“Xiao Xi is right!” Chu Zhiqin nodded in agreement, now completely free from the memories of Xi Xi’s past life.
On one side is her biological older sister, and on the other is her biological daughter. In fact, Chu Zhiqin's heart aches every time she recalls Xi Xi's account of her past life.
“Look, my daughter and I will never stab you with a knife,” Chu Zhiqin said, wiping Xi Zhongcang’s disheveled face with a hot towel. “Even if you look this ugly right now!”
Just as Xi's father was comforted by his daughter's words, his wife made him laugh.
He started coughing violently as he laughed, which terrified Chu Zhiqin and Xi Xi, and their joking mood vanished.
Chu Zhiqin looked at her husband with a serious expression. She probably guessed why Xi Zhongcang hadn't replied to her private messages before, but she still couldn't help but ask.
"I'm in this state... cough cough..." Xi Zhongcang leaned against the cup Xi Xi brought him, drank some hot water, and then stopped coughing. "Besides being a burden to you, I can't help you with anything..."
It turns out that Xi Zhongcang had been searching for his wife and daughter since the first day he entered the game, but to no avail.
Even the private message interface of "Chu Zhiqin" that Xi Zhongcang used to deceive his younger brother and sister-in-law was one of the many "Chu Zhiqin" he was looking for.
At that time, he had already suffered a serious injury to his right leg and a disability in his left leg. But even though he was in poor health, Xi Zhongcang was still sharp-minded. He saw that his younger brother's family wanted to get closer to him, so he used the method of having the same name to gloss over the matter of finding relatives.
"So you already suspected back then that your brother's family wasn't a good family?" Chu Zhiqin asked, somewhat puzzled. "Then why didn't you contact us secretly? You didn't reply to my private messages!"
Xi Zhongcang sighed and shook his head. Things weren't that simple...
At that time, he was afraid that his wife and daughter's lives had just started to improve, and he would have to take care of him, who was partially disabled, and also support Xi Zhantao's family of three.
As a man, he couldn't save face, and he couldn't get over this hurdle psychologically.
"Are you stupid?" Xi's mother was furious, but then her eyes warmed up a little. "At a time like this, you're still thinking about saving face. You're so old, what's face worth... If you had suspected them, you should have run away sooner!"
“I do suspect them, but I have no proof,” a shadow of gloom suddenly rose in Xi’s father’s eyes. “I suspect it’s because of them that Mom…”
The rift between relatives didn't appear suddenly; this chance encounter after the server merge was clearly just the trigger.
"I was just about to ask, where is Grandma?" Seeing her father's pale face, Xi Xi's heart sank as if she had guessed something. "I thought Grandma had been taken away by Aunt's family... it seems that's not the case..."
Upon hearing this, Xi Zhongcang suddenly closed his eyes, as if he were recalling some painful scene, and his brows furrowed.
Xi's father took a deep breath and started talking about Xi Xi's grandmother.
It turned out that while they were in the desert, they unexpectedly encountered Luo Qian and Xi Yunchen during a dungeon exploration.
Luo Qian tearfully recounted the hardships she and her son had endured, while simultaneously plotting to take Xi's father's car. Xi Yunchen, as the youngest grandson in the family, prostrated himself before the old lady, vowing to fulfill his filial duty.
In this way, under their instigation, Xi's father's car was combined with Xi Yunchen's car.
When they were first merged into commercial vehicles, they did enjoy a better period. People no longer had to squeeze into the cramped four-seater vehicle, and could stretch their arms and legs comfortably without feeling confined.
But this kind of life gradually began to have drawbacks.
The Xi family was idle and petty. Originally, Xi's father was in charge of driving, his eldest sister Xi Yiren was in charge of taking care of the old lady, and his younger brother Xi Zhantao was in charge of finding supplies. The division of labor was clear.
Now that there are two more mouths to feed, it is only natural to need to find more supplies.
However, Luo Qian used her poor health as an excuse to refuse to go out with her husband to find supplies. She also did not take good care of the old lady and had a big fight with her older sister Xi Yiren nine out of ten days.
Xi Yunchen stopped driving altogether, constantly saying things like "I'm still inexperienced," "My driving skills are not as good as my uncle's," and "The winding and rugged roads in the desert are really scary." He believed that he had already made a great contribution to the vehicle upgrade and spent his days eating and drinking, ignoring everything else.
The old lady was a sensible person. At first, she scolded him a few times, and Xi Yunchen pretended to help drive for half a day. Then, he twisted his ankle in a battle with a gerbil and has been "ill since" ever since. No one can ask him to do anything.
The extreme heat, drought, and lack of supplies caused the old lady's health to deteriorate day by day.
Xi Yiren finally couldn't hold back anymore. After everyone had gone to sleep, she had a big argument with her youngest brother, Xi Zhantao, telling him to communicate properly with his wife and son.
Xi Zhantao had always been the most pampered youngest son, and had never suffered such grievances. He considered himself the hardest-working of the three siblings, and since his eldest sister was being unreasonable, he declared that starting tomorrow he would never go out to find supplies again, and everyone would starve.
I initially thought it was just a momentary outburst, but to my surprise, he actually claimed to be ill and didn't go the next day. Mr. Xi was a kind and honest man, and in order to reconcile the relationship between his older sister and younger brother, he volunteered to take on the tasks of driving and finding supplies.
They thought helping out for a couple of days would calm the siblings down, but it turned out to be more than half a month. Xi Zhantao's family reaped the benefits, boasting that Xi's father had been a soldier and was much more efficient at finding supplies than they were, while continuing to idle away their time.
Xi Yiren was already tired of this life of barely having enough to eat, working herself to the bone, and having to take care of a bunch of parasites. One night, she suddenly disappeared and left. From then on, the old lady had no one to serve her, and her life became increasingly difficult.
After Xi Yiren left, Xi Zhantao started looking for supplies again, and Luo Qian had to take on the responsibility of taking care of the old lady.
However, the desert climate had become increasingly harsh by this time, and everything from food and clothing to shelter and transportation became a problem.
One day, after driving for most of the day, Xi Zhongcang dragged his tired body to find food. He finally managed to drag two mid-level treasure chests back to the car, only to find it empty.
"Brother, please save Mom!" Xi Zhantao shouted anxiously to his father from the distant sand dunes.
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