With that said, Cai Lihua's pupils contracted, and she rolled up her sleeves, ready to argue, "Based on..."
"Old Meng family, why aren't you leaving yet? The refugee soldiers and the official troops are coming to arrest people tonight, they're already ten li from the village outskirts."
A shout from behind startled the Meng family into silence, daring not to breathe.
The Li family's mule cart didn't even stop. After delivering the message, they were already half a li away.
Cai Lihua's pupils contracted, and she forgot about arguing.
"Oh, heavens, hurry, hurry," shouted Wang Shi, her feet unsteady. She dropped her cane and scrambled to the ox cart.
"Help me onto the cart, quickly."
Her sons finally reacted. Meng Shaode was the first to help the old woman onto the cart.
The cart was piled high with provisions for the entire family: several sacks and baskets, with a space in the middle left for the matriarch, Wang Shi, to sit.
Meng Shaokang tucked his two youngest sons under his arms and placed them in his mother's armpits, urging everyone else to follow.
Wang Shi cast a disgusted glance at Ajin and her mother, lamenting the lack of a proper place: "What a pair of detestable things."
Meng Shaode had no time to argue with his mother. If they were caught, they would be forcibly conscripted to the battlefield, and he couldn't bear the thought of his wife and daughter facing that.
A look of unprecedented panic crossed his face. He picked up the carrying pole and followed the ox cart southward, "Lihua, stop talking, we need to run first."
Cai Lihua, pulling Ajin, followed behind the family. "Shaode? When did we have such a big son?"
Although her voice was soft and her steps didn't stop, Ajin still heard it.
Alas... her mother had forgotten everything.
"Isn't that our eldest son? The firstborn, twenty years old this year. Later, you lost too much blood after giving birth, so we couldn't conceive for eight years. Then, by chance, we got pregnant again, and that's our Ajin, isn't it? Don't ask anymore, let's go quickly. Once we find a place to settle, I'll have a good talk with you about our family situation."
Meng Shaode, in his haste, started sweating as soon as they left the village behind the ox cart.
If only they had two daughters. He thought with regret, looking at his son's defiant attitude. He'd have to teach this brat a lesson sometime, Cai Lihua mused fiercely.
"Oh, old Meng, did you hear your mother say she wouldn't give us any food?"
Cai Lihua muttered softly. Ajin heard her. She knew her paternal grandmother too well. How would they manage on this journey?
The horse-drawn carriages of the wealthy moved considerably faster. This stark contrast only heightened the panic, fearing they would be left behind.
"Ignore her," Meng Shaode thought. He couldn't beat her, nor did he want to be branded a disobedient son. He would take it one step at a time.
Ajin suddenly looked back.
Xinghua Village was now plunged into darkness. The sound of hooves drifted in with the wind, faint and indistinct.
"Mother, we probably can't outrun the horses. Why don't we hide in the mountains?"
"Huh?" Cai Lihua didn't react immediately.
"Ajin is right, Mother, Elder Brother. We can't outrun the horses. Let's hide in the mountains."
At this moment, with everyone in a panic, Meng Shaode's cry caused the eldest son's two children to cry out in terror.
This further tightened everyone's hearts.
"I think that's a good idea, Second Brother is right." Luo Xiuying felt a bitter ache in her heart. Her greatest worry now was her two children, who were so frightened it was heartbreaking.
"Slap." Meng Shaokang slapped Luo Xiuying across the face. "How did you raise your children? How can you still waste time crying at a time like this? If you attract the refugee soldiers, you'll be their prize."
Ajin swallowed. In her memory, this wasn't the first time she had seen her eldest uncle hit his wife. But that "prize" – wasn't it just a plaything taken to amuse the soldiers at war?
She would only understand in adulthood that all this was a cycle of misfortune, starting with her paternal grandmother being beaten by her grandfather, and her descendants would inevitably follow suit.
It wasn't until her grandfather's death six years ago that her grandmother finally straightened her back and assumed the position of matriarch, as if wanting to inflict all the grievances she had suffered onto the women in the household, including Ajin and her mother.