jdhmnovel Chapter 222 Riot
Chapter 222 Riot
Liu Bai arrived at the city gate in an hour and a half. It was already five o'clock in the morning, the sky was already bright, and the city gate had just opened.
Liu Bai got off his horse at the city gate, and then quickly went to the gatekeeper to explain the situation. The gatekeeper was shocked to learn that all the constables of the yamen were injured, and immediately agreed to let Liu Bai ride a horse to report to the authorities.
There were not many people on the street at this time, so Liu Bai ran all the way for five minutes and arrived at the yamen gate.
Ten minutes later, I saw County Magistrate Ge, who was still in his pajamas.
"You mean, there are disaster victims who stole things from the village. Are you sure that these people were also responsible for stealing things from Shuangguan Village?"
Liu Bai shook his head and told the truth, "I'm not sure. The thieves are either dead or escaped. The one in Shuangguan Village is our own guess."
County Magistrate Ge nodded. How to deal with the disaster victims was a sensitive issue and he had to conduct a careful investigation before reaching a conclusion.
When Wang Bin and others arrived at the county government office, three doctors were already waiting. The two seriously injured were carried away first, while the lightly injured walked on their own.
"Brother Jingui, thank you very much for this time. If you have any problems in the future, please come to us."
Constable Jin said goodbye to Wang Jingui with a smile on his face. After chatting along the way, he found out that this group of people were just outsiders who came last month and had nothing to do with the village chief. He didn't expect them to be so reasonable.
"Okay, Constable Jin, you guys take good care of yourself. Hehehe, I'll treat you to a drink when you're better."
"Okay, how much is the ointment?"
"Hey, we don't need any silver. Constable Jin, you were injured while protecting our villagers. We'll just give you some ointment, it's nothing. Okay, let's go buy some food and go back to the village."
Detective Jin was very pleased to hear this. This guy is really good at handling things.
After the two of them said goodbye happily, Wang Jingui and Wang Bin were about to leave. They caught a glimpse of Zhu Laoer standing there in a daze, and smiled and said, "You guys should hurry to the clinic. The county doctor may not be able to take care of you. Let's go buy some food and then go back to the village."
Zhu Laoer felt regretful in his heart. If he had known earlier, it would be his elder brother who came. He would not be able to say a word here.
"Okay then, Jingui, we'll go first."
Zhu Laoer drove his mule dejectedly to find a clinic.
Wang Jingui successfully completed the task assigned by Su He. He hummed a little song and went with Wang Bin to buy food and a few bottles of ointment. It must be said that the ointment for treating external injuries is not cheap. It is more expensive than the one bought in Meicun, costing 8 taels of silver per bottle.
In a remote mountain cave about ten miles away from Qingshan Village, there were three people staying inside. Upon closer inspection, they were the thieves who escaped yesterday.
They were not as lucky as the group of constables who had ointments to apply, but the wounds of the three men had already started to rot.
The leading man was lying there with lifeless eyes. They escaped at the risk of their lives last night, but only three of them made it out. They haven't had a drop of water till now, so death is only a matter of time.
When Liu Bai came over, one of them was already dead. The other two men were digging the soil numbly on the side, looking at the shape of the pit, thinking about burying their dead companions properly.
Liu Bai watched quietly for a while, and when he saw one of them fall to the ground due to exhaustion, he handed him a bottle of ointment. Then, under the surprised gazes of the two men, he took over and dug the pit.
"This ointment is for external injuries. I suggest you use it."
Guan Da looked at Liu Bai with complicated eyes, then at the only remaining companions around him. He gritted his teeth and fought on. No matter what, it was just the difference between dying early or late. He might as well live longer.
The two men applied the ointment and continued to dig. Half an hour later, when the last handful of soil fell on the grave, Guan Da asked Liu Bai seriously.
"Who are you? Why are you helping us?"
"Did you steal from the two families in Shuangguan Village?"
The man laughed out loud, but he was too weak, so he started coughing after laughing twice.
"We only did this once. If we hadn't been hungry, we wouldn't have stolen."
Liu Bai was a little surprised. Are these two groups of people?
"Not full? Two bowls of porridge a day, even if it only fills you up to 50% full, you won't starve to death."
"We had two bowls of porridge. When the soldiers were here, they filled them up for us. When they left, they only had half a bowl left. We still had to work, so how could we have the energy? We have lost our home. We are like the plague god. We are ostracized and insulted everywhere. Even if we pretend to be grandchildren everywhere, we still can't get enough to eat. It would be better if we died. That would put an end to everything."
The man's eyes gradually became dull and he looked as if he had lost all desire to live.
"Since you are not afraid of death, come with me to see the county magistrate. Although you stole, you were unsuccessful, and there are reasons for your crime. You are not guilty of death. The county magistrate is a good official, and he will make the decision for you."
The two men looked at Liu Bai with a determined gaze, and their eyes suddenly lit up.
Today's breakfast is still thin porridge. This time, the people in Qingshan Village did not try to hide it at all. It was all watery porridge.
"Brother, there were still a few grains of rice yesterday, but today it's all water. It's okay for us adults to be hungry, but it's not the same for the children. Please be kind and give us some more rice."
An old woman was holding a baby and trying to smile at people who were decades younger than her, but unfortunately the people didn't buy it.
"Eat it if you want, or not, you're still whining about free stuff, get out of my way."
The villagers pulled the old woman away, cursing. The old woman fell to the ground. The two-year-old child was so scared that he started crying loudly. A bowl of porridge spilled on the ground and broke into three pieces.
"Go away, old man, you're an eyesore."
The faces of the victims behind were all livid. One with a bad temper even threw his bowl and was about to rush forward, but was held back by the victims around him.
They will have to receive porridge here for at least another month, so they cannot offend anyone.
When the villagers nearby saw that their people had gone too far, they quickly advised, "Forget it, Waizui, our rice is very watery, give them more rice, this was originally given to them by the adults."
Unexpectedly, the crooked mouthful not only refused to listen, but also spat into the pot, "What kind of rice do you want to eat? You're lucky to have some porridge to drink. Hurry up and line up. We'll be closed in a quarter of an hour."
The atmosphere suddenly froze. All the victims took back their bowls and slowly approached with expressionless faces. The big man who had thrown the bowl before took a few steps to the front, and this time no one stopped him.
The conflict between the two sides started when the big man overturned the pot, and it got out of control.
The Su He family here didn't know that a fight had already taken place at the entrance of the village. They were eating in the kitchen.
"They are all from the north of us. I felt bad when those people in the village cursed at the disaster victims today. If they were not forced to do so, who would leave their hometown? If it weren't for the drought, we wouldn't have come to the south."
Wen Niang thought of the frightened eyes of the disaster victims and felt that the villagers were going too far. The south was not as good as they imagined.