Jia Er wolfed down the steamed bun in his hands, then walked over to Er Gouzi. "Just eat. Once you're full, your wound will heal faster."
A shadow of gloom passed over the young man's dark face. "My wound won't heal anymore."
"Nonsense!" Jia Er glared at him. "Who said your wound won't heal?"
Half a month ago, Er Gouzi had taken a knife to the belly when they clashed with a band of bandits. Because of the lack of medicine and doctors, the wound had never been properly treated—all they could do was wrap it roughly with some torn cloth.
He could feel his life slowly ebbing away.
Along the journey, his brothers had given him all the food they could find just to take care of him, going hungry themselves. Er Gouzi felt nothing but guilt.
He knew very well that he could only be a burden like this—it would be better to just die soon!
"Once we pass through the county town, we'll get you some medicine. Then you'll be fine."
Jia Er patted Er Gouzi's head to comfort him, then urged him to eat quickly.
Er Gouzi took a bite of the steamed bun, and his eyes lit up.
"Well? Good, right?"
"Mmm… good…"
"Slow down. No one's going to take it from you."
…
The next day.
The group set off again.
Early in the morning, Ruan Yu brought out milk and millet porridge, with white sugar sprinkled into the porridge. The mother and her four children had a proper meal.
The warm, thick, sweet millet porridge left the two little ones' faces covered in it. In the end, they even licked their bowls clean.
Each of them also got a vegetable bun stuffed with tofu and cabbage.
These were all foods Ruan Yu had prepared in advance and stored in her Space—items without much smell. Anyway, there was still plenty of food in the cooked food section, more than enough to sustain the four of them.
They were on the road now, and it wasn't convenient to light a fire to cook. The aroma of food was the easiest way to invite trouble, and Ruan Yu was especially careful about that.
So she decided that for the time being, they would avoid cooking whenever possible. They would pretend to eat the same things as before, doing their best not to let those around them notice anything unusual.
After they'd eaten their fill and filled their water skins, the mother and her four children set off with the main group.
They walked for an entire day.
For seven straight days, they were basically on the move the whole time.
With the improved food these past days, Ruan Yu's physical foundation was slowly recovering—at least she no longer fainted at the slightest exertion.
It was just that this body had been depleted far too severely since childhood. There was no way a few days of eating better could make up for it.
During these days, Ruan Yu had also gotten a fairly good grasp of the situation with the larger group. As they headed south, they encountered more and more refugees, and the group gradually grew larger.
Ye Shi and her four children always stayed with the Qinghe Village group, with Jia Da and his men nearby. They looked casual, but in truth they surrounded them in the middle, separating them from the other refugees.
At first glance, they looked like one group, so these past few days had been peaceful, and no one had come to cause trouble for Ye Shi and her children.
"Miss Ruan, are you tired? Want some water?"
"No need."
"Auntie Ruan, are you tired? Why not put the children on our cart? That'll save you some effort."
"No need, no need…"
Ever since they'd "traveled together," Jia Er would enthusiastically come over to help from time to time. At first, Ye Shi was still wary, but after several days, seeing that these people meant no harm, she gradually grew familiar with them.
Besides, they had helped them that day when trouble broke out, so Ye Shi slowly let her guard down.
The reason Jia Er was so enthusiastic was naturally because of those life-saving steamed buns Ruan Yu had given them.
After several days of getting along, he discovered that this Miss Ruan really didn't talk much, but she was extremely good to her younger siblings.
Jia Er had exchanged a few words with Ruan Yu and found that she wasn't stupid at all. Remembering how clean and decisive her movements had been that day, he grew even more curious about her.
While Jia Er was observing Ruan Yu, she was observing their group in turn.
This group was led by the one-eyed man called Jia Da. Though Jia Da had lost an eye, he had some fighting skill.
The others in his group all had some affliction or another—a limp, missing fingers, and with long-term malnutrition, they were all skin and bones, looking even worse off than the refugees.
But their fierce eyes and the murderous aura they occasionally let slip showed that they'd had blood on their hands before.
That evening, the group stopped to rest.
From a distance, Ruan Yu spotted the Ruan family. They hadn't dared to cause trouble these past few days—perhaps they'd been scared off by Ruan Yu's beating. Still, they didn't have a good expression on their faces when they looked at Ye Shi's family of four and Jia Da's group.
The Ruan family cursed and grumbled, constantly scheming in the open and in secret. There was no need to guess—they were surely figuring out how to get the rations back.
As for those dry rations, Ruan Yu hadn't let Ye Shi or the two little ones eat them. They had no nutrition and scraped the throat going down. So Ruan Yu simply gave the dry rations they'd received from splitting with the Ruan family to Jia Da and his men.
On top of that, she'd also given them quite a few steamed buns over time.
Thanks to Ruan Yu's "feeding" over these past few days, Jia Da's group looked much better, and their bodies had recovered somewhat.
That day, when the main group stopped once again and everyone scattered to find places to spend the night, Ruan Yu went to find Jia Da.
"I want to do business with you all."
Ruan Yu's things weren't so easily obtained, and she wouldn't give away food for free.
"What does the young lady mean?" Jia Da raised an eyebrow, seemingly unsurprised by Ruan Yu's arrival.
"I want to get some grain and need manpower. I think you lot are suitable." Ruan Yu didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "The food from the past few days can be considered interest. After this, I'll give each of you two steamed buns a day. You'll work for me, do whatever I tell you to do. Are you willing?"
"Two steamed buns a day? Really?"
At the mention of steamed buns, Jia Er's eyes lit up instantly.
Jia Da shot a glare at his foolish younger brother.
Jia Er's head was already filled with fragrant, steaming buns. "Big brother, agree to it! Those are white-flour buns!"
Two per person per day—they could trade the buns for medicine, and then Er Gouzi would have a chance to be saved!
"What does the young lady want us to do?"
"Robbery."
Ruan Yu said succinctly.
"What?"
The words made their expressions change.
Jia Da's face turned serious. "Miss Ruan, though the times are hard and people's hearts have grown cold, a man must know what to do and what not to do in life. We brothers act with integrity and honor, and we will never engage in such bandit and tyrant deeds…"
"You can barely keep yourselves alive, yet you still put on this righteous air. Is your principle more important than your lives?" Ruan Yu raised an eyebrow in mockery. "Besides, what do you mean by bandit and tyrant deeds? Take that rich landlord surnamed Liu from before—he eats until he's fat and bloated, keeps a gang of thugs, and specializes in bullying men and abusing women. Robbing people like him is called carrying out justice on heaven's behalf!"
Realizing who Ruan Yu's robbery target was, Jia Da felt a bit embarrassed. Looking at his brothers, each one starving to skin and bone, and thinking of Er Gouzi who was still in critical danger, he nodded decisively. "Fine, I agree."