“Mother, we haven’t eaten meat in a long time. The children have become so thin, your legs aren’t good either, Sister Wu needs to be nourished, and Fatty has done so much work on the way. Besides, in this hot weather, it will spoil overnight.”

Qin San Niang would not let go of this opportunity to eat meat. Although she was a modern young woman who had no shortage of meat yesterday, her body just couldn't resist the urge.

Fatty scratched her head sheepishly, trying to say that she really wasn't tired. A few days ago, she had pushed her grandmother, her cousin, and the family's grain in a wheelchair, which was much heavier than what she was doing now. Grandma Liu and her own mother were both thin and frail, and they might not even weigh as much as her second uncle's little cousin.

Wu Chunhua, standing beside her, was also uneasy and didn't know what to say. She felt her eyes were burning all over.

The children, however, had no such worries. Hearing that their mother and older sister, Fatty, had caught a chicken and that they would have meat to eat that night, they were overjoyed. The second son followed his older brother to gather firewood nearby, while Anan and Fatty watched Wu Chunhua kill the chicken and butcher the meat.

Qin San Niang then realized that Wu Chunhua's chicken-killing technique was quite skillful, and she was clearly a capable woman. She guessed that years of hard work had damaged her health, which was why she was so weak.

"Sister Chunhua, your cooking skills are excellent!"

"Yes, Aunt Third Aunt, my mother can do everything, but after she was pregnant with my younger brother, she was pushed down by my second aunt and lost him. My mother's health also started to decline! Otherwise, my mother could still embroider!" Hearing her mother being praised, Fatty was very proud.

I never expected Wu Chunhua could embroider; that's really rare in the village! At least Qin San Niang certainly couldn't, because Liu Shi had said more than once that she could only do some sewing and mending work, and if she was good, she could embroider small flowers and grasses, but she learned that when she was a young lady and had almost forgotten it now.

Unaccustomed to being praised in front of others, Wu Chunhua's pale face regained some color, but the thought of the aborted baby who had already taken human form still made her angry and heartbroken.

From that day on, she was completely disappointed in her husband. So much so that when she was kicked out yesterday by her cruel mother-in-law and snobbish sister-in-law, she actually felt a sense of relief. She just felt sorry for her chubby daughter, wondering how she would survive with her. Fortunately, she met the Qin family.

While they were busy, Qin San Niang put the medicinal herbs that Pang Ya had collected into her basket, and secretly took out some red dates, brown sugar and longan pulp from it, so that she could brew some blood-nourishing tea for everyone that evening.

She planned to make chicken soup. If she roasted the chicken, there wouldn't be enough meat for everyone, and chicken soup would be easier to digest. Without consulting Liu, she took out some rice and mixed it with millet and sorghum to cook it into dry rice. She used an earthenware pot for cooking porridge, and because there were many people, she cooked a whole pot.

Qin San Niang added red dates, ginger slices, and scallion segments to the chicken soup. When the soup was almost cooked, she added chopped wild vegetables and finally a handful of salt. Forget about Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and low-sodium diets now; these people have electrolyte imbalances, and this one dose might not be enough!

Not to mention the children, even the adults couldn't resist the tempting aroma. Before the chicken was even tender, Qin San Niang quickly opened the wooden pot lid and served each of them a bowl of chicken soup. As for Anan's, she naturally blew on it to cool it down before she could drink it, otherwise she might burn her tongue! There was no watermelon frost or anti-inflammatory medicine available at this time.

This soup is so delicious!

Everyone couldn't help but sigh, as if they had just taken some kind of magic pill.

After finishing the soup, what to do if you still feel unsatisfied? Qin San Niang started dividing the meat again. She gave the two chicken legs to Liu Shi and A Nan, the old woman and the young child in the family. As for the rest, they were distributed to Da Wa, Xiao Er, and Wu Chunhua and her daughter.

Although the two of them refused to eat meat, they couldn't resist Qin San Niang's insistence. She even said that if they didn't eat, she would be embarrassed to let Pang Ya push her mother anymore.

Seeing that she couldn't resist Qin San Niang's insistence, and besides, her own chubby daughter was drooling with desire, and with Xiao A Nan constantly telling her how delicious the chicken was, chubby daughter's eyes were practically glued to the meat in the bowl, Wu Chunhua had no choice but to nod and start eating as well. It had been a long time since she had eaten meat. At her husband's family home, she always did the hardest work, cooking for the whole family but eating the least. She couldn't even get a sip of meat soup, let alone meat.

Wu Chunhua ate while tears streamed down her face. She intended to treat Qin Sanniang as her benefactor, thinking that it was truly a blessing from heaven that gave her and her son a way out.

At night, Qin San Niang set up two tents so that the children and their grandmother could get a good night's sleep. As for keeping watch, she and Pang Ya took turns doing so.

Sipping the hot, sweet brown sugar water, Fatty felt she would be willing to stay up all night. It also contained red dates, each as big as a pigeon egg, which were soft, sweet, and delicious!

Wu Chunhua drank a bowl of rice before going to bed. Yesterday she was worried about not having enough to eat, but today she not only ate her fill, but also had millet porridge, and even had sweet tea before bed! This didn't feel like she was fleeing a disaster; it was much better than she usually lived. Even after she got into the tent and lay on the straw mat, she still wondered if she was dreaming.

Qin Sanniang and Pangya sat by the fire, taking turns keeping watch. It wasn't too cold yet, but in another two weeks it probably wouldn't be so comfortable. Not only would the nights be cold, but it might also rain. She desperately needed a cart and a dog! She wondered how far they were from the capital. It seemed they would have to hurry tomorrow.

Nothing happened that night.

The next morning, Wu Chunhua felt much better than before. She got up early to fetch water and boil it, and then cooked porridge as instructed by Liu.

Liu also thought that her daughter liked to drink thick porridge, so she asked Wu Chunhua to add a little more. Who doesn't like to drink thick porridge?

With trembling hands, Wu Chunhua added a handful of millet to the earthenware pot. She was genuinely worried that after these two meals, there would be no next meal, because Liu's rice bag was almost empty.

The staple foods were porridge and steamed cakes. Even so, Qin San Niang still felt that the porridge was too thin and the steamed cakes were too hard. She could only swallow them by breaking them into pieces and soaking them in the porridge.

"Mother, Sister Chunhua, Fatty, we need to hurry today and try to get to Luzhou as soon as possible so we can go into the city to replenish our supplies." Qin Sanniang took a bite of a steamed bun, and almost choked.

The others nodded solemnly, quickly finished their steamed buns, and went to clear the dishes and chopsticks, preparing to leave.