Perhaps because she saw that they hadn't returned, Fang Cui came over with a basket on her back. "You kids, you were all fine before, but you went crazy as soon as you came out. Why did you run here? Hurry up, get ready to go back, it's... getting... dark..."
Before she could finish her words, she saw the pheasant in Lin Wen's hand. She was so surprised that she couldn't speak clearly. "Where did you catch this pheasant? Why is it so big?"
Lin Wen handed the pheasant over. "Second Aunt, we didn't catch it. It was Xiao Lingling. We came over when we heard her calling, and saw Xiao Lingling holding it. We also picked up several pheasant eggs, they are really big!"
Following Lin Wen's words, Lin Hao and others showed the eggs in their hands, and even Fang Cui was a little surprised.
"My goodness, it's really big. Let's not talk about this for now. Let's go back first. It's not safe at night. You guys follow me closely. Little Bell, come here. Mommy will hold you! The ground is uneven, so go slowly, okay?"
Little Lingling didn't like being carried, so she casually pulled her two brothers on either side, "Mom, you have enough things to carry, little Lingling, you don't need to be carried, just hold your brothers' hands and walk slowly."
"Okay then, slow down. You have short legs, don't fall!"
Xiao Lingling's voice choked, and she looked down at her short legs in melancholy for a second.
Forget it, I’m still young anyway, I’ll talk about it later!
When they returned, the dilapidated temple had been completely renovated. The windows on both sides were covered with a layer of sheets. Although it looked very shabby, it was still able to block the wind.
There were two fires, one on the left and one on the right. The one on the left was from Lin Changshu's family, and the one on the right was from Lin Changhe's family. Pots were set up on top of them, and rice had been put in long ago.
Zhao was spreading hay in the corner. Seeing them come back, she quickly came to her senses. "You're back? Go wash your hands. I left some warm water for you. Wash them clean so you can eat later."
As soon as Zhao finished speaking, Lin Wu rushed over and handed over the egg in his hand as if asking for credit.
"Grandma, grandma, look! We found some pheasant eggs. My little sister saw them! She's amazing! She even caught a pheasant."
Zhao was stunned by the sudden news. She looked at Xiao Lingling in a daze. After meeting her cunning gaze, she instantly understood what was going on and reacted quickly.
"Wow, these eggs are really big. Thank you for your hard work. Since Xiao Lingling found them, I'll give you three of them and steam them into egg custard later, okay?"
When Lin Wu heard that there was egg custard to eat, he was so happy that he danced with joy. Zhao was so scared that she quickly took the pheasant eggs from him, fearing that he would drop them and break them.
Fang Cui showed the pheasant in her hand and said, "Mom, this pheasant is quite big. What do you think we should do with it?"
Zhao glanced at the pheasant and caught a glimpse of her little granddaughter swallowing her saliva greedily. She almost couldn't help laughing out loud.
"We are still fleeing famine, and it is not convenient to carry it with us. So we can just kill it, stew half of it, add a little more soup, and let everyone drink a bowl. It will at least have some oil in it.
"It's just right, the porridge is almost done. I'll go get a basin and pour it out. Have Lao Er take the chicken farther away to kill it. It'll be cleaner and save some water."
As soon as Xiao Lingdang heard it, she knew that her father must have not found water. Seeing that everyone had dispersed, Xiao Lingdang began to quietly move towards Zhao.
Zhao thought she was sleepy, and just as she poured out the porridge, she went to make the bed. "Hey, little Lingdang, are you sleepy? Wait a minute, after grandma makes the bed, let you sleep for a while, okay?"
Xiao Lingdang, with her back to everyone, winked at Zhao frantically, her eyes constantly glancing towards the water tank on the side, the meaning of which was too obvious to be true.
Zhao understood instantly, "Hey, little Lingling, why is there so much dust on your face? Come, grandma will help you wash it!"
As he said this, he walked towards the water tank with the little bell in his arms, picked up the gourd ladle and pretended to scoop water.
Xiao Lingling's face lit up with joy, and she directly put her hand into the water tank. Just like that, the water from the Lingquan Pond flowed into the water tank through her hand.
She placed her hands low, and the water flowed quickly without making any sound.
In order to avoid being too abrupt, Zhao stopped the bell not long after it was released, and the water level just stopped at about half the tank.
Then Zhao used a little water from the scoop to simply wipe the dust off her face, and then carried the little girl back to the corner.
The old man and the young boy were so nervous that they broke out in cold sweats on their backs, like thieves.
"Grandma, I'm not sleepy yet. I want to watch Daddy kill the chicken. Is that okay?"
Zhao also wanted to go out and cool off, so she picked up the little girl and went out. For a moment, only Sun Rong, Wu Hong and Li Yue were left in the room.
Wu Hong held her little grandson in her arms, staring at the eggs beaten in Li Yue's hand, wishing she could just grab them, and her words became veiled.
"Oh, life is so hard these days. Now we have to flee from famine. We have nothing to eat or drink. Look at how little milk you have. Look how hungry my grandson is. I don't even have the energy to cry!"
Wu Hong blushed, feeling a little embarrassed. "Mom, I'm fine. Isn't there milk here? I can feed him!"
"How many mouthfuls of milk is enough for you? Look at my little grandson's face, it's all yellow from hunger. Oh, in the past, I could make you some chicken soup or steam an egg to nourish you, but now that's not possible~~~"
After saying that, he glanced at Li Yue in a sarcastic tone. Li Yue was now in an awkward position, not knowing whether to beat the eggs or not.
Wu Hong was so embarrassed that she couldn't even lift her head. "Mom, I, I'm not as serious as you say!"
Seeing that Li Yue still hadn't expressed her opinion, Sun Rong opened her mouth to continue speaking, but Fang Cui walked in carrying a slaughtered chicken and immediately burst into tears.
Of course, it was just dry howling, but no real tears were shed.
"Oh, my poor grandson! He was born during a famine. He has nothing to eat or drink, not even milk. What should I do?"
Fang Cui couldn't help but want to roll her eyes, but after all, she was her elder, she knew very well what the other party meant, and didn't want to embarrass Wu Hong too much, so she continued the conversation with a smile.
"Auntie, don't worry. We are a family after all. Since we are fleeing the famine together, we have to look after my sister-in-law. Look, my mother-in-law just said that she would make a bowl of chicken soup for my sister-in-law. At least it has some oil and water, and the child will suffer less!"
Upon hearing this, Sun Rong was immediately delighted. "Oh, that's great! For those of us who are half buried in the earth, a little hardship is nothing. I'm just worried about my grandson. Your words put my mind at ease! Wu Hong, you should rest for a while. You can feed him after he has some chicken soup and milk!"
Wu Hong paused for a while before turning around and looked at Fang Cui and Li Yue apologetically. As they were all someone else's daughter-in-law, they could understand. She smiled kindly and said nothing more.
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