The next morning, after breakfast, Lu Shiyan went to explore the surrounding terrain.

Upon learning this, Jiang Tangtang immediately clung to him, saying, "Husband, I want to go too."

Lu Shiyan lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, "Didn't you hurt your foot yesterday? You can take this opportunity to rest and heal your foot."

“You won’t use your feet to carry me. Besides, after taking the medicine you gave me and sleeping all night, I feel much better in my feet.”

Before Lu Shiyan could think of another reason to refuse, Jiang Tangtang had already clung to him like a koala.

Lu Shiyan's breath hitched, feeling that all those cold showers he took last night had been for nothing.

Jiang Tangtang was completely unaware of his awkward situation. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved around in front of his chest. "Why don't you treat me like a human pendant and just hang me there? You can take me with you wherever you go."

Lu Shiyan lowered his eyes and saw her vivid features.

He took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the surging blood in his body, "Get down... In broad daylight, with so many people around, what kind of behavior is this?"

Jiang Tangtang blinked innocently and said, "What's wrong with me? You used to hug me like this! What's wrong with you? You never cared about these formalities before, so why have you been acting strange these past few days?"

Lu Shiyan was able to let her hug and cuddle him at first because he had no desires for her and treated her as an object.

But now, she has slowly changed in his heart.

He began to lose control of himself, and naturally could no longer act as he had before.

But Jiang Tangtang was unaware of his change in mindset. She persisted in making a scene, insisting that Lu Shiyan take her along.

Lu Shiyan couldn't be rough with her, so he could only squat down with a helpless expression and ask, "Where do you want to go today?"

"Of course I'm helping my husband by scouting the terrain around here." Jiang Tangtang hugged Lu Shiyan's neck and said happily, "Let's go, husband, let's first see which county the valley belongs to and if there's a nearby county town."

On this point, Lu Shiyan and she shared the same thought.

Unable to refuse, he didn't say anything more and led Jiang Tangtang upstream along the river.

While Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan were exploring the surrounding terrain, Liu Chengfeng and the others were also busy.

They came to rely on Lu Shiyan because of his abilities, hoping for a better future, not to be kept men.

Therefore, after dinner today, Liu Chengfeng clearly assigned tasks to his subordinates.

Some people went into the mountains to find cassava and other wild produce to stave off hunger. Others went into the mountains to hunt.

Apart from Liu Chengfeng and others, most of the villagers in Dawancun took action. Even Luo Taohua, who always liked to shirk her duties, carried a basket and followed Zhou Qiongniang to pick wild vegetables in the wasteland.

While everyone else was busy, the Fang family members seemed like complete oddities.

Fang Mulin and Lu Cuilan were both filled with resentment, blaming Lu Shiyan for being heartless and not helping them find Fang Mingming.

It's madness that the Lu family is so heartless; they'd rather give food to outsiders than share it with them.

The other Fang brothers were also lying weakly on the ground. Some villagers, unable to bear the sight, came over and asked the Fang brothers if they wanted to go hunting in the mountains together.

“I think those strong men following the Lu family are all quite powerful, they’ll definitely be able to take down the big guys. We’ll follow behind them and help out. We don’t expect anything else, but getting some scraps would be good too.”

The speaker was Chen Jiaping. His younger sister, Chen Jianing, married Tian Guizhi's older brother, Tian Dapeng, so the two families were somewhat related.

In addition, he's a bit of a nice guy.

Even though they're not doing well themselves, they always like to worry about others.

But Fang Senlin lay on the ground, scoffing at his words, "Do you think they'll always be this lucky? What if they end up catching nothing and losing half their lives in the process?"

Fang Qingmu lay weakly on the ground. "After walking for so many days, my feet are raw and bleeding. Now that I've finally got a chance to rest, I'm not going to waste my time! I'll take a nap, then go down to the river and catch a couple of fish. Isn't that better than them running around in the mountains?"

Although Fang Junmu didn't say anything, it was clear that he shared the same thought as his two older brothers and didn't want to go hunting in the mountains.

Seeing the lazy attitude of the Fang brothers, Chen Jiaping shook his head, picked up a wooden stick, and chased after the group in front of him.

The Fang family's sisters-in-law had long been used to the men in their families being useless, and each of them had their own ideas.

Tian Guizhi has long since given up on her husband. She only hopes that her two sons will not be like their father and will be more ambitious so that she can rely on them to support her in her old age.

Knowing she couldn't persuade her husband, she didn't waste her breath and instead took her son to the mountains to dig for wild vegetables.

Tian Guizhi gave birth to two sons and a daughter.

The two sons are now of marriageable age, but because all four sons of the Fang family used dishonest means to get married without spending a single penny, their reputation has been ruined.

The villagers all knew that the men in the Fang family were useless, which is why Fang Dayong and Fang Eryong were both over twenty years old and still unmarried.

However, their daughter, Fang Xiaohui, had already married out of the village. She did not flee with the Fang family.

Tian Guizhi couldn't worry about her daughter at this moment. She scolded her two sons, saying, "If you want to get married, don't be like your father. Be more diligent. If you don't know how to hunt, come with me to dig for wild vegetables."

Fang Dayong and Fang Eryong were dejected, thinking to themselves that they would never be able to find wives in their entire lives by digging for wild vegetables.

But the two also knew that if they didn't work, they would starve to death.

The two of them slowly followed Tian Guizhi, picking up hoes and dawdling as they dug for wild vegetables in the wasteland.

Wang Qiuju looked around, picked up her basket, and quietly walked towards the grove.

Zhu Dong'e was also secretly giving her daughter advice on how to marry a good husband. Only Lu Cuilan glared resentfully in the direction of the Lu family.

Seeing that everyone in the Lu family was busy with their own things and no one noticed that Lu Chenyan was walking alone towards the river, a crazy idea suddenly popped into her mind.

That vixen Jiang, she prevented Sanlang from saving her son, and he was harmed. She wants her son to die too.

Let her taste her pain.

Meanwhile, when Jiang Tangtang and Lu Shiyan went to scout out the terrain, they unexpectedly discovered the trail of the human traffickers.

Jiang Tangtang disliked Lu Cuilan, and she disliked Fang Mingming, that brat, even more. She originally didn't want to get involved in this matter, but that group of people had kidnapped more than just Fang Mingming.

What angered Jiang Tangtang even more was that these people were actually serving a big shot in Beijing.

They specifically came from among the refugees to select good-looking boys for the powerful man to satisfy his perverse lust.

Jiang Tangtang was furious.

This truly is a case of the rich feasting on meat and wine while the poor freeze to death on the streets. The common people are so hungry they're eating grass roots and tree bark, while the powerful and wealthy indulge in unrestrained pleasure.

Even ordinary pleasures are no longer enough for them, so they extend their dirty hands to impoverished children.