The light from the doorway was blocked, and the three children were watching the scene.
"It just so happens that you're all here. Don't sleep here anymore. It's not safe and comfortable. You might even get sick from sleeping here. What should you do then? Sleep in my room. My bed is bigger."
"Have your hair dried? Put on your straw hats and come up the mountain with me."
After saying that, without waiting for their reaction, he walked out directly to pack the tools he would use to go up the mountain.
A big backpack, and then thought that he would need a knife later, so he took out the machete from the kitchen. Several knives in the house were kept in the kitchen.
"Brother, that bad woman is really weird."
"Stepmother, it's different now."
"No matter what her purpose is, I will not let her succeed." After saying this, Xiao Wangshu touched his hair, which had a unique fragrance.
"Let's leave it this way for now. At least the result now won't be worse than before. Let's see how she changes over the next period of time and see if it's really like she said, that she's going to get better."
"Well, brother, you make sense."
"Third brother, don't run away from home so often in the future. What if we can't find you? I don't want you to do this again next time." Xiao Ce stared at Xiao Jingyu, and the seriousness on his face made Xiao Jingyu feel ashamed.
"Brother, I thought you all betrayed me." Xiao Jingyu lowered his head, kicking the straw casually with his feet, and said a little embarrassedly.
"Without her, our lives would be even harder. The hooligans in the village would cause trouble for us, and no one would help us."
"Dad hasn't woken up yet, and grandpa and grandma haven't returned from the county town yet. If she's gone, we might even be sold."
Xiao Ce calmly analyzed the current predicament. This was also the reason why when his brothers and sisters called Lin Shuang a bad woman, he still called her his stepmother. It was just to endure it and wait for his grandparents to come back so that everything would be resolved.
"How is that possible? Without her, we wouldn't be that bad." Xiao Jingyu said unconvincedly, and glanced at Xiao Ce. The clear meaning in his eyes was, Brother, you are useless.
"You forgot so quickly, when Niu Chunhua and Li Dabao came to our house today, and when Li Dabao beat you up, wasn't it she who took care of it?"
After Xiao Ce said this, everyone fell silent. No matter how much they didn't want to admit it, they couldn't erase this matter. Without Lin Shuang, they might really be more sad.
"So, brother, what should we do now?"
"Just obey her first. We'll do whatever she tells us to do, no matter if it's good or bad. Having an adult at home is better than having no one at all."
Xiao Ce touched the ends of his hair and said, "Stepmother, I trust you again!"
"Okay, that's it for now."
"Brother, stepmother is different now. She is doing well now." Xiao Nanxin insisted that Lin Shuang was different.
"Well, I hope so. Even if she treats us any worse, it won't be worse than it is now. However, don't relax. I'm afraid she's just pretending. Be careful that she sells us out again."
"Ah, I don't want to be sold and never see you again."
"Then be smart, especially my little sister. She's stupid and easy to fool."
"Hmph, big brother, I'm not going to pay attention to you. I'm not stupid at all. I'm smart."
"What are you talking about? You're all gathered together whispering." Lin Shuang's voice came from behind them.
“Ahhhh!!”
"Why are you yelling? I'm not a ghost. Why are you howling?"
"Stepmother, are we going to the mountain now?" Xiao Nanxin pulled Lin Shuang's hand, blinked his eyes, acted cute to Lin Shuang, and tried to change the subject.
How could Lin Shuang not see through her little trick? Seeing the four children looking nervous, she didn't ask any questions.
"Yeah, let's go, do you have straw hats?"
"No." Xiao Nanxin shook his head.
"Forget it, wait two days before washing your hair."
The family walked side by side, Lin Shuang holding Xiao Nanxin's left hand. When the people in front walked, people immediately gathered behind to watch.
"Hey, could it be that the sun is rising from the west today? How come we can still see that evil woman Lin Shuang going out with her children?"
"Yeah, she's not going to trick the kids into going up the mountain and letting them get eaten by big insects, is she?"
"This is serious. Tell the village chief right away."
"Village Chief, that evil woman Lin Shuang took the four children of the Xiao family to the mountain to feed the insects."
"What? She really did that?" The village chief was shocked. He stopped smoking the pipe in his hand and stood up from the stool.
"Yeah, could what I said be false?"
Lin Shuang: It would be strange if what you said was not false. This is how my reputation was ruined by you.
"Have they gone up the mountain?" The village chief was anxious. The Xiao couple were good people, and Xiao Yi was a kind child. He couldn't let Lin Shuang harm his flesh and blood.
"It's on the mountain. I just saw it. It was at the foot of the mountain a moment ago, but now it's on the mountain."
"Okay, hurry up and get the young men from the village to go up the mountain with us. We can't let these kids get eaten by the big beast. If Brother Xiao comes back, I won't be able to face him."
"Okay, village chief, I'll call a few people to go up the mountain together. It's a sin, eh."
"Let's go together." The village chief put down the pipe in his hand and followed the villagers.
"How could this vicious woman Lin Shuang harm such young and sensible children? It's really pitiful that Aunt Xiao and Uncle Xiao are so kind to her. She is such an ungrateful person."
"That's right. It made me run up the mountain. Who knows if there's any danger."
"Enough, why are you arguing? The person hasn't been found yet, and you're arguing now. What's the point?" The village chief said from behind, and several people immediately shut up.
Lin Shuang and the children here have already walked into the mountains, and they didn’t see anything good outside.
All the wild vegetables had been picked up by the villagers, and there was no trace of wild vegetables at all. Besides, I didn’t come here for the wild vegetables. After all, who would eat those bitter and astringent wild vegetables?
The world is big, but eating is the most important thing. The things in the space are used less and less, and their main function is to save lives.
"Stepmother, why don't we not go in? If we go any further, we'll be in the inner area. There are wild animals in here, wild boars, long worms, giant insects, and even wolves."
"What are you afraid of? If you don't go into the inner circle, there will be no food."
"Don't worry, I can protect you. I'm very strong."
This was something Lin Shuang hadn't expected. The new member gift package actually came with a powerful pill. I have to say, it was quite practical.
"Stepmother, we are still young, and you are a woman. If we really encounter these, we will probably be eaten by these wild beasts before we can catch the rabbit."
Xiao Ce's worry was obvious. Some people in the village went deep into the mountains to hunt wild boars, but their bodies were never found. It was very likely that they were eaten by big beasts.
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