Chapter 10 Someone's Trying to Steal the Cat?

Ning Bao became more and more enthusiastic as she spoke, explaining the story of the sickly man in detail.

After a nap and a busy half-day, Ningbao's tummy was a little hungry.

However, there were outsiders around the carriage, so Ningbao dared not take any food out, not even water or goat milk, for fear of being robbed.

Just as Ningbao was about to close her eyes and rest again to forget her hunger, the spirit cat, which had been ignored by its master for a long time, jumped into Ningbao's arms.

Ning Bao then remembered the strange-looking cat she had brought from the underworld.

Sensing her master's inner thoughts, the spirit cat gave her master a resentful look.

Seeing the interaction between the cat and Ningbao, Mu Dasheng asked curiously,

"Ningbao, is this your cat?"

Ning Bao paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Grandpa, yes, I picked this up before, it's called..."

What should we call it?

noob?

in vain?

Round?

Ningbao was very conflicted.

Suddenly, Ningbao had a brilliant idea. She remembered that Yama had said this was a spirit cat, so she would name it Lingling...

"Grandpa, its name is Lingling, and it's my little friend."

"Lingling! What a beautiful name! Ningbao must have chosen this name, right? My dear grandson is so smart; he chose such a lovely name."

Mu Chengye, who was sitting to the side reading the large characters, was speechless. Although he hadn't known his sister for long, he had already understood a principle.

That means everything my sister does is right, and she's perfect in every way...

Because Mu Chengye understood this principle early on, he had a smooth life at home for many years afterward.

Spoiling my younger sister will always be my top priority!

We set off from Shanglin Village around mid-morning, and now we've been walking for almost two hours, well past lunchtime.

However, it is a year of famine, and people have long been unable to eat three meals a day. Normally, the drought makes it impossible to farm at home, and when there is nothing to do, most families eat only one bowl of thin porridge a day.

It was already late afternoon, and everyone was thirsty, hungry, and tired. Luckily, there was a small grove of trees in front of us. Although most of the trees in the grove had withered and died due to the drought, there were only a few scattered yellow leaves on the treetops.

Even so, it's still better than resting in an empty wasteland, since everyone basically needs to take care of their physiological needs when resting.

Men can manage anywhere, but women can't. It's something most people wouldn't do to relieve themselves in public without any cover.

Although there is no lush vegetation in this forest, the tree trunks can still block some of the view.

When fleeing famine in the wilderness, it's inevitable to encounter awkward situations, but as long as they're not too outrageous, people won't hold it against you.

After all, when you're about to lose your life, some things don't seem so important anymore.

At the village chief's command, the procession came to an orderly halt.

There were a few people sitting scattered in the woods. People from all around had come out to escape the famine, and the number of people they encountered on the road was increasing.

Some villages, like Shanglin Village, started their road construction together as a whole, while others involved only a few households or even just one person from a family.

However, a scattered group is definitely not as imposing as a large group.

Sure enough, just as more than 400 people from Shanglin Village were walking into the woods, several groups of villagers hurriedly packed their belongings and left with their children.

Everyone was afraid of being robbed. Although more than 400 people is not a large number, it is not a small number either. If they wanted to rob individual investors, it would be very easy for them.

Fortunately, Village Chief Lin was not the kind of person who would do anything underhanded. Before setting off, he had said that he would not cause trouble but was not afraid of it!

As soon as the group stopped, Mu Chunping quickly ran back to his family. He first ran to the cart and took Ningbao off, then he and Shen Junshan carried Mu Dasheng to the nearby ditch to relieve themselves.

The women in the village also went to relatively secluded places in groups to relieve themselves, and even Ningbao was taken along by Shen Yuzhen.

The Taoist temple was full of men. Ning Bao lived in a small, secluded courtyard in the Sanqing Temple, so this was the first time she had ever seen so many women using the outhouse together.

She was initially very excited, but after seeing what it was like, she became extremely depressed; the scene was simply...

A couple hundred people, and white PGs everywhere...

Even after returning to their own camp, Ningbao still had a furrowed brow.

"Don't touch my sister's cat! Put it down right now!"

"No! I won't! Mu Chengye, are you so desperate for a sister that you're calling a little girl you picked up your sister!"

If your family likes little girls, you can ask my family for some. My grandma says we have three money-losing girls..."

“Mu Chengrong, Zhaodi, Pandi, and Laidi are your own sisters, and also my cousins. They are not worthless or weaklings. You can’t call them that…”

The commotion from not far away finally brought Ning Bao back to her senses from the spectacular scene of a hundred or two women going to the outhouse.

If she hadn't misheard, it was her fourth brother arguing with someone, and it was because of Lingling.

Someone stole my cat?

Ningbao's first reaction was that someone was trying to steal the cat, and she ran straight towards the direction from which Mu Chengye's voice came from with her short legs.

Seeing this, Shen Yuzhen quickly went to chase after them.

"Ningbao, slow down, don't fall!"

The five of them—Mu Cheng'an, Mu Chengju, Mu Chengle, Shen Sijian, and Shen Sikang—who had just returned from gathering firewood, quickly put down the firewood and ran over.

"Auntie, let's go!"

Seeing her three sons and two nephews, Shen Yuzhen felt much relieved. She glanced at Ningbao's retreating figure.

"Okay, you guys go over there quickly. It sounds like Mu Chengrong is trying to take Ningbao's cat. We're all tired from traveling today, so it's not a good time to argue. Just go and bring your younger siblings back and don't make a scene."

After finishing her sentence, Shen Yuzhen hurriedly walked back to her family's camp. The rest time was limited, and since there were many children in her family, only her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were responsible for cooking. She had to hurry home to help, otherwise her family wouldn't even have time to eat before they set off.

On Mu Chengye's side, Ning Bao immediately started arguing with Mu Chengrong from the eldest branch of the Mu family as soon as she arrived...