When Li Ping'an and the others were about to queue up, the adults woke up all the sleeping children and gave each of them a bowl. If they were still sleeping and didn't receive the porridge at this time, they really wouldn't have a share.
Li Ping'an finally saw clearly the situation in the porridge shed. There were only two large pots, and the people cooking the porridge were all government servants, and they were all sweating profusely. There were several piles of empty sacks in the innermost part of the porridge shed, and each pile was stacked high. When Li Ping'an handed over the bowl, a group of state soldiers happened to come over guarding a cart with bulging sacks piled on it.
Li Ping'an quickly looked away, not daring to look further. After the bowl in his hand gained weight, he hurriedly stepped aside.
The porridge they received was much thicker than what they cooked themselves. After finishing one bowl, they actually felt full. The officials who shared the porridge treated everyone equally. The porridge in Xiao Ruyi's bowl was no less than that of the adults. The little guy was still confused and finished the whole bowl while being fed by his mother.
Looking at the queue with no end in sight, Li Ping'an gave up the idea of queuing up to receive porridge again. The high-ranking officials of the state government were thoughtful, and the state army and government officials maintained order. There was no way to jump in the queue. He wanted to receive it again. I don’t know how far I have to go and how long I have to wait in line. Not a good deal.
The open space outside the city had been occupied by the refugees who had arrived early. Li Ping'an and the others found a place to stay after walking a long way. Looking back, they could no longer see the city wall, only a patch of night was dimly illuminated.
Fortunately, there are also state troops patrolling here with torches, so there is no need to arrange so many people to keep vigil. Perhaps he has a good impression of the state officers, and Li Ping'an feels more at ease. He sleeps deeply and sleeps until midnight. Wake up when the light shines brightly.
Little Ruyi had woken up a long time ago and had been sitting next to Li Pingan with her little head propped up and staring at Li Pingan. Seeing Li Pingan open his eyes, she immediately bared her millet teeth and whispered: "Big pot, Ruyi dreamed about eating porridge last night. There was so much rice." Ah, Ruyi is so full!"
Li Ping'an instantly became energetic and couldn't help but become happy. He picked up little Ruyi and asked, "Did you share some of the porridge with your elder brother when you ate it in your dream?"
"The big pot also has porridge, and so does my mother. Everyone has it!"
"Yes, we all have porridge. My eldest brother also dreamed of it and was full!"
Little Ruyi giggled, and Ji Xiang, who was next to her, couldn't see her being so happy, so he said, "I told you it wasn't a dream. It was the high official of the state who asked people to give porridge. We got the porridge last night."
"It was just a dream! Cauldron said he had a dream too!"
"No! Big brother is coaxing you!"
"That's right! Just talk to me, Da Guo. Did you say Ruyi was dreaming?"
…
It felt like it had been a long time since the two little sisters had quarreled. Li Pingan looked at the scene with a smile and said nothing. But soon Chen Dajuan came over to suppress the two little sisters.
"Dad, are we going to get porridge?" Li Ping'an approached Li Erlin.
"I won't go. I just came back from a visit and I can't even see the end of the queue. I don't know how long it will take to wait in line."
Although a day longer means a day less food is available, but this is the capital of the state after all, and countless refugees come from all directions every day. There are also many people who are unwilling to go further and just eat as long as they can. After all, no one knows where the next soup kitchen will be or if there will be one.
There will only be more and more refugees gathered here. No matter how much food there is in the state capital, there will always be a time when it bottoms out. When there is no more food to eat, the refugees will hit the road again. By then, this group of refugees will have accumulated a lot of strength. The road ahead is hopeless and will only become more dangerous.
It would be better to sneak away while there are not many people on the road now.
Soon Zhang Yu also came back. He went to inquire about the news. The governor of the state capital was indeed a good official. His administration had won the hearts of the people for many years. In addition to the rice grains stored in the granary, the governor also lobbied the city. The big business owners donated a lot. But by giving porridge non-stop for days, the rice was consumed very quickly and I couldn't last more than a few days.
Moreover, there are too many refugees, and the state government has no plans to accept them. Sooner or later, when the food is exhausted, they will be driven away.
The leading adults gathered together and decided to leave immediately, taking advantage of the daylight to go far away and find a place with few people to stay.
While the adults were discussing, Li Ping'an didn't listen, but he wasn't idle either. With the help of the state army to maintain order, he boldly turned around in a small circle.
There are so many refugees. They are sitting or lying all over the place. Some are in ragged clothes, and some are of good quality. Natural disasters, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, everyone who deserves to suffer suffers.
He also unexpectedly saw an acquaintance, "Doctor Zhu?"
"Li Pingan?" Dr. Zhu never expected that he would be here. At this time, when he met Li Pingan, he looked behind Li Pingan and asked, "Are you the only one?"
"No, people from our village have gone up the mountain a long time ago. No one was washed away by the flood. We fled separately. My family members are over there." Li Ping'an pointed to the direction he had just walked and squatted next to Dr. Zhu. Coming down, "Didn't you come to Zhoucheng a long time ago? Why didn't you go in?"
"Hey, we met a fast horse reporting the news on the way. We didn't dare to leave, so we hurried up the mountain to hide." Speaking of this, Dr. Zhu was heartbroken. Fortunately, their lives should not have been cut off, and they happened to meet Linhu County Fortunately, the fast horse who reported the water situation to the state capital went up the mountain first as a precaution, otherwise, they would have been washed away by the flood before they reached the state capital.
However, this also delayed time. When the flood receded and they went down the mountain, the city closed the city gates tightly to prevent the refugees from entering the city because they were worried that the refugees would carry diseases. Even though Dr. Zhu took the road guide issued by Qingfeng County, he was unable to find any soldiers guarding the city with whom he could communicate, so he could only take his family to settle outside the city.
Li Ping'an's mind moved, and the smile on his face became more and more enthusiastic, "Doctor Zhu, what are your plans next? I heard that Zhoucheng has no plans to take in refugees."
Doctor Zhu didn't know, but he didn't think about what to do next.
"Why don't you come with us? We plan to go south. There are a lot of people." Then, Li Ping'an whispered in Dr. Zhu's ear, "We still have a lot of food."
When they were hiding from floods in the mountains before, they were lucky enough to always catch prey, so they didn't hand over the eight shi of grain they bought. They didn't know if other people in the village had forgotten it, or what, anyway, the eight shi of brown rice They all took the road, covered tightly with quilts and clothes.
This was also the main reason why they were on tenterhooks all the way.
If he hadn't met Dr. Zhu, forget it. Now that he had met him, he had no plans. Of course Li Ping'an wanted to take him with him, even if he had to wait for a few more mouths to eat.
Talents are most rare in this era, that is, the city does not intend to accept refugees, otherwise Dr. Zhu's ability would be able to bring his family to stay. Given such an opportunity, he naturally had no reason to miss it. After all, the journey was steep and long, and no one knew what would happen on the road. With a doctor, everyone felt at ease.
It's just that Dr. Zhu couldn't make a decision for a while, and Li Pingan couldn't make the decision. He needed to go back to discuss with Li Erlin and the others, so he made an appointment to come back later and let Dr. Zhu discuss it with his family before making a decision.
When Li Erlin and the others heard that there was such a good thing, they quickly agreed and asked Li Ping'an to take them to persuade Dr. Zhu. No one in their group understands better than Li Erlin how important it is to have a doctor on the way to escape.
When they were fleeing, if there had been a doctor in the team, so many people might not have to die.
