In no time, people from the surrounding area rushed over. The Jiang family was crying and wailing; it was as if the sky had truly fallen.

Besides Jiang Pozi and her husband, the Jiang family also has two sons and a daughter-in-law, and then a granddaughter and a grandson.

The two sons lay by the bedside, wailing loudly, while their daughter-in-law, Sun, wiped away tears beside them. The two children huddled next to their mother, trembling with fear.

Old Jiang squatted to one side, looking worried, and took a pipe filled with rotten leaves, smoking it intermittently.

Jiang's wife usually runs the household. Old man Jiang is indecisive. When he was young, he couldn't stand up to Jiang's wife, and now that he's old, he's completely under her control. The whole family was only able to stay afloat thanks to Jiang's wife.

Everything in the house was kept by Granny Jiang. If Old Man Jiang and his two sons wanted anything, they had to get Granny Jiang's approval.

But once the house was robbed, everything was gone except for the two mud houses they lived in. Even the large water vat in the yard was taken away, as were the wild vegetables and fruits they had just picked from the mountain. Not even a single leaf was left.

Now that Granny Jiang has hanged herself, the family is in complete chaos. If the Jiang family loses its pillar of support, the family is doomed.

Seeing the two children crying so hard they could barely breathe, Liu Yuelan felt bad and stepped forward to pull Sun Shi aside, saying, "Take the children to my place for a while."

The house is a mess right now, the two kids must be terrified. Let's go outside and calm down first.

Sun looked dejected, her eyes red-rimmed. Holding her child's hand, she followed Liu Yuelan and Aunt Zhao out of the courtyard. As soon as they were outside, she couldn't hold back her tears again, leaning on Aunt Zhao's shoulder: "Auntie, how are we going to live from now on...?"

Life was already tough enough, and now this has happened, there's nothing anyone can do.

Aunt Zhao could only pat her on the back and comfort her, "Don't worry, there are still so many people in the village, we'll always find a way."

The two younger girls, a five-year-old daughter and a three-year-old son, saw Sun crying incessantly, went up to her, hugged her legs, and started crying with pouting lips.

"Don't frighten the child."

Sun looked at the two children, wiped away her tears, and took them to the Song family.

The commotion at the Jiang family's house alerted the village chief. When the chief arrived, the house was completely surrounded, and only the sound of crying could be heard from inside.

During dinner tonight, Granny Jiang didn't move at all. Her daughter-in-law called her twice, but she said she didn't want to eat.

The family thought they were just upset about losing food and that things would get better in a few days. After dinner, everyone went about their own business. Old Man Jiang and his two sons went to fetch water, while his daughter-in-law, Sun, sewed clothes while watching the children and before it got completely dark.

The little girl was a bit older and very active. She was busy playing in and out of the house when she probably accidentally pushed open the door to the main room and saw that Granny Jiang was already hanging there.

The little girl was so frightened that she tripped and fell on the spot, crying and calling for her mother. When Sun heard her daughter's voice, she came out and saw that her mother-in-law had hanged herself.

Although Ms. Sun was quite frightened, she reacted quickly and shouted, which alerted the neighbors, who then put the person down.

When she put it down, Granny Jiang's face turned pale. Just then, Old Man Jiang and his two sons returned with water, threw down the bucket, and started crying.

The village chief brought a doctor with him, and fortunately, he wasn't hanging for long and survived.

As soon as Granny Jiang woke up, she started crying. The village chief was at a loss: "It's better to live a miserable life than to die. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Let's think of a way together. We can survive somehow. Besides, you're doing well; at least your family is still together.

A family in the neighboring Linshan Village was also robbed, and two people were killed, but they're still alive and well.

The Jiang family members remained silent, heads bowed, wiping away tears.

The village chief sighed and led his men out of the Jiang family's house: "Alright, it's getting late, everyone should go back and rest."

On the other side, Sun followed Liu Yuelan and Aunt Zhao into the Fang family's house and started crying again.

Liu Yuelan handed the two children to Song Ning: "Er Ya, you take care of the two children and play for a while."

Song Ning also knew about the Jiang family's affairs. The two little brats in front of her were really not good-looking. They looked like a bad influence, and they were so thin that they were skin and bones. They looked very pitiful.

Song Ning couldn't resist and handed some food to the two children.

Children are easy to understand; they'll listen to anything as long as they get something good to eat or something fun to play with.

After eating and drinking their fill, the two little ones fell asleep soon after.

Outside, Liu Yuelan and Aunt Zhao were still comforting Sun Shi, and the sound of crying could be heard from time to time. Song Ning was also asleep, and she didn't notice when Sun Shi and the two children left.

However, the children don't quite understand yet, and they quickly forgot about the chaotic scene. They were very excited when they got home.

"Mother, that older sister gave us some food too."

Mrs. Sun smiled, looking at the two children. No matter how hard life got, she had the motivation to persevere: "Really? Did you thank your sister?"

The little girl thought for a moment, then shook her head: "It seems not."

Sun didn't think much of it. What she gave the stranger was nothing more than some wild vegetables or coarse flour cakes. She would just thank him next time she saw him.

"Mother, my sister also gave us some red berries, weren't they delicious?"

"Red fruit?"

"Mmm, it's sweet and fragrant, delicious. My sister says it's fruit."

"Nonsense, there's no fruit left now. You must have misheard." Madam Sun smiled. Fruit available now? She wouldn't believe it even if you beat her to death.

It was probably a wild fruit from the mountain; the child was too young to recognize it.

Hearing his wife's conversation, Jiang Yongshou said indifferently, "I remember this Song Erya is not a good-tempered person. She's just like Li Guixiang, arrogant and domineering, and doesn't have a good reputation in the village. Why would she be willing to give our child food?"

Sun sighed: "Those are just rumors spread by the villagers. We didn't see it with our own eyes, so we can't take them seriously. Anyway, I went there today, and Er Ya was very well-behaved. You heard it just now. She got along well with the two children. She's nothing like the rumors say. I think it's just that others can't stand to see her doing well."

Jiang Yongshou didn't refute it. The Song family had lent his family grain and fed his two children, so it was indeed inappropriate to talk about them behind their backs.

"Don't think about these things anymore. Let's think about how we'll fill our stomachs in the future," Sun said, glaring at the man.

Jiang Yongshou sighed, "I'll go to town tomorrow to see if there's any work I can do to earn some money..."

Because of the Jiang family's affairs, people in the neighborhood stayed up later.

Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan couldn't sleep either, their minds still preoccupied with the events of the past two days.