"When we ran out of food, we dug up tree roots, foraged for wild vegetables, or ate tree bark, but these things were limited in number during this lean season! In the end, we ate all the wild vegetables, tree roots, and tree bark!"
"Everyone was starving when there was no food left. After Wang Tieshuan realized that there was no more food, he became ruthless and insane!"
At this point, Yue'er's forehead began to sweat, and her face turned pale again.
Seeing that Yue'er wasn't urging her, Jiang Ling gave Jiang Yaojie, who was standing behind her, a wink.
Jiang Yaojie immediately went to the kitchen and took out the leftover buckwheat buns that had hardened from the evening.
Yue'er glanced at the buckwheat bun in Jiang Yaojie's hand and subconsciously swallowed, her gaze awkwardly shifting elsewhere.
"Don't be afraid, here's some for you. Eat something first before you talk!" Jiang Ling said, taking a steamed bun from Jiang Yaojie's hand and handing it to Yue'er.
Yue'er's expression was complicated at this moment. After hesitating for a long time, she asked in an extremely surprised tone, "I...can I really eat? I...I don't have anything to give you in return!"
These words made Jiang Ling frown. From Yue'er's tone just now, Jiang Ling could tell that something was not good. Moreover, Jiang Ling had learned some of these things when she was in school.
But Jiang Ling still couldn't believe it. She nodded and comforted her, "You don't need to exchange anything with me. Just eat! I know you must be starving!"
Yue'er looked at Jiang Ling again, her eyes filled with complex emotions—gratitude, sadness, heartache, and resentment.
Finally, Yue'er reached out her trembling hand and snatched the hard buckwheat bun, almost stuffing the whole thing into her mouth.
"Oh dear, don't choke!" Jiang Ling, worried that Yue'er might have an accident, quickly handed Yue'er the water next to her.
Seeing this, the women around them grew bolder. They knelt down and kowtowed to Jiang Ling again, pleading, "Goddess, Goddess, could you share some food with us?"
Jiang Ling quickly gestured to Jiang Yaojie with her eyes, and Jiang Yaojie distributed all the steamed buns in his hand.
The women's actions the moment they received the steamed buns were almost identical to Yue'er's; they wished they could stuff the buns directly into their mouths.
After eating a steamed bun, Yue'er's lips suddenly curled up, revealing a relieved expression. She collapsed to the ground and remained silent for a long time.
One by one, glistening tears streamed down Yue'er's face. Yue'er began to tremble all over, and her sobbing gradually turned into a wail.
The moon's voice stirred the women around her who had narrowly escaped death, and they too began to weep bitterly, their sobbing sounds eerily mournful in the quiet night.
Jiang Ling offered no comfort or took any action, simply watching the scene unfold before her with indifference. She knew these women needed to vent their frustrations. Although she didn't know how long they had been refugees, she knew that these days had been extremely difficult for them.
Even getting a good night's sleep is probably a luxury.
Yue'er was the first to recover from her sobs. She looked up, wiped her swollen eyes, took several deep breaths, and said to Jiang Ling, "Later, when there was no more food, that guy Wang Tieshuan actually set his sights on the children. We resisted before, but the result was that the men were beaten to death and made into food to be eaten, and the women were violated like this!"
“When my man and I met Wang Tieshuan, I was almost three months pregnant. I thought I could escape those sordid and dirty things, but who would have thought… who would have thought…”
As Yue'er spoke, her swollen eyes were filled with hatred, a hatred so intense it could almost devour her, startling even Jiang Ling.
"Who would have thought I wouldn't escape this fate either, and my man was also... he brutally beat to death! Just now, while eating your steamed bun, I felt so regretful. If my man had been a little luckier, would he have had a share of that steamed bun?"
After hearing Yue'er's description, Jiang Ling felt her blood rush to her head. Although she had prepared herself mentally, she was still very angry upon hearing this.
She took several deep breaths, gritted her teeth, and said, "This Wang Tieshuan is committing so many evil deeds, can't all of you collectively resist?"
Yue'er shook her head in despair and said to Jiang Ling, "It's no use. This guy is good at bribing people. What we lack most is food, and then women. He used his power to first bribe some people who were his equals, and then he gave us away as commodities. Naturally, those beasts obeyed him without question!"
As she said this, Yue'er's body began to tremble again, and the women around her scrambled over.
They kept kowtowing to Jiang Ling, hoping that she would take them in.
Jiang Ling glanced at everyone; she couldn't bear to see them suffer like this any longer. She looked at the wasteland around her and an idea popped into her head.
"Wait here for me!" Jiang Ling stood up and placed a ring in Jiang Yaojie's arms, whispering, "I'm going out for a bit. If they have any improper thoughts, stick this ring on any of them!"
Jiang Yaojie nodded, his eyes warily fixed on the group of women in front of him whose faces were covered in tears.
The village chief was squatting on the cement floor of his house, smoking a pipe. He was somewhat regretful. Although those people were all women, if things had gotten out of hand, Jiang Ling might have been a bit difficult to deal with.
Thinking of this, the village chief hesitated for a moment, then stood up and walked towards the door.
He had just opened the door when Jiang Ling appeared before him. He asked in surprise, "Jiang Shi, you... how did you end up here?"
"Village chief, I have a suggestion, I wonder if you would agree!"
The village chief looked Jiang Ling over and, after confirming that she was normal, asked with surprise, "Those...those people, what do you plan to do with them?"
"Village Chief, I came to find you about this matter!" Jiang Ling then recounted everything she had just heard from Yue'er to the village chief.
The village chief's face grew darker and darker as he listened, until finally he slammed his pipe against the fence and roared, "Is this Wang Tieshuan even human? Tomorrow morning, we'll report to Magistrate Duan and teach that bastard a lesson!"
“Village chief, this is what I’m thinking. Look, the nursing home, the fertilizer plant, and this shampoo factory all need manpower. Although there are quite a few people in our village, I hope everyone will return to the land during the busy spring farming season. After all, the land is our root!”
"Moreover, the shampoo is selling very well, and hiring more people is a sure thing. I think it would be better to observe these homeless people recently. If they are kind-hearted, we can let them live here, let them work for us, pay them wages, and let them settle down and survive here. Wouldn't that be better?"
After listening to Jiang Ling's words, the village chief thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
"How about that piece of wasteland over there?" the village chief asked after thinking for a moment.
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