Chapter 82: Is This a Cat?
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Lin Suisui only found out after she returned that during this short period of time, more than ten people from the Du family, including the old and the young, had already disappeared from the refugee camp with their luggage.
Although everyone knew that the news of the Du family’s disappearance was related to the nobles above, no one had the guts to ask in detail.
Mrs. Luo only came over quietly to tell Lin Suisui about this matter. Then, as if she was afraid that others would hear her, she quickly went back.
Pei Qian moved quickly.
The next day, he gathered everyone in the refugee camp. The Du family’s corpses, which were hanging on a rack at the side, had already given most of them a heavy blow!
However, with such a deterrence, no one dared to be impudent. They lowered their heads and didn’t even dare to breathe loudly.
Pei Qian’s method was also very simple and crude. He registered the refugees in every household and divided the entire refugee camp into teams with three to five households.
There were two guards in charge of each team.
Every time a team set off, they had to camp in one place and monitor each other. If anyone appeared abnormal, they had to report it immediately! If they found out that they had concealed it, all the team members would be punished!
Every four hours, the guards would report the situation of the team members. Anyone who was lost or missing had to be reported immediately. They couldn’t hide anything!
There were more rules. Qian He stood on the stage and explained them to the refugees below.
As for Pei Qian, he didn’t show up.
Not long after Lin Suisui and Lu Ze returned, the officials in charge of the distribution came over.
As expected, they were separated from Mrs. Luo’s family and the Wu brothers. Compared to the five families next to them, their team had few numbers.
There were not many people, so there were relatively fewer things to do. Soon, the three families followed Pei Qian’s instructions and found a relatively remote place to settle down, avoiding the chaos in the refugee camp.
Mrs. Luo’s husband’s surname was Fang and he was an upright person. Other than farming, he relied on building walls and houses to subsidize some household expenses.
It was also because of this personality that when they had not decided to move north with the refugee camp, their family had the hardest time.
His father was biased towards his eldest son, and his mother was biased towards her youngest son. Only Mr. Fang, who was simple and honest, was left in the middle. He did more work than an ox every day, but ate less than a chicken. In the end, even Mrs. Luo and the children in the family had to work for the Fang family.
Regarding the northern expedition, Mrs. Luo listened to Lin Suisui and refused to take a single cent when she insisted on splitting from the family. She brought the children north because she didn’t want to continue suffering in the Fang family.
The Fang family had a good relationship with Lin Suisui and Lu Ze along the way.
Especially those two sons. After following Lu Ze into the mountains once, no matter how old Lu Ze was, they kept calling him Brother Gu.
Originally, it was a little inconvenient for them to talk since they lived so far from each other. Now that their three families were tied together, they were even closer.
The higher-ups had also said that it would be best for the teams to discuss how to collect more food in the future because the weather would become colder. This way, things would be easier for them during the winter.
The three families decided to cook together. Anyway, there were only 11 people in total. It was more convenient to eat together.
After discussing the next arrangements, Lu Ze and the other men set off into the mountain early the next morning.
Only Mrs. Luo, her eldest daughter-in-law, Mrs. Fang, and her youngest daughter, Fang Rui’er, and Lin Suisui, were left in the camp.
Knowing that the weather would get colder and colder, Mrs. Luo and the others had been making winter coats.
Mrs. Luo and the others tore open a blanket, then took out the cotton inside to make a jacket. They also matched it with a few animal skins. Although the coats didn’t look good, they would definitely keep them warm.
Lin Suisui had the winter clothes that the Sun family had prepared for her previously, so there was no need to tear open the blanket. However, if she wanted to wear them, she still had to use needles to resew them.
Since they had nothing else to do, they gathered by the fire to sew.
Little White had grown a lot and looked about the size of an adult dog. In contrast to how weak it looked when its mother had forcibly given it to Lin Suisui, not only had it grown taller, but its body had also become much stronger.
Naturally, the little fellow’s range of activity could no longer be restricted to the carriage.
Usually, Lin Suisui and the others used linoleum to block the view outside and gave Little White a certain range of activity, but now that the three families were gathered together, Little White definitely couldn’t be hidden anymore.
“Is this a cat?!” Fang Rui’er was the first to discover Little White’s tracks.
She was young and was too bored to focus on needlework. After sitting for a while, she felt bored out of her mind. However, the refugee camp was still very chaotic now. No matter what, Mrs. Luo didn’t agree to her going out to find her friends.
The little girl, who was feeling a little bored, looked up and met Little White’s gaze.
That round, furry head and curious gaze mesmerized Fang Rui’er.
She didn’t think too much about it and only thought that it was Lin Suisui’s cat. As she asked Lin Suisui, who was sitting at the side, she reached out to touch it.
“Mmm…”
Unexpectedly, the little fellow, who had been staring at her curiously and innocently, instantly changed its demeanor and bared its teeth at her.
“Hey, why is this little fellow so fierce?!” Fang Rui’er hurriedly retracted her hand and stared at Little White, who was on guard against her.
From the looks of it, it was a little bigger than an ordinary cat.
No wonder it had such a bad temper!
“This doesn’t look like a cat.” Fang Rui’er’s sister-in-law, Fang Liu, looked up and followed Fang Rui’er’s gaze. Her first reaction was shock.
It wasn’t as if she hadn’t had a cat before. How could there be such a big cat?!
This was clearly…
“It’s a little tiger cub.” Lin Suisui didn’t hide it. She stood up and walked to the ox cart. Then, she reached out to stroke Little White’s back and smoothed its fur. As she did so, she explained to Rui’er and the others in a low voice, “I encountered it by chance when I was on the mountain previously.”