"Auntie, brother is back~" Erni's soft voice came from the doorway.
"Hey, I'm here."
Zhen Wanwan looked at the room full of grain with a pained expression, but she knew she couldn't move it all. When her consciousness probed into the space and saw the pile of grain, she walked towards the door with satisfaction.
"Ouch, my back..."
Because the entrance was too small, Grandpa Zhen had to bend over and crawl in. As soon as he entered the tunnel, he was seen supporting his back with exhaustion.
Zhen Wanwan stood at the cave entrance with a smile, waiting quietly. At this moment, she couldn't be happier!
After Grandpa Zhen's vision adjusted in the cave, he looked at her with a look of as if she had found money and asked with some confusion, "Why are you smiling like you don't care about money? By the way, what are you doing here if you have nothing to do? Hu Zi didn't explain it to me clearly. He just said that Auntie had something to do."
Um?
Zhen Wanwan looked at Grandpa Zhen with a puzzled expression. It turned out that her father did not know about the grain. She looked at Hu Zi beside her and saw that his eyes were darting around, but he was not looking at her.
Good lad, you're quite shrewd!
"Dad, you'll see when you come over!" Zhen Wanwan looked at Grandpa Zhen with delight, also looking forward to her father's reaction when he saw the grain.
Grandpa Zhen looked back and forth between Zhen Wanwan and Hu Zi, saying, "Why are you two being so secretive?"
Despite saying that, he walked in without stopping. When he saw the room full of grain, Grandpa Zhen stared wide-eyed at Zhen Wanwan and the others.
"Am I getting old and blind? This isn't grain, is it? This is grain, isn't it!"
Upon seeing the three people present nod, Grandpa Zhen frantically threw himself onto the grain. He tore open one of the bags, and when he saw that it was pure white rice, the man in his forties or fifties, like a child, hugged the grain and wept.
"Heavens above! Thank you for your great mercy in taking so much of our grain... for sparing our lives, sob sob sob... This humble subject kneels down and kowtows to you."
Zhen Wanwan watched with a heavy heart as her father knelt down to thank God. It was ordinary people who suffered from natural disasters and man-made calamities. Now, countless people outside had starved to death because of food shortages.
Alas, in this world, she can only seek to protect herself; she has no power to change anything else.
"Father, what should we do with this grain?"
There are about twenty households traveling with them now, plus some people who have fallen behind and are secretly following the group with their families.
Because Lin, the镖头 (bodyguard), tacitly agreed to the matter, the villagers didn't say anything more.
In any case, roughly speaking, the entire team will not exceed thirty companies.
The total population of each household should be around one hundred people, so how to distribute the food is indeed a big problem.
If the grain is not distributed evenly, there is a risk that someone might try to hoard it all and harm other families. Zhen Wanwan's idea is to find the most respected person in the team to be the grain distributor.
Grandpa Zhen was a true farmer, so he naturally knew the importance of grain to the villagers during famine years. He had to think carefully about how to bring this grain into the open without causing a scramble.
"Wanwan, don't tell anyone about the food situation yet!"
Grandpa Zhen understood the horrors of human nature better than they did. Before he could come up with a good way to distribute the grain, it was best not to leak any to everyone.
"I understand, Dad. For now, only our family knows about this."
For some reason, she had a feeling of unease. Could something bad be about to happen?
As night approached, everyone lit firewood. Those who needed to cook were cooking, while those who wanted to conserve food had already closed their eyes and gone to sleep. Some who were too tired to continue were also resting in bed.
On her way home, Da Ni ran into Li Zhenzhen. She tried to pretend she didn't know her, but Li Zhenzhen blocked her way.
"Da Ni, are you mute? You don't even greet your second aunt. Is this how your mother taught you?"
Li Zhenzhen had been lingering at the entrance of the cave where Zhen's family was resting for a long time. She wanted to find an opportunity to see Zhen Fuyou and try to win her over emotionally, as she had really had enough of life in the Li family.
Unfortunately, she waited for a long time but didn't see anyone. She didn't dare to barge in, afraid that Old Lady Li would beat her up, so she could only wait foolishly and pretend to bump into her on the street.
Considering her important responsibilities, Da Ni didn't want to get entangled with Li Zhenzhen, so she agreed to her suggestion.
"Hello, former second aunt. Goodbye, former second aunt."
After calling for help, Da Ni tried to go home by bypassing Li Zhenzhen, but was pulled back forcefully by her.
"She really is a good-for-nothing. She can't even speak properly. Auntie is just Auntie, why did you add the word 'former' to her name!"
The Zhen family is heartless. The elders mistreat their daughters-in-law, the sisters-in-law bully their sisters-in-law, and even the younger ones don't respect their elders. Li Zhenzhen truly hates this family.
After being divorced, she did the heaviest and dirtiest work every day, was often hungry and cold, and had to endure Li Guangzong's beatings from time to time.
All of this is the fault of the Zhen family! Especially Zhen Wanwan.
Just wait! One day she'll make them pay a hundredfold, a thousandfold, and then she'll have Zhen Wanwan bring her water to wash her feet every day.
Li Zhenzhen was immersed in her beautiful dream, her expression becoming more and more distorted with each smile, which made Da Ni involuntarily get goosebumps.
She desperately wanted to escape, but she couldn't...
"If there's nothing else, Auntie, I'll head home now."
She was really anxious! Li Zhenzhen had already wasted so much time; it would be dark soon and she wouldn't be able to see the road.
Seeing Da Ni's anxious expression, Li Zhenzhen guessed that she might have something urgent to do. She thought to herself that she would be happy as long as Zhen's family was not doing well.
She deliberately delayed until it was completely dark before finally letting Da Ni go, satisfied.
Before leaving, she managed to find out Zhen Fu's location. It turned out he had gone to stay with the bodyguard. No wonder she had been waiting for him for so long without seeing him.
Li Zhenzhen snorted coldly and went back.
Dani ran back crying; she had messed things up!
Inside Zhenjia Cave, Old Lady Li was mending clothes by the firelight, while Wang Cuihua had already cooked the rice and was preparing to call people back for dinner.
Just then, she saw Da Ni running and crying, looking aggrieved. She asked anxiously, "What's wrong? Did something happen to your brothers?"
Wang Cuihua knew that the group of children had gone out to play, and now only Dani had returned. She was worried that something had happened to Gou Dan and Er Niu, who were Old Lady Li's precious children. She was afraid that Dani would get a beating if that happened.
"Mom, I ran into my second aunt outside, and she's stopping me from going home..."
These words shocked the two people in the family. Old Mrs. Li was so angry that she gritted her teeth and wanted to grab a broom and go out to beat them.
Wang Cuihua looked Da Ni up and down worriedly, and only when she saw that Da Ni was alright did she burst into tears: "Waaah... Why is my second sister-in-law making things difficult for the child?"
Her tearful outburst only fueled Old Lady Li's anger. She said with disgust, "What a shameless person! They do such heinous things! Just wait and see..."
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