The person who is with her now is Xu Daya's father, who is also Old Lady Xu's eldest son, Xu Da. His full name is Xu Dayong.
Xu Da's wife was purchased. Her surname was Zhang and her name was Zhang Yumei. She was originally a second-class maidservant of a young lady from a wealthy family. Due to a severe drought, her family sold her off and Xu Da bought her as his wife.
That was eleven years ago. There was a severe drought at that time, but the Xu family still had some surplus grain. The villagers were still united and barely got through the difficult times.
However, the harvests in the following years were not good. Coupled with the birth of children and the marriage of the youngest son, when another severe drought came, the family could no longer bear it.
Old Man Xu was getting older and his health was declining. He was worried all the way, always concerned about his family, and he was just holding on with all his strength. At this moment, he was lying weakly on the cart.
"Grandpa, are you hungry?" Xu Ning ran to the cart with the box in his arms and asked softly.
The treasure chest told her that she didn't need to hold the box, because no one could get the things inside except her. So she put the treasure chest next to Old Man Xu with confidence.
Just now, when Xu Ning passed by the pot where Old Lady Xu was burning a fire, he saw tree roots and a chopped sweet potato cooking in the pot, and he couldn't help feeling a sour feeling in his stomach.
Looking at how Old Man Xu was breathing out more than breathing in, she became worried that if this continued, her mission would be over just as it had begun.
When Old Man Xu heard the voice, he tried hard to open his blurry eyes and saw that it was his silly granddaughter talking to him. His wrinkled lips moved, revealing his gums with only a few sparse teeth left.
"Hey, I'm not hungry." Old Man Xu's voice was as light as smoke in the wind, as if it would float away at any time.
Xu Ning couldn't bear to watch this, so he quietly reached into the treasure chest, fumbled around for a while, took out a handful of sugar, and quickly put it into Old Man Xu's mouth.
Her movements were so covert that even the Xu family members who were closest to her did not notice.
After something was stuffed into Old Man Xu's mouth, he chewed it habitually. Halfway through, he realized something was wrong, opened his eyes wide, and was about to speak when Xu Ning immediately covered his wrinkled mouth.
"Grandpa, please don't say anything and eat quickly. I have plenty here! Grandma, Daddy, Mommy, Brother, and Little Brother all have them!"
Xu Ning noticed that Old Man Xu's chewing speed had increased. Seeing that he still wanted to talk after finishing his meal, he grabbed another pinch of sugar and stuffed it into his mouth. This time, Old Man Xu blinked and stopped talking.
"Hey, you're not stupid anymore?" This was the second sentence said by Old Man Xu, and it sounded more powerful than the first.
"Grandpa, I'm fine now. In my dream, an old immortal gave me this box. There are a lot of delicious food in it." Old Man Xu slowly turned his head, glanced at the box beside him, and nodded slightly.
Xu Ning breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Old Man Xu did not ask about the box, and then he stealthily threw the remaining sugar in his hand into the pot of boiling tree roots.
"Oh! Daya, did you throw mud into the pot?" Old Mrs. Xu was squatting and making a fire. When she looked up, she saw Xu Ning waving his hands above the pot, and she immediately shouted in panic.
Hearing the noise, the Xu family members rushed over. Xu Ning put his hands behind his back awkwardly, like a student who had done something wrong.
Xu Ning thought that if she didn't explain, Old Lady Xu would be angry, but she didn't expect her to say the next word: "Big brother, let Dabao look after Daya. There's enough firewood, so there's no need to collect it. Old lady, take Xiaobao to the river to wash his face. We can eat soon."
"Oh mother!" Zhang had been picking up hay. After hearing what her mother-in-law said, she immediately pulled her youngest son over. Seeing Xu Ning standing there, she pulled him along.
"Mom, let me watch over Daya too. The hay has been laid out. You go and rest first. Let Dayong watch over the fire."
"No need, you guys go quickly, the earlier you go, the earlier you come back. It will be dark soon and it will be unsafe." Old Mrs. Xu stood up and pounded her waist. Xu Da hurried over to support Old Mrs. Xu.
"Dabao, watch over the fire. I'll help your grandma get some rest."
"Okay, Dad." Xu Da's eldest son Xu An, nicknamed Xu Dabao, is ten years old and is piling up the firewood he has picked up.
On the other side, Xu Ning stood by the stream like a wooden stake, staring silently at Zhang as she took out a dry towel, soaked it in water, and gently washed Xu Xiaobao's face.
There were still a few grains of sugar on Xu Ning's hand. While Zhang was not paying attention, she quickly stuck out her tongue and licked the sugar clean.
After making sure that the sugar on her hands had been licked clean, she squatted down and prepared to wash her hands.
"Daya, don't come down. Mom will wash you later." Zhang didn't realize that Xu Ning was no longer stupid, and was worried that she would accidentally fall.
Xu Ning stared silently at the river surface with only a few muddy streams in front of him, his body motionless.
There are many puddles nearby that were dug by refugees for water use. Although they are not deep, they are filled with silt. For someone as ignorant as Xu Daya, she might fall into them if she is not careful. This is indeed a safety hazard.
Moreover, the river water is very thin and turbid, and can only be used to wash hands and cheeks. If you want to drink it directly, you still have to let it sit for a long time.
In the evening, all that remained in the sky was a brilliant sea of clouds.
Xu Ning's first dinner after arriving in ancient times was a sweet potato and tree root soup. Each person was only given one piece of sweet potato, but Xu Ning's piece was the largest, containing the most tree roots.
She glanced at Xu Da and the others' bowls and found that they only had a few tree roots, so she curled her lips.
"Dad, I don't want to eat tree roots." Xu Ning brought the bowl to Xu Da.
"Daya, eating tree roots can fill you up." Xu Da is a simple and honest man. He does not have the idea of favoring boys over girls.
"Dad, give it to my brother. I'm not hungry." Xu Ning was really not hungry. After she came back from the river, she secretly ate a few pieces of pork jerky with Old Man Xu on the cart.
Old Man Xu was not hungry at the moment. He was full after drinking two bowls of bark soup.
"Daya, you..." Xu Dabao was the second person to discover that Xu Ning was no longer stupid.
"Daya, you are not stupid!" Xu Da and Zhang, who realized it later, shouted in surprise almost at the same time.
Old Mrs. Xu was still gnawing on the tree roots with great difficulty. When she heard these words, she suddenly raised her head and looked at her granddaughter sitting next to her.
"My dear, do you know who I am?"
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