"If we can't find water in the next few days, forget about plotting against me, I'm afraid we'll even have trouble walking." Song Ning became angrier as she spoke, glaring at Granny Guo beside her.
"I'd like to make this clear today: although the Liu family is my maternal grandparents' family, they've never treated me like their granddaughter. Everyone here can be my witness: from this day forward, the Song family and the Liu family are severing all ties. If anyone dares to cause trouble again, don't blame me for being ruthless."
The Liu family members stood at the back of the crowd, not daring to step forward. Upon hearing Song Ning's words, they shrank back.
They thought that, given Liu Yuelan's personality, how capable could her child be? Just like her mother, no matter how badly she was bullied, she wouldn't be able to utter a sound.
But they didn't expect to run into a tough opponent this time; Song Ning was a formidable opponent.
Old Man Liu had long since witnessed Song Ning's audacity, but with food running out at home, his eldest daughter-in-law set her sights on Song Er Ya.
Grandma Liu stood not far from the crowd, lowered her head and wiped away her tears. She said no, but neither her son nor her daughter-in-law would listen.
Now look what's happened, both of her daughters are gone, it's truly a tragedy.
"Did you all hear that? Haven't we suffered enough along the way? We've lost at least one person since we started out. What, do you want to end up like those people on the road?" Village Chief Luo shouted.
Stop cursing, stop cursing, no one dares to speak anymore.
Seeing that Song Ning no longer mentioned breaking up the group, the village chief finally felt relieved.
Once everyone has left, it's time to settle accounts.
Village Chief Luo, accompanied by two men, walked directly to the Liu family's oxcart.
Seeing that the village chief looked hostile, Old Man Liu quickly stood up and asked with a smile, "Village chief, what's the matter?"
Village Chief Luo snorted: "Give me the three catties of grain you tricked the Guo family out of."
The family's faces froze. When the two younger children saw that someone wanted their grain, they stepped forward and pushed Village Chief Luo, saying, "That's our grain!"
Village Chief Luo was, after all, a grown man, and he couldn't be easily pushed down, but his face still darkened.
"Considering we're all from the same village, it's better to offer it voluntarily. If you don't, you can leave on your own today."
Grandma Liu was terrified and quickly nudged Grandpa Liu.
The eldest daughter-in-law looked grim, while the second daughter-in-law pursed her lips. At first, she had been watching the spectacle with schadenfreude, but upon hearing that she was to leave alone, she dared not watch the farce any longer.
Now, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Liu family manages the household, and she's so frustrated she could grind her teeth to powder.
But in the end, they returned the three pounds of grain.
As Village Chief Luo left, he warned, "Your family is the only one in the whole group who's causing trouble. You've made me lose all face. The Song family has already said they're severing ties with you. If you dare to cause any more trouble, you're fired!"
As soon as the village chief left, the people living around the Liu family started whispering among themselves.
It's truly shameful for a grown man to be spoken to like that by the village chief.
"Sigh, if the village chief said that to me, I would be so ashamed that I wouldn't dare to face anyone."
The Liu family members looked gloomy. The two sons of the Liu family were not convinced and were about to curse, but they were glared at by the old man Liu.
Grandma Liu sighed, "The journey has been difficult enough, so you should just relax for a while."
The eldest daughter-in-law, Liu Wangshi, sat on the ground and began to wipe away her tears: "What kind of family did I marry into? If I had known it would turn out like this, I would never have changed it even if you beat me to death."
Because the eldest daughter-in-law was obtained through a marriage exchange with the eldest daughter of the Liu family, Liu Wangshi always used this excuse whenever things didn't go her way.
At these times, the Liu family members were afraid that Liu Wangshi would not stay with them, so they would try to coax her in every way.
But now, everyone is getting a little impatient.
"Get out! Take it or leave it, get out now!" Old Man Liu roared.
Liu Wangshi's tears were frightened back. Seeing her father-in-law's outburst, she dared not cry anymore and huddled close to her husband.
"You're the jinx that made our family like this! You still dare to cry? If you cry again, I'll beat you to death!"
It is said that when the head of the household roars, even the most powerful person will tremble.
For a moment, no one in the Liu family dared to utter a sound.
Liu Hong quickly protected his wife, saying, "Dad, calm down. She won't dare to do it again."
The second daughter-in-law rolled her eyes, secretly delighted. Serves her right.
Because of this incident, everyone set off late, and the group walked for a whole day without stopping.
They had walked at least a hundred miles that day, but all they could see was endless barren grass.
While the livestock rested, Song Ning also sat down to rest for a while.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain on my neck. When I slapped it, I felt something burst out of juice.
Song Ning's face crumpled as she slowly withdrew her hand, revealing a locust that was oozing green juice from being swatted.
Song Ning felt nauseous and quickly threw away the locusts in her hand. Then, with a crying face, she shouted, "Mother!"
Liu Yuelan thought something was wrong and quickly ran over. Song Ning stretched out a hand and was about to cry.
Liu Yuelan quickly took a rag and wiped her hands: "It's alright, Mother has cleaned them for you."
She couldn't help but glance at the locusts she had swatted dead on the ground, and she realized she wouldn't be able to eat dinner that night.
I quietly rubbed my hands with water, and that made me feel a little better.
After calming down, Song Ning suddenly thought of something.
There are locusts here?
They've encountered nothing but death and drought along their journey, and so far they haven't seen any locusts.
He couldn't help but look around, and quickly stood on the car to take out his binoculars and look into the distance.
Too far away to see clearly, Song Ning frowned as she got out of the car.
Although the area they were passing through was mostly withered grass, there was still some green grass. When the caravan stopped, they would lead the animals to find grass.
If there really are locusts ahead, there will definitely be a lot of them. Once the locusts pass by, nothing will be left behind.
Song Ning quickly found the village chief: "Village chief, let's not eat for now. Let's cut grass as much as we can before it gets dark."
"What's wrong? Is there something up ahead again?" Village Chief Luo rushed over and asked hurriedly.
"I'm just guessing. The locusts are probably coming soon, and then the livestock won't have any food."
Everyone from the village knows what locusts are; they're a serious threat.
Without asking any further questions, I quickly spread the word: don't rush to cook or eat, everyone go and cut the lawn.
Before long, everyone was out looking for green leaves, even the little kids were helping.
Song Dahai and Liu Yuelan were also busy cutting grass, not wanting to be seen as different, and Song Ning also cut a lot of grass.
They have a mule and a cow, and they eat quite a lot every day.
People were so busy that they didn't even notice the heat.
Those families without livestock initially remained silent, but later they all joined the grass-cutting team. The grass they cut was then given to families they were on good terms with, as a way of showing goodwill.
As darkness fell, Song Ning stood on a high place and looked into the distance again, but still could not see the direction from which the locusts were coming.
People didn't dare to stop until it was completely dark at night. Only when they couldn't find anything else nearby did they start preparing to cook.
Several locusts flew over the fire that night. She heard that some people used to roast and eat them, but when she thought of the one she had splattered with juice during the day, Song Ning got goosebumps. She would never eat it, even if you killed her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
