Chapter 232: Sealing Off The Town
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
When he saw Qin Xiaoyao’s puzzled expression, Deputy Shopkeeper Wei explained, “To be honest, I’m very interested in Madam Qin’s goods.” “It’s just that I have limited money. So…” “I hope that Madam Qin can give me a day’s grace period. Tomorrow, I will definitely gather enough money!” After he finished speaking, he even cupped his hands and bowed to Qin Xiaoyao.
When she saw this, Qin Xiaoyao pretended to hesitate for a moment before agreeing.
“Alright then,” she said.
“On account of the fact that we are old acquaintances, I will wait for you for a day.” “However, if it doesn’t work out tomorrow, I can only look for someone else,” Qin Xiaoyao said.
Deputy Shopkeeper Wei’s face lit up.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get the things ready!”
Following that, the two of them agreed to meet at the entrance of Link Trading at the same time the next day.
Only then did Deputy Shopkeeper Wei see Qin Xiaoyao off.
At the same time, outside the town, Wang Dashan was pushing a handcart full of firewood back to town.
When he arrived at the town gate, he realized that there were more people crowding around it today.
These people were dressed in tattered clothes and appeared haggard. Many of them even had their families with them.
As soon as Wang Dashan appeared, someone ran after him and asked him for money and food.
Wang Dashan himself was leading a hard life now, so not surprisingly, he didn’t give anything to him.
In the past, whenever he encountered such a situation, the other party would stop pestering after a while.
However, this time, the person clung to Wang Dashan. Several people from the other side also came up and wanted to snatch his belongings from him by force.
Fortunately, Wang Dashan cried for help, and the soldiers guarding the town gate saw him and came to his rescue.
Otherwise, Wang Dashan would not be able to tear himself free.
Three town guards escorted Wang Dashan into the town.
The leader of the guards kindly gave Wang Dashan a few reminders because he often saw him entering the town to sell firewood.
“You guys better return to the town early. Also, don’t go out of the town to gather firewood anymore henceforth.”
Wang Dashan was stunned.
“Sir…” He looked anxiously at the guard who spoke.
His family was now relying on gathering firewood to make a living.
If they didn’t leave the town, how could they earn money?
A look of sympathy flashed across the guard’s face.
“Just listen to me. The government office has just sent a message saying that the town gates will be sealed off in four hours.” “Who knows whether the time may be brought forward…”
When he saw that Wang Dashan was still hesitating, the guard said, “It’s also because I can see that things are not easy for you guys, so I am reminding you out of kindness.” “There are more and more refugees outside the town. Once the town gate is closed, we don’t know when it will be opened again.”
If these few people were really locked outside the town, they would definitely not meet with a good end.
Wang Dashan’s heart shuddered. He finally understood what the guard meant.
He quickly saluted the guard.
“Thank you very much, Sir! I’ll send the firewood home and then go out and tell them to come back!”
They were going to close the town gates and lock down the whole town. Mountain Spring Town was going to be sealed off.
In this situation, how could they still gather firewood? They had to hurry back to the town!
The guard was satisfied when he saw that Wang Dashan understood.
Only then did he lead his two compatriots to continue with his duty.
On Wang Dashan’s side, he stopped selling firewood. He quickly pushed the firewood back to the Liu family’s house.
After that, he quickly unloaded the firewood and left the house with the handcart again.
He was practically running out of the town gate to look for Wang Laoshuan and the other rest.
When he found the three of them, they were still busy gathering firewood, and they had gathered quite a lot.
Wang Dashan quickly explained the situation to the three of them.
After the three of them heard this, they began panicking.
“Seal the town? Why would they want to seal the town?” Wang Laoshuan said in fear.
“That’s right. If the town is sealed, what do we do next?” Uncle Liu was also panic-stricken.
“Brother Dashan, is this news reliable?” Liu Erniu also looked at Wang Dashan worriedly.
It wasn’t easy for them to familiarize themselves with the nearby mountains and get used to the life of gathering firewood.
Once the town gates were sealed, their livelihood would be terminated.
“It’s reliable! The town guard told me himself!” Wang Dashan said hurriedly.
At the same time, his hands didn’t stop working.
“Don’t just stand there. Hurry up and pack up. We have to rush back to town.” “If we are really locked outside, we’ll be finished.”
The three of them quickly returned to their senses.
They didn’t think too much anymore and quickly step forward to help.
They gathered up the firewood and placed them on the two handcarts.
After that, they pushed handcarts and rushed back.
When they reached the town gate, Wang Dashan didn’t know if it was an illusion, but he felt that there seemed to be more refugees at the gate.
This time, because the four of them arrived at the town together, and as soon as the four of them appeared, the guards at the town gate immediately approached them, so no refugees dared to go near the four men.
When Wang Dashan saw the guard who had given him the reminder earlier, he quickly bowed and thanked the guard again.
After paying the entrance fees, Wang Dashan quickly brought the few of them into the town.
The group only heaved a sigh of relief when they were some distance away from the town gate.
At this point, the three of them finally believed Wang Dashan.
With heavy hearts, the four of them headed back to the illegal construction area.
“What do we do next?” Suddenly, Liu Erniu spoke up.
Uncle Liu and Wang Laoshuan also looked at Wang Dashan.
All this while, they had gotten used to listening to Wang Dashan.
Under Wang Dashan’s guidance, they were able to do a good job.
The money they earned every day was actually fairly substantial.
Wang Dashan sighed.
“Let’s wait and see. We’ll go take a look later. Then we’ll know if the news is true.” “If the town is really sealed off…” Wang Dashan paused.
“We can only talk about it when the time comes.”
The other three were disappointed.
However, they also knew that this matter was not within Wang Dashan’s control.
Thus, they didn’t say anything more.
Back at the Liu family’s house, Wang Dashan and Wang Laoshuan did not cook. Instead, they ate the pancakes they had prepared in the morning.
“I have to go to the Song family’s place and inform Mrs. Song,” Wang Dashan suddenly said.
On one hand, he had to inform the Song family of this news. On the other hand, he had to discuss what to do next with his younger sister.
That was right. Ever since Wang Dashan began going in and out of town, he had always discussed with his younger sister before deciding on all the major and minor family matters.
After his younger sister went to the Song family, she learned a lot of things and was much more knowledgeable than him now.
Furthermore, he had given most of his money to his younger sister for her to manage the household finances.
“I’ll… go with you!” Wang Laoshuan said suddenly.
When he saw that his son was not pleased, he added, “I’ll go fetch some water.”
Wang Laoshuan didn’t need to gather firewood in the afternoon, and now that something like this had happened, he would be flustered if he stayed at home with nothing to do.
In addition, he wanted to see his daughter, perhaps because he hadn’t seen her for a long time.
“I can fetch the water.” To Wang Laoshuan’s surprise, Wang Dashan still refused to let him tag along.
When he saw that Wang Laoshuan wasn’t happy, Wang Dashan continued, “If you’re bored, you can tidy up the firewood at home.” “Since we won’t be able to leave the town henceforth, we won’t be selling any of the firewood left at home.” “In addition, if you have time, bake some more pancakes to stock up. After that, we don’t have to start a fire so often and can save on firewood.” “Alright.” Only then did Wang Laoshuan relent.
With something to do, he felt more at ease.
Wang Dashan quickly went out and made his way to the Song family’s residence.
After Qin Xiaoyao learned of the situation, she couldn’t quite stay calm anymore.
The decision to seal off the town came so quickly.
That would mean that the bandits would come soon.
Fortunately, she had already contacted the grain store..