SFS Chapter 226 Qingfeng Village
Chapter 226 Qingfeng Village
The little fat boy, who was eating happily, heard Yun Yiyi's question. He glanced at Yun Yiyi and said, "The candied haws are delicious. I often eat their candied haws."
When Yun Yiyi heard this, she understood what was going on.
She pulled Xie Zirui and waited to the side until all the children surrounding the candied haws left.
"Uncle, I want to buy three strings of candied haws. Can ten cents be used?"
The vendor selling candied haws looked at the only three strings of candied haws left on the wooden shelf and laughed.
"Little girl, what a coincidence! I only have three strings of candied haws left. Okay, since you are so cute and have waited for so long, I will sell them to you for three strings for ten cents."
Yun Yiyi smiled happily, "Uncle, please count, this is ten cents. You are such a good person."
The peddler took the copper coins from Yun Yiyi and counted them, and found that there were exactly ten cents.
He handed the last three strings of candied haws on the wooden shelf to Yun Yiyi.
"Girl, you're cute too."
"Uncle, I want to ask, is there a gathering in the town today? Why is it so lively?"
The vendor's candied haws were all sold out, and he was now in the mood to talk.
"Yes, little girl, today is the big market in Shilin Town on the third day of the lunar calendar. Usually when there is no market, the town is still very deserted."
"Uncle, are we not affected by the drought here? I see everyone is very happy. And it's so lively."
The peddler looked at Yun Yiyi in surprise. He didn't expect that such a young girl could ask such a question.
However, he immediately realized that Yun Yiyi should be a refugee passing by, so she didn't know the situation here.
"Girl, we are close to the river and have abundant water resources, so we have not been greatly affected."
"Uncle, you are so lucky to live in a place like this. Unlike us, we have to leave our homes and escape famine."
The vendor suddenly frowned and said, "Yes, although we are not affected by the drought, we have other problems."
"How can common people like us have a smooth life in a year like this?"
Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui looked at each other, it seemed something was happening.
Yun Yiyi continued to ask, "Uncle, if there is no drought, there will be no shortage of water or food. What worries can there be if there is food and drink?"
The vendor looked around and whispered, "I only told you this secretly because I saw that you two kids get along well. Please don't tell anyone else.
"Uncle, don't worry, I will never tell anyone that it was you who said that."
The vendor approached Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui and said, "Little girl, let me tell you, there is a village called Qingfeng Village sixty miles away from Shilin Town."
"The people of Qingfeng Village used to be bandits, but they were basically self-sufficient. They reclaimed wasteland and planted vegetables on the mountain. Occasionally they would go down the mountain to exchange for daily necessities that were not available on the mountain."
"But two months ago, I heard that Qingfeng Village was attacked by a group of vicious bandits from the north."
"It turned out that some of the bandits in Qingfeng Village escaped, some were killed by bandits from outside. Some also became accomplices with the bandits from outside."
Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui felt something was wrong when they heard this. They had been on the official road for so long and had not encountered any bandits.
However, it is possible that the bandits moved south due to the drought in the north.
Yun Yiyi asked curiously, "Uncle, how did you know that Qingfeng Village had a change of leadership? Logically speaking, such a thing should be very secretive."
The vendor had a hateful expression on his face. "Since the Qingfeng Village changed its leader, Qingfeng Village sent people to Shilin Town to talk to the villages below and asked us to give them food."
Yun Yiyi and Xie Zirui were both surprised.
Yun Yiyi also hurriedly asked, "Uncle, don't the government here care about this?"
The vendor looked furious, "Don't mention it, we are still far away from the city. There are only a dozen soldiers in this town."
"Later, after Qingfeng Village sent people to the government, the government stopped caring about it. When more people went to make trouble, they said that the government soldiers were too few and could not compete with the people in Qingfeng Village."
"Qingfeng Village requires us to hand over food once a month. The food is handed over to the government, and they send people to transport it to the mountains themselves."
"Uncle, did you deliver the food twice?"
The vendor looked depressed. "At first, some people resisted and refused to hand over grain. The people from Qingfeng Village came to collect the grain directly. In serious cases, they killed people, and in minor cases, they hacked people to death."
"Plus, the government didn't care, and everyone couldn't resist, so they just handed over the grain."
"Fortunately, the people of Qingfeng Village usually don't harass the people living at the foot of the mountain. They only come to take food when the time comes."
Yun Yiyi lowered her head and thought for a while, "Uncle, the people in Qingfeng Village only want food, don't they want money?"
The vendor shook his head. "They don't want money, they just want food. Someone suggested using money to buy food, but the bandits didn't agree."
"Uncle, have you ever heard that the bandits in Qingfeng Village would rob refugees passing through the mountains?"
The vendor thought for a moment and said, "The bandits from Qingfeng Village will also go down the mountain to rob people. However, they seem to only rob the wealthy families who have motorcades."
“They don’t rob very poor refugees.”
"Uncle, if we go further, do we have to pass by Qingfeng Village?"
"Yes, we must pass by. Qingfeng Village is on the mountain next to the official road. I heard from the officers and soldiers who helped transport food up the mountain that the village was built very solidly."
"Besides, there is an official road in front of the village and huge mountains behind it."
Yun Yiyi understood immediately that Qingfeng Village was well built, and those bandits could attack or defend. At worst, they could escape into the mountains.
"Uncle, how many people are there in Qingfeng Village to scare the government officers and soldiers into just ignoring the matter?"
The vendor looked up and around, "I heard from others that there are more than 600 people in Qingfeng Village now. All of them are good fighters."
"Uncle, thank you so much today. We are going to set off soon. If you hadn't told us this news, I'm afraid we would have been caught by bandits without any preparation."
"It's not a big deal. Everyone living in this town knows about it. I just said a few more words."
"In fact, I have thought about taking my family and fleeing to the capital. However, I have never been far away, so I really don't dare."
"And the people in Qingfeng Village also said that as long as we pay the grain on time, they will not make things difficult for us."
"So, we should live our lives the way we should. And the people of Qingfeng Village want the right amount of food, not more, not less, which is right in line with our bottom line."
"If they wanted more, we might have resisted. But, for now, we can afford the amount they want."