Linxia

Chapter 13, Arrival

After lunch and a rest, they continued on their journey. The villagers were all holding their breath for the last leg of the journey.

Finally, in the evening, a gray-brown city wall appeared before our eyes.

We’ve arrived at the county town!

There was a gleam of surprise in the eyes of the villagers, which was the joy of achieving their goals after going through so much hardship.

"It's not easy!" Qiao Cunzheng sighed, feeling relieved. He was afraid something might happen along the way, but fortunately he did not disappoint the villagers' expectations.

'This is Haining County!'

Fang Lin looked at the county town of this era and felt a little disappointed. The walls were gray-brown, with some potholes and looked a bit ugly. Most of the people entering and leaving the city gate were thin and short, and they also had patches on their bodies, but fewer than those of the people in Xiaohe Village. The scene before him was like a grayish-white photo in an old camera.

A minor official in black clothes came over, confirmed with Qiao Cunzheng, and took them to the shanty town to settle down.

On the road, Fang's father and mother were in front, while Fang Lin and Tian Xuan were a little behind. Fang Lin looked left and right, observing everything around him, and suddenly he cried out, almost falling, but thanks to his good balance, he only stumbled.

Looking back, he found that there was a small pothole half a foot deep on the side of the road. Due to its location and the fact that it did not reflect light, it was easy to overlook visually. Even though he was observing his surroundings and was not too absent-minded, he still could not avoid it.

"Brother Lin!" Tian Xuan came over to help him.

"I'm fine." Fang Lin waved his hand, looked at Tian Xuan with sweat on her forehead, and smoothed her hair that was hanging in front of her eyes: "Let's go!"

……

This was just a small episode. Soon we arrived at the place where we were settled. Each household put down their things, relaxed, and sat on the ground without any manner, chatting and laughing. It was a rare lightheartedness in these days.

It was already evening, almost time for dinner, and there was free coarse rice soup, which was naturally very motivating. After Qiao Cunzheng shouted, everyone rushed to get the soup.

Compared with other refugee villages, Xiaohe Village arrived early today. The villagers lined up, and many children stood on tiptoe to look forward with expectant expressions on their faces.

The person at the front got the coarse rice soup, but he didn't leave. He whispered, "Why is this soup so thin?"

"A new village, right? There isn't much food in the county's reserve warehouse, and the rice soup is free, what else do you want?" The clerk who served the food said impatiently, "Go ahead, next one!"

After hearing the previous conversation, the good mood of the people in Xiaohe Village was suddenly dampened. It was not that the food was not as good as they expected, but they were all used to living a hard life, so this was not a big deal. The key was the sentence "there is not much grain in the county's reserve warehouse", which made people feel uneasy.

Didn't they flee here just for a bite to eat? They thought everything would be fine once they got to the county town, but now they heard that there wasn't much food left in the county warehouse, and they couldn't help but feel gloomy.

Since it has come to this, and nothing can be changed, I can only accept it. I can drink coarse rice soup, which is much better than wild vegetables and grass seeds.

Fang Lin's family received the coarse rice soup and returned to their settlement. Fang's mother took out rice balls and prepared to eat them with the coarse rice soup. With such conditions, they were already one of the few better families in Xiaohe Village, and they also received envious glances from the Geng family next door.

"It's inconvenient without firewood." Fang Sun distributed the rice balls and muttered, but fortunately, they were already cooked and could be eaten cold.

She gave the good ones to Fang's father, Fang Lin, and Tian Xuan, and kept a rice ball made of damp coarse rice for herself - after learning that there was not much food in the county's reserve warehouse, she was even more reluctant to waste it.

Actually, Fang's mother originally wanted to give it to Tian Xuan, but she was afraid that if she gave it to her and told Fang Lin about it, she would be "taught a lesson" by her son, so she thought about it and decided to eat it herself.

"Ugh!"

Uncle Fang sighed and frowned, obviously thinking about the fact that there was little grain in the county's reserve warehouses. He was absent-minded and had no appetite.

"No matter what the situation is, we need to get more information. We can't be in the dark like this." Fang Lin was also thinking.

……

After dinner, Fang Shuyou put down his bowl and stood up: "I'll go to Muramasa's house to take a look!"

"Dad, I'll go too!" Fang Lin followed.

When I arrived at Qiao Cunzheng's house, I found that Qiao Cunzheng had just returned from outside. He saw Fang Shuyou and Fang Lin, greeted them, and sighed: "Are you here to inquire about the grain reserve warehouse in the county? I just went to the village chief of the disaster-stricken village nearby to inquire. They said that there was a rumor from the government that the grain reserve warehouse in the county is insufficient. We may have to go to the prefectural city. The reserve warehouse in the prefectural city has more grain, and there are also charity warehouses built by wealthy families there."

As the name suggests, the reserve granary plays a preparatory role and its function is to provide post-disaster relief; the charity granary is a granary set up spontaneously by the people. In good years, well-off people contribute more, ordinary people contribute less, and those who are not so well-off contribute nothing, or just give a token of their gratitude. When famine comes, well-off people borrow money from it, and ordinary people and poor people provide relief at their discretion and free of charge. There is also a kind of granary called the Changping granary, which is used in years of famine to curb the rise in rice prices, regulate and stabilize the market, and reduce the burden on the people.

"Why is there not enough food?"

Qiao Cunzheng was still muttering to himself: "I went to see, and it's clear that the scale of the villages that fled here this year is not large. It's much worse than the two most serious times, and they didn't even reach the provincial capital at that time. Also, in previous years when we encountered difficulties and famines, we could borrow or allocate grain from the Changping Warehouse, but I haven't heard of it this time." After hearing the news, Fang Lin and his son went back. On the way back, they met many people who went to look for Qiao Cunzheng. As soon as they got home, they met Geng's father who came to discuss with Fang's father.

In short, from what Fang Lin felt, the entire Xiaohe Village was in a panic, and everyone they saw was sighing. However, facing the government's decision, apart from talking to each other to gain some confidence, they really didn't know what to do, and could only wait helplessly for fate to come.

"No, I can't be confused, at least I have to be clear-headed!" Fang Lin didn't sit still and wait for death, he planned to use his eyes to see and his mouth to find out.

"I'll go out and take a look." He said this to Fang's father and mother and went out.

……

Fang Lin walked around the shantytown where he settled down, and seeing is believing, confirming a piece of news he got from Qiao Cunzheng: the number of villagers who fled this year was not large. I heard that during the two worst times, the shantytowns here were full and had to be built outside, but even then, it was not serious enough to go to the provincial capital.

Afterwards, Fang Lin went to the place where the coarse rice soup was distributed and found something even more interesting. He heard from Fang's father and mother that in the past, when the disaster was relatively serious, the clerks who distributed the coarse rice soup dared to swallow a small half of it in public, take it back home to eat, and then distribute the rest.

——According to Fang's father and mother, this is called saving the officials before saving the people. Only after the officials are well fed can the people be saved. These petty officials are naturally part of the pyramid of "officials", even if they are at the bottom.

But this time, the petty officials who were distributing the soup did not swallow it, as if... they looked down upon the coarse rice soup!

"Is the county's reserve warehouse really short of food?" Fang Lin looked at this scene, thinking, and frowned deeply.

"What are you looking at? Go away! Go away!" a petty official shouted with a frown.

"Hey! Hey!" Fang Lin apologized with a smile and turned to leave.

After leaving here, he went to look for passers-by to ask for information.

"Big brother!"

"uncle!"

"This old man!"

……

Fang Lin shamelessly called people over and tried to strike up a conversation, but no one paid any attention to him. They were very cold and indifferent. That was right. They were basically all miserable people. Who would be willing to chat with a stranger? If he had the time, he might as well sit down and rest for a while, which would save him some energy.

He thought about it, found the pit where he almost fell, and waited not far away.

Not long after, an old woman with a mole on her forehead passed by. When she passed the pit, she was hit. She staggered forward and was about to fall to the ground. At this moment, she was supported by a strong arm.

"Oh, thank you so much, little brother!" The old woman was still frightened and kept thanking him - at her age, if she really fell heavily, it would be terrible.

"It's my duty!" Fang Lin smiled and helped the other person to the side of the road: "Lady (a name for elderly women), please come over and rest your feet... I have something to ask you..."

He chatted with the other party for a few words but did not get any useful information. He waited for the old woman to leave and continued to use the same trick. Using this method, anyone who helped would at least give him a good look, even if they did not know any useful information.

After waiting like this for seven or eight days, Fang Lin confirmed another piece of information he got from Qiao Cunzheng: this year, the government did not borrow grain from the Changping Warehouse. In addition, there was another more useful piece of information: this year, the government did not raise funds from wealthy households!

——Whether it is borrowing from the Changping Warehouse or raising funds from wealthy households, these are necessary measures when famine is severe in previous years!
"That's not right. All the information shows that the pressure on the county is not that great this year. Even if the county's reserve warehouse is short of food, there is no need to go to the provincial capital."

"There is no smoke without fire. Could it be that for some reason, the government wants the people to go to the city?"

Fang Lin thought about it over and over again but had no clue. He felt that he was still missing an important piece of the puzzle to the truth.

At this time, a minor official in black clothes with a scar on his forehead passed by. After seeing this trap, Fang Lin held him up and was about to take the opportunity to chat with him.

"Brother Wei, come quickly, it's your turn!"

"Coming!" the clerk named Wei answered. The other party thanked him and left in a hurry.

Fang Lin did not feel disappointed about this. He estimated that if he did not go back soon, his father and mother would be worried, so he did not stay here any longer and went back.

……

(End of this chapter)