Chapter 583: The Old Lady's Account (Patreon)

Chapter 583: The Old Lady's Account

Aunt Zhang was taken aback, sizing up the old lady and the young girl in front of her.

Of course, there were tenants in Zhengdao Village. Some prisoners who had been exiled here had their family members who were deeply attached to them and came to rent houses nearby to take care of them. But such people were rare. After all, most people were unwilling to leave their hometowns and come to this remote and impoverished place.

Wealthy families usually had large households and business empires. Who would willingly suffer in this place?

As for the poor, it goes without saying. A large family coming here without land or roots would only make their lives even more difficult. Besides taking care of prisoners, it would be hard enough for them to take care of themselves.

So among the many prisoners in Zhengdao Village, there were only two families who couldn't bear to leave them and came here to rent houses, struggling to make a living.

And now, there was another one?

If it were someone slightly younger, it could be understood. But an old lady and a young girl? Wasn't that just needless suffering?

Seeing Aunt Zhang's silence, the old lady hurriedly extended the basket in her hand and said, "This is some food I made at home. We just arrived, and we may need the help and support of our neighbors."

Aunt Zhang instinctively wanted to decline, but the cloth covering the basket had already been lifted, and a faint fragrance wafted into her nostrils. She even saw some dried meat inside.

The words on Aunt Zhang's lips were immediately swallowed back. Although her family's life in Zhengdao Village was slightly better, they were still very poor. They couldn't afford to eat meat even once a month.

Thinking of her children at home, Aunt Zhang ultimately didn't refuse.

Since they were neighbors, she could accept their gesture of goodwill and help them a bit more.

Aunt Zhang smiled and stepped aside, making room for the old lady and the little girl to enter. "Auntie, you're too polite. Come in, let's talk inside instead of standing at the door. Do you want to borrow a water bucket? I'm sorry, my eldest son just went to fetch water, so you might have to wait a while. Come in and have a seat first."

The old lady didn't stand on ceremony either. Holding the little girl's hand, she entered the courtyard.

There were only Aunt Zhang and her youngest son in the house. The child seemed to have been born not long ago and couldn't even walk properly yet, just wobbling and swaying.

Aunt Zhang led the two of them into the house, poured two cups of hot water, and supported her youngest son while inquiring, "Auntie, you said you just moved to Zhengdao Village today?"

"Yes, we paid the rent just this morning."

"Why would Auntie come to this village to rent a house? I'm not criticizing, but as you can see, life is hard in Zhengdao Village, and it's inconvenient to buy anything. Do you have relatives here?"

The old lady sighed, "This is a long story, and I won't hide it from you. Our family used to be in Dong'an Prefecture. If we had a choice, we wouldn't have come to such a faraway place."

Dong'an Prefecture?

Aunt Zhang felt a sense of familiarity and, after a moment of recollection, suddenly remembered.

A few days ago, Miss Shu Yu and the whole Shu family came from Dong'an Prefecture, right?

Could it be that the old lady in front of her had some connection to the Shu family?

Was she related to them? But she had specifically inquired about it, and the entire Shu family had been exiled together.

However, she had heard that they used to be an official family, so it was possible that some loyal servants couldn't bear to leave the main household and followed them.

With that in mind, Aunt Zhang asked, "Why did this happen? Did something occur?"