"Mom, look how thin my little brother has become! He can drink some of the millet porridge, and you can drink the rest to help him recover."
When Yunniang heard her daughter's words, her nose tingled and her eyes reddened.
However, she had been starving for a long time and had long since stopped crying.
"Mother knows you mean well, but... there's so much, your brother and I can't eat it all. Call Yu'er over, and we'll eat together."
She had never drunk such a large bowl of water, not even before Han Mingyuan's accident.
“We have other food. Mother, your health is too weak, you need to take good care of yourself. You'll still need to manage this household in the future.”
Han Luoxue said with a grin, and Han Mingyuan also spoke up:
"Xue'er is right, you can't let your health break down. It's a pity my legs aren't good enough, I'm afraid I won't be able to do what I promised you before."
"What did Father promise Mother?" Han Luoxue asked curiously.
"What's wrong?"
I've never heard of this before.
"Sigh, your father promised your mother that he would take her out to find her relatives someday, but now it seems..."
Han Mingyuan felt a pang of sadness, but he looked at his daughter and sighed:
"Xue'er, if you ever have the chance to go out in the future, please inquire about it for your mother."
"No way!"
Han Luoxue pouted angrily, grabbed Han Mingyuan's hand, and said coquettishly:
"Father's leg will definitely recover. When that happens, our whole family will help Mother find it."
I look just like my mother. If I ever have the chance to leave this place, maybe I'll actually meet my mother's relatives?
I just don't know what the people over there are like. If they're like the Han family, it's better not to know them at all.
"You, your father is also looking forward to it."
"Then I'll go cook first. We'll have cornmeal porridge for now."
Yunniang wanted to remind her daughter to do less so they could hold out a few more days, but Han Mingyuan shook his head at her. Only after Han Luoxue had walked away did he sigh:
"Yunniang, Xue'er is a sensible person. We handed over the corn to her to manage the household yesterday, so we don't need to worry about it anymore."
He only regretted that he was paralyzed; otherwise, he could go out hunting every day and his family wouldn't starve.
“Brother Yuan, you’re right. I… I just want us to live a few more days.”
In this world, they no longer ask for much.
"I know, I also want to live."
If he didn't want to survive, he wouldn't have insisted on dividing the family property. Speaking of dividing the family property, he thought of the people in the village head's place.
The Han family has really crossed the line on what's acceptable. He'll have to go over and listen to what they have to say later.
At the village head's house, the three sons of the Han family were locked in the woodshed. The fourth son, Han Mingxin, was groaning and crying out. He was trying to remove the hunting trap, but it was homemade and different from the ones he had seen before. He tried several times but not only failed to remove it, it also tightened its grip.
His right leg was bleeding continuously, and he dared not move it at all.
"Big brother, second brother, please help me!"
Han Mingxin was in so much pain that he was sweating profusely, and his face turned pale. Looking at the pool of blood on the ground, he worried that he would bleed to death.
But now the clip can't be removed, so it can't be bandaged, and the bleeding keeps flowing.
"Fourth brother, I don't know anything about this thing. If we just force it off, won't your leg become crippled too?"
The second son of the Han family studied it for a while, but dared not make a move rashly.
"If you ask me, we should think about what to say next."
Han Mingzhi, the eldest brother of the Han family, frowned. They had planned it all out. In the dead of night, they even chose to strike when people were sleeping soundly, just before dawn, hoping to scare the third brother and his brothers.
They didn't mean any harm; they just wanted them to come back.
Why split up a family? Isn't it better to stay together as one family?
But who would have thought that the fourth brother would get trapped as soon as he jumped down?
Luckily, it was only one leg, otherwise...
"What are you saying? We didn't steal or rob anything, what's wrong with going to see the third brother?"
Han Lao Er said nonchalantly, while Han Lao Da sighed:
"The third child now is not the same as before, I'm worried..."
He gazed intently at the doorway and instructed:
"If the village chief asks about it later, just say that we are worried about the third son and that we are just concerned about him."
Next to the woodshed was the small kitchen. Li Aidi knew that someone was in the woodshed, but she still had to get up and cook.
In the mornings, it's usually thin porridge with some dried vegetable leaves and a tiny bit of cornmeal. It's enough to fill my stomach.
Even such a simple porridge can be hard to stomach for people who have been starving for days.
Han Laosi's legs were already aching, and the smell of food made his stomach rumble even more.
The eldest and second eldest were so hungry they could only swallow their saliva, wishing they could go and have a bowl right now.
"This place is really different; we even have food to eat in the morning."
Han Lao Si licked his lips, remembering that Han Mingyuan also had two or three jin of grain. His eyes darted around, and he hurriedly tugged at his two older brothers' arms, his face full of calculation:
"You tell me, I got injured at that cripple's place, how about we ask them to compensate us with some food?"
"This...isn't this inappropriate?"
Han the eldest only hoped that the third brother's family would not pursue the matter, and even asked them for grain. Has the fourth brother lost his mind?
"Hmph, what's wrong with it? We were just trying to help him because we were injured. Besides, Mother twisted her back too, but she didn't ask him for compensation."
Han Laosi spoke with such confidence that, while the village head Han Qiang, after drinking a bowl of porridge, secretly grumbled in the courtyard, thinking to himself, "This Han family is truly shameless."
When Han Luoxue came, she brought a large bunch of water celery.
That lush green color looked incredibly inviting.
How long has it been since they last saw such pure green since the famine began?
Along the way, many people asked her where she was from, and she smiled and said that she just happened to run into them.
Everyone envied her good luck, while Han Qiang's wife, Li Aidi, had tears in her eyes when she saw the water celery.
"Falling Snow, you..."
"Grandma Han, I picked some when I saw them by chance. I'll give them to you and Grandpa Village Head to try."
"This...isn't this inappropriate?"
At this time, grain was very precious, and this kind of green vegetable was a rare luxury.
Grain could still be found, but vegetables were almost extinct. What's more, Han Luoxue had given her such a large handful.
Thinking back to how she had complained about Han Qiang giving them two jin of corn yesterday, Li Aidi felt a little uneasy.
"I brought this especially for you and the village head to try."
"It's rare for Xue to be so thoughtful, so please accept it." Han Qiang walked over with his hands behind his back, and when he saw the green vegetables, he was surprised, but he didn't ask any further questions.
There's no such thing as a rare vegetable in this village. As for Wuling Mountain, people from the surrounding villages have searched it hundreds of times, but they still haven't found it.
However, this was Xue Yatou's skill, so he didn't ask any further questions.
Han Datou also came over, along with the women of the Han family. Villagers from nearby areas also came to watch the excitement, and soon the village head's courtyard was filled with people.
The village head didn't waste any time and ordered a few young men to go in and pull the person out.
When everyone saw the three Han brothers, they understood what was going on, but seeing the pitiful state of the fourth brother, they still felt a pang of sympathy.
"Oh dear, Mingxin, what's wrong with you?"
When the fourth son's wife saw her husband in such a miserable state, she rushed over to him.
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