Chapter 20 Sudden Heavy Rain

Chapter 20 Sudden Heavy Rain

Are you two having lunch?

The constable, chewing on his dry rations, squinted when he saw her: "I haven't eaten."

Seeing the flatbread in their hands, Jiang Yutang smiled and went over to them, handing them some beef jerky.

"I knew right away that you two brothers hadn't eaten yet. After all, you've worked so hard. Look, that's why I've come to bring you some food!"

The constable took the package wrapped in oiled paper, opened it, and found that it contained dark, dried meat.

"This is beef jerky, it's really hard to get. My whole family only ate a few pieces, and we're giving the rest to you two as a token of our respect."

The constable glanced at her disbelievingly, then turned away and spat the choking dry food into the ground, his eyes fixed on Jiang Yutang as she took a bite of beef jerky.

The beef jerky turned out to be too hard; I tried to bite it for a long time but couldn't break it. In the end, I could only swallow the piece of jerky whole.

"Brother, how does it taste?" Jiang Yutang asked, rubbing his hands together like a fly.

The bailiff grinned and picked his teeth with the tip of his tongue as he handed the beef jerky to another bailiff.

"The taste is good. The young lady is quite sensible, knowing to offer us something useful. Which family in the capital are you from?"

Pooh!

Jiang Yutang inwardly spat, but still smiled and said, "My daughter is from the Jiang family in the capital."

Upon hearing this, the two constables raised an eyebrow and revealed a playful smile: "The Jiang family, huh?"

The affair between the Jiang and Cheng families caused quite a stir, becoming common knowledge not only among the people of the capital but also spreading far and wide.

Meeting the two men's probing gazes, Jiang Yutang suppressed her nausea and handed over the two pairs of insoles: "Brothers, you've been walking for the past few days, and your feet must be sore. This is a small token of our family's appreciation. We hope you'll be understanding in the future."

Now that all the food and supplies had been handed over, and with Jiang Yutang's constant flattery, the two constables were very satisfied and praised the Jiang family for being sensible.

When Jiang Yutang turned back, she saw Cheng Daier and Lin Shi helping Cheng Lanzhou get down and walk.

The weather was relatively cool today, unlike the sweltering heat of the past few days. Even so, Cheng Lanzhou's forehead and clothes were soaked with sweat.

Jiang Yutang praised it highly.

Cheng Lanzhou's injuries could easily be mistaken for a car accident; her back was covered in wounds, and she even had injuries on her buttocks. However, because Cheng Daier and Madam Lin desperately tried to stop her from receiving treatment, fearing that she might use the opportunity to tarnish Cheng Lanzhou's reputation, they had no choice but to give up.

So she didn't know the extent of the injury below her waist, but she could guess how serious it was. It must have been an injury to the muscles connecting to her thigh, which was why walking was so difficult.

Jiang Shengan is simply too old for his body to recover quickly, which is why he is unable to get out of bed.

She glanced at them briefly and walked towards her family, sitting down in the shade of a tree to enjoy the breeze from Jiang Sumin's fan.

Before they had even rested for a short while, the yamen runners were already anxiously urging them to set off.

"The weather looks bad; it might rain. We need to find somewhere to stay before it rains."

Jiang Yutang looked up at the clear blue sky, which didn't look like it was going to rain at all, and said with dissatisfaction, "You're just kidding."

Jiang Huaiyu shook his head, intentionally or unintentionally pressing his right knee, and said seriously, "No, there is indeed a tendency for it to rain, we need to hurry."

Since even Jiang Huaiyu was so certain, Jiang Yutang could only obediently set off with a long face.

During the rest breaks, she didn't stop for a moment. After selling the insoles, she distributed food, and immediately went to give gifts to curry favor with the yamen runners. Her bottom barely touched the ground.

In addition, she had just figured out the patterns of the two worlds and had been traveling back and forth between them for the past few days without much rest, leaving her exhausted.

In this state, she even started to doze off while walking.

He unconsciously gripped the carriage, his eyes closed without him noticing. Every now and then he would trip over a stone, immediately waking up and opening his eyes. But soon, drowsiness would return, and he would magically drift into a half-dream, half-awake state.

Just like when I was in English class back then.

Jiang Songzhi followed behind, and seeing Jiang Yutang sometimes tilting her head back suddenly and sometimes nodding repeatedly, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.

His younger sister had never suffered like this before.

"Little sister, Tang'er."

"Hey!" Jiang Yutang suddenly woke up, hurriedly looked around, and muttered, "I wasn't asleep, I was counting ants."

"Heh." Jiang Songzhi chuckled wryly and gently rubbed her head, saying softly, "If you're sleepy, go lie down on the cart for a while, and I'll pull you up."

Jiang Yutang quickly waved her hand to refuse, "No need, no need, I'm much better now." After saying that, she shook her head to force herself to clear her mind and look straight ahead.

After walking for an hour, the sky, which had been clear and sunny just moments before, suddenly became overcast with dark clouds, as if they might press down on the ground at any moment. The wind also became fierce, and everything seemed to be proclaiming that rain was imminent.

"This rain came on strong." Jiang Sheng'an squinted at the sky and asked Jiang Jiuzhe behind him, "Did you bring an umbrella?"

Jiang Jiuze shook his head.

Yun, supporting Zhu, said anxiously, "What should we do? If we can't find shelter, we're sure to get soaked."

Jiang Songzhi frowned and asked Jiang Sumin on his back, "Do you know if there are any villages nearby?"

Jiang Sumin sighed with difficulty and shook his head: "I really don't remember anything."

Just when the family was facing an urgent but fruitless situation, Jiang Yutang was observing the movements of other people.

The crowd gradually became panicked; besides weeds and some fragile saplings, there was nothing nearby to shelter them from the rain.

Just then, Jiang Yutang's gaze precisely targeted a family of four, who took out two pieces of oilcloth from their bag.

Without saying a word, she rushed down and said to the man, "Do you sell oilcloth? I can exchange it for something!"

The man was startled by Jiang Yutang's sudden appearance. He looked at her strangely and shook his head: "I only have two pieces of oilcloth at home. I don't have any extra to give you."

Jiang Yutang was not discouraged. He quickly recalled what was still valuable in his mind and his gaze fell on the little girl in the woman's arms.

On a sudden inspiration, he ran back and grabbed some dried meat, which he then handed to them.

"This is beef jerky. These days your family has been eating dry food and porridge every day. The adults can manage, but the children are more vulnerable. You have to think about the children and the elderly too!"

"this......"

The man was caught in a dilemma, looking at his wife and daughter. The old man next to him sat weakly on the ground, swallowing hard as he looked at the beef jerky in Jiang Yutang's hand, his eyes filled with expectation as he looked at the man.

Jiang Yutang seized the opportunity to add, "Your oilcloth is quite large. Give me the big one, and the small one is enough for your family of four. I am a doctor, and if you feel unwell on the way, I will definitely take care of you!"

Having said all that, the man gritted his teeth and steeled himself, finally accepting the beef jerky and handing the large piece of oilcloth to Jiang Yutang.

Thank you!

Jiang Yutang grabbed the oilcloth and ran back. When her family saw her waving her arms and carrying things, they all came up to her and asked, "Did you get it?"

“We’ve found another one. This piece of tarpaulin is big enough; we can squeeze it out and use it.”

The constables made everyone stop by the roadside, and the two men climbed into the carriage to take shelter from the rain, completely disregarding the lives of the others.

Some people pleaded with them to let their elderly relatives or children take shelter from the rain on the carriage, but they were all ruthlessly driven off.

"Get out of my way! A bunch of exiles want to ride in the same carriage as me!"

Jiang Yutang looked at the group of pitiful people, turned her head away, tugged at the oilcloth on her head, and tried to console herself.

When you are struggling to survive, don't let your compassion get the better of you.