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IWAFTIAT Chapter 11: The Tomb

When Yang Xi asked, Zhou Xiaodi and the others all looked over.

Zhou Yu made the bed, helped his mother sit down, and then said, “A month ago, my father and I went out of the city we rescued Wu Shan from the soldiers. At that time, Wu Shan almost died under the swords of the soldiers.”

Yang Xi felt heavy-hearted. There were at least tens of thousands of refugees in this refugee resettlement area. “Did Wu Shan’s family flee to the capital a month ago?”

Zhou Yu picked up his son and touched his forehead to confirm that he didn’t have a fever. He said, “Well, Wushan’s hometown was attacked by rioters, and the family had no choice but to leave their hometown.”

Yang Xi knew that the Northeast had the largest number of rioters, and the various tribes on the grassland often plundered the Northeast. In addition, the court failed to suppress the rebellion in time, so the people in the Northeast suffered terribly, forcing them to flee their hometowns and become refugees.

After recovering from the shock, Zhou’s stomach began to growl. Seeing everyone looking at him, he covered his stomach with his hands and said, “I’m not hungry.”

The snacks that Yang Xi had hidden had already been shared and eaten. They were being watched in the capital and wanted to leave as soon as possible, so they had no food. The Zhou family was faced with a food shortage.

Just as Zhou Yu was about to speak, Wu Shan came over from outside the straw hut and asked, “Zhou Gōngzi, can I come in?”

“Brother Wu, please come in.”

Wu Shan came in carrying two large bags, “These are what the young master asked me to buy. They are all here.”

After saying this, he took out the remaining silver and copper coins from his arms and put them all on the bag.

Zhou Yu had a clear idea of ​​how much money was left. He took a quick glance and knew that Wu Shan had not hidden any money. He felt much more at ease and said with gratitude, “Brother Wu has helped me a lot. This is a token of my appreciation. Please accept it.”

Yang Xi saw that there were only more than six taels of silver and a few hundred copper coins left, so Zhou Yu took out a coin weighing about two taels and stuffed it into Wu Shan’s pocket.

Wu Shan declined twice but finally accepted it with a red face. “It’s hard to find odd jobs in winter, and my family really needs money to survive the winter, so I accepted it shamelessly.”

The refugees were short of food, and he was able to enter the city to do odd jobs because Zhou Gōngzi helped him get a pass. Even if he could earn money, it was not enough for his family. His hair turned white because of worrying about food for the winter.
Zhou Yu smiled and pointed at the bundle and the silver and said, “I admire your character, brother. You deserve my help.”

Wu Shan still felt guilty, and patted his chest and said, “As long as I am Wu Shan, I will never let anyone bully you.”

Zhou Yu said: “Brother, just call me Zhou Da from now on.”

His writing couldn’t be used, and his name needed to be blurred out, so it was more convenient to go with Zhou Da instead.

Wu Shan had his own wisdom. He knew that the Zhou family was in trouble. He cursed the damn world for not rewarding good officials. He said, “I came back yesterday and dug a grave with my kids. Sir, no, when do you think we’ll bury your father?”

Yang Xi raised her head after hearing this, she didn’t want to go back to her hometown, but Zhou Yu not only didn’t want to go back to his hometown, he also wanted to bury his father near the capital!

Zhou Yu’s voice was filled with pain, “We will set off at dawn tomorrow.”

To avoid waking up the nearby refugees and attracting too much attention by carrying the coffin, the family had to keep a low profile for a few days now that they had entered a refugee gathering place until the people tracking them gave up.

Wu Shan wanted to raise his hand to pat Zhou Gōngzi on the shoulder to comfort him, but he saw his rough hand retracted again, “Master Zhou will understand you.”

His father died on the road and was buried. It was hard to survive in this world.

Zhou Yu’s eyes were red. “I’ll trouble you, Brother Wu, tomorrow.”

Wu Shan said a few more words of comfort before leaving. The Zhou family all looked at the two rag bundles.

Zhou Yu gave the remaining silver and copper coins to his wife and opened two bundles. One bundle contained patched cotton-padded clothes and cotton shoes, and at the bottom was a thick quilt.

In the other bundle, there was some grain and dry food, as well as some prepared medicine bags, and at the bottom, there was a pottery jar and bowls and chopsticks. No wonder the two bundles were so big.

Yang Xi felt relieved when he saw the medicine bag, “Is this my mother’s medicine?”

(End of this chapter)


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