At dinner time, Tao Wan's mother looked at the dark, mushy dumpling soup in front of her, but couldn't bring herself to pick up her chopsticks.
"Is this all you're feeding me?"
“Mother, this is the only wild grass we can find for miles around. We don’t know what it is, but if we mix it with chaff, it can fill our stomachs,” Ling Dahu said bitterly. “Mother, we’ve eaten it, we’ll be fine. Besides, we’re almost out of chaff now…”
Tao Wanniang frowned.
Even though her stomach was growling loudly with hunger, she couldn't bring herself to eat.
Moreover, in her storage space, there was also fine rice and wheat flour that she had just bought from the system using the silver she had exchanged...
"Do the kids eat this too?"
"Mother, there's no other way, we'll starve to death if we don't eat!" Wang Hongyu swallowed hard and said with a bitter face.
She didn't want to feed this to the children either!
"You all eat, I can't eat!" Tao Wanniang said listlessly. "Eat quickly, I have something to tell you after you finish!"
"Mom, you really won't eat?"
Ling Dapeng stared intently at the bowl of dark, lumpy soup in front of Tao Wanniang and swallowed hard.
"You guys eat quickly, don't let me see this stuff," Tao Wanniang said with disgust.
When the person in charge of the household spoke, everyone else naturally obeyed and started eating.
Watching them wolf down their food, Tao Wanniang felt helpless.
Everyone in the village has left, leaving only the original owner's family. Because the original owner insisted on not leaving, they have now been reduced to eating chaff and drinking thin gruel.
Besides the four adults, there are three children: a three-year-old grandson, a one-year-old granddaughter, and a six-month-old grandson.
I don't know why the original owner was so stubborn, letting her whole family die here for a man who had been missing for seventeen years...
Seeing that the seven people had devoured all the food on the table, Tao Wanniang cleared her throat and asked, "Have you all finished eating? I'm about to get down to business!"
"Mother, if you really don't eat something, your body won't be able to handle it," Ling Dahu asked worriedly.
“It’s alright. Didn’t I hang up during the day?” Tao Wanniang said calmly.
Seeing the confusion on her son and daughter-in-law's faces, Tao Wan's mother explained frankly, "That's right, during the day, I really did die and went to the underworld. I not only met King Yama, but also your dead father."
"Yes, that's your father, Ling Yunzhou. He's already dead. My mother waited for so many years, and he just kicked the bucket and is now a minor official!"
With a thud, Ling Dahu knelt down on the ground. "Mother, you...you're talking nonsense. Your son was wrong. Your son apologizes!"
"Thump--"
"Thump--"
As Ling Dahu knelt down, his eldest daughter-in-law, second son, and daughter-in-law all knelt down like dumplings being dropped into boiling water.
The eldest grandson was already quite sensible; seeing his parents kneel down, the little guy obediently knelt down as well.
"Why are you kneeling? Get up, all of you! I'm not talking nonsense, why don't you believe me!"
“Your deadbeat father told me that people live by moving and trees die by moving, and staying in Lingjia Village is a dead end! So, I’ve decided that we should pack our things and leave tomorrow.”
"Oh, by the way, your dad also said he left something for us under that big rock at the village entrance..."
Tao Wanniang spoke these seemingly unbelievable words without changing her expression.
But she had no choice. Her family was destitute, facing a natural disaster with no way to survive. How could she take out the items she had redeemed from the system if she didn't say it this way?
Moreover, if they were to actually leave the village to escape the famine, they would need to find some food, so it would be better to use this somewhat absurd excuse to dispel their family's doubts all at once.
When the time comes, as long as the whole family works together, they will be able to cover up these suspiciously sourced foods on the road!
"Mother, don't scare us. We won't leave. As long as you're here, we'll stay!" Ling Dahu said immediately, his heart pounding with fear.
He thought Tao Wanniang was talking nonsense because she was angry with them.
"Fool!" Tao Wanniang shouted.
The eldest son is easily influenced and afraid that his mother will listen to his wife again. In the past, he was always caught in the middle between the original owner and his eldest daughter-in-law, like a punching bag.
"If you don't believe me, then go and see for yourselves whether what your dead father said is true!" Tao Wanniang said with great confidence.
"Dog Boy's father, why don't we go take a look first?" Wang Hongyu tugged at Ling Dahu's sleeve and advised.
Wang Hongyu had wanted to leave for a long time; staying in Lingjia Village meant certain death by starvation, and their child was still so young…
Now that the old lady has finally agreed to let us go, of course we have to seize the opportunity!
The eldest son is a bit too filial, and right now he's in a state where his mother might be confused by his anger, making him a little difficult to manage.
Tao Wan's mother immediately looked sharply at her youngest son and commanded, "Ling Dapeng, you go!"
If Ling Dahu was easily influenced, then his youngest son, Ling Dapeng, was henpecked.
Despite her gentle and weak appearance, Zhou Xiaoyun, the youngest daughter-in-law, has Ling Dapeng completely under her thumb.
Ling Dapeng shuddered when his mother suddenly called his name, but seeing his wife nod, he immediately replied, "Ah, oh, I'll go, I'll go right now!"
Then he ran out as fast as the wind.
Tao Wanniang took this opportunity to mutter to herself, laying the groundwork for her sudden transformation.
"Do you think I don't want to live? I'm only thirty-six! Do you think I want to die here?"
"Your father was drafted into the army seventeen years ago, and we haven't even heard a word from him. We need to see him alive or dead. I've been guarding this place so diligently because I'm afraid he won't be able to find his way home when he comes back!!"
"But he's dead now, completely dead, what's the point of me guarding him anymore!"
Listening to Tao Wanniang's words, Ling Dahu and Wang Hongyu exchanged a cautious glance, their faces showing both confusion and relief.
Zhou Xiaoyun, standing to the side, remained silent, only feeding the child in her arms soup little by little.
A moment later, Ling Dapeng's excited voice came from outside the door, shouting, "Mother, Mother, there really is something!"
Immediately afterwards, Ling Dapeng picked up a small cloth bag in each hand, his face filled with excitement and disbelief.
"White rice and white flour, Mom, did Dad really give this to us?!"
Ling Dahu didn't believe it and immediately stepped forward to open the cloth bag. When he saw what was inside, his eyes widened in disbelief.
This...this white rice and white flour, even without the famine, their family couldn't afford to eat it!
"Mother, is Father really a high-ranking official underground?"
Tao Wanniang didn't answer directly, but just sneered, "Is that all the food you have? You damned bastard, seventeen years and this is all you get... Hongyu, Xiaoyun, you two use this to make something to eat, I'm hungry!"
Wang Hongyu and Zhou Xiaoyun looked at each other in bewilderment.
Could this really have been sent up from underground by my father-in-law?!
Can people eat things from the underworld?
Seeing her two daughters-in-law hesitate, Tao Wan's mother chuckled and urged, "What are you standing there for? If you don't dare to eat, then cook it properly for me. I'm not afraid of dying, I'm just afraid of not having enough to eat!"
Tao Wanniang pointed at Ling Dahu and his brother and ordered, "And you two, make me a cart. Do you expect me to walk the whole way when we flee famine tomorrow?"
Ling Dahu's eyes were now filled with nothing but white rice and white flour. Just looking at them made his mouth water. The rice bran he had just eaten no longer made him feel full.
"Mom, please make me more food! I'm not afraid of what Dad gives me, and I need to work on the cart tonight and travel again tomorrow, so I need to be well-fed!"
As soon as Ling Dahu spoke, Wang Hongyu immediately followed up, "Mom, can Gouwa and Huani have some rice porridge? They've almost forgotten what white rice tastes like!"
Zhou Xiaoyun wasn't stupid; how could she let go of the opportunity to have a full meal!
She hurriedly asked, "Mom, Er Gouzi has never had such fine white rice porridge since he was born. Can Er Gouzi drink it?"
After saying that, she pinched Ling Dapeng, who then stammered, "Mom, I...I ran around for a while and I'm hungry!"
Meeting the eager eyes of the group, Tao Wanniang was delighted and waved her hand.
"Alright, if your deadbeat dad gave it to us, then let's eat it together!"
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