The crippled man and the four children all squeezed together onto one handcart, while Song Jin very consciously took a torn straw mat and spread it out not far from the cart before lying down on the ground herself.
Because she worried something might happen in the middle of the night, and because she didn’t dare order Xiao Yanzhi to take turns standing watch, Song Jin never slept deeply.
Instead, she remained constantly alert, one hand gripping the handle of the axe the entire time, hovering in a half-asleep, half-awake state.
Fortunately, after distributing the large sweet potatoes, no further trouble arose that night aside from the disturbance from the old Xiao family.
At least she managed to get some rest.
The next day, as soon as the Hour of Mao arrived—
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The village chief’s family rang the bronze gong right on time.
The village chief’s eldest son, Xiao Changchun, shouted repeatedly:
“Everyone from Xiao Village, get up and gather! Time to hit the road! Stop sleeping! The caravan won’t wait for stragglers—move it!”
Hearing the gong, the villagers nearby quickly got to their feet one after another and rolled up their straw mats.
Then, some hoisted bundles onto their backs, some balanced shoulder poles, some pushed handcarts, some supported elderly or sick family members, some led children by the hand, while others drove ox carts.
All of them hurried toward the village chief’s gathering area.
According to the village chief’s rules, once everyone arrived at the gathering site, they would assemble there. After the village chief counted heads, the entire village would continue eastward together on their refugee journey.
The refugees from the surrounding villages reacted similarly after hearing the gongs from their own village chiefs.
Like the people of Xiao Village, they all hurriedly set out toward their own assembly points.
Song Jin rolled up the broken straw mat, stacked the already bundled supplies behind Xiao Yanzhi, and tied the iron pot and sack securely onto the cart.
Once everything was ready, she glanced around her surroundings—
And was instantly shocked by the sight before her.
Across the endless flat plains stretched an ocean of refugees.
As the refugees all began moving at once, the massive crowd resembled an army of ants marching across the land.
Seeing this scene, Song Jin immediately called out without hesitation:
“Jin Jin, Mu Mu, Shui Shui, Huo Huo—you all get on the cart too!”
With so many refugees and such small children, the four kids could easily be swept away and lost if the crowd merely bumped into them.
Since she had already promised to take the crippled man and four children through the refugee journey, she would absolutely do everything she could to protect them.
She could not let the children get lost under her watch.
Xiao Yanzhi had never expected Song Jin to let the children ride the cart and instinctively wondered if he had misheard.
But after sweeping his gaze across the densely packed refugees around them, he instantly understood why Song Jin had made the decision.
He wanted to ask whether she could actually pull the cart herself—
But the words simply wouldn’t come out.
Aside from Shui Shui, the moment Jin Jin, Mu Mu, and Huo Huo climbed back onto the cart, they were completely stunned.
And when Song Jin actually began pulling the cart forward, their jaws nearly dropped onto the ground.
During the entire month of fleeing famine, this was the very first time their foster mother had ever let them ride.
If they claimed they weren’t moved at this moment, they would only be lying to themselves.
By the time Song Jin arrived at the village chief’s gathering area while pulling the crippled man and four children, most of the villagers had already assembled.
The old Xiao family happened to arrive at almost the same time as Song Jin.
Song Jin glanced toward them, and the very first people she noticed were Xiao Dalang and his wife walking at the very back.
The handcart they were pulling not only carried all the old Xiao family’s belongings, but was also piled high with firewood.
Meanwhile, the men of the old Xiao family walked empty-handed like complete wastes of space.
If Yang Shi, Qian Shi, and Xiao Jinlian hadn’t looked so ridiculous with their bruised and swollen faces wrapped in cloth like mummies, Song Jin might truly have gone over and beaten those three worthless Xiao men herself.
“You little bitch!”
The instant Yang Shi saw Song Jin, she trembled with rage. Even the cloth wrappings around her face quivered.
Xiao Jinlian also shook with hatred.
And Qian Shi, holding the hand of her foolish son Da Pang, stared at Song Jin with venomous eyes like a poisonous snake.
After Qian Shi woke up last night, Xiao Yongtai had interrogated her, demanding to know whether anyone in her maternal family had a history of mental problems.
Afterward, that beast Xiao Yongtai had even ordered her to abandon Da Pang during today’s refugee journey.
He had gone so far as to threaten that if she refused to abandon the child, then the old Xiao family would abandon both her and Da Pang instead, forcing them to become wandering refugees on their own.
She hated it.
She believed everything had happened because of Song Jin.
Every single grievance and humiliation was now added onto Song Jin’s head.
Feeling Qian Shi’s poisonous gaze, Song Jin honestly wanted to gouge her eyeballs out.
She increasingly felt Qian Shi had something seriously wrong with her brain. Otherwise, she wouldn’t repeatedly do such stupid things and keep provoking her over and over again.
To prevent anyone from Xiao Village from falling behind, the village chief personally went around with his eldest son Xiao Changchun, stern-faced as they counted each family one by one.
After finishing the headcount, the village chief struck the gong three times.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Then he cleared his throat and loudly announced:
“Last night, Third Granduncle divided everyone into squads and explained the advantages of grouping up. Each squad has also selected two squad leaders.”
“But just because you have squad leaders watching over things doesn’t mean you can stop caring about your own children! The most important responsibility of squad leaders is to guide the team properly if trouble arises, so every squad can unite together and avoid panicking!”
“Remember this clearly! Your squad leaders are not babysitters! They are there to lead! Once we’re on the refugee road, everyone follows the squad leaders’ instructions! Their orders are my orders!”
After catching his breath, he repeated the warnings he gave every single day:
“Escaping famine is not easy. Everyone must support one another and stay united! Keep watch over your own elderly and children, protect your food and supplies, and stay close to the group! And most importantly—during the refugee journey, no one is allowed to stir up trouble or bring disaster upon the village!”
After speaking, the village chief struck the gong three more times.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Find your squad leaders and assemble according to your teams! Then depart in order!”
The moment the command to depart rang out, all fifty households of Xiao Village immediately located their designated squad leaders according to the team numbers assigned the previous night by Third Granduncle.
Each squad quickly assembled, and according to their assigned order, they began departing one after another.
Leaving the plains behind, they stepped onto the official road and continued eastward.
Song Jin’s family, the village chief’s family, Third Granduncle’s family, and two additional households had all been placed in the same squad, walking at the very front of the village procession.
Perhaps due to deliberate arrangements by the village chief and Third Granduncle in order to look after Xiao Dalang’s family, the old Xiao family and four other households had been assigned to Squad Two, directly behind Squad One.
Xiao Yanzhi was extremely satisfied with this arrangement.
As long as he turned his head, he could see his elder brother and sister-in-law.
And they could see him too, allowing both sides to feel reassured.
The Jin-Mu-Shui-Huo siblings were also delighted.
Whenever they turned around, they could see Sisters Ruyi and Jixiang.
As for Song Jin…
She truly didn’t know what to say.
She didn’t want to see anyone from the old Xiao family except Xiao Dalang and his wife.
With those idiots following right behind her, who knew when they might suddenly do something stupid to provoke her again?
Just thinking about those people soured Song Jin’s mood.
So while pulling the crippled man and four children, she refused to look back even once and marched straight at the very front of the village line.
Ahead of Song Jin stretched endless streams of other refugees already traveling on the road.
And from both sides, even more refugees continuously flooded onto the official road behind Xiao Village’s group.
The endless tide of displaced people resembled countless streams converging into a mighty river before surging eastward together like an unstoppable flood tide.