After hearing what she said, the others stopped talking. In this world, whether you can survive depends entirely on your own fate.
"In that case, everyone should go to bed early. The eldest and second eldest will take turns keeping watch at night. Remember to let everyone know if anything happens."
The only two able-bodied men in the family were the eldest and second eldest sons, who had been keeping watch all night along the way, and there were no objections to this.
There was dry grass on the ground, which was much better than the previous times I had spent the night in the wild.
Several adults lay outside protecting a group of children, then took out blankets they had brought from home to cover themselves, and went to sleep.
Mrs. Sun was worried about her youngest grandson's poor health. When she got up at night, she took a special look at the dog and found that the dog was no longer as sickly as before. Its body temperature had dropped a lot, its little face was rosy, and it looked like it was sleeping soundly.
It's definitely different having your own mother by your side to take care of you.
Sun nodded in satisfaction. She noticed the white thing on Gou'er's forehead and wanted to peel it off, but seeing that the child was sleeping soundly, she refrained from doing so.
As dawn broke, everyone got up. Madam Yu and Madam Qin busied themselves preparing some food, while Madam Sun and He Jiuniang took a group of children out to urinate.
The man on the ground woke up, staring wide-eyed in disbelief as if he had discovered something momentous.
"Young master, you're awake? Do you feel unwell anywhere?"
Because he remembered He Jiuniang's words and thought that this person's identity was extraordinary, Old Man Lu's attitude was extremely gentle.
Qin Jian was puzzled when a smiling old face suddenly appeared in front of him. His body instinctively reached for the sword at his waist, only to find that his sword was gone.
This action startled Old Man Lu. After he came to his senses, Qin Jian stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I'm sorry, I've offended you. Please forgive me."
"It's alright, it's alright," Old Lu said cheerfully, emphasizing, "These days, everyone has a hard time. It was my third son's wife who saved you."
His old face was all wrinkled with laughter, as if the words "repaying kindness" were written all over it.
Qin Jian looked in the direction Old Man Lu pointed and saw He Jiuniang carrying her son who had just finished urinating. The mother and son were talking and laughing.
The three-year drought killed countless people. Along the way, Qin Jian had met all sorts of people, but he had never seen anyone laugh so happily.
Looking at this family, they are clearly refugees fleeing famine. It's remarkable that they can still smile so happily even in such dire straits.
"Qin Jian is very grateful to his sister-in-law for saving his life."
Although Qin Jian felt that the woman looked a few years younger than him, there was no more appropriate way to address her at the moment.
He Jiuniang nodded casually: "It was nothing. If you really want to thank me, you should show some sincerity."
Qin Jian's fist-clasping gesture froze for a moment; he hadn't expected the woman to be so direct.
"Of course, of course!"
Qin Jian patted his pockets, took out his money pouch, kept only a small piece of silver for himself, and gave the rest to He Jiuniang.
Fortunately, the place where he lost consciousness was relatively remote; otherwise, if he had encountered other refugees, he probably would have been stripped naked.
He Jiuniang weighed the money in her hand; it should be several dozen taels, but she wasn't satisfied. If she wanted money, she could have just taken it on the way. What she wanted was to use his identity to find a place to settle down as soon as possible, but now it seemed that her idea had fallen through.
Even so, the honest Lu family still felt that they had gone too far in taking advantage of the kindness shown to them.
"I have a question, and I would appreciate it if you could enlighten me, young lady."
After thinking for a moment, Qin Jian finally spoke. He Jiu Niang raised her eyebrows, guessing what he wanted to ask, and nodded: "Go ahead."
"I am poisoned and will soon die. I wonder if it was you, my sister-in-law, who helped me detoxify?"
The first thing he noticed when he woke up was that the poison in his body was gone. Upon closer inspection, he saw some needle marks on his fingertips, which clearly indicated that he had been helped by a master.
Although the woman in front of him looked like an ordinary peasant woman at first glance, he always felt that she was not simple.
“I don’t know,” He Jiuniang shook her head. “I just fed you some water.”
The Lu family had initially thought that their third son's wife had gained some extraordinary ability after dying once, and they stared wide-eyed at her explanation, but it made sense.
Qin Jian frowned, somewhat disappointed. Who could have saved him?
Realizing he had important matters to attend to, he didn't want to dwell on it any longer. He turned to the crowd and said, "I have other important business to attend to, so I won't stay any longer. We'll meet again someday. Farewell!"
As he spoke, he disappeared from the Lu family's sight in the next moment.
"This young master is really something; he hasn't even brought his sword yet!"
Old Lu couldn't help but click his tongue. Just as he was about to say something, he turned around and saw He Jiuniang emptying all the gleaming silver from her money bag to count it. His eyes lit up and he hurriedly went over to take a look.
Good heavens, so much silver! The Lu family has never seen so much silver in their entire lives!
There are three large silver ingots weighing ten taels each, two small silver ingots weighing five taels each, and some loose silver, totaling about fifty taels.
After counting them, He Jiuniang handed them to Madam Sun: "Mother, please keep them."
Sun refused to accept the money, saying, "You saved him, so you should keep the money yourself. Gou'er is not in good health, and he will need money in the future."
“Mother, our family hasn’t separated yet. My wife and dog have been taken care of by the family all these years. This money should be put in the common fund for everyone to use together. Please take it.”
He Jiuniang forcefully stuffed the money bag into Sun's hand; she did this deliberately in front of everyone.
There were no men in the original owner's branch of the family. Previously, the eldest and second eldest sons were the ones who took care of the family's fields. The dog was weak and sickly and could drink medicine like water. Although the people in the eldest and second branches of the family were kind and easy to get along with, they inevitably had some complaints in private. Now, she was putting this money in the public account in front of everyone, which could be considered as giving the eldest and second branches of the family an explanation.
It's no wonder that Sun Shi, at her age, can manage a household so well. After thinking it over, she accepted forty taels and gave the remaining ten taels to He Jiu Niang.
"In that case, the money will be distributed as originally agreed. The public funds will take 80%, and you can keep the remaining 20% yourself."
After saying that, she turned to the eldest and second wives and said, "You all saw it. This money was earned by the third son's wife. In the past, this money would have been enough for our whole family to live on for more than ten years. Now that times are tough, it might even become our life-saving money in the future. Although the third son is not at home, the third wife's family has also contributed to this family. I, this old woman, will not allow you to have any other thoughts behind the scenes."
The eldest and second eldest brothers immediately stated that since their younger brother was not present, it was their duty as older brothers to take care of his sister-in-law and nephew.
The eldest daughter-in-law, Madam Yu, said, "We understand what Mother is saying. We are family, and it is only right that we help each other. Besides, my sister-in-law has suffered such a hardship, but good fortune is yet to come!"
The second daughter-in-law, Qin, nodded in agreement: "Even if Mother doesn't say it, we know in our hearts that our third sister-in-law came back this time with food, drink, and so much money. She saved the lives of our whole family. How can we not treat her and her son well?"
The younger children listened from the side and thought that their third aunt was amazing. They thought they should treat their little brother Gou'er even better in the future.
The dog's fever had subsided considerably, but he was still feeling somewhat drowsy due to his weak constitution since childhood. He snuggled into his mother's arms and fell asleep again as soon as the adults started talking.
Although he missed the excitement, he had a wonderful dream, and a smile remained on his lips even as he slept.
The Lu family dared not delay, quickly packed their things, and set off.
A few days ago, the dog was sick and weak, which caused them to fall far behind the main group in the village. Now that the situation has improved, they have to catch up quickly, otherwise there may be more unexpected changes.
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