family used to run a small restaurant in the city. The people didn't run away, but the store was closed for fear of being robbed.

He said that there should be some food in his house.

He asked Su Qing'an and others to wait at the back door, and he slipped in after someone opened the door.

After a while, the cloth shop owner came out with a man behind him, who must be the owner of the small restaurant he mentioned. The owner opened the door halfway and looked them up and down.