After leaving the flea market, Qin Huai finally relaxed. Sister Qin Xiaoyun came to him and asked, "Brother, are you done selling?"

"We're sold out. Did you two eat anything?"

"Yes, we each ate two buns just now, and our stomachs are full."

Qin Xiaoyun handed over two more, and Qin Huai took them and gobbled them up ravenously. His stomach was like a bottomless pit, never full, and always wanting to stuff more food into it.

After eating two buns, his empty stomach felt slightly fuller. He felt like he could eat four more. However, he knew he couldn't spend money like that, so he asked Qin Xiaoyun, "Did you buy it for Grandpa?"

"I bought it."

"Okay, you guys wait here for a while. There's no food at home. I'll go buy some."

He went to the market and bought ten pounds of corn flour. The price was not much cheaper than the meat, only fifty cents per pound. Even a dual-income family could not afford the negotiated price of corn flour.

The three of them slowly returned home. Qin Huai opened the door, and Qin Xiaomi took the buns to Old Man Qin to show his treasure. Old Man Qin said, "Don't spend money on me. I can eat enough here every day. Compared to the village, it's like a god's life."

Qin Huai said, "How can I do that? I'm eating behind your back."

Qin Xiaoyun said, "Grandpa, it's my brother who cares about us. Please eat."

The old man then took it and chewed it slowly. Qin Huai said, "There's not enough wood to make the mold. I have to go back and get some more."

The old man said, "Okay, but dry wood is best. We still have to go back to the village and find a way."

Qin Xiaoyun said, "Brother, you two go home. Xiaomi and I want to go to the train station to pick up coal. Is that okay?"

Qin Huai was in a dilemma. He really needed coal, but he was not at ease leaving the two little girls outside.

Seeing his embarrassment, Qin Xiaoyun said, "Brother, I won't let anyone bully me."

The old man also said: "The girl has been begging since she was a child. She is not stupid, so let her go."

Qin Huai nodded reluctantly. If he didn't let them go, firewood and charcoal would be a problem in the future. He deeply realized how difficult it was for a single person to survive in this era. Making soap was the result of the whole family's efforts. The effect of one plus one was far greater than two.

Qin Xiaoyun could feel her brother's concern for her, and her heart warmed.

She started begging from the old lady to support her brother and sister when she was a few years old. She never expected anyone to care about her. Unexpectedly, her brother suddenly seemed like a different person. Not only could he earn money to support the family, but he also thought about her everywhere. The little girl was in her teens before she truly tasted the happiness of being cared for.

Although Qin Huai agreed, he repeatedly told them not to get into conflict with others, to endure any bullying, and to wait until he came back to settle the score.

Qin Xiaoyun's eyes moistened as she nodded and said, "Brother, I understand."

On the way back to the village, Qin Huai asked the old man to sit on the cart and he would pull it. The old man was reluctant at first, but Qin Huai said, "We have to pull the cart anyway. It's better to be tired alone than with two people. Grandpa, I'm too young to let you pull me back. People on the road will scold me to death if they see me."

Old Man Qin said, "I don't care what others say. I know what I'm doing."

Even though he said this, he still got in the car. After driving for a while, he suddenly said, "Qin Huai, although I have two sons and a daughter in my life, it's only now that I feel like a person with children."

Qin Huai was puzzled at first, but after thinking about it, he understood and said, "Grandpa, don't blame them. Life is not easy for everyone."

The old man hummed.

Four miles is not far. When we arrived at Qinjiazhuang, we saw that the sun was still very early. When we entered the village, we saw the team leader and a few others standing at the entrance of the village.

Qin Huai stopped, and Qin Laoshuan asked with a squinting look, "I heard you sold all your coffin boards?"

Old Man Qin said, "What can I do? I have to live."

"Hide the exchanged food. The food-searching team came yesterday and said they will come again today." He said suddenly.

Qin Laoshuan often seems unkind, but he is actually not as he usually appears.

Although Qin Huai was covered in five pounds of cornmeal, he said, "I don't have any food left. I just exchanged some steamed bread for it, and I've eaten it all in the past two days. How can I keep it now?"

After greeting them, the captain ignored them and ordered the militia to interrogate the women in front of them. Among these people, Qin Huai only knew Bai Laoliu's mother.

After taking a look at them, I felt that Old Mrs. Bai seemed different from the others, but I couldn't tell what was wrong.

Because he was frightened by the appearance of a woman. Her head was swollen and the skin on her face and neck seemed transparent, as if it could be pierced with a poke.

The old man got out of the car and said sympathetically, "This is disease number two. She doesn't have much time left."

"Disease number two?"

Although Qin Huai had never heard of it, he could only imagine that it was famine. This very mysterious and terrifying "Disease No. 2" should be a product of the famine era.

It should not have appeared and existed in the first place. Perhaps it only existed for a short period of history. Later, as food became more abundant, "Disease No. 2" was buried in the dust of history.

Gradually forgotten by later generations.

Although this woman was in a very miserable state, Qin Laoshuan still let her stand with several other women. However, when Qin Huai heard the captain's questions, his hair stood on end.

It turned out that the captain arrested these people because there was smoke and fire from several of their homes yesterday and a few days ago.

The smoke from the cooking stove is not guilty, but don't forget that all the food in the village has been taken away.

The reason for today's interrogation was that he and the captain had buried the body of Bai Qijun's little daughter, and it was dug out.

The poor child had her tattered clothes stripped off and thrown aside, but that wasn't the scariest thing. The scariest thing was that all the flesh on her buttocks and thighs had been gouged off, and her naked body was thrown outside.

The little girl's brother cried until his eyes bled in front of his sister's body.

The captain then sent people to the village to investigate who did it.

A woman said, "Captain, how could I do such a thing? Isn't that immoral?"

"That's right, was it dug out and chewed by a wild dog? How could a human do such a thing?" Old Mrs. Bai argued.

The captain sneered and said, "A wild dog's teeth are not knives. I'm not so blind that I can't see the difference between a wild dog's gnawing and a knife's cutting."

"I don't even know where she buried it. It definitely wasn't me."

Several women were arguing, but Qin Huai couldn't stand it any longer and urged the old man, "Grandpa, let's go back first."

They left quietly and the captain continued to investigate the case.

Old Man Qin said, "This is most likely done by Bai Laoliu's mother."

"How do you know?"

"Look at her lips, they're so red. If she hadn't eaten a dead child, how could they be so red?"

He then continued, "In fact, the captain has already seen it."

This answer surprised Qin Huai and he asked, "Then why did he bring everyone here for questioning?"

"If we don't do this, others will follow suit and what we cut up might not even be a corpse."