"You know that Yun Duo is my own flesh and blood, right? I gave birth to her, and I almost lost my life giving birth to her. What's wrong with me scolding her a few times? How can I not feel sorry for her? If you feel sorry for her, why don't you let her come to your house for dinner?"
"Anyone can say nice things, right? They're all just empty words. If we were really good people, how come this brat has been eating our food all this time?"
"You from the grain-producing family, listen to what you're saying!"
"The truth! What did I say that was a lie? Did you ever give that brat a single bite of food, or even a single vegetable dumpling?"
That's absolutely true.
These days, taxes are terrifyingly heavy. After paying taxes, there's practically nothing left of the grain grown each year. Especially these last two years, the heavens have been unkind. Despite our prayers, they refuse to send rain, resulting in meager harvests. Most families are eating coarse grains and wild vegetables, barely having enough for a single vegetable dumpling. If someone else gets a bite, our own family has to eat less. Our own children are starving and emaciated; who can possibly care for someone else's child?
So when Zhao Cuifen said those words, the others felt awkward and didn't dare to say anything bad about her anymore.
Seeing that she had shut up the gossipy person, Zhao Cuifen felt as smug as if she had won a battle. She said to Yun Duo, "You brat, did you hear that? No matter how much I beat you or scold you, I still feed you... Ouch..." Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her back. Then, not only her back, but her stomach, thighs, neck... her whole body was bitten. The sudden pain made her stop speaking, and all she could hear was groaning, "Ouch, ouch."
Ants! Countless ants! They had crawled all over Zhao Cuifen's body without her noticing, and only when she reached the village entrance did they start biting her one after another, under Xiao Jiu's direction. Zhao Cuifen was like a madwoman, jumping and leaping, her body twisting and turning, her hands constantly slapping and scratching herself. With each slap, she could kill many ants.
Unfortunately, she was covered in ants, and even if he swatted some of them, many more were still biting her.
"You wretched woman, what are you doing? This...you...did you step on an anthill?" Yun Youliang had remained silent the whole time, observing Zhao Cuifen's insults towards Yun Duo and her arguments with the village women without even glancing at her. Only when Zhao Cuifen jumped up like a madwoman did he look at her, and upon seeing her, he was startled and immediately shouted at her. While shouting, he pretended to step forward to help Zhao Cuifen pat her.
"Ouch! Dad! Something bit me! Ah...it hurts...Dad!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Shuisheng next to him also started yelling loudly.
Yun Shuisheng was Yun Youliang's lifeline. Hearing his shout, Yun Youliang's face changed color. He no longer cared about Zhao Cuifen and rushed to Yun Shuisheng, hurriedly asking, "Shuisheng, what's wrong?" As he spoke, he saw that Yun Shuisheng's body was covered with ants, just like Zhao Cuifen's. He quickly comforted Yun Shuisheng, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Quickly take off your clothes, Dad will help you swat the ants." As he spoke, he reached out to pull at Yun Shuisheng's clothes, trying to help him take them off.
However, as soon as Yun Youliang touched the hem of Yun Shuisheng's clothes, he felt a sudden pain all over his body, and then he felt the pain of being bitten by ants everywhere.
Those around them felt their scalps tingle, yet couldn't help but gloat, saying, "My goodness... You've got grain! You've got grain, wife, has your whole family fallen into an anthill?"
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