"Alright, alright, let's just leave it at that. Everyone, go to sleep now that you've eaten. If anyone walks by, just ignore them and let them pass..."

"Okay, okay, I'll do as you say."

The group quickly divided up the flatbreads and ate them. After enduring hunger for more than ten days, they were now able to have a full meal and naturally did not want to think about anything else, but just wanted to get a good night's sleep.

Song He'er's back and forth took up almost half an hour, and Qin Xiaoniang and the others were so worried that they almost ran into the woods to look for her.

"Young lady...it seems like my fifth daughter has returned!" Li Qiang's wife reminded him from the side.

Following the direction pointed out by Li Qiang's wife, Qin Xiaoniang looked and indeed spotted a thin figure in the woods not far away.

"He'er!"

Song He'er hurried to Qin Xiaoniang's side and comforted her with a smile, "Mother, were you worried again? I'm back safely, aren't I?"

Qin Xiaoniang looked displeased and stared at her from head to toe: "Ever since the day the house was raided, I've felt that you've been acting a bit strangely. Tell me, is there something you're hiding from me?"

Song He'er knew that Qin Xiaoniang was really angry, so she didn't dare to talk back and could only go along with her: "Mother, you're overthinking it. I just felt it was cool in the woods and stayed a little longer because I was playing. I won't do it again next time."

Seeing her daughter admit her mistake, Qin Xiaoniang felt a pang of heartache. "Alright... it's good that you know you were wrong. You're not allowed to leave us without permission again. You're still so young. It's all my fault for spoiling you too much. I always let you do things on your own, which is why you've become so willful..."

"Alright, Mother, I understand."

"Alright, alright, Mother won't say anymore. Let's go, or your third aunt and the others will get sleepy!"

"good."

After saying that, the mother and daughter returned to the group.

Under the moonlight, the large group continued their journey.

Sure enough, after walking all night, they did not see a single refugee come looking for trouble. It was not until they left the forest and reached the main road that they saw a few hunched and thin old men digging for wild vegetables in the fields.

Song He'er looked around and saw that their houses were already dilapidated, offering neither shelter from the wind nor protection from the rain, and most of them were just shacks.

It seems the people here are suffering far more than they imagined.

Li Qiang's wife and Su Yu's wife covered the grain in their truck with cloth again and again, afraid that it would be discovered.

In a nearby shed, an infant was wailing. To soothe her, a woman next to her bit her finger and let the child suckle. Song He'er could hardly imagine how they endured such unbearable suffering...

Seeing such a miserable state, Qin Xiaoniang felt a pang of sadness, but they were already struggling to make ends meet, and she couldn't afford to cause any more trouble.

"Don't the people here have any way to save themselves?" Zhang Xiu'e suddenly asked.

“What way can they save themselves? Didn’t you say that the government doesn’t allow the people here to selfishly waste the Huai River water for irrigation? With so little rain, they can only grow a small amount of vegetables each year, and now the government has taken it all away. They will only starve.” Song He’er explained to everyone step by step.

Zhang Xiue looked at the small hill in front of her and suddenly had an idea.

“When I used to work on the farm with my father, I saw him dig a well. Why don’t we dig a well for the local people in name only, but actually dig a tunnel underneath and secretly bring in water from the Huai River? That would solve their urgent problem!”

Su Yu's wife shook her head: "It can't be that simple. If it were that easy, why don't the people here dig their own wells?"

Zhang Xiue smiled and said, "Drilling a well depends on the location and depth. You can't just dig one and expect to get water. The wells in the lower villages are all dug by professional workers. Farmers like us naturally wouldn't pay attention to such things."

"So you really know how?"

"Yes, I can! But I don't have the tools, so I have to borrow some necessary farm implements from these villagers."

As she spoke, Zhang Xiu'e walked under the shed and asked a couple inside, "May I ask your surname, sir?"

The man was pale and unshaven; it seemed that, faced with hunger, he no longer cared about his cleanliness.

"Zhao Quan."

"Oh, how old is this child?"

"Six months."

The man named Zhao Quan clearly didn't want to answer the series of questions, perhaps because he was upset about seeing his child's hunger.

His wife, on the other hand, had a kind face. She looked up at the group of people and, seeing that there were still children in the car, took out a shriveled white radish from the basket next to her.

"Take this and share it with the children. We're very poor here and have nothing to eat... Just make do with it."

Song He'er was somewhat shocked. They were barely able to take care of themselves, yet they were still thinking of giving them the last white radish.

Qin Xiaoniang awkwardly accepted the radish, and perhaps because she was feeling unwell, she didn't say anything.

She quietly walked to the cart, picked out a few large eggs, and secretly slipped them into Zhao Quan's wife's hand. "These are all cooked. Eat them secretly, and you'll have milk."

Zhao Quan's wife's eyes reddened, and she knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face: "Thank you, kind people, thank you all..."

Zhang Xiu'e waved her hand: "No need to thank me. This can only help you temporarily, it's not a long-term solution. I'd like to ask, don't you have a well here?"

Zhao Quan shook his head. "There's a spring on the hillside, but it's dried up. To create a disaster and drive up vegetable prices, the government won't let us use water from the Huai River. There are people guarding it everywhere. We're truly... living a life worse than death..."

Zhao Quan started crying as he spoke.

As Zhang Xiue listened, she felt distressed. After a long while, she stood up and replied confidently, "Do you have any butterfly cones?"

Zhao Quan's wife was taken aback. "A butterfly awl? Isn't that something used for digging wells? We do have them, but they're all rusted. What do you need them for?"

"Of course we're digging a well! What, are we going to use it for cooking?"

Zhao Quan shook his head. "It's no use. The land here hasn't seen rain in a long time and has long since dried up. Even if we dig a well, it will be a dry well!"

"I meant helping you bring in water from the Huai River!"

Zhao Quan's eyes widened in disbelief: "What did you say? This... I'm afraid it's very difficult, isn't it?"

Although Zhang Xiue wasn't 100% sure, she was willing to give it a try.

"I know a bit about the terrain. I know where to lay the pipes to find water. See that little hill over there? Because the ground is damp, those ugly mushrooms grew there. Even though you've pulled them all out, I can still see the moss over there!"