August has come to an end, autumn is coming, the night is a little cold, Qiu held the child to sleep together at night, and then Wang asked her to hold the child and Xu Yue and other children to sleep in the bed.

At this time, Tong had already taken his son up, fed him some water, and was putting the Xu family's things in the shack, when he saw that Qiu was still kneeling in his arms with the child in his arms, and called her.

Qiu Shi didn't answer, his eyes were open, and he looked at a place in a daze, as if he had been sucked into a soul.

Tong's brows furrowed slightly, and he had a bad premonition in his heart, so he got into the shack and touched Qiu's shoulder.

Only then did Qiu raise his eyelids and look at her with a smile.

Tong Shi chuckled in his heart and asked her softly, "What's wrong with you?" Like a lost soul? ”

When Qiu heard her inquiry, his stunned face suddenly collapsed, and he looked at the child in his arms.

Tong followed her gaze, and the child, who was just over a year old, was thin and tight, looking like a half-year-old doll, and he looked bigger and smaller.

At this moment, the child's eyes were closed, his little face was gray, and he had been dead for a long time.

Tong Shi trembled and sighed the child's snort, gasped in shock, and subconsciously pulled his Xiaolang and hugged him tightly in his arms.

"My Xiaolang is gone......" Qiu's words seemed to be stuck in his throat, and it was extremely difficult to say.

She looked down at the child in her arms, her eyes were full of sadness, but she couldn't cry.

"It's the first time since the child was born to drink such silk porridge, he ate all the small half bowl yesterday, he looks energetic, and he still has the energy to play with me for a while at night before falling asleep......"

Qiu's babbling recalled the state of the child yesterday, with a smile on his face.

"It's okay if he goes, he chose me to be his mother in this life, so he hasn't eaten a full meal, and I hope he will ...... in the next life. You choose a good family, don't come to me......"

Tong didn't know how to comfort her, so he could only listen to her silently.

"Sister-in-law, please don't say it, I want the child to go well, I don't dare to let those beasts know, I'm afraid that the child will be ...... by them"

What are you afraid of them, Qiu didn't say it, and Tong also knew, those beasts didn't say anything about changing their children, and they wouldn't let go of what they had just buried, if they knew about it, the child wouldn't be able to rest in peace.

Here, Tong and Qiu concealed the truth about the child's death, sat in the shack and waited for it to get dark to bury the child and let him be buried in the ground.

And Xu Yue waited for the city gate to open, and the official sent out the hot porridge, but there was no movement at the city gate for a long time.

The refugees who came earlier confidently comforted the restless crowd behind them, "Too benevolent, they won't leave us alone, don't worry, Xu is official mission has been delayed by something, and he will always come later." ”

The tumultuous crowd fell silent again.

They waited another hour, and it was almost noon, and there was still no movement at the gates.

Faintly, I also heard the sound of cold weapons colliding and the noise of the people in the city.

The refugees in front of the porridge shack became more and more agitated, and they didn't know who was leading the way, so everyone flocked to the city gate and banged on the gate.

It was not enough to kick his hands and feet, so he picked up hoes and sticks and other objects in an attempt to break into the city.

This heavy wooden door was pushed by so many people, but it didn't move.

Xu Yue's family stood on the edge of the crowd, you look at me, I look at you, and they have no expectations for today's porridge.

If you want to make porridge early, do you have to wait until now?

"Something happened in the city." Xu Da affirmed.

He had good ears and heard the sound of the soldiers in the city.

I didn't expect the world to become like this, not only are there fights between states, but also between counties.

The angry crowd gathered more and more, and Xu Da and Wang simply took the children back to the shack first.

I didn't eat in the morning, and my belly was hungry early, Xu Da took out a few taro and divided two for each of the two powerful brothers, and everyone filled their stomachs first in case something happened.

Another hour passed, and at about three o'clock in the afternoon, the heavy gates of the city, which had been slammed, suddenly opened.

Before the refugees could smile happily, they were trampled under the feet of a team of horses that rushed out.

Tie Ge swept away, and the refugees blocked under the city gate fell down one by one as if they had been cut leeks.

"Officers and soldiers kill people!!

Screams were heard, and the refugees, who were still blocked under the city, crawled and ran around.

The black-faced officer and soldier in the lead shouted directly: "Take all the thieves who are trying to break the city!" ”

The group of refugees who slammed the door were stunned.

Who is the anti-thief?

They are good citizens!

Someone hurriedly knelt down to explain that he was not a thief, but before the words fell, his head was cut off with a knife, and blood splattered three meters away, scaring many people stupidly.

Xu Yue's family, who witnessed this scene in the corner, were also dumbfounded, why are the officers and soldiers in these years more terrible than bandits?

They ran all the way, and finally saw a little hope, but this little hope is now crushed by reality.

I'm afraid that there is no one who is more unlucky than their family, right?

God, you don't have a heart!

Just when Xu Yue's family of five cursed God for having no conscience in their hearts and were about to run away again, the unilateral killing suddenly stopped.

A few of the most vicious ones who smashed the door were pulled out and beheaded for public display.

Suddenly, the refugees knelt in the open space under the city gate, so quiet that only the sound of frightened breathing could be achieved.

It was still the black-faced official, who held the saber at his waist and said to the victims in front of him:

"Taishou died of illness, the affairs of the county are temporarily represented by the county, and during the mourning period, there is no porridge shed, but you can enter the city to mourn!"

After that, he raised his hand and pointed to a middle-aged man dressed as a scribe next to him, and said to everyone that if they wanted to enter the city, they would look for him.

Then he left twenty officers and soldiers, and he left with the rest.

The city gate was wide open, but looking at the officers and soldiers standing at the door with white knives, no one dared to break through the gate again.

Some of the more daring ones trembled and asked the scribe how to enter the city.

The scribe dusted off his broad sleeved robe, sat down cross-legged behind the wooden table laid by the officers and soldiers, and said with a compassionate face:

"One person can go into the city to mourn if he pays ten dollars."

Seeing the miserable faces of everyone, he calculated again: "In normal years, one stone of corn is 300 yuan, but this year there are many wars, and there is a great drought in many places in our state, and the price of grain has risen slightly, and one stone of corn is 900 yuan, and ten dollars are only one and a half pounds of corn." ”

The two words were just fluttering, but they made the refugees cry in despair.

Now they don't talk about a pound and a half of corn, not even a grain of rice!

In the corner, Wang looked at Xu Da, who looked at the ten five-baht coins sewn into his chest clothes, and a tanned face was so gloomy that it could drip water.

Obviously, if they can't pay the capitation fee of ten dollars per person, they can't enter the city.

If you can't enter the city, you won't be able to find work, and if you don't work, you won't have anything to eat, and you'll starve to death in the end.

Of course, you can also leave and go to another city.

But getting here is already the limit for the refugees, so where can they go?

For a while, there was a cry under the city gate, and it seemed that even God couldn't stand it, and the clear sky gradually became cloudy.