The waterfall tilted its head, waved its little paws, and kept humming.
Zuo Ling didn't have time to coax it, afraid that Pei Nansheng would wait too long, so she quickly took a shower. Before her hair was even dry, Pei Nansheng came to knock on the door:
"Are you done washing up? It's time to eat."
There was a lot of food in the space, and Zuo Ling really didn't want to go, but she had no choice but to.
The dining hall was more than 100 meters away from their building. It was a large canteen, and when they arrived, it was already full of people.
Most of the people who come here to eat are descendants of branches of the family who live far away from home, and descendants of other surnames who depend on the Ding family for survival.
A large stove was burning inside, but the temperature wasn't much warmer than outside.
Zuo Ling muttered, "Eating here is like chewing ice crystals; we might as well go back home to eat."
Pei Nansheng coaxed softly, "Grandma, just bear with it."
Zuo Ling's behavior was different from that of ordinary people, which inevitably attracted attention. Zuo Ling was not unaware of this principle, but understanding it was one thing and sticking to it was another.
Each person received a tray and followed the flow of people to collect their food.
After queuing for ages, I received two ounces of rice and a small portion of stir-fried dried vegetables and meat.
Zuo Ling examined it carefully for a long time but still couldn't figure out what kind of dried vegetable it was. Was it radish stalks? Sweet potato leaves? Or pickled mustard greens?
It was supposed to be stir-fried dried vegetables with meat, but there were only two pieces of greasy white meat inside. It was cold, and the grease was stuck to the surface of the white meat, making Zuo Ling feel disgusted.
Pei Nansheng frowned; the allowance had been reduced again!
Someone complained, "How can there be so little? This isn't enough to eat!"
"Exactly, it's not even enough to fill a gap between your teeth, and it's getting less and less every day. How can anyone live like this?"
"Less is one thing, but there's not even a trace of oil in it, that's outrageous!"
"Didn't our Ding family stockpile grain early this morning? Where did the grain go? Why aren't we getting any to eat?"
"..."
Once someone takes the lead, others will follow, and more and more people will vent their dissatisfaction.
The master chef banged his iron ladle against the rim of the basin several times.
"What's all the noise about? Our Ding family's grain warehouse has been robbed. We don't even know if we'll have anything to eat in the future."
What?! The grain storage warehouse has been robbed! The crowd was in an uproar.
Pei Nansheng and Zuo Ling exchanged glances. The Ding family had more than one granary; it wasn't like if they touched one, they would run out of food.
Depriving those in power of their resources has always been a common tactic of those in power.
To avoid the noisy crowd, the two found a corner to eat.
Zuo Ling couldn't eat and looked around. She noticed a little boy, about five or six years old, who kept looking in their direction. The boy was very handsome, but pitifully thin.
Pei Nansheng asked, "Is that Xiao Hao over there?"
Pei Nansheng waved to the little boy, whose eyes lit up. The little boy, holding his plate, ran happily toward them.
"elder brother."
Taking the tray, Pei Nansheng patted the boy's head, gesturing to him, "Xiao Hao, call her 'sister'."
Xiao Hao hid behind Pei Nansheng, then curiously peeked out at Zuo Ling, who smiled at him.
Pei Nansheng was very patient with Xiao Hao and explained, "Your sister has the same father as us, so call her sister."
Perhaps it was Zuo Ling's friendly smile that made Xiao Hao hesitate for a moment before calling out softly, "Sister."
Zuo Ling liked children very much, and took out two pieces of chocolate: "Here, for you."
Xiao Hao looked at Pei Nansheng, who nodded. Xiao Hao took the chocolate and said, "Thank you, sister."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
