That day, Liu Chengfeng and his men tied up Fang Mulin and Lu Cuilan's hands and feet, and then threw them into the deep mountains.
They didn't stop Fang Mingming from coming along. However, once they reached the deep mountains, after leaving Fang Mulin and Lu Cuilan behind, Liu Chengfeng, following Lu Shiyan's instructions, asked Fang Mingming privately if he wanted to return to the valley.
If he wants to go back, he can live in the valley with Xie Ziang and the other children.
But Fang Mingming ultimately shook her head and chose to stay in the mountains with her parents.
Liu Chengfeng felt sorry for Fang Mingming, a child, and wanted to help him. However, Fang Mulin and Lu Cuilan's actions against such a young child as Lu Chenyan were utterly heinous and could not be easily forgiven.
Since Fang Mingming was unwilling to return to the valley, he didn't say anything more.
After Liu Chengfeng left, Fang Mingming returned to her parents' side, first removing the rags stuffed in their mouths, and then slowly untying the ropes binding them with her small hands.
As soon as the rag was removed, Lu Cuilan started cursing, from Lu Shiyan and Jiang Tangtang to Old Man Lu and Madam Su.
After she had verbally abused the Lu family members repeatedly, she then turned her attention to the Fang family.
In the end, she scolded everyone, and then she started blaming Fang Mulin.
Fang Mulin also blamed her in his heart, saying that it was all her bad idea. If it weren't for her bad idea to harm Lu Chenyan, the two of them wouldn't have ended up like this.
So, after Fang Mingming finally managed to untie the ropes binding the two of them, instead of thinking about how to support each other and survive in the deep mountains, the two of them started fighting.
Looking at her parents, who seemed to want to kill each other, Fang Mingming burst into tears, feeling both frightened and helpless.
Only then did the two stop, suppress their resentment towards each other, and discuss where they would go next.
Although they were unwilling to admit it, they both knew that they could never go back to the valley and had to find a way to make a living elsewhere.
At first, the two of them were still holding their breath, thinking that even if they left the Lu family and the valley, they could still live a good life.
Once they leave the mountains and gain wealth and status, the Lu family will regret it for the rest of their lives.
However, reality soon proved them wrong.
Back when Fang Mulin lived in Dawan Village, he would just loaf around on weekdays, even when he was working in the fields, he would do it half-heartedly, let alone go hunting in the mountains to find wild game.
Lu Cuilan, on the other hand, spent most of her time working in the city. Although both of them were from the countryside, they had little experience living in the jungle.
Soon, the two of them were in a sorry state, suffering terribly.
Fang Mulin originally thought that hunting was not difficult because Lu Shiyan always returned from the mountains with a full load of spoils, but he realized that things were not as he imagined when he actually tried it.
The two men, with a child in tow, not only failed to hunt, but were also constantly terrified by the howls of wolves and tigers in the mountains.
Frightened and hungry, the two fell ill one after the other. Looking at her parents, who were delirious with fever, Fang Mingming could think of no other way but to cry.
In the end, he could only grit his teeth and return to the valley to seek help from Lu Shiyan.
But not long after he left, Fang Mulin was awakened by the howling of wolves, and when he opened his eyes, he ran to him.
Ignoring his weak and uncomfortable body, he mustered all his strength, got up from the ground, and climbed up the tree.
At this moment, Lu Cuilan also woke up. She struggled to stand up and climbed up the tree.
But her hands and feet felt like noodles, limp and weak, and she couldn't climb up no matter what she did, so she asked her husband for help: "Husband, please help me up."
Instead of helping her up, Fang Mulin took a step back and stomped hard on her hand, kicking her off the tree. "You bitch, you cheated on me with a cuckold's horns! Go to hell!"
Lu Cuilan's eyes were bloodshot with rage. "Fang Mulin, you're not human! When I was bringing money home, didn't you mind that I was cheating on you? You useless coward, you deserve to die a horrible death."
Fang Mulin ignored her shouts and curses, hugged the tree trunk, and struggled to climb up.
Seeing that her husband was heartless and unable to climb the tree, Lu Cuilan could only run forward with all her might.
But she hadn't eaten her fill for days and had just recovered from a serious illness; how could she possibly outrun a hungry wolf?
With a "snap," the black wolf bit her leg.
"Help!" Lu Cuilan cried out, but no one would come to her rescue.
She could no longer make a sound until another wolf bit off her neck.
After killing the man, the wolves began to devour him on the spot.
Fang Mulin sat on a tree branch, watching his wife's bloodied and mangled body being devoured by a pack of wolves. He was so frightened that he broke out in a cold sweat and almost fainted on the spot.
A pack of wolves devoured Lu Cuilan, but they didn't leave; they just stayed under the big tree.
*
Jiang Tangtang spent the entire afternoon reading in her hammock, covering topics from the making of iron plows to the forging of steel, until her head started to throb. She probably hadn't studied this hard, not even for her college entrance exams in her past life.
Although it was hard work, the rewards were considerable. While she wasn't yet an expert, she had gained a basic understanding of various farm tools and steel forging.
Jiang Tangtang was quite satisfied with her study efficiency and was about to get up to make something to eat when Su Shi ran over with a worried look on her face. "Xiao Yan's mother, you have to do the math. It's almost dark, and Sanlang and the others still haven't returned?"
Not only was Su anxious, but all the families in the village whose husbands and sons had gone out with Lu Shiyan were also anxiously looking in the direction they had left in the morning.
Some people kept muttering prayers, begging God to protect them and bring their families home safely.
Jiang Tangtang pretended to do some calculations and said, "Mother, don't worry, my husband is fine."
"Really?" Madam Su breathed a sigh of relief. But after a moment, she hesitated and asked, "Then why hasn't he come back yet?"
Jiang Tangtang isn't really good at divination, how would she know! But since he's the male lead, if anything happens to him, nothing will happen to him!
She casually offered a word of comfort: "Perhaps something happened on the way that delayed you!"
Ever since Jiang Tangtang claimed to have been enlightened by a deity, Madam Su has been very convinced of Jiang Tangang's abilities.
Although he was still a little uneasy, after hearing Jiang Tangtang's words, he was no longer as anxious as he had been at the beginning.
She turned to ask Jiang Tangtang what she wanted to eat that night.
Jiang Tangtang wanted to eat egg pancakes, but there was no flour at home. Lu Shiyan did bring back wheat, but there was no stone mill in the valley.
She thought for a moment and said, "Let's have fried rice with egg!"
Ms. Su had never heard of fried rice with eggs before, so she asked, "What is fried rice with eggs?"
"I'll do it!" Jiang Tangtang said. "First, steam the rice, then cut a piece of wild boar meat with some fat on it, and stir-fry it with wild duck eggs later."
When Mrs. Su heard that it was rice, meat, duck, and eggs, she felt a pang of heartache. But thinking of her son working so hard outside, she felt he deserved some good food. She quickly suppressed her urges and went to get the rice to cook.
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