Chapter 189 - Robbers (1/2)

As Fengsheng stoked the fire, Xiao Baofeng came up to them with two bowls of porridge. He said, “Hi! My mom asked me to send you some porridge. Thank you for the firewood!”

Wis.h.i.+ng to warm his stomach up, Fengsheng took the bowls with grat.i.tude and said, “Thank you! Are you Xiao Baofeng?”

“Yes! But how do you know?” Xiao Baofeng asked.

Fengsheng felt too embarra.s.sed to tell him that he had pried into the information about his family, so he replied with a smile, “I heard from the people in Qinghe county. They said you are a promising boy.”

“Thank you,” Xiao Baofeng flushed a bit.

Fengsheng handed a bowl of porridge to Li Chengru, but he didn’t take it immediately. Instead, he stared at it with suspicion. As a pampered prince, he had been picky about food and had never shared his bowl with others. But in front of him now was nothing more than an ordinary pottery bowl which was black all over without any floral patters. He suspected that it was not very clean.

Xiao Baofeng was waiting for them. He wanted to get the bowls back after they finished the porridge. Noticing Li Chengru’s frown, Xiao Baofeng soon understood what he was worried about. He explained immediately, “It’s clean. We’ve washed it well.”

Li Chengru asked, “Who washed it?”

“Sister Ye. It was taken from our house.”

Hearing that, Li Chengru finally took the bowl and tasted the porridge little by little.

The food instantly warmed him up and swept away his exhaustion. It was an unprecedented comfort, as if he had just taken a relaxing bath. He then handed the empty bowl to Xiao Baofeng who then took it back to his campsite.

Ye Xiaoxian had asked Wong Mudan and Chen Ju to get some water in advance. She gathered the bowls together and washed them carefully. Only then did Li Chengru believe the bowl was clean.

The evening wore on. Some refugees joined the camping as the early comers became sleepy. Gradually, the place quieted down until nothing more was heard. Every family had taken all their a.s.sets with them. Therefore, there would always be a family member guarding their possessions while the others were asleep. Most families were well-disciplined since they still had enough food. Although no one dared to steal things blatantly, it was always necessary to take precautions.

Havong once worked as constables, Xiao Tieshu and Xiao Tongshu had experience on night watch. One of them was responsible for guarding before midnight and the other would take over after that. The two men thus shouldered the responsibility to protect the family’s property.

Ye Xiaoxian, Li Hongmei and Xiao Baocheng slept on the same mat and shared a quilt. Fortunately, the night was not too cold, so they could have a sound sleep, but Ye Xiaoxian was unable to get to sleep at first while due to the thundering snoring of Li Hongmei and Old Mr. Xiao. Only after a moment of tossing and turning did she finally get to sleep.

On the other side, Li Chengru was also growing tired. Their carriage was big enough for them to stretch out comfortably inside and a quilt could protect them from the cold.

After they doused the flame, Li Chengru had a look around him. The place was packed with campfires and sleeping figures, which reminded him of the fires of war and the miserable corpses on the battlefield. He s.h.i.+vered involuntarily.

…

The next morning, the Xiao family hurried on with their journey. They became slightly listless and low-spirited. Evidently, their pace was slowing down. Xiao Tieshu and Xiao Tongshu, especially, had to exert a great deal of energy to move the carts. The amount of time they needed to rest increased, as did the frequency of their breaks. Now, they were forced to stop and drink water every two hours.

That evening, Ye Xiaoxian could still catch up with Liu Qianqian. However, they never met again after that.

Li Chengru and Fengsheng also disappeared from Ye Xiaoxian’s world. She felt somewhat sad.

“Such is a disaster,” she thought. “It will change everything around you, including who you meet and what you eat.”

Fortunately, she still had her family. Although they sometimes quarreled, they were the most reliable people in the face of danger. Putting aside all their old petty differences, they shared a common goal to settle down earlier.