Everyone listened to Yunling's words and followed her instructions. However, the woman who had suffered a loss did not give up. She devoted all her energy to keeping a close watch on Yunling and her group's daily life.
Driven by a thirst for revenge, she wished she could split a person into four, five, or six. She kept a close eye on what Yunling and the others ate, like a vicious vengeful ghost, loudly proclaiming everything they ate as if reciting a menu. If there was even a tiny bit of meat in the pot, she would act as if she had discovered a new continent, wanting the whole world to know.
Zhang, Granny Yun, Granny Fan, and the two sisters-in-law of the Fan family dared not let their guard down. They had to stop the woman from looking while also being wary of her poisoning her saliva.
The Fan family members, including Yun Shenghua and Yun Ling, who were responsible for gathering food, did not dare to venture deep into the mountains to hunt pheasants or pigeons because they had to be wary of other escapees competing with them for food. They could only search for some wild vegetables and fruits in the surrounding area.
But as the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. They had just eaten extremely delicious seafood rice a while ago, so even if they couldn't eat it now, they wouldn't have to eat wild vegetables every day to survive.
Yunling turned around, smacked her lips—which were so dry they couldn't be drier—and her stomach immediately rumbled.
This is terrible, absolutely terrible.
Yunling sat up abruptly. Gangzi, who was on night watch, quickly picked up his stick and cautiously looked around, asking in a low voice:
"Boss, is there any danger?"
"No, I'm hungry and can't sleep."
"I'll go buy you something to eat."
But as soon as he said it, Gangzi realized that they were fleeing their hometown and could no longer buy whatever they wanted as before, so he added:
"I'll go find you something to eat."
But what could they possibly eat in this desolate wilderness? The iron cooking pot was cleaner than their faces. Helpless, Gangzi could only scratch his head in frustration.
"Boss, how about I pick some sweet fruit for you? They're sweet, and you won't feel hungry after eating them."
Yunling shook her head.
"These fruits will only make us hungrier the more we eat them. It's all that thieving woman's fault. If it weren't for her, we could have at least caught a pheasant to try."
Mentioning that woman, Gangzi was also filled with resentment.
"Boss, why don't I go beat her up and get her out of our sight so she can stop causing trouble here?"
"No, although she is annoying, she hasn't done anything truly heinous. If you lay a hand on her, you'll be a villain, which is unacceptable. However, she is indeed wicked, and we need to think of a way to teach her a lesson."
Gangzi quickly sat down next to Yunling and asked in a low voice:
"Boss, do you have any good ideas?"
Yunling's eyes darted around, then she said:
"Gangzi, have you ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?"
"The wolf is coming?"
"Yes, it was once a shepherd boy who found his daily shepherding work boring, so he came up with a funny trick. He shouted to the people down the mountain, 'Wolf! Wolf ...
"They were united in their hatred of the enemy and vowed to drive the wolf away, but when they went up the mountain, they did not see the legendary wolf. Instead, they were mocked mercilessly by the children."
Gangzi directly put himself in the shoes of those ordinary people and angrily said:
"Did they beat up that kid?"
"No, I was just angry. Then the next day, the boy got bored and started yelling 'Wolf!' The people grabbed their weapons and ran up, but they didn't see a wolf. They were just mocked by the boy."
Gangzi's dissatisfaction grew stronger, and he spat out:
"That brat deserves it if the sheep are lost."
Yunling smiled and said:
"On the third day, the wolf really did come. The boy was extremely nervous and scared. He shouted desperately, but the people at the foot of the mountain thought it was just another trick he was playing, so they ignored him. In the end, all of the boy's sheep were eaten by the wolf."
"Serves him right! This is truly gratifying."
Gangzi let out a long sigh, but then he remembered the significance of Yunling telling him this story. They had just been talking about the thieving woman, and Yunling wouldn't have brought this up with him for no reason, so...
"Boss, do you mean to make that thieving woman the despicable child in the story? That way, after one time and time again, those other fugitives won't believe her anymore, and then we can eat whatever we want, right?"
Yunling showed a look of admiration, then gave Gangzi a thumbs-up in appreciation.
Gangzi was overjoyed to be praised by Yunling. He then looked at Yunling, and the two exchanged a knowing smile, their scheme succeeding.
The next day at dawn, the woman came to "supervise" again. Yunling reunited the team that was looking for food, no longer separating as before. They walked together into the deep mountains, each with a serious expression on their face, which immediately aroused the woman's suspicion.
This was the first time she had ever seen such a large group of people searching for food. They must have discovered some treasure, such as pheasants, ducks, or even wild boars.
The woman felt that she had discovered something extraordinary. She didn't care what Zhang Shi and Granny Yun were burning, and followed Yun Ling and the others. She was determined to teach them a lesson today.
"Boss, the fish has taken the bait."
"Fish? Where are the fish?"
Ever since Yunling promised them that they could eat seafood rice every day once they settled down, Fan Xiaosi had been pestering Yunling every day. Wherever Yunling went, they followed. So when they heard Gangzi say that the fish had taken the bait, they naturally thought that there really were fish.
Gangzi was startled by Fan Xiaosi's words, fearing that his efforts would be in vain because of them. But Yunling simply decided to play along, saying:
"Fish, let's go find fish, and today we'll have braised fish."
"Sister Ling, I'd like to eat some fried pine nut fish. Mother always makes a sweet and sour pine nut fish dish every New Year. Can we have some?"
Yunling frowned slightly, somewhat hesitant.
"Hmm... If we're going to fry these pine nut fish, we'll need oil. As for oil... well... we still have pork, so no worries, we can just fry them in lard. It'll just have to taste a little different."
"Really? We'll really get to eat pine nut fish?"
"Really, but we'll have to catch a few fish."
Fan Xiaosi was in high spirits. He could almost see himself eating pine nut fish and enjoying a fragrant drink. So he leaped high into the air and exclaimed joyfully:
"Sister Ling, I'll catch all the fish in the stream for you, so we can have a delicious lunch together."
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