The old lady warmly invited them into the house, saying, "Our home is simple, please don't be shy. Hua'er, Hua'er, come out quickly, we have guests!"

Hearing the old lady's greeting, a young girl came out of the house. "Mother, who's here?"

Jiang Qiao glanced at the other woman, who seemed like an ordinary girl, while Jian Ling smiled.

"Comrade, I'm sorry to bother you. We caught a late boat and were fortunate to meet such a kind person as your mother, who took us in for the night. Thank you so much. Here are some food coupons and money—"

After saying that, she handed over the food and lodging expenses for the two of them. The old lady hesitated for a moment. It was really inappropriate to accept such things after inviting people over, but the family was in a bad situation. To be honest, they were short of food and such things.

Unlike city dwellers who receive food coupons, rural people don't have these coupons. If they need them, they can only exchange them for grain.

However, living on an island, where food production is already low, there's a problem even with enough to eat for themselves, so who would be willing to trade their food for this?

But my daughter-in-law is hospitalized, and my son is taking care of her at the hospital. We need these things everywhere.

The old lady sighed, "Comrade, I'll just have to accept it, no matter how shameless I am. Hua'er, hurry up and cook for the guests."

Jiang Qiao said in a low voice, "Grandma, let's eat whatever we have at home. I get seasick and don't have much of an appetite."

She had seen the old lady's situation; they weren't well-off, not even as well-off as outside. Although she didn't know much about the situation on the island, she could easily figure out how much land could be cultivated in such a small place without even thinking.

Jianling chimed in, "Auntie, let's just have something simple to eat at home. Don't cook anything special. We've been walking all this way and we're tired."

All they had at home was some porridge and salted fish. Jiang Qiao and Jian Ling weren't picky eaters. The key was that Jiang Qiao and Jian Ling had brought some food with them in their luggage. So, each of them drank a bowl of porridge, ate some salted fish, tidied up, and went to bed on the kang (heated brick bed).

Fortunately, the other party's son and daughter-in-law were not at home, and the children had been taken to their mother-in-law's house, so the bedding was still sufficient.

Otherwise, most people couldn't stand the cold weather.

Jiang Qiao said in a low voice, "I didn't see their old man, so I don't know what's going on."

Jian Ling explained in a low voice, "When I went out to get water, I mentioned that their old man is a night watchman, but I don't know where he is. I'll find out when I get home for breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Qiao'er, what are we going to do tomorrow? Dou Yanhua isn't coming, what should we do?"

Jiang Qiao smiled and said, "Going to see friends? Of course, we can look around. We've come all this way, so we should take a good look around. Maybe there are some spies among them. Let's be careful while we sleep—"

Although this family seemed quite ordinary, you can't judge a book by its cover, and she couldn't guarantee that they were all good people.

Jian Ling glanced at the bolted doors and windows, and replied, "Go to sleep—"

Actually, the mother and daughter, who were in the next room, were also talking about Jiang Qiao and the others.

"Mother, who are these two people? Why are you just bringing them home like this?"

The old lady sighed, "They don't seem like bad people. Besides, where are they supposed to stay if they come to the island at this time of year? It's not easy for anyone traveling."

Besides, your brother and sister-in-law need money and ration coupons while they're out there. You didn't see how thin your brother has become trying to save on food; it breaks my heart to see him like that.”

"Is there any hope for my sister-in-law's illness?"

The old lady sighed, "They say it has to be treated slowly, but we can't just watch her die, can we? We still have children."

"Mother, if this continues, how will our family survive? We've borrowed everything we can—"

The old lady sighed again, "There's always a way out. Just do your best and don't complain. Our in-laws understand us. Otherwise, would they have been able to take the child away?"

We can't just look at the immediate situation; we have to act according to our conscience. We've done our best. If something really happens to your sister-in-law, your in-laws won't have much to say.

The mother and daughter thought they were speaking softly, but little did they know that Jiang Qiao had heard every single word they said.

Because he was on guard, he couldn't fall asleep for a while, and while he was practicing his internal energy, he also overheard everything.

The conversation between the mother and daughter reassured her quite a bit, but for the time being, she wasn't in the mood to pay attention to what illness her daughter-in-law had.

At this moment, she was pondering: Whose idea was it for Dou Yanhua to come this way—Cobra or that special envoy? What was their purpose in stealing so many blueprints? Was it to divert their attention or were they preparing for a major operation?

What mission did that special envoy bring? She couldn't understand any of it.

I don't know if Wang Benshan has woken up yet. I hope he can clear up everyone's doubts.

As she was thinking about this, Jiang Qiao also fell asleep. Jian Ling didn't dare to sleep so soundly either, because she was getting older and didn't get much sleep. Besides, she was also worried that something might happen.

Jiang Qiao has already gone through such a disaster, this girl can't afford to have any more mishaps.

Moreover, she remembered what Old Hou had said, so she spent the night in a half-dreaming, half-awake state.

Jiang Qiao got up early and, seeing that Jian Ling didn't seem to be in good spirits, told her to continue sleeping.

“The mother and daughter are fine. I’ll go for a walk and check on them. You don’t need to rush.”

Jian Ling shook her head. "No need. It won't attract attention if the two of us go out together. I reckon if you're right, the first ferry should already have passengers. Let's go out for a stroll."

When the fake mother and daughter got up, the old lady and the other woman's daughter were already up. In the countryside, there's no habit of sleeping in late. Besides, the mother and daughter were heading to the beach to catch some seafood and take it out so their in-laws could help sell it, at least to supplement the income of their hospitalized daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law.

Last night, Jian Ling gave them enough money and coupons to have several good meals, but their family's resources were limited, and they couldn't even afford to cook fine grains for her.

The old lady wanted to cook eggs for Jiang Qiao and the others, but the mother and daughter stopped her.

"Auntie, please don't bother. We'll eat whatever you have at home. If you hadn't taken us in, we wouldn't have been able to find a place to eat and stay even if we had money and tickets."

Let's not stand on ceremony. Just get some flatbread; that should keep us full. We'll go out and look for someone in a bit. If things don't go well, we might have to stay here a couple more days.

There's definitely no problem with the old lady staying here; these two aren't the type to take advantage of others.

"Alright, then I won't stand on ceremony with you. Let's eat first. The person you're looking for should be over at the fish farm. A group of people came here a while ago, but I don't know which one it is. Go look for them and come back when you're hungry."