So when Xiang Rui passed by later, he realized why the city was so empty. It was because he had lost too many people at that time, and he had not recovered until then.
When Xiang Rui mentioned these past events, there was a look of sadness on his face. Others were frightened and did not dare to speak.
at this time.
"Are you out-of-towners who escaped from the disaster?"
Following this somewhat solemn and heavy atmosphere, an incongruous voice interrupted the big guy's contemplation.
A middle-aged man wearing several patches of clothing was returning from nowhere with a backpack on his back. He looked as if he was preparing to return to the city.
After seeing these people, he asked with a somewhat accented tone.
After getting their nods of affirmation, the middle-aged man showed a little weirdness on his face, and after a while he hesitated and said, "Then I advise you to leave early! This is not a good place for us!"
"Hey, uncle, what do you mean by this?"
Shen Jun reacted first and stepped forward to talk to the other party.
The middle-aged man saw that the person asking the question was a neat little girl. Seeing her made her feel more favorable, and he was more willing to explain a few words more.
"Hey, let me tell you straight." The middle-aged man said, "Although we are not as short of water as outside, it is not easy to get a drink of water. Water is really more expensive than gold!"
The middle-aged man explained carefully to Shen Jun and the others.
In fact, their county town also encountered drought, otherwise the river outside would not have dried up like this trickle.
Most of the wells in the county were drained.
There was a lot of water in the only well left, but that well belonged to a powerful landowner in their county.
The old man in the landowner's family was willing to share the water, but since last year, the water in other wells in the county has become less and less, but the water in this family's well has not decreased.
At the same time, the philanthropic old man fell seriously ill, and the power of the family was handed over to his sons.
From that moment on, the sons of the big landlord suddenly turned against each other.
If you want to go to their house to get water, you can, but if you want to drink water, you have to pay for water.
And as the drought lasts longer and longer, the cost of buying water becomes more and more expensive.
Not many people bought into it at first. The well water was indeed relatively clean, but the river at the gate of their county town could still be used.
After all, the weather is severely dry, and it would be nice to have water to drink. There is no room for them to be picky.
Who would have known that the son of the big landowner was just a beast that was skinned by Zhou?
He even sent people to throw the bodies of dead people in the county into the river. Not only that, he also found the person responsible for collecting night incense in the county and joined forces with them to dump the stuff into the river.
The purpose of doing this is to force people in the county to choose to buy water from their homes.
Other people in the county must be very dissatisfied with this behavior, and they also came to make trouble.
However, the other party's family had dozens of powerful thugs. The first person who came to seek justice not only did not get justice, but was beaten half to death.
Since then, many people have mentioned it in their hearts, and few people dare to come to ask for an explanation.
In addition to using force to intimidate, the person responsible for collecting night incense was also involved. If he dared to come to the door to cause trouble, the other party would go to the door of that person's house and splash the excrement.
Those things were so dirty, and there was no water to wash them with, so they were splashed at the door. I didn’t know what to do.
With the two parties joining forces, who would dare to make trouble again?
Moreover, their water purchase fee is neither too much nor too little, which is right at the limit of the tolerance of this group of people.
Many people tell themselves that spending a little money to buy some water is not a big deal.
Just endure it like this, and I have endured it for more than half a year.
After listening to the middle-aged man's dictation, these people's eyes showed surprise.
Xiang Rui was the first one who couldn't hold back. He asked bluntly, "You may not be able to defeat someone who comes to seek justice alone. If you and the entire county rush together, are you still afraid of dozens of thugs?"
The middle-aged man seemed stunned for a moment, and then he hesitated for a while and said, "Who wants to run at the front and get beaten? Besides, those people are better at martial arts than us. We are just farmers and vegetable sellers, how can we have the strength?" Fight with others?"
Excuse.
These words are not just excuses.
Xiang Rui looked at him with a look of hatred.
If such a person dared to live in his county, he, Xiang Rui, would have rushed up with his men and smashed up their house.
Compared with Xiang Rui, who looked quite angry, Shen Jun seemed much calmer.
For many people, they are more likely to endure if no one is there to help them.
And this kind of patience does have a bottom line, but the bottom line can be lowered again and again.
Only when they are really forced to the point where they can no longer survive will this group of people actually pick up knives and sticks to resist.
As long as they can survive, they will comfort themselves and deceive themselves and others.
I will tell myself that everyone is so miserable, and there are others who are worse off than me, but I can still endure it.
They will also comfort themselves that if they endure it longer, the famine will be over, and their lives will be able to return to peace.
It's not worth running to fight with the opponent now.
What if the other party beats you to death or kills a family member?
Little did they know that it was precisely because of this kind of patience that the other party became more and more rude, more and more contemptuous, and did not take these people seriously.
Because Shen Jun understood this, she was not as angry as Xiang Rui. She calmly asked another question, "Have you never thought about digging another well?"
Since the drought here is not that serious, the well in the so-called big landowner's house is not short of water.
If people in the county look around, they might be able to dig a well with water.
The man was blushing with embarrassment as he was being questioned by Xiang Rui. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Shen Jun's question.
"We haven't thought about it." The middle-aged man sighed, and then said in a complaining tone, "But they either stopped the well halfway through digging, or they finally dug it but didn't get any water. .”
There seemed to be a bit of matter-of-factness in this complaining tone, as if the middle-aged man was inadvertently revealing a piece of news.
It’s not that they don’t want to work hard, it’s that they can’t do anything no matter how hard they try.
Ordinary people like them can't beat those rich people.
Shen Jun raised his eyebrows, but she didn't speak.
When Xiang Rui and Ning Zhongchen on the side saw this middle-aged man, their eyes unconsciously showed a little indifference.
The previous sympathy for them had completely disappeared.
This kind of important matter related to life can actually be tolerated over and over again and convinced to accept it.
