Muttering to herself, she said, "Why does she look like a child?"
"Didn't have enough to eat and drink when she was young, what else could it be?" Mrs. Wang said abruptly.
So this is what they meant by being the same age, sigh... Thinking about it, her daughter-in-law Lihua's words made sense, she needed to fatten up her granddaughter.
Others were fully developed at fifteen and already talking about marriage, but this girl was as thin as a piece of paper.
Before long, they had left behind the many people who were heading into the city to fetch water, enduring hardships day and night.
A Jiu saw many people walking from the rear window.
Their eyes looked at their carriage with envy.
They all walked past, and by the time they reached the water distribution point, they would surely be at the back of the line. Then, with a single command, the water would be all gone, and they would return empty-handed.
A Jiu noticed that the situation was much the same, whether traveling from Menghua City or to Nanming City.
The only difference was that the ruler of Nanming City cared for his people; lacking grain, he opened the granaries; lacking water, he transported it from afar.
In less than the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn, the carriage had arrived at Liu County.
The area was densely populated. In recent days, refugees from the government had gathered in droves at the once-abandoned gladiator arena in Liu County.
That place had once been a venue for local wealthy families to engage in activities like cockfighting and dogfighting.
In A Jiu's memory, her father, who was skilled at hunting, had once captured a wolf.
But her father had also brought this wolf to participate in a competition, and in the end, lost all his savings.
A Jiu now understood why they lost; the black hands behind this place had manipulated everything. Her father's wolf was a wild wolf, how could it lose?
There was only one possibility: her father's wolf was no match for their tiger.
Never mind, in any case, this place had become a shelter for refugees.
The iron gates, which had once released wild beasts to fight, were now guarded by soldiers. Through these gates, some steamed buns and other food were distributed.
"The refugees are too unruly. It's good that Nanming City is finally taking collective responsibility for them, preventing them from harming the common people."
Uncle Niu sighed, his tone devoid of blame.
But as A Jiu passed by, she saw them fighting over the food distributed by the government.
One person was bitten to death on the spot, yes, directly bitten to death.
Local soldiers stepped forward to intervene with their swords, but they didn't understand that when people have no food, humanity ceases to exist.
They watched helplessly as a soldier's sword was snatched away. The refugee then attacked and killed several people. Only when the guards shot him with arrows did the bloody disaster come to a halt.
A Jiu closed her eyes heavily and pulled down the curtain, no longer watching.
She was on the verge of collapse, but thinking of her parents, her eyes regained their determined gaze.
The carriage suddenly stopped.
"Routine inspection, everyone in the carriage, get out."
The person sitting at the front was no longer Mrs. Wang. A Jiu got out of the carriage.
Uncle Niu was clearly an honest person. When he explained that she was his god-granddaughter, his voice even faltered.
"Officer, look here, my name is Niu Dasheng, and this girl is my god-granddaughter. This is my household registration certificate. I have no one to rely on, so I... took in this granddaughter to keep me company in my old age."
Uncle Niu didn't say any more and took out the certificate from his pocket to show the city guard.
A Jiu, however, was looking around. She truly didn't know when her paternal grandmother had been replaced by Grandpa Niu as the driver.
Fortunately, her eyesight was good.
Looking back from a distance, Mrs. Wang stood with her back straight, hands behind her, and though her clothes were tattered and her hair disheveled, she walked with a confident stride.
She walked towards the gladiator arena, and then began to observe the scene.
"Thank you, officer."
The carriage lightened, and Uncle Niu said, "Granddaughter, get in the carriage."
A Jiu finally came back to her senses, climbed onto the carriage, bowed to the officers, and then sat down inside.
"This little girl is quite pretty, very attractive."
"Indeed. This Niu Dasheng is from Heba Village. He's all alone and now has such a beautiful granddaughter. When she gets married in the future, Niu Dasheng will live for decades longer."
A Jiu exclaimed in surprise. The officers here knew about every household.
Compared to their own place, this was far superior.