Seeing that Luo Mingchen had already made up his mind, the village chief’s son knew there was no point in saying more.
Although Luo Mingchen had never herded cattle before, he had tamed mutated beasts.
The things grown in his space possessed a strange attraction to animals. Even zombies, which normally didn’t eat vegetables, could be lured by them.
It was probably because those foods contained a faint, gentle energy. A researcher once told him that a farming space like his was extremely rare. If he went to one of the large survivor bases, he would definitely live very well.
That was precisely why those people had been so eager to seize it for themselves on the road…
Looking at the ox, Luo Mingchen took out a few cabbage leaves and fed them to it.
After eating them, the ox mooed softly and affectionately rubbed against his hand.
“What a good boy.”
The three Huo siblings watched in amazement.
“Get on.”
Holding Huo Xinyue in one arm, Luo Mingchen climbed onto the cart. Huo Yuhui and Huo Xiang quickly followed.
Huo Xinyue licked her candied hawthorn skewer, then offered it to Huo Yuhui.
“Ah… ah…”
“You eat it, Yueyue. Big Brother already had one.”
That wasn’t a lie. Luo Mingchen had bought one for each of them. The boys had simply finished theirs already.
When Huo Yuhui refused, Huo Xinyue offered it to Huo Xiang instead.
Being the more food-loving one, Huo Xiang didn’t hesitate to bite off a hawthorn.
Back when they lived with their biological father, they had often gone hungry and were frequently beaten.
After their biological mother died giving birth to their little sister, life became even harder.
It wasn’t until their adoptive father appeared, claiming to be their mother’s cousin, and took them away, saying he would be their father from then on, that life improved slightly.
Only then did they learn what candied hawthorns tasted like.
But their adoptive father couldn’t stay home all the time. Whenever he left on escort missions, Cousin Uncle’s family would come and bully the three siblings…
Thinking of his adoptive father, even the usually carefree Huo Xiang became depressed.
“Little Daddy, what if I miss Father during the daytime?”
Luo Mingchen remembered what he had told him about looking at the stars the previous night. After a brief pause, he said,
“He sleeps during the day, so don’t disturb him. When we get back, we’ll burn him more paper money so he’ll have money to spend in heaven. Then when he wakes up from his nap—wow, he’ll find so much money waiting for him.”
Huo Xiang couldn’t help laughing.
“Father will definitely be very happy.”
“Exactly.”
Not understanding what her brother was laughing about, Huo Xinyue laughed along with him.
Watching from the side, Huo Yuhui felt the heaviness in his chest ease considerably, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
The two ox carts weren’t far apart. Hearing their conversation, the village chief’s son felt both amused and saddened.
His father had worried too much. Luo Mingchen clearly didn’t think the three children were burdens, nor did he have any intention of secretly selling them. On the contrary, he treated them as if they were his own children.
Still, raising three children—especially two boys—would make the future far from easy.
When they returned to the village, the sight of three ox carts drew curious stares from everyone working in the fields.
The village chief’s house stood not far from the village entrance, while Luo Mingchen’s home was another hundred meters or so farther ahead.
As they passed one household, a woman in blue stood at the gate holding a rolling pin and blocked their path.
Her features were decent enough, but her face radiated sharpness and malice.
Seeing Huo Xiang shrink back in fear, Luo Mingchen could already guess who she was, but he still asked,
“And who are you?”
“Me?” The woman planted one hand on her hip and pointed the rolling pin at him with the other. “I’m Huo Yan’s cousin’s wife! What are you supposed to be? Where did you get the money to buy all this stuff?”
Luo Mingchen replied calmly,
“Oh—so you’re Cousin Sister-in-Law. I almost thought you were his mother.”
The woman immediately became irritated by his tone.
“Huo Yan grew up here. I may be his cousin’s wife, but I fed him plenty of meals. Now that he’s dead, his property should naturally belong to us.”
Huo Yuhui was stunned by her shamelessness. With Luo Mingchen standing beside him, he boldly spoke up.
“That’s nonsense! My father was raised by my grandfather. When he came to take us away, he told us himself that Grandfather’s family had raised him and treated him extremely well. That’s why he would raise us and treat us like his own children.”
Luo Mingchen raised an eyebrow slightly.
So those three children weren’t actually that man’s biological children?
“What does a child like you know?” the woman snapped. “A bunch of ungrateful little ingrates, helping outsiders!”
Summoning all his courage, Huo Xiang shouted,
“Little Daddy isn’t an outsider!”
“Hey! You little brat!”
The woman raised her rolling pin and swung it at him.
Luo Mingchen grabbed it in one hand and smacked her twice with it.
“Ah! Murder! Someone’s murdering me!”
Hearing that, Luo Mingchen rolled his eyes.
“Can you and your husband come up with a different line? Yesterday your husband brought two slave traders here and tried to sell my three children. Today you’re blocking the road and trying to hit a child. What? Does crying louder automatically make you right in this village?”
Clutching her aching arm, the woman glared viciously at him.
“I’m Huo Yan’s cousin’s wife! That makes me your elder!”
“Elder?”
Luo Mingchen laughed.
“An elder who starts grabbing property and selling children before the deceased is even buried? Anyone who wants to acknowledge an elder like that is welcome to do so. If you’ve got the ability, bring the children’s father back and let him judge who’s right. If you can’t, then get lost. Aren’t you afraid of ghosts knocking on your door in the middle of the night?”
“You—!”
The woman wanted to argue further, but when she saw Luo Mingchen crush the wrist-thick rolling pin in one hand, she began trembling uncontrollably.
Luo Mingchen tossed the broken rolling pin at her feet and continued driving the ox cart forward.
The people delivering the coffin followed behind.
Those watching the spectacle from afar were thoroughly disgusted by the woman’s behavior.
However, her family was notoriously difficult to deal with, so nobody said anything.
If it were only because they had sharp tongues, that wouldn’t be unusual. But Lin family’s second son was the only scholar in Xishui Village and was considered highly likely to pass the provincial examination. Naturally, no one wanted to provoke the Lin family.
When they arrived home, one of the coffin shop workers looked at Luo Mingchen’s slender arms and legs and asked,
“Shouldn’t you find a couple of people to help carry the coffin down?”
“No need. Thank you.”
Luo Mingchen handed Huo Xinyue to Huo Yuhui and told the children to stand farther away.
Then he carried the coffin into the courtyard with his bare hands.
The sight nearly frightened the coffin shop worker out of his wits.
Smiling, Luo Mingchen said,
“Thank you for delivering it all the way here. Would you like to come in and have a bowl of water?”
“Ah, sure.”
After walking such a long distance in the summer heat, he really was thirsty.
After seeing the workers off, Luo Mingchen turned around to find Huo Yuhui and Huo Xiang staring at him with their mouths hanging open.
He rubbed their little heads.
“Did your father leave behind any clothes or belongings?”
“Yes.” Huo Yuhui nodded. “The room Little Daddy is staying in used to be Father’s room. There are still some of Father’s clothes in the wardrobe.”
Luo Mingchen nodded.
“Good. Tomorrow we’ll go see the village chief and choose a proper burial site.”
“Mhm…”
Luo Mingchen tried to keep the matter as lighthearted as possible. No matter what, since things had come to this, the proper procedures still needed to be followed.
As for how he had ended up in this world, he didn’t know whether he had encountered a space-time tunnel, been blessed by a god, or been protected by his mother.
In any case, one could choose not to believe in gods, but one should still respect them.
Meanwhile, after returning home having suffered a major loss, the woman in blue thought things over and over and began to feel that something wasn’t right.
They had already investigated beforehand. Wang Chen, the man who had been married into the Huo family, was supposed to be weak and timid.
How had he suddenly become so formidable?
Could it be…
That this person wasn’t Wang Chen at all?
With that thought in mind, the woman decided to invite Wang Chen’s family from the neighboring village over to identify him.
Unfortunately, her entire body hurt too much, so she had no choice but to rest first.