Just as the Shen family was about to pounce and snatch the bamboo basket back, the intruder had already tipped out its contents.
Two fully cleaned, plump crucian carp fell to the ground with a wet *splat*.
Staring at the fish on the ground, the man immediately yelled at the top of his lungs, “You really *do* have food!”
The surrounding refugees, who had only been feigning sleep, instantly leaped to their feet in excitement and turned their gaze toward the Shen family.
Yet, seeing the crucian carp hit the dirt, Old Man Shen actually breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness that fool hadn’t grabbed a basket filled with rice!
Looking at the loudmouth, Old Man Shen feigned sheer fury and barked, “These two carp are what we painstakingly caught in a brook inside the woods by the roadside earlier today!”
“In this endless, miserable rainy weather, if we had caught them a long time ago, they would have rotted and stunk to high heaven by now!”
Hearing his words and glancing at the fresh carp on the ground, the onlookers immediately believed Old Man Shen.
At the same time, many began to regret their choices: when they had passed through those woods earlier, why had they only been obsessed with digging up wild herbs instead of thinking to catch a few fish in the stream?
The refugee still clutching the basket, however, couldn’t help but frown. He made a move to overturn the other baskets as well.
He had been tailing the Shen family for a while. Earlier, when they had hidden behind the massive boulder to cook, he had caught the distinct aroma of steamed rice alongside the fish soup.
But having grown vigilant, the Shen family gave him no second chance to touch the remaining baskets.
Old Man Shen glared at the man and snapped, “It’s bad enough you knocked our two fish into the dirt and got them filthy, but don’t even dream of ruining the rest!”
He said this deliberately, well aware that seeing every member of the family carrying a basket, the surrounding refugees would never believe they only possessed two fish.
Thus, he simply claimed that the remaining baskets contained more carp.
Upon hearing this, the eyes of many nearby refugees lit up. Some resolved to quietly butter up the Shens later to see if they could get a fish.
Others quietly turned around and began heading back, intending to locate that brook in the woods and catch a few carp of their own.
Although backtracking would delay their travel, they were simply too starved; without catching something to eat, they would never survive the trek to the nearest county seat.
As for the man who still stubbornly suspected the Shen family of concealing grain, Shen Qiang and Shen Zhuang had already quietly restrained him.
Feeling the sharp edge of Shen Qiang’s woodchopping knife pressed firm against his waist, the man froze, not daring to utter another word.
Once the surrounding crowd shifted their attention away, Shen Qiang and Shen Zhuang dragged him off to a secluded spot and beat him black and blue.
They warned him sharply that if he tried anything like that again, a thrashing would be the least of his worries.
When the brothers returned to the campsite, they heard Old Man Shen saying with a heavy frown and a stern voice, “We can’t gamble on that fool not dragging more refugees back to rob us.”
“So, we must push through the night and break away from these people who know we have food in our baskets.”
“Otherwise, if hunger drives them mad, they will definitely band together to rob us! We won’t stand a chance against that many people.”
“Besides, if they don’t get food, they starve—so even with woodchopping knives in our hands, they won’t necessarily be afraid of us.”
The family nodded in somber agreement.
Even Wang Juhua, who usually loved to slacker off more than anyone, didn’t dare utter a single complaint about marching through the middle of the night.
Though little Xihe didn’t fully grasp the meaning of Old Man Shen’s words, seeing the tense, fearful expressions on everyone’s faces made her wrap her little arms tightly around her mother Gu Hanmei’s neck.
Gu Hanmei looked down, seeing her youngest daughter looking terrified, and gently coaxed her in a soft voice, “Don’t be scared, Guibao. The bad men didn’t take our food.”
Only when they heard Gu Hanmei soothing Xihe did the rest of the Shen family realize that the tense standoff earlier must have frightened the little girl.
Old Lady Shen strode over, reached out to scoop Xihe into her own arms, and coaxed her with deep affection: “Grandma’s precious darling, don’t be afraid! Grandma is here, no one can hurt my Guibao!”
Old Man Shen walked over as well. He placed his hand on Xihe’s forehead and stroked upward toward the crown of her head several times, chanting gently: “A pat on the head, fright melt away.”
Then, Old Man Shen stroked Xihe’s little ear and continued: “A pat on the ear, fright disappear.”
Finally, he patted Xihe’s little hand: “A pat on the hand, soul safe and grand.”
After those few words were spoken, the tense expression on Xihe’s face visibly calmed, her attention entirely captured by the three rhyming phrases her grandfather chanted.
Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen, however, firmly believed that the ritual had worked its magic, soothing the frightened child.
Following his lead, Old Lady Shen repeated the gentle strokes a few more times.
It was not until Xihe closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep in her arms that Old Lady Shen finally stopped.
She looked at Old Man Shen and whispered, “Old man, let’s wait a little longer. Once the surrounding refugees fall fast asleep, we’ll slip away unnoticed.”
“Otherwise, if we leave right now, those people will definitely trail behind us, and we’ll never shake them off.”
Old Man Shen nodded with a grim expression. “My thought exactly, old woman.”
“While they’re dropping off to sleep, we can quietly fashion a few torches. We’ll be needing them on the road.”
Having heard the elders’ plan, the rest of the Shen family crept back to their baskets and silently set about assembling torches.
…
By the midnight hour, when most of the surrounding refugees had drifted off to sleep, the Shen family quietly hoisted their bamboo baskets and resumed their journey.
A few refugees remained awake and shadowed them from a distance when they saw the family set off, but the Shens couldn’t afford to wait any longer.
It was impossible to wait until every single soul was asleep; some were simply too wracked by hunger pangs to close their eyes.
Besides, if they delayed any further into the night, the sleeping crowd would wake at dawn, realize they had slipped away, and easily catch up.
Setting out around midnight was their best shot at ensuring the crowd wouldn’t overtake them.
Over the next few days, the Shen family maintained an even higher state of vigilance, allowing them to reach the outskirts of Lingluo County without further mishap.
The family had originally assumed that reaching Lingluo County would be the end of their troubles.
To their dismay, all the fleeing refugees had been blockaded outside the city gates by government guards, completely barred from entering.
Anyone wishing to enter the county seat had to buy an entry permit from the soldiers with real silver.
A single permit allowed entry for only one person, and cost a staggering one tael of silver.
Yet, the entire Shen family didn’t possess a single copper coin to their name.