However, as soon as Huang Dachuan finished speaking, the village chief keenly noticed that the eyes of the other villagers around him began to dart away, as if they were each lost in their own thoughts. So he immediately continued:
"Fellow villagers, if you have enough food reserves at home and are confident that you can survive on these food reserves until we return to the village safely, then of course you can choose not to participate in this operation..."
As the village chief spoke, he scanned everyone present with his eyes, observing their reactions.
However, when the village chief saw that everyone remained silent after he finished speaking, he paused slightly before adding:
"Here's what we'll do: each household will send one strong, able-bodied person. We can look out for each other and not stray too far. I think as long as we're united and cautious, we shouldn't encounter too much danger. As for the mushrooms we find, we'll distribute them equally among everyone once we get back. If any family really doesn't have a strong laborer, they can collect some branches near the cave entrance to start a fire for cooking. After all, the situation is special right now, and only if we all work together can we overcome this difficult time!"
The village chief spoke these last words earnestly, hoping to dispel the villagers' concerns and encourage them to actively participate in the operation.
After hearing the village chief's words, Da Niu, who was standing to the side, stepped forward without thinking.
"Uncle Chen, I'll go..." Aunt Zhang, seeing Da Niu's reaction, frowned slightly. After all, the dry rations they brought should last them four or five days if they ate them sparingly.
However, as the village chief said, no one knew when the rain would stop or when everyone could return to the village, so Aunt Zhang didn't try to stop them.
Seeing that even a young boy like Da Niu had stepped forward, the others followed suit, except for those whose families truly had no men.
To stop the good people, the group followed the village chief's son, Zhuzi, out of the cave, while the rest searched for some good firewood branches at the cave entrance.
Perhaps it was because there were many people that the wild animals were scared away, or perhaps everyone was just lucky. As a result, this outing not only did they not encounter any danger, but they also returned with a full load of goodies, with some even catching a rabbit.
When the group returned to the cave, they found that the fire was already burning. Seeing the raging flames, the pent-up frustration that had been building up in their eyes over the past few days was instantly dispelled. Some people even rushed to the fire and started dancing and gesturing wildly.
Upon seeing this, the village chief finally showed a hint of a smile.
Having eaten their first hot meal in days, everyone couldn't help but let out peeking sounds...
After eating and drinking their fill, the group set off again before it got dark.
However, this time, not long after the group left the cave, they heard a faint sound coming from not far away.
"Help……".
Upon hearing this voice, the men's expressions changed, and their gazes all fell on Huang Dachuan, who had come with them. Their expressions spoke volumes.
Seeing everyone looking at him, Huang Dachuan quickly spoke up.
"It definitely wasn't that bitch..."
Upon hearing the cry for help, everyone assumed it was Guilan. Now, hearing Huang Dachuan's words, their brows furrowed even more.
The reason Huang Dachuan was certain that the person calling for help was not Gui Lan was because he had already thrown her off the cliff.
Before anyone could consider whether to go forward and check, Da Niu took the lead and walked up first.
When Da Niu got closer, he saw that the person calling for help was a little girl, who looked to be no more than thirteen or fourteen years old.
The person had already fainted. He had only heard the voices of the crowd and managed to shout "Help!" with all his might.
When Da Niu saw the person lying on the ground with his eyes slightly closed and his face pale and bloodless, his heart sank. He mustered his courage and went forward to check the person's breathing. He was relieved to find that the person was still breathing.
The people in the cave, seeing that the men who had gone out had returned in less than half an hour, assumed that they had caught a wild animal and their hearts were in their throats. They hurriedly stepped forward and asked.
"Why are you back so soon? Did you encounter wild beasts? Is anyone injured...?"
When everyone saw that Da Niu was carrying a person back, their hearts jumped again. They hurriedly started looking for their own men. Only when they saw that their men who had gone out with them were safe and sound did they relax and begin to carefully examine the person Da Niu was carrying.
When Aunt Zhang saw that her son had returned carrying a little girl, she was startled and quickly told him to put the child on the ground.
When everyone saw Aunt Zhang step forward, they all stepped back. After all, they didn't have much food to begin with and didn't want to support another outsider.
At this moment, for some reason, Aunt Zhang suddenly remembered what Han Yiyi had said before, "It seems that before long, God will send your family a beautiful and virtuous daughter-in-law..."
Thinking of this, Aunt Zhang couldn't help but turn to look at her mentally challenged son. Seeing the worry in his eyes, she couldn't help but secretly curl the corners of her mouth.
Da Niu carefully placed the person closer to the fire, intending to have his mother change her into some clean clothes and feed her hot water. However, his mother was staring straight at him with an emotion he couldn't understand in her eyes.
"Mother, what's wrong? I checked, this person isn't dead, she must have fainted from being soaked. Quickly get one of Third Sister's clothes for her to change into, and give her some hot water, otherwise she might really die if this goes on..."
Hearing her son's words, Aunt Zhang quickly came to her senses and hurriedly directed her two daughters to get to work.
"Sanni, hurry up and get one of your clean clothes to make for this girl to change into..."
Aunt Zhang was so excited that she almost called out to her sister-in-law. When she saw that someone had brought clothes over, she quickly directed her two daughters to grab something to cover the girl before they were able to change her wet clothes.
After changing her clothes, I rushed to pour her hot water. While pouring the hot water, I secretly added some brown sugar to it.
This was a treasure she always carried with her, because she was worried that her two daughters would develop health problems if they got wet in the rain. So, she brought along the brown sugar she had bought earlier when she went out.
Unexpectedly, before the daughter could even drink, the future daughter-in-law had already started drinking.
Aunt Zhang fed the girl brown sugar water little by little. After finishing a bowl of brown sugar water, the girl slowly opened her eyes.
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