A severe drought struck the south. The crops failed, and the court cared only for pleasure, even raising taxes. The people could barely survive, uprisings broke out across the land, and the world fell into chaos.
The village organized a mass flight from the famine.
At his mother's urging, the father, who favored sons over daughters, wanted to abandon his wife and two daughters
and flee with the rest of the family, including his two sons.
In the end, Qi Lao'er couldn't bring himself to leave his wife and daughters behind, so he took them along.
Granny Qi was furious and declared that she wouldn't give the mother and daughters a single grain of food.
On the third day of their flight from the famine, Qi Yujun starved to death.
