"You think you're right to steal?"

"When have I ever stolen anything from you?"

Xiao Youran shouted, "I clearly saw you stealing it! You just wanted to steal our pheasants!"

"You little brat, if you keep talking nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart!" Seeing that she couldn't beat Yu Shi, Aunt Hua tried to grab Xiao Youran again.

Jiang Youchen tried to block her, but Aunt Hua quickly pushed her aside.

Just then, an arm reached out and lifted Xiao Youran up, turning her around to avoid Aunt Hua's claws.

The man was a tall, imposing young man. He gently placed Xiao Youran on the ground and asked with a warm smile, "Little sister, are you alright?"

Xiao Youran blinked her eyes. "It's okay, thank you, sir."

The young man turned to Aunt Hua and said, "You were trying to steal the pheasant from this young man's basket. I saw it from up on the mountain."

Aunt Hua was so angry that her face turned red and white in turns.

Yu snorted, took the small basket from Jiang Youchen's shoulder and carried it on her back. She then led Jiang Youchen by the hand in one hand and Xiao Youran by the other, and they went down the mountain.

Xiao Youran looked back at the young man every few steps, and said to him in a clear voice, "Thank you, young man. You'll have a bright future."

She actually knew this young man—the future champion of the martial arts examination! And, many years later, the great general who would conquer the north!

Two more villagers followed, greeting Yu Shi, "Aunt Tiankuang, you really are lucky! We searched the mountain for ages and didn't see a single hair. How come you caught two pheasants in such a short time?"

Mrs. Yu smiled and said, "I told you we have a lucky baby in our family."

Little Youran skipped and hopped around, pointing at Jiang Youchen, "Yes, brother said that Little Youran is a lucky baby!"

Jiang Youchen could only touch his nose and repeat, "Little Youran is a lucky baby!"

Villagers: ...

For the next two weeks, strangely enough, apart from the Yu family, none of the villagers who went up the mountain managed to hunt a single wild animal.

Even black fungus and wild mushrooms, which used to be readily available, have long been snapped up, and new ones are slow to grow due to the cold weather.

The villagers grew increasingly anxious, as it was clear to the naked eye that their remaining grain supplies were dwindling and the wild vegetables in the fields had long been dug up.

However, the aroma of rice and meat still wafted from Tian Kuang's house every day, making countless villagers envious.

Several families had run out of food, but they were too embarrassed to come to Tian Kuang's house to beg for food, so they had to flee to other villages or towns.

After all, when Tian Kuang's family first arrived in the village and was in the most difficult situation, apart from the few families they had helped, everyone else refused to ask Tian Kuang's family for help. How could they have the nerve to reach out to Tian Kuang's family to beg now?

Moreover, it is said that not only Wang Dazhu's eldest daughter, but also daughters from several other families, had their betrothal gifts hastily accepted and sent away when they reached the age of thirteen or fourteen.

As for where it was sent, no outsider knew.

All I could hear was the incredibly pitiful crying of the women as they were being dragged away.

For a time, all the families with daughters felt a pang of sympathy.

On this day, two tall young men came to the door and sat directly on the threshold of Tian Kuang's old house, chuckling foolishly, "Give me some food, hehehe."

Old Feng was terrified and ran inside to tell Zhou.

Zhou rushed out to take a look, and one of them was none other than Erdanzi from Aunt Hua's family. She didn't recognize the other one, but looking at their similar silly appearances, she could roughly guess that he was Sandanzi, the one Aunt Hua had mentioned.

They really are a pair of silly brothers.

Just then, another figure ran over, rushed to the two of them, and cried out, "My goodness, Erdan and Sandan, what are you two doing here?!"

Upon seeing this, Zhou's heart skipped a beat; it was that persistent ghost, Aunt Hua, again.

She felt the headache in her head, which had been throbbing slightly for the past few days, become more pronounced.

Sure enough, Aunt Hua pointed to the sky and cried out, "Erdan, you saved that girl last time, but she doesn't acknowledge you! Otherwise, even if you were their son-in-law, you would at least have something to eat. Why are you starving to death now! My poor son!"

Yun Tiankuang ran over, "You shameless old hag, when will you ever stop?! It wasn't even your Erdan who saved my older sister, so why should my older sister marry your Erdan?"

Aunt Hua ignored them and just kept crying, "Poor son, your mother-in-law's family eats delicious rice and meat every day, but you are going to starve to death! Heaven is truly blind!"

Zhou was furious and blurted out, "Who the hell saved my eldest daughter? Step forward, and don't let this old woman try to claim this favor again!"

Yun Tiankuang quickly pushed Old Feng next to him, "Uncle Feng, close the door quickly!"

Old Feng tried to close the door, but the two tall young men blocked it with their feet, grinning foolishly, "We won't close it! We won't close it unless you give us food!"

Just then, a man limped over, grabbed Aunt Hua by the hair, and dragged her back, yelling, "You shameless wretch! Get back here and start cooking!"

Aunt Hua yelled, "If you want to marry me, you have to take care of my two sons!"

"You wish! Giving you ten catties of rice and flour as a dowry is already quite generous. You think you can let your two good-for-nothing sons live off my family?"

"No, no... Erdanzi, Sandanzi... you heartless bastards, last time you said you had twenty catties of rice and flour!"

"Don't you even look at the state of things now..."

Seeing their mother being led away, the two foolish sons had no choice but to get up and follow her, grinning foolishly.

Old Feng immediately closed the door.

Zhou stamped her feet inside the door, "That damned man, he's never going to stop!"

At this moment, a young man slowly walked out from under a big tree and hesitantly knocked on the door.

When Old Feng opened the door, he saw a young man he didn't recognize and couldn't help but ask, "Young man, who are you looking for?"

The young man's face turned bright red. He glanced uneasily at Zhou Shi, who hadn't gone far, and whispered, "I've come to find Tian Kuang's mother."

Zhou turned around and asked suspiciously, "What do you want with us?"

The young man became even more flustered, his voice extremely low, "Could we...could we go inside and talk?"

Seeing his expression, Zhou felt a bad feeling.

She had met this young man a few times; he was always very polite and gentle, not the kind of person who would cause trouble.

So he told Tian Kuang to go back first, and then took her to a corner nearby. "Tell me, what is it?"

The young man lowered his voice and said, "Auntie... to tell you the truth, it was me who saved the young lady that day."

Zhou's expression changed drastically. "What do you mean?"

She blurted out that comment at the door because she was so angry at Aunt Hua's shamelessness, and she regretted it as soon as she said it.