Jiang Dalang found Zheng Li Niang as soon as he heard the news.
"Really?" Zheng Li Niang was overjoyed. "People from Zhengjia Village are going to flee the famine with us? My parents are among them?"
"It's true. They've already discussed it and plan to meet in town to explain the situation of the two villages before deciding whether to join together."
Zheng Li'niang was extremely happy. Her heart had been hanging in the air since the day she went up the mountain, and now she finally felt at ease.
"That's it..." Jiang Dalang suddenly became hesitant.
Zheng Li Niang put away the joy on her face and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
"Qian Dazhi is among them."
"Qian Dazhi?" Zheng Li'niang was stunned, and then realized that it was her mother-in-law's brother.
She glared at her husband helplessly. Even though her mother-in-law had severed ties with her family, she shouldn't have called her uncle by his name. It would be bad if someone heard it and found fault with her.
Zhengjia Village and Dahuai Village are adjacent to each other, so it makes sense for them to hide in the mountains together, but why is Qian Dazhi among them?
Zheng Li'niang had heard some stories about why her mother-in-law had never had any contact with her family. It was said that her mother-in-law's parents were angered to death by her brother and sister-in-law.
If it were her, she wouldn't be able to bear it either.
"If the three villages don't leave together, I will persuade my parents to go with us. If they leave together..."
Zheng Li'niang was at a loss. Before she got married, she knew that Qian Dazhi's wife was very powerful. Not only did she control Qian Dazhi, but even her parents-in-law couldn't control her.
"We'll talk about it later. I'm just worried that Mom will be upset if they really meet. If they do, it might not be our family that suffers."
Jiang Huaixu, who accidentally eavesdropped, poked Jiang Wei's waist and asked, "Sister, is Qian Dazhi's wife very powerful?"
There was no such person in her memory at all.
"Who is Qian Dazhi?" Jiang Wei didn't react for a moment and didn't realize who the person who called this name was.
"You...our uncle."
Upon hearing this address, Jiang Wei exploded, "Bah, bah, bah, he's not our uncle! As for his wife, I've only met her once, and she's ugly."
"I asked if she was good, not if she was ugly."
"What's so great about that? My mother can pull out all her hair!"
Jiang Wei's tone was very proud.
Jiang Huaixu thought about that scene and wondered what a famous scene it must have been.
She was just about to dig into some details about Qian Xiuzhu and her family when she heard someone walking into the tent and immediately stopped talking.
The next day, everyone was hunting, digging wild vegetables, trying every possible way to find more food.
After continuous heavy rains, animals in the mountains came out one after another to look for food. Many families in the village caught prey with the help of Niu Bo. Jiang Huaixu and Jiang Erlang went deeper and caught four hares, two pheasants, a deer, and touched a lot of bird eggs.
When they returned, the two of them only took bird eggs, a hare and a pheasant, and put the rest into the space.
They have no shortage of food, so it’s better for them to keep a low profile.
"Wuwuwu——Mother——"
"Mom, I'll be obedient..."
The crying sound echoed in the dense forest. Jiang Huaixu felt that this sound was very familiar.
【Tuanzi, who is crying? 】
"It sounds like Shanwa's voice. Do you want to go over and take a look?"
It was not Fu Tuan's voice. Jiang Huaixu was stunned and turned to look at Jiang Erlang, who was also looking at her.
Shanwa's mother wanted to drag Shanwa into the river with her.
Jiang Huaixu immediately said, "Second brother, let's go over and take a look."
After saying this, she didn't care about Jiang Erlang's reaction and ran directly towards the direction of the sound.
By the river, Zheng Guihua was pulling Shanwa and walking towards the water step by step.
Perhaps hurt by Zheng Guihua's pulling, Shanwa struggled hard, but he was too weak to break free at all. He could only cry out "Mom" with tears on his face.
Jiang Huaixu rushed into the water, grabbed Shanwa's other hand and pulled him back.
In the face of Jiang Huaixu's might, Zheng Guihua had no strength to resist. Before she could even look back, she fell onto her back in the water.
When Shanwa saw his mother drowned in the water, he burst into tears, "Wow, mother, mother..."
"Don't move!"
Jiang Huaixu patted Shanwa's butt, threw him into the arms of Jiang Erlang who had just arrived, and turned around to save Zheng Guihua.
Zheng Guihua obviously couldn't swim. She kept struggling after water entered her mouth and nose. In fact, the water here just covered her calves.
For those who cannot swim, shallow water can be fatal.
Jiang Huaixu pulled the man out of the water and only let go after the man stood firmly.
"You...why did you save me? The cripple is dead, what's the point of me living..." She sat down in the water and started to cry.
"You want to die, why do you drag Shanwa with you?"
Jiang Huaixu really couldn't understand this practice. He had seen similar news before. It seemed that parents treated their children as their own property or accessories, and not as complete people anyway.
"His father is dead. If I die too, how pitiful he would be left alone..."
"I heard from my eldest sister-in-law that when you were still unmarried, you also lived under the care of your stepmother. I believe you suffered a lot. After you married Jiang Quezi, although he had a limp and was not good-looking, everyone in the village knew that he was good to you. But, his kindness to you pulled out your bones and you can't stand up anymore, right?"
Jiang Huaixu's tone wasn't questioning, just puzzled. "Maybe he's really good to you enough to make you willing to sacrifice your own life for him, but in my opinion, the most reliable person in life is yourself. I won't give Shanwa to you until you figure it out. He's only four years old. Even if you're his mother, you can't decide whether he lives or dies."
If Zheng Guihua wanted to commit suicide alone, she wouldn't care, but bringing Shanwa with her was too much.
In her opinion, Zheng Guihua might just be in a state of depression for a moment, or it might be the traditional thinking of this era at work - a family cannot survive without a man. Zheng Guihua was immersed in the sadness of losing her husband, but ignored Shanwa's understanding and the help the villagers had given to her and Shanwa over the past few days.
As long as she could stand up, it would not be impossible for her to help Shanwa survive the famine.
"Let's hide first and see what she does." Jiang Huaixu walked to Jiang Erlang and whispered.
After she finished speaking, she looked at Shanwa, who was still as filthy as before, with tears and snot all over his face, but he was biting his hand and said nothing. "Huh? Why isn't he crying anymore?"
Jiang Erlang glanced at Shanwa and said, "I don't know. Maybe he's afraid of me."
Although he was confused, Jiang Huaixu did not ask any more questions. The two adults and one child hid behind a tree and observed Zheng Guihua's actions.
Zheng Guihua stood up from the water, lowered her head and stared at the water surface. The feeling of suffocation when she was struggling in the water just now was still extremely clear. Being hit to death by a stone should be more painful and uncomfortable, right?
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