Liang Shengdi felt that she was not that hungry anymore and did not want to drink water. She decided to wait until she reached the next river.
She had originally wanted to go to the eastern city, which was very close and could be reached in two days. But Old Wang said she couldn't go because the Japanese were already in the city.
Then let’s go to the provincial capital.
Old Wang said that they couldn't go there either, because to go to the provincial capital they had to pass through Shanyin County, and the Japanese were killing people violently in Shanyin now.
Liang Shengdi: "...Then I stay here? Which family of yours would take me in?"
Old Wang said, "I think the provincial capital is okay. At least it's a big city. I heard there are guerrillas fighting the Japanese there. Maybe they can win by the time you get there."
Liang Shengdi: ...
She took a few steps out, then felt something was wrong, and took a few steps back, pointing at her feet and asked,
"Master, have you seen my shoes?"
Although they are a pair of worn-out shoes, they are better than nothing.
Old Wang looked at her feet and shook his head like a rattle.
"I don't know. When I came over, you were lying there without shoes. Did you still have shoes on?"
"Oh, right! There were two dead bodies of Japanese soldiers next to where you were lying! I burned them all! Could it be that they stole them? No way! They were both blown to pieces!"
Liang Shengdi: ...Are there any Japanese devils involved here?
"I was just about to ask you this, but I forgot! Did you kill the devil? You're a devil-fighting heroine!"
Liang Shengdi also shook her head like a rattle and said,
"I don't know! I woke up here!"
She was too lazy to think about this or that, as long as she was alive, it was enough.
"Forget it. I'm leaving now."
"Hey! Let's go! Be careful on the road!"
"Well! You should be careful too. I wish you a long life!"
"Oh, please don't!" Old Wang wiped the saliva from his mouth and smiled, but his cloudy eyes were a little red.
"In this world, the sooner you die, the better."
***
Liang Shengdi made herself a pair of straw sandals to wear.
These days, the thing that is most abundant is weeds. You can just pull up a bunch of them by the roadside. It is better to just wear some of them than to walk barefoot on a gravel road.
She was now wearing nothing but her tattered clothes and straw sandals. Her hair was a mess, a blood clot was clotted on the back of her head, and her face was so black it was impossible to tell whether she was a man or a woman. She had nothing, but she wasn't afraid of being robbed, so she just staggered along the road.
Liang Shengdi felt very hungry, her heart and lungs were burning with hunger, but she didn't know why she still had the strength to move forward.
Every time I see a river, I rush over there to drink water. There is mud and sand in the water, and I will feel full if I drink enough.
Liang Shengdi actually wanted to find some fish and shrimp to eat, but others thought the same. She buried her head in the water but could only see turbid muddy water, and there was not even a single baby fish.
This lousy place!
She could only look at the riverbank to see if there was any grass left. She didn't care whether the grass was edible or not. As long as someone left her some food, she would be grateful.
It seems that when everyone was digging grass, they all ate it and packed it up. Every time she arrived, there were only a few grass roots left.
Liang Shengdi was very sad, and for a moment she doubted her decision to run away.
In fact, if I really marry that old man, although I may not be able to eat my fill, at least I don’t have to dig mud to eat, right?
After just a few days, she was able to tell which type of mud tasted better.
Sand is the worst, it makes your throat hurt. The mud by the river is the best, it's moist and you might even find some worms there.
Sometimes when she got tired of eating mud, she would exchange it with others for tree bark.
"It would be best if you could grind it into powder, mix it with some six-grain flour and water to make pancakes, or make it into a paste. It's hard to swallow if you eat it straight."
An old sister-in-law gave Liang Shengdi some bark after taking her mud basket and kindly gave her some cooking advice. Six-grain powder is the local name for corn flour.
Liang Shengdi looked at her sister-in-law seriously, "Do I look like a Six Grain fan to you?"
She didn't even have a bowl to beg for food. Whether she was making pancakes or porridge, she only had mud.
Old sister-in-law: ...
She was just making a suggestion. Although she felt sorry for Liang Shengdi, she couldn't possibly take food from home to feed her. After all, if there was still plenty of food at home, they wouldn't have to peel tree bark.
"Then you should eat less mud. Eating too much will make you die of bloating."
Liang Shengdi finally broke the bark a little with a stone, mixed it with mud and water and ate some, then,
"yue~"
Worse than sand.
She walked slowly on the road with her belly full of mud, water, bark and grass debris. Occasionally, cars and horses would pass by, with people in military uniforms on the horses and soldiers running behind them.
At times like this, Liang Shengdi would also learn from others and hide to the side.
It wasn't just the Japs who robbed and killed; soldiers and bandits were all pretty much the same. Liang Shengdi saw several elderly, weak, women, and children being robbed, with entire bags taken away. Some even robbed people.
Liang Shengdi, on the other hand, had nothing and was extremely dirty. It was hard to tell whether she was a man or a woman. No one wanted to rob her. At most, they would kick her because she was in the way.
Some people said that the National Revolutionary Army recaptured the county town and the Japanese fled.
Liang Shengdi didn't react much. Even though the Japanese had run away, she still couldn't eat enough.
But has she reached the county town?
Liang Shengdi still had a slight headache. Sometimes she would feel drowsy while walking and would hold her head and shake it hard. People on the road thought she was a lunatic and would take a detour to the side.
It was difficult for Liang Shengdi to ask for directions, so much so that it felt like she had been walking for a long time but still hadn't reached the county town ahead, or maybe she had already passed by it but she didn't know.
She just felt so hungry that her whole body felt light and fluttery. After a while, when she saw people lying motionless on the side of the road, she would uncontrollably have some bad thoughts.
Liang Shengdi slapped herself.
Be a human being.
The weather was getting colder day by day, and there were signs of snow. Liang Shengdi could no longer fall asleep even when hiding under the bridge at night. She was afraid that one day she would fall asleep and never wake up again.
She began to miss her quilt which had almost no cotton in it, but it was better than her current cotton-padded jacket which was leaky.
By the way, if it really snows, would the snow mixed with tree bark taste better?
Finally, when she was about to pass out from hunger, a car drove by, threw out half a bun from the window, and drifted in the wind with a sentence: "The buns that Aunt Li made today are really disgusting."
Liang Shengdi pounced forward like a vicious dog, knocking away one person who was trying to grab the food with her head, kicking over another with her legs, and stuffing the half-eaten bun mixed with mud into her mouth at once.
And she has to chew and swallow quickly to prevent others from picking it out of her mouth.
No matter how fiercely the others looked at her, she glared at them even more fiercely.
Come on! Come and fight me if you don’t agree!
Damn it!
This bun is so delicious!
It's just a bit choking!
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