lcionline Chapter 399 There's hope for the rest of my life!
Chapter 399 There's hope for the rest of my life!
"You...you're not going to kill us?"
Wang Xiaoman didn't move, and asked a question with some concern.
Unable to make a decision, Pang Dahai turned to look at Gao Mengli.
Whether to kill or not is up to her; she has no say in the matter.
Gao Mengli nodded calmly, "As long as you're not lying and the matter is true, I can spare your lives for Brother Pang's sake."
"Alright! I'll take you there, right away!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaoman nodded and quickly got up from the ground to lead the way.
Holding torches, the crowd followed him to an abandoned temple outside the city!
Upon hearing the commotion inside the temple, a series of soft rustling sounds immediately followed.
Several emaciated bandits, armed with wooden sticks, rushed out first. Upon seeing Wang Xiaoman, their tense expressions instantly relaxed, and they all surrounded him.
"Brother Xiaoman, you're finally back!"
A man with a scar on his face said urgently, "Several children inside have fainted from hunger again, and Aunt Zhang's medicine is almost finished brewing..."
Before the words were finished, a group of people slowly emerged from the shadows behind the temple gate.
There were elderly people leaning on canes, women holding children, and ten thin, sallow-faced children with timid eyes, leaning against the corner of the wall gnawing on tree bark.
The torchlight shone in, revealing tattered straw on the ground, where several children, starving and pale, lay, their lips cracked and their breathing weak.
The scarred man looked wary when he saw the torch behind Wang Xiaoman.
When he saw Pang Dahai and Zhen Xiaoxi, the wooden stick in his hand fell to the ground with a clatter.
"Alliance Leader! Alliance Leader's Wife!"
As soon as the scarred man finished speaking, the temple fell silent for a moment, then erupted into a commotion.
"It really is the Alliance Leader!"
A bandit stumbled forward and knelt down with a thud before the vast sea, his voice choked with sobs.
"Leader, where did you go after you retired from the underworld? We've traveled all the way south, searching everywhere for you, but we haven't found a single trace of you!"
Pang Dahai reached out to help, and when his fingertips touched the other person's thin arm, his own eyes welled up with tears.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was hoarse. "After retiring from the criminal life, I originally wanted to live a life of seclusion with my family, but I never expected to meet Du Hao and his men who came to seek refuge with me."
I also met my brother Lin and his wife, and took on a good apprentice!
This time, I came to the prefectural city with my apprentice and happened to run into Xiaoman, who told me about your situation..."
As soon as these words were spoken, the weeping inside the temple intensified.
The scarred man sobbed uncontrollably, “Leader! You don’t know, after you left, the brothers lost their leader and had no choice but to follow the new leader and surrender to the imperial court… but…”
It all brings back so many bitter tears.
Gao Mengli stood at the door, looking at the room filled with a mixture of joy and sorrow, and her originally cold and hard eyes softened a little.
It seems that what Wang Xiaoman said was true.
She used a torch to illuminate the inside of the temple and saw the terrible state of the place.
These dozens of elderly, weak, women and children must be people that Wang Xiaoman and his group rescued and brought with them along the way, and I couldn't help but feel a tightness in my throat.
"These are all homeless people we met along the way,"
Wang Xiaoman walked to the side of an unconscious child, gently touched his forehead, and said in a hoarse voice, "The government seized the grain and conscripted men. We encountered them and had no choice but to take them south with us to escape here..."
"Light your torches and come back with me."
After Gao Mengli finished speaking, she turned around and walked out.
The scarred man looked completely bewildered; he didn't recognize this person.
Zhen Xiaoxi patted him on the shoulder, "Hurry up, pick up the unconscious child and follow. If nothing unexpected happens, your sister-in-law will be your provider in the future. You must be respectful and courteous to her, and not be disrespectful!"
The scarred man blinked, watching Gao Mengli's retreating figure, then glanced at Zhen Xiaoxi, still not fully recovered.
But he understood the words "our bread and butter," and nodded hurriedly, "Yes! Okay!"
As he spoke, he turned to his brothers and said, "Quick! Carefully lift the children up, and help the elderly. Everyone, follow along!"
The bandits moved swiftly; some knelt down and gently picked up the unconscious child, while others helped the trembling old man. They even remembered to put the broken bowl hidden in the haystack into their cloth bag.
This was all they had left.
The torches formed a long line, winding their way from the dilapidated temple toward the prefectural city.
Although the night wind was cold, no one felt chilly.
Even the child, who had been listless from hunger, gradually opened his eyes when held in an adult's arms and warmed by their body temperature, and whispered, "Where do we want to go?"
Green Forest, holding the child, cried out with bloodshot eyes, "We have a way to survive! Let's go find a way to survive!"
Wang Xiaoman, who had walked to the back of the group, looked at Gao Mengli, who was leading the group, from afar, her eyes red-rimmed!
His elder brother told him to swear allegiance to the death and not to have any disloyalty.
He understood this perfectly well, even without his older brother saying it.
In times of chaos, those who take them in will be protected even at the cost of their lives!
The group entered the city and soon arrived at the entrance of Lin's Restaurant.
Lin Xi had been waiting for a long time. When she saw Mengli return, she quickly ran up to her and said, "Mengli, we only have time. We made more than four hundred buns. I don't know if that's enough!"
He also made two large pots of egg drop soup.
Business was good today, and the restaurant didn't have much food left. The deliveryman will have to come tomorrow morning to replenish the stock so that we can have more dishes.
Gao Mengli turned around and glanced behind her, then turned to Wang Xiaoman and asked, "How many people are there in total?"
Wang Xiaoman looked back at the back of the line and counted on his fingers in his mind: "Madam, there are a total of eighty-five people here, including the elderly, women and children, twenty of whom are teenagers and nine are three or four years old."
There are ninety-eight bandits, making a total of one hundred and eighty-three!
Gao Mengli nodded.
I glanced at the towering steamed buns at the entrance.
Lin Xi made the buns very big. Because there wasn't much meat left in the restaurant, the skin was thick and there was little meat, but it should be enough to fill their stomachs.
"Xixi, distribute the steamed buns! Two for each person, and the rest can be divided among them."
"okay!"
Lin Xi crisply agreed and quickly called over a few black laborers.
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaoman excitedly shouted, "Everyone, quickly line up!"
The bandits, in perfect unison, placed the elderly, the weak, women, and children at the front, while they themselves were at the back.
Everyone received two steamed buns and a small bowl of egg drop soup.
The woman at the front of the line, holding her child, tremblingly accepted the steamed buns and soup bowl that Lin Xi handed her. When her fingertips touched the warm porcelain bowl, tears "plop" down onto the rim of the bowl.
She looked down at the white steamed bun in her hand, its crust still steaming. She squeezed it; it was soft and fluffy, and she couldn't believe it was real!
Ever since the government seized their grain, they haven't seen any food for half a month, let alone white bread wrapped with meat, which they've never eaten in their entire lives.
"Thanks……"
The woman took the food, and holding her child, she was about to kneel down before Lin Xi.
Lin Xi wanted to help, but considering the difference between men and women, she could only quickly wave her hand and say, "It's okay, you go over there and find a place to feed the baby."
The woman held four steamed buns in her hands, tears streaming down her face.
She dared not delay any longer, so she carried the child and quickly walked to the corner of the wall. She carefully broke the bun into small pieces, blew on it to cool it down, and fed it to the child.
The child was very hungry and ate quickly, leaving a ring of oil on the corner of his mouth. The woman gently wiped it away with her rough sleeve, her eyes filled with heartache and gratitude.
Not far away, several elderly people held bowls of soup, sipping warm egg drop soup, their cloudy eyes shining with hope.
One of the old men sighed, "I've lived most of my life, and this is the first time I've ever eaten such a precious white flour and meat bun. It's all thanks to the owner of Lin's restaurant and the young men who have protected us all the way."
"Yes, we must repay this kindness properly!"
The greenwood grove beside him was crying as it ate a hot steamed bun.
Gao Mengli walked around and checked all the children. Fortunately, they had only fainted from hunger and none of them had a high fever.
She stood up, breathed a sigh of relief, and walked to Pang Dahai's side. "Brother Pang, the small eatery across the street is not open yet. There are seven or eight guest rooms in the backyard. Take them there and settle them in."
Also... bring Wang Xiaoman to see me tomorrow, I have some things to arrange."
It is better to teach people to fish than to teach people.
If she's left to fend for herself, no matter how wealthy she is, she can't fix this hole.
The truth is that they should be allowed to earn a living through labor.
"Okay, okay!"
Pang Dahai's mouth can be as wide as it can be!
After his sister-in-law said that, it would be difficult for the brothers to go hungry for the rest of their lives!
He quickly called out, "Now that you've collected your food, come with me!"