After signing, sealing, and exchanging money for goods, Tian Dazhuang and Tian Sijin still stood there, dazed.
A single tube of mosquito coils took at most two or three catties of mugwort, which was essentially wild grass found all over the mountains, yet Mother had turned around and sold it for over a hundred wen per catty.
Both of them were beginning to doubt their reality; was making money really this simple?
Had they really spent their lives working the fields from dawn till dusk, only to end up unable to afford a full meal?
With the mosquito coils successfully sold, Qin Sang was in a good mood and took the two to the meat stall to weigh some meat.
They had almost finished eating the rabbits, and she was craving braised pork; besides, since she could buy pork in the Mall, she needed to buy some here first so she could justify bringing it out later.
Leaving Tongfu Inn, the three headed toward the Market. On the way, they saw many people in rags, in groups of three to five, or even larger groups of over ten—young and old alike—all with sallow complexions and lips so dry they were cracked and bleeding.
Seeing Qin Sang and her companions, those people's eyes fixed tightly on the bamboo tubes at their waists. Tian Sijin was frightened by that look of extreme desperation and instinctively hugged her bamboo tube to her chest.
Tian Dazhuang was also nervous; one hand steadied the shoulder pole while the other gripped the wood-cutting knife tucked into his back.
Qin Sang stood by a pawnshop and asked the manager at the counter:
"They don't look like beggars. Are they refugees fleeing a famine?"
"Indeed. I heard they've been on the road for a month. It hasn't rained there for two months, and the riverbeds are parched and cracked. A month ago, a locust plague hit, and they were left with not even tree leaves to eat. They had no choice but to flee."
Upon hearing the words 'locust plague,' the expressions of all three changed:
"Is the locust plague over then?"
"Who knows? Perhaps our Songbai Town has escaped it, or maybe those locusts will fly here in a couple of days. Insects have wings; no one can predict where they'll go."
In the information-poor ancient times, it was inevitable that they only learned about something as major as a locust plague when the refugees arrived.
Qin Sang had previously only read descriptions in books about 'a thousand miles of scorched earth' and 'exchanging children to eat,' but seeing this crowd of emaciated people struggling on the brink of life and death brought a shock and impact that those simple words could not convey.
"Where do they plan to go? Will they settle here?"
The manager also stepped outside, stroking his beard and sighing:
"How could they? Although our Songbai Town hasn't reached a dead end yet, things aren't much better here.
"Currently, those of us in town with our own wells are slightly better off, but the public wells only provide two buckets per family a day. Even so, if it doesn't rain for another half month, the town's wells will run dry.
"These fleeing families will surely continue south. The drought there is slightly better than in the north; they might at least get a sip of water."
Tian Sijin clutched her Mother's sleeve tightly:
"Mother, will we have to flee the famine too?"
After bidding the manager farewell, Qin Sang took Si Jin's hand and comforted her:
"No, we won't. We're not going to buy meat anymore; we're going to buy grain now."
On the way to the Grain Shop, they saw refugees holding bowls, going from shop to shop to beg for water or a bite to eat. Those who met kind souls received a bowl of water or a pancake, while those who met the unkind were kicked out and cursed at.
Qin Sang couldn't bear it, but since the water from the Mall couldn't appear out of nowhere, she had Da Zhuang and Si Jin give her their water bottles. After quietly filling them, she stepped forward to help an elderly person who had just been driven out:
"Elder, I have a little water here. Where is your bowl?"
The elderly person immediately pulled two half-grown children down to kneel, holding up a bowl and thanking Qin Sang incessantly:
"You are a good person! Thank you, noble one, for the water."
"Thank you, Auntie."
Qin Sang filled their bowls with water from the bamboo tube, told them to drink quickly, and then refilled them before stopping.
Seeing that Qin Sang was willing to give water, many surrounding refugees gathered:
"Kind soul, please give me a sip of water."
"Noble one, my son hasn't had water for two days..."
Qin Sang poured half a bowl of water into each outstretched clay bowl. Though it wasn't much, it was enough to quench the thirst of these extremely dehydrated people for a moment.
But no matter how much she cheated, the water in the three bamboo tubes couldn't provide for everyone. It wasn't until she turned the tubes over and not a single drop came out that the surrounding crowd gradually dispersed.
Tian Da Zhuang scratched his head. Was there really that much water in the bamboo tubes? He remembered having only a few sips left...
At the Grain Shop, two bare-chested men stood guard at the entrance. Perhaps because there were more refugees now, the shop feared grain raids, so customers had to line up and enter one by one.
Upon inquiry, they found the price of grain had risen. Now, a catty of Millet cost fifteen wen, and rice was selling for twenty wen a catty—the same price as a pig's head.
Perhaps because the grain was too expensive, there weren't many people in line, and everyone bought very little, mostly small bags of ten or twenty catties. It wasn't long before Qin Sang entered the shop.
Qin Sang's last grain purchase had left a deep impression on the Shop Assistant. This time, she directly asked for four taels of silver worth of rice and asked the assistant to call a bullock cart to deliver it.
Tian Da Zhuang was anxious behind her:
"Mother, this grain is so expensive—the price has doubled! Do we really need to buy this much?"
Qin Sang had her own plans:
"If we don't buy it now, it might rise to thirty wen a catty tomorrow."
The assistant smiled and said:
"The lady is right. Grain prices are changing every day now. Buying now is a bargain."
Tian Sijin was worried:
"But Mother, we could just buy Millet; we'd be able to buy so much more grain."
Millet was so much cheaper than rice that it pained her to see the money spent this way.
Qin Sang waved her hand:
"Sigh, Millet doesn't taste as good as rice."
In the Mall, Millet was twice as expensive as rice, so rice was more cost-effective.
Old Man Xu, who drove the bullock cart, seemed to have aged even more. Seeing it was Qin Sang again, he greeted her with a smile.
Qin Sang didn't stand on ceremony; she pulled Si Jin onto the cart. Tian Da Zhuang didn't feel at ease and said he would follow behind to guard the grain against theft. Qin Sang let him be; it wouldn't hurt for a young man to get some exercise.
After buying some dried fruits, pastries, and sugar cubes, Old Man Xu's bullock cart slowly headed out of town.
The bullock cart was barely faster than walking, and it took about an hour to return to the village. When passing the river at the village entrance, Qin Sang peered out and saw that the water was only ankle-deep. Many children were in the riverbed catching fish and shrimp in the mud.
The children were just happy to catch fish, but the adults fetching water for the fields could not smile at all as they looked at the nearly dry riverbed. This river would definitely stop flowing within half a month.
After the cart entered the village, Qin Sang got off halfway. She told Tian Da Zhuang and Tian Sijin to follow the cart home and move the grain while she went to the Village Chief's house.
The Village Chief thought she was there to check on Tian Yougen's condition and came to meet her leaning on his cane:
"You Gen is awake now and says he feels pretty good. Aside from being weak, he has no fever. This morning we boiled some mugwort leaves water to wash him, and he's lying in his room. Do you want to go in and see him?"
Qin Sang waved her hand:
"Village Chief, I'm not here to see my cousin. As long as his wife takes good care of him and he doesn't have a fever, he can walk around in ten days to two weeks; just as long as he doesn't do heavy labor, he'll be fine.
"I came to tell you something. I saw refugees in town today; a locust plague has broken out in their hometown."