Chapter 11 I have no need for such useless things as beauty pills.
The tinkling sound in her ears instantly soothed Li Shiyue's heart. She watched with satisfaction as her father signed the divorce papers with a mixture of resentment and helplessness.
She saw Qin Tao next to Li's father raise an eyebrow and then smile smugly.
She turned around and saw Li's mother carefully putting away the divorce papers with her signature and fingerprint on them.
She also saw her older brother, who was still clueless and unaware, beside Li's mother;
Li Shiyue let out a long sigh of relief and cheerfully said to her older brother, "Brother, come with me to go back with Uncle and Grandma to move our things."
Shi Tou never knew how to refuse Li Shiyue's words, so he nodded, which was considered as agreeing to Li Shiyue's words.
Since it was still dark, Grandmother Li took the lead and, with Li Youfu as a witness, first divided the family's cash in front of everyone according to what was written in the divorce agreement.
Surprisingly, the portion that should have been held by Grandma Li was given to Li's mother by Grandma Li in front of everyone.
"Chunniang, take all of these."
Although we're divorced, Wangming and I will still live with you. Shitou and Shiyue are my beloved grandchildren. Take this money; you never know when you might need it on your journey ahead.”
Li's mother was a capable person. She said to Li's grandmother, "Mother, don't worry, I will take good care of it."
Li's mother accepted the money bag, and that settled the matter.
Standing opposite Li's mother and the others, Li's father, who looked dejected, was now truly seething with hatred. Qin Tao, who was standing next to Li's father, stared intently at the money bag in his hand, but Li's father wouldn't give it to her. Instead, he simply put it inside his own shirt.
Qin Tao's eyes darted around quickly, and no one knew what wicked idea she was plotting at that moment.
Next, the grain was to be distributed. Some members of the Li family who hadn't gone back to their homes to sleep were watching the excitement from the sidelines. At this moment, some kind-hearted men stepped forward to help unload the sacks of grain from the donkey cart.
Li Youfu watched from the side, taking out the portion given to Li's father one by one. It was actually only two and a half bags of grain, mostly a bag of brown rice, a bag of soybeans, and a bag of millet that had not yet been hulled.
“Alright, that’s enough to divide the bulk of the profits,” Li Youfu said, looking at his father. “Wangguang, you can use the donkey cart you took to Qin Tao’s house. This one can be left to your mother and the others.”
After catching his breath, Li Youfu turned around to look at his grandmother, who was still using a wooden stick as a cane: "Sister-in-law, is this alright?"
As for the pots, pans, and other miscellaneous things, you can divide them up yourselves when it's broad daylight, right?
"Brother Youfu, Shiyang, thank you for your hard work tonight!"
Grandmother Li, who was halfway through the ceremony, was supported by Li Shiyang's arm. Li Wangming, Li's mother, and Li Shiyue, who followed Grandmother Li in bowing, performed a full and thorough bow.
“Sigh,” Li Youfu sighed, “Sister-in-law, what are you doing?”
Sigh, who knows what the future holds?
"I hope everyone is alright."
After watching Li Shiyang leave with Li Youfu, Grandmother Li pulled Li Wangming and his mother to bow to the clansmen who were still watching the commotion: "Everyone, tonight it was my Li family's affairs that disturbed your sleep and delayed you all. I apologize to everyone."
After saying this, Grandmother Li, along with Li Wangming and his mother, bowed again.
Zhou Lanhua and her husband Li Wangshui were standing nearby. Zhou Lanhua was a straightforward person, and she immediately replied, "Ah, Aunt Zhou is such a considerate person. We're happy to hear you say that. We're all from the same village, so why be so formal?"
Grandma Li (Zhou Hemiao) looked at Zhou Lanhua with grateful eyes. After Zhou Lanhua answered, the surrounding villagers also responded with a few words.
"Hey, we're all from the same village, what are you talking about? It's nothing, it's no big deal."
"That's enough from Auntie's words."
"Sigh, everyone's had a tough time. Let's call it a day. You can go back and get some more sleep."
As Li Shiyue watched the villagers around her disperse, she saw her grandmother holding her mother's hand and whispering something in her ear.
Then, Li's mother quickly shouted loudly to the departing crowd, "We've bothered you all tonight, and you've all helped us carry things up and down. Tomorrow morning we'll make a pot of sweet soup, and everyone can come and have a bowl. After all these days away, let's give the children something sweet."
The villagers of Li Family Village, who hadn't gone far, naturally agreed happily to Li's mother's words. You see, even outside of this famine-stricken journey, something like sugar water is a precious commodity, let alone on the famine-stricken journey. It really is a good thing.
Li Shiyue watched as her father led Qin Tao away. Her father even asked two men who were influential in the village to help carry the sacks of grain they had been allocated to Qin Tao.
Before leaving, Li's father didn't even glance at Li's grandmother. He simply went back to Qin Tao's house to sleep with Qin Tao.
In the last glimmer of firelight, Li Shiyue seemed to see the glistening tears streaming down her grandmother's face.
After finally managing to tidy up most of the mess, Li Shiyue, leaning against her mother, finally lay down again. She was very excited and clicked on the red dot in the first row of the taskbar in the system in her mind.
After reciting the names of all the gods and Buddhas he knew, Li Shiyue clicked the lottery button in the void.
After a series of gurgling musical sounds, a ball fell from the egg shaker on the virtual screen.
She reached out and tapped the golden ball again, and then felt three round, bean-sized pellets appear in her hand.
"Congratulations, host, you have drawn three beauty pills."
Although Li Shiyue had her eyes closed and couldn't see what the white, pill-like thing that the system called the "beauty pill" looked like, she still mentally muttered, "Beauty pill?"
What? A beauty filter? To make me prettier?
What?
Do I need something useless right now?
I'm on my way to escape famine!
Make me beautiful? Do you think I don't have enough time left to live?
I said before that if anything happened to us on the road, at least we could die together, but that was just talk. How could I possibly give up this hard-won opportunity to travel through time!
A beautiful woman, without the ability to protect her beauty, what happens when she's fleeing from natural disasters and man-made calamities?
"Don't they understand that they're just waiting to be bullied, trampled on, exploited, and killed?!"
No matter how much she cursed in her heart, Li Shiyue could only helplessly accept that all the effort and genuine performance she had put into completing the newbie task given by the system had resulted in only three useless beauty pills.
Carefully, Li Shiyue slipped the three beauty pills from her palm into the small pouch at her waist in the dark. She hesitated for a moment, trying to get closer to her mother. She slowed her breathing and fell asleep within a few breaths.
As for Li's father and Qin Tao, although they were also lying down, and Li's father was even holding Qin Tao's slender waist, neither of them was actually asleep.
Qin Tao was thinking about the money bag on Li's father's chest, wondering how they would survive on their journey of fleeing famine, and how she could coax the money into her own hands.
Mr. Li was thinking that he couldn't let Qin Tao's family spend the money anymore, since he had only received this small amount.
Who knows how many more places we'll need money on this journey of fleeing famine?
So what Li's father was thinking was: "How can I get money out of Xiao Tao'er in the future?"
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