In Dingshui Village, Grandpa Jiang and Chen Shao and others worked together to process the game they had brought back. They separated the skin from the meat, and even the tiger bones were completely removed.

At first, everyone was excited about suddenly getting such a large amount of meat, but as soon as the prey was processed, some people started causing trouble.

Today's work was all done by everyone working together, organized and arranged by people like Meng, Grandpa Jiang, and Chen Shao, who are influential in the village now.

They didn't finish everything until the afternoon of the day after Zheng San and the others left.

Granny Wang and several other old women were in charge of processing the furs. By the time they finished, it was already dark.

"Zheng San and the others went into the mountains yesterday. I wonder if they saw the village chief and the others?"

"Don't worry, we've all walked this route before, and there's someone to guide us, so there won't be any problems."

"Hehe, it's good that you're alright. I'm just hoping the village chief and the others will come back soon so they can distribute the grain and meat to us..."

After hearing what the other old women said, Granny Wang's eyes started darting around restlessly.

The village's few wells don't have enough water for them to drink. They used some more today to process the game, and they don't know how much water they'll get when the water is distributed the day after tomorrow. She still thinks they should go and escape the famine.

With that thought in mind, Granny Wang said goodbye to the others and went home first.

When she got home, Wang the Cripple was still fast asleep inside, snoring so loudly it almost lifted the roof off.

"Husband, get up quickly," Granny Wang pushed him hard. "I have something to tell you."

Wang the Cripple was half asleep when he opened his eyes and saw Wang the Granny's old face. His morning grumpiness immediately flared up.

He suddenly stood up and shoved Granny Wang away, yelling, "I haven't slept well for days, and this is how you, you stinking woman, treat me?"

Wang Pozi was lucky not to be pushed to the ground. She barely managed to stand up and was about to get angry when she suddenly remembered her business and had to suppress her anger for the time being.

"Alright, alright, it was my fault, but husband, did you really mean it when you said you'd get a whole sheep this time?" Granny Wang asked, her eyes shining.

Wang the Cripple scratched his head, and when he took his hand down, he saw a louse. He casually pinched it to death and blew on it. "The village chief only said he'd give it to those who performed well. Didn't I try my best to perform well? It's all because of you, you stinking woman, that I've been dragging me down. You..."

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about the past," Granny Wang quickly interrupted him. "Didn't you do a good job this time? You went down the mountain to deliver messages, and you helped process the game during the day. You did a lot of work on the mountain, didn't you?"

"Uh," Wang the Cripple's eyes darted around, "Of course I performed very well!"

In reality, he didn't help much with the work on the mountain. When asked to weave nets, he would always make excuses to pee. When Jiang Qinyu and the others were hunting wild goats and tigers, he would hide behind them and watch from the chaos, not daring to go forward.

Moreover, the reason he returned to report the news was because he didn't want to exert himself to carry the prey. In short, if everyone saw all of this, then his performance would definitely not be considered good.

Upon hearing this, Granny Wang clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Then let's go and get our sheep right now, and we'll hurry off to escape the famine tomorrow!"

"What?" Wang the Cripple picked at his ear. "Why are we fleeing again?"

Granny Wang rolled her eyes at him. "You really can't bear to leave our daughter behind? Since they haven't been gone long, let's take as little stuff as possible and chase after them in a mule cart. We should still be able to catch up."

All told, the people from Xiahe Village had only been gone for six days, and very few families in their village owned vehicles. But his family had two mules, so they were sure they could catch up.

"Are you crazy? Our village has food now, and we've found water in the mountains. Why waste our energy trying to escape the famine?" Wang the Cripple looked at her in disbelief.

When Wang Pozi saw him like this, she immediately realized that the old man didn't want to leave, so she sat down on the ground and started crying.

"Waaaah... Why am I so unlucky? I married such a good-for-nothing! I worked hard all my life, gave birth to three sons for you, and only had a daughter when I was old. Now my daughter and her family are gone, and it's like they took my life with them!"

Wang Pozi has three sons. The eldest and second eldest were forcibly conscripted by the government six years ago along with Lu Yanzheng. The family only has one youngest son, who got married last year and doesn't have any children yet.

Wang Pozi's youngest daughter was born when she was thirty-five years old, which was considered a late-life daughter in those days, and she was given extra love from a young age.

Furthermore, Wang Pozi nearly died in childbirth when she gave birth to her youngest daughter, so she doted on this daughter even more.

When Wang the Cripple heard what Wang the Granny said, his mind was about to explode. Although he was a reckless and unruly man, he still had some sense of loyalty and knew that if it weren't for Wang the Granny, he wouldn't be where he was today.

Granny Wang was still crying and complaining when, after thinking it over, Wang the Cripple finally agreed, "Alright, alright, we'll listen to you, let's go flee the famine!"

"Then I'll go talk to the Ma family and the Deng family right now. They both want to leave too!" Granny Wang immediately got up, and before leaving, she turned back to Wang the Cripple and said, "You hurry up and go ask the village chief's wife for the things. I'll go to her house to find you in a bit!"

They had been preparing to flee the famine; everything at home was packed and unopened. As long as they got the meat, they could set off immediately the next day.

...

Meng was completely taken aback that Wang the Cripple would want to divide the meat ahead of time. She was still a little confused when she heard his purpose. "Didn't my husband say we'd divide it when he got back? If nothing unexpected happens, they should be back tomorrow."

She didn't care whether the Wang family was going to flee the famine or not. Anyway, she felt that there was hope for the future. There was food, and she knew where the water was. Only a fool would leave his hometown to flee the famine.

"Isn't it because our family is planning to flee the famine tomorrow? You know my daughter married into Xiahe Village, and her mother and I are really worried about her. If we go too late, we're afraid we won't be able to catch up with them." Wang the Cripple spoke politely.

Madam Meng dared not agree so easily and quickly shook her head, "My husband isn't here, so I can't make this decision. You should wait until they come back tomorrow!"

"No, village chief's wife, how can you be so unreasonable? If we don't leave tomorrow, we won't be able to catch up with my daughter!" Wang the Cripple said anxiously, taking two steps forward instinctively.

Meng took a step back. "What are you doing? It's not that I don't want to give you a share, it's that I can't make the decision, and I don't know how much to give you..."

"The village chief said we'd get a whole sheep, and you can't take away a single hair from us!"

At this moment, Granny Wang suddenly pulled in two old women from the Ma and Deng families.

Meng was stunned when she heard this. "A sheep? Impossible!"

"How could it be impossible?" Granny Wang said, hands on her hips. "The village chief said it himself!"

"Who the hell said that? I don't believe it!"

Just as Meng was wondering what to do, Village Chief Li's voice came from the courtyard.