Despite everyone's repeated attempts to stop her, Tian An insisted on going back to the house to get something. After all, they couldn't wait to go hungry. "Xiaokang, Xiaoqi, you two stay here and be good. Your sister will be back soon."
"Sister, let's go with you!" The two little ones held Tian An's hand tightly.
"You two can't follow your sister. She has more important things for you to do!" Tian An coaxed softly.
"What's more important?" the two little ones asked with burning eyes.
"You two have to take care of the children here for me! And Grandma Qin, she is old, you have to hold her hands well and don't let her fall." As he said that, Tian An handed the two little ones' hands to Grandma Qin.
Granny Qin held Tian An's two little hands and looked at her worriedly: "Girl, be careful! If it doesn't work, get out of here right away."
Tian An smiled and said, "Don't worry, mother-in-law! I know my limits." She cherished her life and would not joke with it. After all, she was not sure that she could be reborn again.
As Tian An and Deng Xue stepped into the door, Chun Xi and Dong Ru followed in.
"Girl, we are not afraid of death. More people means we can carry more things." Chun Xi looked at Tian An with a firm face.
Now that she was here, what else could she say? She immediately ordered, "Okay, then you two go to the kitchen to get the pots and pans, and Deng Xue and I will go to the warehouse to get the food. Take as much as you can. Don't force it, and be sure to be safe."
"Okay, girl."
The four of them divided the work, Chunxi and Dongru went to the kitchen, while Tian An took Deng Xue to the warehouse. When they reached the warehouse door, they picked up the backpack that was placed beside them.
The tiles on the warehouse roof had mostly collapsed, but thankfully the beams, both large and small, were still intact. Together, they pulled out the outermost bag of rice from under the tiles, then found a bag of flour. After rummaging through the broken tiles for a while, they finally found a bundle of oilcloth. This was something she had asked Chen Qiang to buy and had stored away, and it was perfect for this occasion. They also pulled out two rolls of gauze from the cloth box.
The two of them worked together to lift the rice and flour onto the backpack, and then helped each other to carry the basket. Then Deng Xue held the oilcloth and Tian An held the gauze.
Rice and noodles are quite heavy, so they each had to carry a bag and then take the gauze and oilcloth, so they couldn't carry anything else.
When the two walked out of the warehouse, Chunxi and Dongru were also carrying the packed pots, pans, oil and salt out.
The four of them looked at each other and quickly walked out the door.
Xiaokang and Xiaoqi were still worried about Tian An, so they tricked Granny Qin into waiting outside the gate with them, thinking that if anything unexpected happened they would rush in. Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and as soon as the four of them came out, the people outside immediately stepped forward to meet them.
Xiaokang and Xiaoqi looked Tian An over and over again, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that she was not injured.
Seeing the two of them acting like little adults, Tian An was speechless. Why did it feel like they were the brothers and he was the younger sister?
After they came back, Qingmei and Zhenniang, who had gone to look for the bamboo pole, also came back.
Tian An directed several girls to build a frame with bamboo poles, cover it with oilcloth, and secure it with cloth strips, and a simple tent was ready.
One of the two large iron pots at home was smashed by falling tiles, so Chunxi and her friends only brought back the remaining pot and a kettle for boiling water. However, they also took oil, salt, some previously cured bacon and sausages, and half a bag of potatoes stored in the kitchen.
After gathering some firewood nearby, they began to cook. Given the limited conditions and simple ingredients, they picked some cabbage from the nearby fields, washed some rice, and diced some bacon. They then cooked a large pot of bacon, cabbage, and potato porridge with the diced potatoes.
There was limited tarpaulin, so only three tents were set up. Tian An kept one empty, and for the remaining two, one was used by his family, and a few elderly grandmothers were invited to stay. The other was used by the children from the village school. As for the others, they had to find their own way.
The young and strong laborers had all gone to help with the rescue, leaving behind only the elderly, the weak, women and children. As the saying goes, three women make a drama, and the group of women here is a big drama!
The sun had already set and the temperature began to drop. A cool breeze blew over, making people shiver all over.
An older woman in the crowd, wearing only a single layer of clothing, saw that Tian An had pitched three tents and preferred to leave one empty rather than invite them inside for shelter. She then said sarcastically, "What a motherless girl! She's so uneducated. She didn't even bother inviting an elder inside to take shelter when one of the tents was empty."
Tian An was looking towards the village at this time, thinking about something, and didn't notice anyone talking at all, so he didn't reply. Chun Xi and the others saw that Tian An didn't say anything, thinking that Tian An didn't want to pay attention to her, so they didn't say anything even though they felt aggrieved.
But it was this indifferent attitude that made the aunt feel that Tian An had let her down. She immediately stood up, pointed at Tian An and shouted, "Tian An, do you have any manners at all? Don't you know how to respond to your elders?"
This loud shout finally brought Tian An back to his senses. "Auntie, where did you come from? How come I didn't know I had an elder like you?"
"I am you...you..." The aunt paused and couldn't continue.
Although Tian An's family has lived in Shangba Village for generations, it has been a single-line family since her grandfather's grandfather, and the wives they married happened to be either refugees or orphans who didn't even have a mother's family.
The same was true for Tian An's biological grandmother and mother, but his step-grandmother, Old Lady Wang, was an exception. Tian An's mother was picked up by his father from somewhere, and it was because she had no natal family that she was tortured to death by Old Lady Wang.
So although Tian An's surname is Tian and he is a member of the Tian clan, he has no substantial kinship with the people in the village except that they are of the same clan.
Tian An sneered, "Auntie, please don't bully me for trying to find relatives just because I'm young. My family genealogy books are all here with me! There's no elder like you in them."
The aunt's face flushed instantly, but as soon as her eyes rolled, she came up with a new excuse, "Humph! Even if I'm not your elder and have no right to criticize you, Sister Li is the village chief's wife, so she must have it!"
The village head's wife, Li, frowned and said, "Just talk to yourself and don't try to talk me down."
As soon as Li said this, the aunt lost all her dignity.
Her eyes reddened, and she looked like an old lotus. "Who am I doing this for? I'm doing this for everyone. But in the end, no one appreciated it. I really worried about you all for nothing."
An old woman with gray hair sitting in Tian An's tent snorted coldly, "Who are you doing this for? Who else can you do this for except yourself! Who doesn't know about your mean-spirited ways? Shut your stinky mouth right now!"
The one who spoke was the clan leader's wife, the oldest person present.
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