Mu Wanting smiled and responded cheerfully, reaching out to pat Shen Yujiao’s hair.
“Good girl, Second Sister-in-law won’t treat you badly.”
Shen Yujiao puffed up angrily, her round eyes wide as if she was about to explode.
Then she saw Mu Wanting take out a handful of dried fish and hand it to her.
In an instant, Shen Yujiao’s anger turned into joy. She even swallowed several times and happily acted cute toward Mu Wanting.
“Thank you, Second Sister-in-law! You’re the best!”
Mu Wanting couldn’t help but laugh. She had to admit, although this little sister-in-law was spoiled and a bit unruly, she was also straightforward and kind of adorable.
It wasn’t just Shen Yujiao staring at the dried meat; the others in the third branch were also quietly swallowing their saliva.
Mu Wanting had plenty in her spatial storage, so she casually took out another large handful from her basket.
If not for the need to cover where other things came from, she could have taken out even more.
Shen Xinghe was also tempted. Shen Xingyi handed him a handful, and he took it.
He subconsciously looked up at Mu Wanting, only to see her smiling faintly at him before quickly looking away.
His cheeks immediately turned red, but the dried fish was too fragrant. Unable to resist, he put one into his mouth.
The flavor of fish and seasoning instantly exploded in his mouth. Not to mention now—even in the past, he had never eaten anything so delicious.
After realizing he had finished one, Shen Xinghe licked his lips and wanted more, but couldn’t bring himself to ask.
Fortunately, Shen Yujiao remembered her third brother and handed him another handful.
Seeing that Mu Wanting didn’t say anything, Shen Xinghe felt a bit more favorable toward her and even regretted his earlier cold attitude.
Even if he couldn’t bring himself to call her “Second Sister-in-law,” at least he could have been more polite…
At that moment, Shen Xinglan also woke up from the commotion.
Mu Wanting, with sharp senses, noticed first and casually handed him a handful of dried fish. After all, she still needed to build a good relationship with him and gather information about his mother’s whereabouts.
Shen Xinglan was slightly surprised, then touched.
She really was always paying attention to him. When others hadn’t even noticed, she had already prepared food for him, afraid he would go hungry.
He took the dried fish and began eating, while watching Mu Wanting quietly weaving something.
Her face was fair and delicate, lips red and teeth white, her long eyelashes like wings, yet she carried a calm, detached aura, as if nothing in the world mattered to her.
Most of the time, Mu Wanting was quiet, rarely speaking.
Sensing Shen Xinglan staring at her, she assumed he didn’t have enough dried fish and smiled, giving him another handful.
Her smile was so bright that it made his heart skip a beat.
When he took it, their fingers brushed again.
That faint tingling sensation spread through his body, making the corners of his eyes redden.
His voice turned slightly hoarse as he thanked her.
Mu Wanting only smiled lightly and said nothing.
He realized that at this moment, Mu Wanting was even more attractive than when she had once desperately pursued him—so much so that he couldn’t look away.
That night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Shen Xinglan suffered from insomnia. He turned his head to look at Mu Wanting sleeping beside the cart. In this moment, she had shed her calm demeanor and looked obedient and cute.
Before he realized it, his index finger had already brushed across her cheek.
Her skin was as smooth as a peeled egg, making his heart itch.
He withdrew his hand and forced himself to sleep, but the sensation still lingered on his fingertips.
He was being extremely careful, completely unaware that Mu Wanting’s consciousness had already sunk into her spatial realm to read and study.
Such a light touch, she didn’t even notice it at all.
The exile group continued on their journey. After a few days, there were indeed no rivers ahead.
Xu Wencui and Zhang Caiyun looked at Mu Wanting with smug satisfaction.
“Now that there’s no river, some people will only have spoiled black flour cakes to eat every day.”
Madam Shen pressed her lips together and looked anxiously at Mu Wanting. Shen Yujiao also clung to her, chattering about what to do.
Shen Mingjiao was even more anxious—she wasn’t only eating for herself; she had to feed her little child too.
Clearly, they had already come to rely on Mu Wanting as their main support.
Mu Wanting comforted them.
“It’s fine. We’ll eat whatever we can find. This route isn’t completely barren—we can always find food.”
After she said this, the eldest and second branches became even more smug.
“True. At worst, there are still those disgusting black flour cakes that can choke you.”
By noon, they rested in a dense forest. Everyone else was exhausted, breathing heavily and unwilling to move.
But Mu Wanting, amid the groaning crowd, suddenly heard a faint rustling of leaves.
Her eyes sharpened like lightning as she looked over—and saw a gray wild rabbit jump past.
She immediately picked up a stone and threw it. A dull thud sounded.
The rabbit fell and struggled violently.
Mu Wanting ran over, grabbed it, and while lifting it up, secretly took three more rabbits from her spatial storage.
“We caught wild rabbits!”
Everyone turned to look at her in shock. They had only just sat down for ten minutes—how did she catch rabbits so quickly?
Seeing the four rabbits in her hands, their shock was completely undisguised.
A young woman with an oval face from the Song family showed a flash of jealousy and muttered under her breath, “What’s so impressive about that?”
Song Yuning was one of the noblewomen who had once opposed Mu Wanting and had also admired Shen Xinglan. She deeply disliked women like Mu Wanting who shamelessly pursued him.
The eldest and second branches were grinding their teeth in anger.
They had thought the third branch would suffer, but instead Mu Wanting had caught so many rabbits in one go.
Meanwhile, the third branch joyfully gathered around her.
Mu Wanting said, “Xingyi, Shen Xinghe, you two clean and skin them. Keep the pelts—I have use for them.”
Shen Xingyi grinned widely, looking at her with admiration.
“In such a small forest, Second Sister-in-law still managed to catch so many rabbits. Amazing.”
Shen Xinghe silently picked up the other two rabbits. Even if he didn’t say it out loud, he was completely convinced by her skill.
They hadn’t even noticed the rabbits, but she not only did, she caught them so quickly.
Mu Wanting was far more capable than he had imagined.
She then searched the surroundings for seasoning and food, and discovered a small patch of potatoes. She used a stone hoe she had previously made to dig a pit, then secretly added some potatoes from her spatial storage, happily calling out:
“Mother, look! Look what I found!”
As she spoke, she kept digging out potatoes, quickly forming a small pile.
Shen Yujiao hurried over with a basket and began collecting them efficiently.
Shen Mingjiao also came over carrying a child, smiling at Mu Wanting.
“I’ve realized it now—Second Sister-in-law is strong and lucky. Without her, we’d suffer so much more on this journey.”