Lu Xingjian wasn't entirely heartless towards Ma Ji, was he?
Liu Qi truly lived up to his reputation as her most trusted and relied-upon subordinate; his words hit the nail on the head.
However, she doesn't have long to live, so these things are meaningless to her.
Su Wanwan smiled. "So?"
"You can't even survive yourself, what else can you do?"
Su Wanwan choked.
She grew up in luxury, with servants and protectors around her.
In this chaotic world, with no manpower available, there was very little she could do.
Liu Qi didn't make things difficult for her, and left after saying, "Just take care of yourself."
Su Wanwan: "..."
Liu Qi's tone was full of disdain.
Is she really that bad...?
Liu Qi didn't appear for the next few days. An old woman in coarse clothes with a sallow complexion brought her food. Her accent was too heavy for Su Wanwan to understand.
The two talked at cross purposes for several days before Su Wanwan finally understood that this place was actually in Song County, within the jurisdiction of Henan Prefecture.
Su Wanwan had very mixed feelings.
The Su family's ancestral home is in Luoyang.
This woman from the Su family, who has grown up, has never been to her hometown of Luoyang.
Now that they are in distress, they are ironically so close to Luoyang.
However, even though the distance was very short, it was impossible for her, a frail woman in poor health, to go to Luoyang.
There are bandits and government troops everywhere outside, and the world is in utter chaos.
It was rare for Liu Qi to find a secluded little mountain village, a place spared from the ravages of war.
The old lady must have received money from Liu Qi, because she diligently delivered three meals a day.
There was rice porridge, cornbread, and wild vegetable porridge.
Sometimes wild game is available.
At first, the old lady came alone, but later she found that Su Wanwan was easy to talk to, so she brought two children with her.
The older one was a little girl of eight or nine years old named Zhao Erya. She was very thin, but quite hardworking. She kept the house and surrounding area spotless and tidy.
The youngest was only six or seven years old, named Zhao Sidan. He was tiny and looked malnourished.
While Su Wanwan was eating, he stared at her with wide, round eyes, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth with envy.
Seeing this, the old lady slapped Zhao Sidan on the head and cursed, "Are you a reincarnated starving ghost? Aren't you going to help your sister with the work?"
Zhao Sidan wiped his drool from his drool with his patched and tattered clothes and ran out to help Zhao Erya with her work.
Su Wanwan: "..."
Zhao Sidan is about the same age as Yan Ge'er, but he bears burdens that someone his age shouldn't have to endure.
She had truly witnessed firsthand how impoverished ordinary people were.
Tonight's dinner, besides wild vegetable porridge, also includes yellow taro, which is the "yellow taro" that Xiao Bin suggested we plant in Xuanfu before.
I never expected that this thing would be planted here.
There was also a boiled egg.
Su Wanwan left the boiled egg behind, waved to Zhao Sidan, and gave him the egg: "I can't finish it, you can eat it for me."
Zhao Sidan's saliva gushed out.
He's never eaten an egg in his entire life.
Sometimes there are eggs at home, but he doesn't get to eat them.
He would secretly pick up the eggshells from the ground and lick them. The eggshells smelled so good, and he would keep licking them...
Now we actually have the chance to eat eggs?
Zhao Sidan was terrified and quickly waved his hand in refusal, saying, "No, no need..."
She was terrified of angering this customer whom the grandmother valued highly and getting a beating in return.
Su Wanwan: "..."
She was just being kind, wanting to give the little guy some extra nutrition.
As a mother, it's easy to feel pity for children who are similar to your own.
If Yan Ge'er gets this thin, she'll be heartbroken.
Songxian County is located south of the Yellow River and is not considered one of the poorest places.
If ordinary people are living like this, how miserable must it be for people in other places?
Su Wanwan peeled the hard-boiled egg, cut it in half, and handed one half to Zhao Sidan: "Here you go."
Zhao Sidan peeked at his grandmother washing clothes outside and mustered the courage to ask, "Can I have a bite? Just a tiny bite..."
He wasn't trying to take advantage of anyone; he just wanted to know what eggs tasted like.
Su Wanwan handed him half an egg, saying, "It's all yours."
"Give this half to your sister."
Zhao Sidan held half an egg in each hand, and his mouth watered at the aroma of the eggs.
He quickly wiped it clean, stuck out his tongue, and licked the egg like a starving puppy.
"It smells so good..."
Zhao Sidan just licked the food without eating it, his saliva dripping down his face.
I can't bear to eat it.
As soon as Grandma Zhao looked up, she saw Zhao Sidan standing at the door, holding half an egg in one hand, his drool almost dripping onto his clothes.
She frowned, her face contorted, and let out a long sigh.
The family was so poor that it was a miracle the children hadn't starved to death.
The few eggs they had were all saved to exchange for salt and cloth; they couldn't bear to eat them themselves.
Hearing the sigh, Zhao Sidan shifted his attention away from the eggs.
He lowered his head in regret.
Grandma hasn't even eaten yet, how can he only think of himself?
He first took the half of the egg that belonged to his sister and gave it to her, then handed his own half of the egg to the old lady.
"Grandma, you eat."
Grandma Zhao looked at the little guy with a complicated expression.
This child is so filial.
She's practically half-buried, how could she possibly compete with her grandson for food?
Grandma Zhao stuffed half an egg into Zhao Sidan's mouth.
Zhao Sidan stood there, frozen in place.
Oh My God.
Is there really something this delicious?
It smells so good!
Zhao Erya took a small bite out of half an egg, found a leaf to wrap the rest, and carefully tucked it into her bosom.
After finishing the egg in his mouth, Zhao Sidan asked, puzzled, "Sister, why aren't you eating?"
Zhao Erya: "Take it back and share it with my mother and younger brother."
Su Wanwan looked at the siblings, her feelings inexplicably complicated.
That evening, Su Wanwan was half asleep when Zhao Erya knocked on the door.
He lowered his voice and said, "Madam, some wicked people have come to the village and are looking for someone. You'd better hide!"
Su Wanwan regained some strength and asked helplessly, "Where should we hide?"
Zhao Erya looked at the dark mountain valley not far away and gritted her teeth: "Let's go into the mountains!"
Grandma and Mom both said that this lady was a good person.
She ate the eggs given to her by a kind person; we can't let her be taken away by evil people.
Zhao Erya, who was used to walking on mountain paths, led Su Wanwan into the mountains.
As soon as the two stepped out of the courtyard, they saw someone carrying a torch hurrying towards them.
Zhao Erya got anxious, grabbed Su Wanwan's hand, and ran up the mountain.
Su Wanwan hadn't walked on mountain paths much before, and it was dark, so she stumbled along, making it quite difficult.
However, in the courtyard where she used to live, the torches were very bright, and many burly men were viciously searching inside, even smashing the water tank.
Su Wanwan's heart tightened.
Judging from their appearance, they were definitely not the people who came to rescue her.
Zhao Erya has spent many years on this mountain, doing things like digging for wild vegetables and gathering firewood, and she knows the terrain very well.
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