Chapter 1 Midnight
[Special Note: The female protagonist in this story has no romantic partner!]
Li Shiyue, who was half asleep on the rough grass, was awakened by a sharp female voice, which also woke up many people in the surrounding Lijia Village.
The more than one hundred people from Lijia Village had been fleeing famine for more than half a month. They finally found this shallow stream with some water this evening, and thus they settled down by the stream.
Not to mention the people, even the donkeys and mules pulling the carts were exhausted. After drinking their fill of water, they would gather in groups of three or five and go to sleep after dark.
Li Shiyue was unlucky. The moment she closed her eyes after working herself to death on Lanxing, she opened them to find her whole family driving their donkey cart, following behind their fellow villagers on their journey to escape famine.
Starting with fleeing famine, that's really something else.
At this moment, Li Shiyue sat up and pressed her still somewhat dizzy forehead. She rubbed her numb eyelids repeatedly, took two deep breaths, and exhaled all the stale air from her chest before she felt that she had truly woken up.
Only then did Li Shiyue raise her head to look at the original owner's mother, and her eyes met the worried gaze of her mother.
"Still having a headache in October?"
Li Shiyue touched the large bump on the back of her head and shook her head at her mother: "Mother, it's nothing. I woke up when I heard someone shouting."
Why is Li Shiyue so unlucky?
The large bump on the back of her head was from a few days ago when she was fleeing famine. She had fallen flat on her head and hit a roadside stone. Although the skin wasn't broken, it still gave her such a big bump.
The original body was also destroyed because of this fall, but the modern soul, also named Li Shiyue, took advantage of the situation.
On his very first day after waking up, Li Shiyue received a system that could be considered a cheat code. He didn't know the system's name yet, because all he heard was, "System loading..."
This unreliable cheat system has gone silent. Seven days have passed, and the system still hasn't finished loading.
After confirming that Li Shiyue was alright, Li's mother quickly got up to go find her simple-minded eldest son, Shitou.
"Stone? Stone? Stone, where are you?"
Li's mother called out twice, but received no response from Shi Tou, and her heart skipped a beat.
"Sister-in-law, has the stone gone?"
Li Wangming helped his grandmother over with one hand, and with a tinderbox glowing in the other, he quickly went up to ask his mother.
Li Shiyue quickly approached her mother and said, "Mother, I just looked around our house by the moonlight, and not only is my brother missing, but Father is also gone!"
Grandma Li was even more anxious when she heard that her eldest son was also missing. You see, although Li Shiyue's older brother was a bit simple-minded, he was a very obedient person.
If something hadn't happened, why would I have run around aimlessly on this road where the whole clan was fleeing for their lives, causing trouble for my family?
"It's possible that when we were all asleep, Wangguang noticed the stone was missing, went out to look for it himself, and that's why it's gone now."
Grandmother Li's words temporarily calmed everyone's anxious and worried hearts. Li Shiyue picked up the torches she had used on the road over the past few days from her own cart, lit them with the tinder in Li Wangming's hand, and then said to her uncle Li Wangming, "Second Uncle, light it. Mother and I will go find my brother and father."
My second uncle and grandma should stay here and watch over our things, so that no one can steal anything in the dark.
"Perhaps Father and Brother will return before we do."
Li Wangming thought Li Shiyue's suggestion was acceptable, but he added, "If you can't find it on the outskirts, go to the center and look for Fifth Grandfather, and ask the villagers to help you search."
"Okay, I understand."
While the Li family members were exchanging those few words, many of the surrounding Li family members had also come to their senses, and some, like Li Shiyue, lit torches to provide light.
Among the groups of people from Lijia Village, some with short tempers shouted directly outside, "Whose wife is shouting nonsense in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?!"
Li Shiyue and her mother nodded to Li's grandmother and Li Wangming, then linked arms and, holding torches, called out "Shitou" and "Wangguang" as they walked towards the outer perimeter.
Li Shiyue and her mother had walked no more than a hundred steps when they noticed a large crowd gathering a dozen or so steps ahead, near the outskirts of the Li family's encampment.
Li's mother and Li Shiyue exchanged a glance, then jogged together toward the gathering place.
When Li Shiyue tugged at the arm of one of the clansmen standing on the outer edge, and the person turned around and saw that it was Li Shiyue's face illuminated by the firelight, he yelled, "The Wangguang family's wife and child are here!"
This shout had a significant effect; Li Shiyue immediately felt a dozen pairs of eyes looking at her, and these gazes were filled with sympathy mixed with a hint of schadenfreude.
This gave Li Shiyue a very bad feeling. "Something's going to happen!"
The crowd automatically parted to make way for Li Shiyue and her mother. Li Shiyue's mother took her hand and walked inside, ignoring the stares of the crowd.
It was only a dozen steps away. As she approached and saw the scene before her, Li Shiyue thought that if this hadn't happened to her own father and brother, she probably would have joined the other clansmen around to watch the spectacle.
What kind of scene made Li Shiyue make such a sigh?
Surrounded by a dozen torches, in a brightly lit area, Li's father, his chest mostly exposed, stood awkwardly to the left of a boulder, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Behind Li's father, a woman with loose hair and disheveled clothes was vaguely hidden. From Li Shiyue's angle, she could not see the woman's appearance clearly, but even so, it was not necessary to see who she was. She could guess what had happened before.
As for his own elder brother?
Right now, the tall, burly man was standing on the right side of the boulder, staring at Li's father with a very aggrieved expression.
"Stone!"
Li's mother's shouts made the aggrieved Shi Tou suddenly raise his head. When Shi Tou saw that it was his mother and sister, he was truly overjoyed to see his family. His lips trembled, and the tears he had been holding back all along burst into loud sobs like a three-year-old child.
Moreover, he was crying and calling for his mother at the same time, and judging from his face, he looked like he had suffered a great injustice.
Li's mother and Li Shiyue stepped forward. Li's mother hugged Shitou tightly. Shitou, a six-foot-tall man, bent over and rested his head on the shoulder of Li's mother, who was not even as tall as him, and cried uncontrollably.
Seeing her brother crying so hard, Li Shiyue didn't disturb him. Instead, she held up a torch and went to look at her father and the woman hiding behind her scumbag father.
Seeing Li Shiyue's behavior, Li's father became anxious: "Shiyue, what are you doing?"
"Father, what can I do?"
I was just checking to see who this woman was.
What? You can do this but can't show your face?
"October!"
Li Shiyue was not afraid of her father's scolding. Just as she was about to step forward, the woman suddenly jumped out from behind her father.
"What's wrong with looking at this? Look, come on, look, I'll show you!"
"Do you think I'm afraid of a little girl like you!"
Li Shiyue stared at Qin Tao, whose beauty was still undeniable despite her messy hair, and had a sudden realization: "So that's how it is."
After crying his fill, Shi Tou was led by Li's mother to tell the whole story.
Because they found this shallow stream today, the stone, which had been thirsty for several days, drank its fill of water.
So, in the middle of the night, Stone, who needed to urinate, got up and went to relieve himself outside the camp. Stone was simple-minded, but he was very obedient. He had been taught by his mother, Li, since he was a child that he should not urinate or defecate anywhere.
Unfortunately, Stone tiptoed to the outer edge to urinate behind the boulder. This place was secluded, downwind, and not too far from the outer edge of the Li family village's camp. It was a perfect spot that would ensure his safety and prevent him from polluting the water and air.
But as soon as Shi Tou got closer, he heard the moans and groans coming from Li's father and Qin Tao's illicit affair.
Although Shi Tou was already eighteen years old, how could he understand these things?
He recognized the voice as belonging to someone he knew, so he walked straight over and saw Li's father, who was half-naked and vigorously pounding on Qin Tao, who was leaning against a boulder. Li's father was saying, "You little slut, have you wanted this for a long time?"
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