"Uncle, I, I'm fine." Zhang Chuchu frowned when she smelled blood. Zhang Yi tore off a piece of his clothes to cover her mouth and told her to apply some wood ash when they got back, and she would be fine in a few days.
Zhang Chuchu returned to the dilapidated courtyard. The original owner of this body shared the same name as her and died in the second chapter. She never expected to have such a fate, coming to live out the rest of her bitter days.
She really disliked wood ash, but she was a health expert, not a miracle doctor. She couldn't conjure up anything to wash or bandage wounds, so she had no choice but to make do with it.
"Son, bring me some water," Wu Qingguo called from inside, and Zhang Yi went into the room.
Zhang Chuchu looked around from outside. This family had nothing; she only had the clothes on her back, and her worn-out shoes had been washed away by the water. "Sigh!" Zhang Chuchu cried out in her heart, "How miserable my life is!"
"Hey~ Silly girl, are you done yet?" Daya poked her head in to look. They had just secretly gone to the kitchen to cook potatoes, but Li Mei found out and chased them out. So she had to shamelessly ask for some food.
"I'm not stupid. Thank you for saving me just now." Zhang Chuchu went over to greet him. Her belly was a burden; she had no flesh on her body. Her belly was caused by water retention from not eating well.
"It's okay, is there anything to eat? We're so hungry~" Da Mei pointed to the little girl hiding behind her. Zhang Chuchu felt sorry for her. They often went hungry in the Li family and starved to death in the third chapter.
"I'll cook some vegetables and share some with you. But do you have any clothes? Could you give me one? It's so cold."
Zhang Chuchu was freezing cold; her clothes were still wet, and her blankets were stuffed with weeds. She was either going to starve or freeze to death.
"No~" Da Mei was very frustrated. Her younger sisters all wore her old clothes, so where would she get clothes for Zhang Chuchu?
"Never mind, let's go make a fire, it'll dry in no time!" Zhang Chuchu told them to go into the kitchen. The four girls worked quickly and soon started a fire.
Zhang Yi told Wu Qingguo about what had just happened inside the house. Wu Qingguo asked him to call Zhang Chuchu in. He went to the kitchen and saw a group of girls. He told Zhang Chuchu to go in first.
"Thump!" Zhang Chuchu had just stood up when Wu Qingguo swung a large comb at her face, and coincidentally, it hit her wound.
"Waaah~" She immediately started crying. Now that she was the weaker party, how could she not act pitiful? Besides, it really hurt.
"?" Wu Qingguo was stunned: "You can cry? Weren't you just grinning like an idiot no matter how much I hit you?"
"Mother! The child is still young, why are you hitting her!" Zhang Yi pulled Zhang Chuchu up. Fortunately, there was no blood on her head, but her face was covered in ash, making her look like a beggar.
"Grandma Zhang~ The little fool almost died just now, please don't hit her~" The four girls went in and started arguing when they heard the noise. Wu Qingguo grabbed a stick from the bedside and swung it at them. Even though she was paralyzed, she was still very strong.
"Thump!" "Clang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" Four sounds rang out, and they rolled to the corner of the room.
"Grandma, they're hungry, how can they fight?" Zhang Chuchu couldn't care less about crying. Da Ya and the others spoke up for her, saying that everyone smelled bad, so no one should look down on anyone else.
"I... I think they're too noisy, so they're all out. Don't contact Zhao Jia and her daughter again. Just pretend they never existed, understand?"
Wu Qingguo blushed, a rare sight. Zhang Chuchu could now distinguish right from wrong, much better than a fool. Zhang Chuchu and Zhang Yi helped the girls up and led them to the kitchen for vegetable soup.
They drank every last drop, and the four little girls even licked the bowl clean and wiped their mouths with their dirty sleeves. Da Ya began to introduce herself: "My name is Da Ya, I am seven years old. Er Ya and San Ya are twins, five and a half years old. S Ya is three and a half years old, the youngest one."
"From now on, you are not allowed to call me 'little fool.' Just call me Chuchu. If you call me that wrong, you will go hungry, and our family will not give you anything to eat."
Zhang Chuchu knew them all and was talking to them in the kitchen. Zhang Yi, who was listening outside, was quite happy. It was a miracle that Zhang Chuchu's head was healed after falling into the river.
Daya took her sisters back. When Li Mei saw them return, she took a large, broken bowl, filled it with leftover food, and threw it on the ground: "Eat it and then go to sleep!"
They dared not speak. Da Ya smelled it and found it rancid. It was the first time they had eaten fresh vegetables. How could they possibly eat the leftovers they usually ate? They secretly poured them into their clothes to eat when they were hungry the next day. After washing the dishes, they climbed into bed to sleep. The room was filled with a stench and a musty smell.
It took Zhang Chuchu five days to wash the ash off her hair, and her wounds had miraculously healed, making her incredibly happy. For the past few days, she had only been responsible for tending the fire in the kitchen while Zhang Yi cooked for them.
She touched her round belly: "I need to go outside for a walk and see if there's anything that can make me rich."
Zhang Chuchu remembered reading in the book that there would be many treasures later on, and the female protagonist, Zhang Yingying, even became rich by collecting stones in the back mountain, becoming a little lucky charm. Now Zhang Yingying has left the village; she's going to look for bargains, and with money, she can improve her health.
Moreover, my stomach was very uncomfortable and bloated. It was because I hadn't been eating well for a long time, worked every day, and only went to the toilet once every two weeks. My stomach and intestines had long been in trouble.
Zhang Chuchu acted immediately, going inside to tell Wu Qingguo, "Grandma, I'm going to go up the mountain to collect treasures to sell and use the money for your and my medical treatment!"
Wu Qingguo felt she had acted impulsively yesterday. She pointed to a cabinet and said, "There are little clothes hanging in there. Take them and wear them. If you ruin them, get out of here. I won't make you any more clothes!"
"Grandma~" Zhang Chuchu was deeply moved: "I will definitely wear it properly." Wu Qingguo was misled by Zhao Jia, so neither of her two granddaughters liked it very much.
Now that Wu Qingguo is offering her new clothes, this is a good thing. Zhang Chuchu feels that her path as cannon fodder is about to restart.
After changing her clothes, Zhang Chuchu felt dirty, but it was cold outside. Her wound was on her forehead near her hair, so she had to wrap it with a cloth to avoid catching a cold.
She went out carrying a small bamboo basket. As she passed Li Mei's house, she saw Li Mei hitting her child with a bamboo pole. Zhang Chuchu was banging on the bamboo fence with her small bamboo basket and shouting:
"Aunt Mei, I'm taking Daya and the others up the mountain to find food. Can you call them out?"
Da Ya quickly scrambled to the ground and was hit with a stick. She crawled out. Li Mei was furious with them. She had stolen her brother's fish soup and deserved to be punished!
Li Mei first grabbed Siya's short legs, lifted her upside down by one leg, and threw her onto the haystack. She then slapped Er Mei and San Mei a few times before going inside.
The four girls were used to being beaten and didn't cry. They crawled on the ground and ran away. They had no leftover food and were starving, so they followed Zhang Chuchu to find something to eat.
"Are you all alright?" Zhang Chuchu asked, seeing their bruised and swollen faces. The four girls stood in a row and shook their heads.
Zhang Chuchu was too busy taking care of herself. The village favored boys over girls, and she planned to slap them in the face once she got rich. She led them up the mountain, but all they found were wild vegetables and tree roots; there was nothing else.
"Chuchu, where are we going to find something to eat?" Daya asked first, her legs shaking so much she could barely walk.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
