Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Head North, Fewer People

Qi Manman rubbed her eyes, looking as if she had just woken up, her head leaning against Qi Zheng’s neck. She spoke softly, in a sticky tone, “Grandpa, let’s go north, fewer people there.”

“What?”

Qi Zheng couldn’t immediately react to what his granddaughter said. Just as he was about to ask again, he realized the little one had fallen asleep again.

Because the grandfather and granddaughter were close, Qi Zheng could even hear the little snores the little one made.

Mrs. Qi hadn’t been at ease since her granddaughter was taken away. After thinking it over, she finally decided to call Yi Meng to go with her to take a look.

The people in the house were discussing what to do next when Mrs. Qi and Yi Meng arrived.

After asking around, they found out that her old man was with the toddler at the village head’s house.

“You old man, why haven’t you taken the child home when she’s already asleep?”

As soon as Mrs. Qi saw her granddaughter sleeping soundly like a little piglet, she immediately scolded Qi Zheng softly, in slight annoyance, and then asked Yi Meng to carefully take the child over.

As soon as she was in her mother’s arms, the sleeping Qi Manman seemed to be back in a particularly comfortable place. She squirmed, found herself a comfortable position, and slept more soundly.

Qi Quanjin, fearing his daughter would catch cold, simply took off his jacket and gave it to Yi Meng, “Meng Niang, cover the child with this.”

“But you…”

Yi Meng looked at her husband, who was bare-armed with only a vest left, worried he might catch cold.

Qi Quanjin laughed and said, “Your man has a lot of heat; it’s fine. You and Mother stay inside the village head’s house for a while, and let’s all go back together later.”

It’s dark, and Qi Quanjin feared his old mother and wife might slip and fall.

Moreover, the daughter was still asleep, what if she got scared?

This time, Mrs. Qi didn’t refuse.

The village head’s wife, knowing the Qi Family had a little baby, was also very curious and led people over to the house across the way.

With his granddaughter being taken care of by the family, Qi Zheng wasn’t afraid of crowding people and went straight into the house.

Just then, he happened to hear someone suggesting moving south.

“If you’re talking about a good place to live, it has to be south! I heard it’s warm down there, lots of water and mountains, nobody would starve to death.”

“Yes, indeed. If we really have to leave, we should find a place where we can settle down, otherwise, how can so many of us survive?”

“But where in the south? Has anyone been there, what is it really like, how do we get there, who knows?”

Some also raised doubts.

They were all ordinary people who had lived in one place all their lives, let alone the south, they hadn’t even been to the Prefecture City.

Now being asked to move south, they felt a bit intimidated!

Yin Cheng, who was already sitting on a bench, listened to everyone talking and looked towards Qin Minglang.

Qin Minglang, noticing someone was looking at him, looked back at him.

Yin Cheng raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Qin Minglang smiled slightly, also not speaking.

Seeing him like this, Yin Cheng lowered his eyes again.

He wasn’t originally from Yongping Village, and now the discussion was about the villagers’ future, it wasn’t appropriate for him, an outsider, to speak up.

Especially since Qin Minglang hadn’t spoken, he wouldn’t say anything either.

The village head, being shouted at and causing him a headache, slapped the table and cursed, “What are you all fussing about! We’re just discussing together now. If you don’t think the south is good, then we’ll move east, move west, and if that doesn’t work, we can still go north.”

“Quit fussing, this won’t work, that won’t work, if you think it won’t work then get out! If you don’t want to leave, just stay, no one is begging you!”

The village head was really angry by now.

He didn’t know much more than the villagers, having only been to the Prefecture City at most.

Now, asking him to come up with a specific plan, he couldn’t do it either!

Sitting on a bench by the door, Qi Zheng thought about it, and suddenly his granddaughter’s earlier sleep-talking came to mind.

Go north, fewer people.

North?

Qi Zheng furrowed his brow.

He hadn’t traveled far either, knowing only that the north was very cold, close to the border, beyond that, he knew nothing.

Could it be that the granddaughter’s sudden words were somehow…

Qi Zheng instinctively looked out the window.

He wanted to see the sky, but the window paper blocked his view, so he couldn’t see.

His mind was restless with doubts when he suddenly heard the village head calling him, “Brother Qi, what’s your opinion, do share!”

Qi Zheng was considered an elder with some standing in the village, so whenever there was something big in the village, the village head was used to calling him.

Qi Zheng came back to his senses, noticing everyone in the house was looking at him.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, he cleared his throat before saying, “If you ask me, we should head north, there are fewer people up there.”

Once he said this, he didn’t know what others thought, but he himself felt especially at ease.

The room was silent.

After a long pause, Yin Cheng, who hadn’t said much, spoke up, “The north is actually a good choice, though a bit cold, it’s sparsely populated, indeed making it quieter than the south.”

Qin Minglang probably didn’t expect Yin Cheng to speak. He glanced at him, then nodded, “That’s right. Although the north doesn’t have as much rainfall as the south, it also has mountains and water. It’s just that it’s colder in winter, so we need to prepare more warm things.”

Since even Doctor Qin, who hadn’t been much involved in the discussion, said so, everyone became even quieter.

They hadn’t seen much of the world, but they knew Doctor Qin was a capable person.

If it weren’t for him being old and wanting to come back to his hometown to retire, they would still have to go to the city to see a doctor.

Because of Qin Minglang’s considerable help to the villagers, even if some people disagreed with going north, they didn’t dare to be too radical.

“Doctor Qin, as you said, it’s cold in the north. If we go there, won’t we catch a cold or something?”

“Yeah, and we don’t know the way. What if we end up in some godforsaken place?”

This was a crude way to say it, but it received the agreement of many people.

It was already cold enough here in winter, they were scared just thinking about it being even colder.

Qin Minglang didn’t speak, as if considering how to answer their questions.

Meanwhile, Yin Cheng took over the conversation, “Cold weather has its benefits, you just wear more clothes and make a bigger fire. But think about it, when it’s cold, people are cold, and animals are cold too. So winter might be easier to hunt for food.”

Pausing, Yin Cheng continued, “Moreover, the rebels are coming from the south. If everyone moves south now, how can you ensure you won’t run into the rebels?”

The last rhetorical question immediately silenced everyone.

The south might be better than the north, but if they ran into the rebels, then they might as well just stay at home waiting to die. At least they’d die at home instead of in the wilderness outside.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep