Song Zhenping was standing in the room, staring blankly at the familiar jars in the corner.
There were two vats of soy sauce, a jar of sauerkraut, and a jar of pickled cucumber and radish strips in the kitchen.
He was very familiar with these things; they were all his stepmother's precious treasures.
Granny Gu was an excellent pickler; only she was allowed to touch the pickling jars and vegetable jars.
For this reason, Song Zhenping and Xiao An have been beaten countless times, all for the same reason: they were too close to the jar.
At this moment, Song Zhenping looked at the jar and unconsciously began to feel fear and disgust. He clenched his fists and even his breathing became heavier.
Song Liyun watched quietly.
In the apocalypse, death from mutated beasts and mental breakdown each account for half of all deaths.
In reality, many people die in chaotic despair.
There is no cure for this kind of psychological trauma; what is needed is long-term self-adjustment.
All the grand principles others talk about are just empty words.
Even after overcoming one hurdle, there will be another. If you can't let go of your worries, you'll still end up on a dead end when faced with problems.
Besides, I'm not a psychotherapist myself.
Seeing Song Zhenping clenching his hands, trembling all over, unable to extricate himself from his memories.
Song Liyun hesitated for a moment, then pretended not to know anything and asked with a smile, "Brother, is dinner ready?"
A crisp voice suddenly rang out beside him, startling Song Zhenping. He came to his senses and said, "Not yet, Yun'er, what do you want to eat?"
"Let's just make porridge!" Song Liyun lifted the lid of the pot and prepared to boil water first.
Song Zhenping regained his composure and sat down in front of the stove to help start the fire.
Guided by Song Liyun, he stammered about his work on the construction site, trying to distract himself from his earlier distraction.
In the morning, the three siblings ate millet porridge with pickled vegetables. At Song Zhenping's request, Song Liyun also made a few cornbread buns and boiled an egg for each of them.
Holding the white boiled eggs, Xiao An and Song Zhenping felt as if they were holding a heavy weight, their hands trembling with nervousness, and they were panting heavily.
Xiao An, in particular, has never eaten a boiled egg.
It was Song Liyun who helped them peel the eggshells and put the eggs into the porridge bowls before they ate them with tears in their eyes.
After lunch, the sun had already risen, and the Song siblings prepared to go out again to continue repairing the courtyard wall.
Suddenly, a commotion arose in the thicket outside the house, with someone shouting, "Don't be afraid, everyone! Hold on tight to your sticks!"
"First of all, you're not allowed to run away no matter what you see!"
"Yes, don't run away! Anyone who runs away is a bastard born of a concubine. His wife is cheating on him at home and will raise other people's children for the rest of her life."
The cursing grew closer, mixed with crackling and banging noises, as if a group of people were heading this way.
Xiao An was startled and grabbed Song Liyun's clothes tightly.
Song Zhenping picked up a hoe and ran outside, shouting as he ran, "Yun'er, you two stay inside and hide. I'm going to help and see if any of your pigs have run away!"
In Xiaoshi Village, pigs often escape from their pens, and the neighbors have to help catch them.
Seeing that he was running unsteadily, Song Liyun followed behind him.
This place is quite a distance from the town's residents. If anyone's pig manages to get here, it must be a big, fat pig, and Song Zhenping, being so short, might not be able to keep it under control.
So the three of them went out of the courtyard gate that had only been half-built, and were startled as soon as they appeared.
A dozen or so people were gathered outside, including migrant workers and soldiers.
The laborers each held a wooden stick, while the soldiers gripped steel knives. They all leaned against tree branches, looking tense. Upon seeing any movement in the courtyard, they all took a step back.
"Uncle Qin, what are you doing?" Song Zhenping looked at one of the tall, middle-aged men with a bewildered expression.
Uncle Qin is the foreman in charge of managing the migrant workers. He should be at the construction site by the river right now. Why is he here?
Upon seeing Song Zhenping, Qin Huai immediately exclaimed, "Daping, you're still alive?"
"Death? What does that mean?" Song Zhenping was even more confused.
Team leader Xue Xiaoqi glanced at Song Liyun and Xiao An, and seeing that all three members of the Song family were there, he put away his knife and said impatiently, "What are you doing? You came into this house and didn't come out. It made people worry that something had happened, so they rushed over to collect your bodies."
He received news yesterday that the Song siblings had not returned to their house, but he did not report it at the time. He waited until dawn to go to the camp and say a word.
As it turned out, Commander Luo was not there, so the other acting officers asked him to bring some men over to check on things, so that if anything had happened, they could collect the bodies.
Knowing the purpose of everyone's visit, Song Zhenping blushed.
He kept bowing and gesturing, saying that he was busy tidying up the house and forgot to come out and greet everyone. He promised that he would not do that again and invited several people to come in and sit down.
silence!
The scene was not as enthusiastic as he had imagined.
No one came forward, and the big Uncle Qin took another step back, looking embarrassed: "Hey, Da Ping! I'm relieved as long as you're all alright, why don't you come in and sit down?"
The others reacted the same way, forcing a smile and slipping away.
Although everyone could see the Song siblings standing there perfectly fine, something still seemed off.
Everyone witnessed how these two brothers fared when they lived in the migrant workers' shed.
Even if his clothes weren't completely unprotected, they were certainly the most tattered among the crowd.
It's only been two days since we last saw each other, but the two brothers have changed their clothes and look much more energetic. Even the sickly child looks a bit fairer.
What's going on?
If the three siblings were now torn apart and on the verge of death, or even turned into three bloody corpses, they could accept it, as they had expected it.
But now it's clearly not cold or hungry, and it's lively and energetic, constantly inviting people into the house, which is even more frightening.
Could it be that there's some kind of ghost or demon inside, trying to deceive people?
Not only Qin Huai thought so, but even Xue Xiaoqi, who claimed to be unafraid of ghosts, felt uneasy and kept glancing at the three siblings.
The clothes the three siblings are wearing are so strange.
Song Zhenping was a round, chubby ball of cloth. Xiao An's clothes had sleeves that were longer than the other, and the hem of the front was strangely short.
Song Liyun was slightly more normal, but her outfit was too flashy and gaudy, with complicated embroidery in red, green, and pink, as if she had opened a floral fabric shop. It didn't match her personal style at all.
These items clearly do not belong to the person in question.
Xue Xiaoqi suddenly realized that this house was originally owned by a wealthy family, so it was normal to find some clothes there.
But...those are all dead people.
The thought of the Song family wearing burial clothes made Xue Xiaoqi, who was fearless, feel nauseous. He took several steps back before saying, "You've just established your household. According to the rules, you can come to me for food and clothing, and you can return them later..."
Song Zhenping waved his hands repeatedly: "Young Master, we can make do with these things. We'll look for more later, and if we can't find any, we'll come back to bother you again."
Song Zhenping's words were the result of a long period of thought.
The food that comes out of the treasure bag is fine as long as it's eaten discreetly, but the clothes that suddenly appear are hard to explain.
If anyone asks, he will say that he dug it out of a pile of junk.
We need to search some more... Xue Xiaoqi's expression grew increasingly grim.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
