What Yu Silang and Yu Liulang were thinking at this moment was that Lin Changfa didn't care about the Yu family at all. He knew that his eldest sister had seen them, but not only did he not say hello, he didn't even show up. Judging from his behavior, he seemed to be determined to never have anything to do with the Yu family again!
Humph, he doesn't even think about it. If his eldest sister hadn't married him, where would Lin Changfa have descendants? Now, he picks up the bowl to eat, and puts down the bowl to curse his mother, without any gratitude for the Yu family's kindness.
Yu Lanhua realized belatedly that she had said the wrong thing, and trying desperately to make amends was only making the matter more obvious.
He carefully checked his surroundings and said, "Silang, Liulang, I'm telling you, you can't tell anyone else. Otherwise, my family will be doomed, and your brother-in-law will kill me!"
At this moment, hunger controlled the minds of the Yu family, preventing them from thinking too much. In addition, Yu's mother and two daughters-in-law were so hungry that they crawled over to light a fire and cook rice in a pot.
It was obviously impossible for the family to be fed with the rice brought by Yu Lanhua. Moreover, the Yu family was used to eating wild vegetables, grass roots and tree barks, and their stomachs were the same as Cao'er and his mother. They could not eat the rice directly, otherwise they would suffer from diarrhea due to the change of stomach.
Yu Lanhua didn't dare take much from the grain bag at night. She only grabbed two handfuls of rice and put them in her arms, and then took some dried meat. Yu's mother and two daughters-in-law mixed the rice with sawdust made from tree bark, poured it into the pot with the muddy water used for cooking, and began to stew it.
The two daughters-in-law half walked and half crawled to collect firewood, but they were so hungry that they could not move.
Yu Lanhua couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so she asked her two sisters-in-law to go to the cart and took the job of collecting firewood on herself.
After Yu's mother cooked the wood chip porridge, she poured it into the chipped bowl. The family of seven ate it voraciously, not even caring about the heat.
Yu Silang's eyes flashed, and he filled a bowl with his own and handed it to Yu Lanhua: "Sister, you've been tired today, so eat something too."
Yu Lanhua frowned as she looked at the mud-like substance in the bowl. "Is this... is this edible? I've never eaten anything like this during the most difficult times on the road. Will it kill me?"
Yu Lanhua shook her head repeatedly and waved her hand to push the bowl back to Yu Silang: "Silang, you eat. The Lin family doesn't need me. You can survive if you eat more."
Strangely enough, after eating a bowl of porridge, the Yu family members who were dying before felt much better because they had food in their stomachs. Yu's mother hugged Yu Lanhua and kept calling her "darling" and "baby", regardless of the fact that Yu Lanhua was already a mother and a grandmother.
"Lanhua, my dear Lanhua, if it weren't for you, I would have starved to death!" Yu's mother burst into tears. She grabbed Yu Lanhua's arm with her skinny hands, and she had the strength to cry.
The expression that was numb from hunger began to show some signs of life. Yu Silang, Yu Liulang and their grandchildren licked the bowls clean with their tongues. At a signal from their wives, Liang'er and Dao'er immediately threw themselves at Yu Lanhua's feet: "Auntie, when Liang'er grows up, he will definitely honor you!"
"Auntie, Dao'er is the same!"
Yu Lanhua felt relieved after hearing this. Yu Silang touched Yu's mother's sleeve, and Yu's mother understood: "Lanhua, Silang and Liulang didn't find any grass in the surrounding area yesterday and today, and the bark of the trees has been stripped by others. Can you help my mother? When we get out of this place, I will find a way to return the food to you!"
How can food be the same as food? In this drought-stricken area, many people starved to death, and the food given was only life-saving food.
Yu Lanhua was also embarrassed: "Mom, we don't have that much food at home!"
"Lanhua, just grab a couple of handfuls like you did today, so we can at least have something to eat." After saying this, Mother Yu looked at her two grandchildren nibbling on the dried meat. "You can't take too much dried meat in one day. Just bring two pieces for Liang'er and Gu'er."
"Mom, how could there be so much dried meat? This is the pound of meat we got when the headman's cow died. We ate half of it, and the other half was left for my two daughters-in-law to dry into dried meat for the children at home. If I took more, they would have found out." Yu Lanhua did not dare to resist her mother's soft command and just lowered her head and spoke.
Mother Yu wanted to say something, but Yu Silang and Yu Liulang exchanged glances, and she swallowed her words. She continued, "Forget about the dried meat. Remember to bring some rice every day. Don't say I'm putting you in a difficult position. Just bring two or three handfuls a day. We also have some sawdust and grass roots here, which can help you get by."
Yu Lanhua still had some sense and said reluctantly, "Mom, didn't we agree to just have a meal?"
Yu Liulang said hurriedly, "Sister, we thought we could find food, but as you can see, even the Guanyin soil has been eaten away, and the roots of wild vegetables have been eaten to extinction. Just be a good person to the end, and I will never forget your kindness!"
Yu Silang also hurried forward to persuade her. Now their family's lives depended on Yu Lanhua, so even if he had to talk her out of it, he had to make Yu Lanhua agree!
Lin Changfa's family has so much food, what's wrong with giving some to the Yu family? They are relatives after all, how can they just stand by and watch them die!
Yu Lanhua was finally softened by the crying and pleading of her mother, sister-in-law, and brothers. Her previous unwilling expression became tangled: "Mom, you have to think about your daughter. What will happen to our family when the food is eaten?"
Yu Silang had already thought of how to deal with this: "Sister, didn't you escape with a few clan members? You have no rice left, can they just watch you starve to death?"
Thinking of Lin Rui's unapproachable appearance, Yu Lanhua really had no confidence: "The son of the third family is our clan leader. Everyone has to abide by the rules he sets. He is very difficult to talk to and ruthless in his actions!"
Yu Silang's eyes lit up: "Is it the son of my brother-in-law's brother, the third brother? Then he is your nephew, and also my eldest brother's biological nephew!"
Yu Lanhua nodded: "Yes, that's right."
Yu Silang clapped his hands and said, "See, this way he won't be able to watch you starve to death!"
Yu Lanhua was worried when she heard this. Could Lin Rui really just stand by and watch her die without helping? He had owed so much gambling debts, and his family had even loaned him money to pay them off. He couldn't possibly forget all the kindness people had shown him after becoming the clan leader!
After this grain theft, Yu Lanhua and the Yu family were completely tied together. Every night, Yu Lanhua would secretly get up and grab a few handfuls of rice from her grain bag and put them on her body, but she dared not touch the dried meat again.
The amount of dried meat is limited, and you can tell if you take two more. Last time, after she took two, she saw Zhuying, who was cooking, open the package of dried meat and count the pieces one by one. She was secretly glad that she acted early, otherwise she would have been caught red-handed.
Yu Lanhua only grabbed two handfuls of rice a day, and she thought she was doing it very secretly, but her daughter-in-law Zhu Ying still discovered the abnormality.
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