Gotsian's sudden interruption plunged the room into silence.
Hu Lingling immediately jumped up, "Since you're so worried, then move in and live with them. Don't make yourself uncomfortable here."
Gao Zian retorted, "So that's not your own sister, of course you don't care. And didn't you say I couldn't bear to save my food for them? From today onwards, I won't eat anymore. Give me my rations, and I'll take them to Xiao Zhen."
Gao Zian felt he had lost face in front of the younger generation that morning, so he shouted at Hu Lingling through gritted teeth.
Hu Lingling was really angry now, but she still had her senses. "Gao Liang, go and call all the elders. Since he has decided to give all the grain to his sister, then we should separate from him and let him go live with your aunt."
"How could you twist my words like that? I only said I was sending out my food rations, I didn't say I was going to give up." Gao Zian was dumbfounded when he heard Hu Lingling say that.
But this time Hu Lingling didn't give him any face. "You're going to give away your own food rations, do you expect to eat my and A-Liang's share? You're too cunning. You've been the good guy, but we're the ones who have to pay the price."
Seeing Gao Liang still standing there, Hu Lingling snapped at him, "What, does what I said not count anymore? I told you to go and call for help, why are you still standing here?"
Si Cheng and Yun Qi were also stunned by this sudden turn of events, and Gao Liang stood there at a loss.
“You’re just making a fuss over nothing. I never said I wanted to eat your rations. Can’t I just go and dig up some wild vegetables to fill my stomach?” Gao Zian explained to Hu Lingling.
Hu Lingling stood there and sneered, "And then what? You starve yourself until you're pale and thin, then go to the village and complain. People who don't know the situation will think we're abusing you. Since the outcome is already predetermined, let's just cut ties completely from the beginning. It will save us from having to bear any more blame later. After all, A-Liang will continue to live here in the future. Just consider this the last good deed you did for your son."
When Gao Zian saw that his little secret had been laid bare in front of the younger generation by his bedmate, he immediately felt a little uncomfortable.
But Hu Lingling didn't want to let him off so easily and started urging Gao Liang to call for help.
Si Cheng wanted to step forward to persuade him, but Yun Qi pulled him back and shook his head at him.
Having no other option, Gao Liang turned to try and escape, but Gao Zian had already run out before him.
"He's really got too much free time on his hands, always looking for trouble." After saying this, Hu Lingling turned to Yun Qi and the others, "If we don't teach him a lesson, he'll be turning the house upside down every day."
She looked at the various dried meats that Si Cheng had just brought on the table and said to Gao Liang, who was still standing at the door, "Go to the back and get a chicken. We'll have a good meal tonight."
Without explaining to Sicheng, he picked up the meat from the table and went into the kitchen, looking ready to make a big splash.
Si Cheng was still somewhat bewildered by the series of changes. He knew that it was all aimed at him from the beginning, so how did it end up clashing with his aunt?
Yunqi pulled him aside and briefly explained the whole story to him. Sicheng was speechless. He didn't know how his previously peaceful uncle had become like this.
Yunqi, however, felt that his aunt had done nothing wrong, and even felt a little schadenfreude. It was fine to want to be a saint, but don't drag others down with you. Moreover, this kind of saintly behavior of trying to drag others down with you was even more unacceptable.
"Is this alright? Should we send Ah Liang out to check?" Si Cheng didn't want the conflict in his uncle's family to escalate further.
Hu Lingling happened to come out and overheard this. She was angry with her and didn't care about offending anyone when she spoke, "Don't bother going to see him. He's just as selfish as your mother. He'll come back on his own once he understands what's going on. Besides, missing a meal won't hurt. He's been eating too much too much lately, so it's a good time for him to lose some weight."
At this point, Hu Lingling had made up her mind that once this hurdle was overcome, she would let him work in the fields as well, and she would control his diet. It would be better to save the good food for her son to find a good wife, so that some people wouldn't eat it and then deny it.
Gozian, who ran away to hide, never imagined that his foul mouth would lead to a long period of hardship, almost making him as miserable as the refugees outside.
When Si Cheng heard his aunt say that, he knew that she just wanted to teach his uncle a lesson, so he stood up and followed Gao Liang to the backyard to help tidy up.
Because of this lesson, Gao's uncle didn't dare to cause trouble again for a long time, and even started following Gao Liang to work in the fields.
Ma Tao also arrived at Pinghe Village that afternoon. This time, he not only delivered the pig iron he had promised to Sicheng and the others, but also brought a large amount of supplies with him.
Yun Xunjing, who was in charge of receiving them, looked at them quietly, waiting for them to speak.
"I came here this time to ask the village for a favor," Ma Tao said bluntly, pointing to a pile of pig iron. "I want the village to help us make a batch of crossbows."
He then pointed to another batch of supplies on the ground, "These are the rewards for the village, and the pig iron is what I promised to Village Chief Si before, so I brought it along this time as well."
Yun Xun and the others hadn't expected that Cheng Ge's haul would arrive at their doorstep before he even got home. He glanced at the pile of supplies without any explanation of their purpose, "What about those?"
Ma Tao nervously rubbed his hands together. "We wanted to exchange these for a batch of medicinal herbs with the village. I wonder if you could help us gather the necessary funds?"
Ma Tao knew that Pinghe Village had already exchanged most of the medicinal herbs with them last time, and the village only kept a portion for backup. His purpose in visiting this time was to obtain those backup herbs.
Yun Xun shook his head directly, "We don't have that many medicinal herbs to exchange with you this time. Last time, we almost emptied our village's reserves. We're only keeping a little bit for emergencies now."
Ma Tao knew this was a difficult situation, but his comrades were waiting for these medicines to save their lives.
Since the influx of refugees, conflicts have been constant, and those maintaining order have inevitably been attacked, so the medicinal herbs have been used up very quickly.
"Exchange as much as you can, but our village also needs to expand planting, otherwise the demand will be too great and we won't be able to supply it all." Ma Tao is only thinking about taking as much as he can, he can't let anyone go back empty-handed.
Yun Xun, having dealt with him several times and becoming familiar with him, spoke much more casually, "Do you think this is like planting cabbages, where you can just plant them and harvest them? Some medicinal herbs are ineffective until they reach their full maturity."
"Can we go up the mountain to dig?" In Ma Tao's common sense, he knew that many traditional Chinese medicine practitioners go up the mountain to collect medicinal herbs, and that many wild Chinese herbal medicines are more effective.
Yun Xun was surprised that he knew these things. "That's fine, but it's not easy to go up the mountain now."
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