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Woman: "Some military personnel came to the village today."
Man: "It has nothing to do with us, don't scare yourself."
Woman: "How can I not be anxious? We agreed that you should have come to pick up the things a couple of days ago, but it's been three days already, and I don't know when you'll come."
Man: "Shut up! Are you afraid others won't know?"
Woman: "Who could hear such a soft voice? Those few are useless."
Whether the man was glaring at the woman with fierce eyes or not, the woman reluctantly stopped talking, but she still complained.
"That annoying fellow, how come he's still alive after all this time?"
Man: "Are you ever going to stop?"
Woman: "Did I say something wrong? How could those other ones have lasted even half a month? They would have died long ago. These other ones are still holding on."
The man seemed to sigh. "Those two are no longer viable, but someone came over last night. I think it was a woman, but it was too dark to see clearly. Did you hear her cough less today?"
The woman seemed to think for a moment, "I don't feel any change. I really hope they die soon, so they won't get in the way."
Man: "If you forbid them from doing anything, they won't be able to handle it on their own. Don't create trouble for yourself."
Woman: "Do I need you to tell me? Humph! I'll just wait."
Both of them spoke in hushed tones, barely audible a couple of steps apart, yet Tang Yue heard them. Her eyes darkened; this cowshed was clearly not simple at all.
Tang Jianye and Lai Xiang did not hear the conversation between the two people in the innermost cowshed. Now that it was completely dark, Lai Xiang quietly led the two of them into the outermost cowshed.
"Who is it?" A hoarse, deep male voice rang out from inside the room.
"Dad, it's me," Lai Xiang said in a low voice.
Lai Jiaxing sensed that more than one figure had entered. He couldn't see anyone, but he was very vigilant. "Xiangxiang, you brought people with you?"
Lai Xiang nodded, realizing her father probably couldn't see her, and whispered, "Yes, Dad, I brought Xiao Yueyue here, along with her comrades."
Lai Xiang's voice was tinged with excitement, "Mom and Dad, do you still remember the little Yueyue I told you about?"
Lai Jiaxing didn't speak, but Wu Jinghua had already forced herself to sit up on the broken wooden bed. "Yes, Mom remembers. That cute little girl you often mentioned?"
Lai Xiang was clearly very happy. She brought over a thick quilt and covered her mother with it. "Yes, Mom, Xiao Yueyue came to see us. How are you today? Are you feeling any better?"
Tang Yue was looking around the room. The walls were made of broken wooden planks nailed together, with large gaps between the planks.
The shed was thickly surrounded by corn stalks, but there were gaps in the stalks, so the inside was only slightly better than the outside. The roof was also made of wooden planks, covered with a lot of stalks, and weighed down with stones on top.
The bed inside was made of stacked adobe bricks with broken wooden planks on top. There was a thick layer of straw under the bed, a thin mattress on top, and another thick mattress on top of that. It looked very new and must have been brought over by Lai Xiang yesterday.
Wu Jinghua was covered with two blankets, one thin and one thick. In the corner opposite the entrance, there was a simple stove made of several stones, with a chipped earthenware pot on it, two earthenware bowls next to it, and chopsticks made from tree branches outside. Apart from these, there was almost nothing else; it was extremely clean.
Wu Jinghua forcefully pulled down the thick quilt that Lai Xiang was covered with, saying, "You child, why did you bring a quilt again? You should keep it for yourself. Xiangxiang, you can't get cold."
Lai Xiang was truly happy. Her room was filled with talismans pasted up by Xiao Yueyue, making it feel like a greenhouse. Even wearing thick clothes, it was still quite hot inside; she only needed a few blankets. On the other hand, it was far too cold for her parents.
Lai Xiang forcibly covered her mother with the blanket. Wu Jinghua was too weak from being sick and couldn't argue with Lai Xiang at all. "Mom, I have more. Xiao Yueyue brought me six blankets. I kept two for myself, so you can use two. Didn't you say that the two grandpas next door didn't have any blankets either? I'll send two blankets to them later."
Wu Jinghua didn't know what to say. Her Xiangxiang was just too kind-hearted. But also too naive.
Lai Jiaxing kept looking at Tang Yue and Tang Jianye. Lai Xiang and her mother finally stopped talking, and Tang Yue spoke up, "Hello, Uncle Lai and Aunt Lai, I am Tang Yue."
"I am Tang Jianye." Tang Jianye only said his name and did not use any titles, but Lai Jiaxing and the others understood what he meant.
Tang Jianye took everything off his arms and back, and Tang Yue's hands were also full of things, instantly filling the small, cramped room. "Sister Lai, you guys start cooking first. I forgot something, I'll go back and get it."
Lai Xiang was startled. "Xiao Yueyue, it's not safe for you to go out by yourself. This is already plenty, you don't need to take any more. If you need anything, I'll get it when I come over tomorrow."
Lai's parents also joined in the persuasion. Tang Yue just smiled and went out on her own.
She remembered collecting a lot of oilcloth in her spatial storage when she was in Japan. The oilcloth was of decent quality, and she remembered many of it being black. Uncle Lai's cowshed was far too vulnerable to wind and snow. Even with warming talismans, it couldn't retain any warmth.
When Tang Yue returned, she was carrying several large rolls of oilcloth. The rolls of oilcloth were taller than her, and when she entered the room, the others only saw the rolls of oilcloth come in on their own.
A fire had been lit in the cowshed, and the scene was both comical and deeply moving in the firelight.
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