Jiang Jiang cursed inwardly. Seeing the men approaching quickly, she dared not linger any longer and immediately began to slide down the slope.
Suddenly, something tugged at her sleeve.
She turned her head—it was those two little kids!
Footsteps sounded again. Jiang Jiang didn't dare delay. She scooped up the two children and started sliding down.
The slope here was steep, covered in dry, withered weeds that instantly scraped against Jiang Jiang's exposed skin.
She landed safely on the ground but didn't dare stop. She only glanced back once before sprinting off.
These men were nowhere near as agile or sharp-witted as Jiang Jiang. They tried to slide down too, only to find they couldn't manage it and nearly tumbled over.
Helpless, they could only watch as one adult and two children ran off into the distance.
"Damn it, that bitch got away! Boss, what do we do now?"
"She's just a woman with two brats—no food, no water. They won't last long." The man's eyes turned dark and sinister. "We'll deliver the goods first, then head straight to the next city and wait for her there!"
"If we spot her, we kill her! If she doesn't show, we keep watching—better yet, let her die on the road."
"Let's go. We're heading back!"
Twenty minutes later.
"Huff, huff, huff…" Jiang Jiang set the two little ones down and leaned against a tree trunk, gasping for air.
She had run too fast and too hard. Her chest felt like a boulder was pressing down on it, and her vision swam before her eyes.
This body hadn't fully recovered yet. Such intense exertion was more than it could bear—let alone the fact that she'd been carrying two kids, her arms nearly snapping from the strain!
If not for her astonishing willpower, she probably would have collapsed halfway.
The two little ones had also run a stretch behind her and were equally exhausted.
"I… I want some water." A timid child's voice came through.
Jiang Jiang said nothing. She took a moment to catch her breath, then pulled out the water. She took a big gulp herself before giving each of the two little ones a mouthful.
After all, they were just children. She couldn't bring herself to simply abandon them, so she set out a bit of food and water, placing it beside them.
"I can barely protect myself right now, so I can't look after you. Besides, we're not related—just strangers."
"This food and water are for you. I wish you all the best ahead."
With that, Jiang Jiang got up and prepared to keep running.
It wasn't that she was heartless—it was that she could barely take care of herself. How could she possibly manage two children?
In this world, raising a child was far harder than just surviving on your own!
In her past life, Jiang Jiang had been a staunch childfree woman. There was no way she'd take on kids now.
"Wait—" One of the little ones lunged forward and grabbed Jiang Jiang's skirt. "You can't leave!"
The other sat on the ground, seeming to understand what was happening. Her lips quivered, and she burst into loud sobs.
Jiang Jiang quickly yanked her skirt back. "What do you want?"
The one grabbing her was the older twin, his small face set with stubborn determination. "You can't leave. You're Father's concubine, which makes you our aunt."
"If you leave and abandon us, I'll report you to the authorities!"
Oh, so this one was a little wolf cub—young as he was, he knew more than he let on.
The little wolf cub licked his dry lips. "If you agree to take me and my sister with you, I'll tell you where the deed of sale is."
"The deed of sale is on the carriage, already taken by those people, right?" Jiang Jiang didn't even need to guess. "So even if you told me, it'd be useless. Alright, I'm leaving, I don't have time to waste here with you."
Seeing that Jiang Jiang still wanted to leave, the little wolf cub immediately signaled his sister with a glance.
She hurried over, her soft, dumpling-like body wrapping around Jiang Jiang's ankle, "Wah wah wah, Mother, don't go!"
"Hey, you little girl, don't call me that!"
"You are my mother, Mother, don't leave, are you abandoning Yaya?"
The little wolf cub silently hugged Jiang Jiang's other leg, knowing that he and his sister couldn't survive on their own.
They had to cling to an adult, and now, with Xu Wangcai and the others dead, only Jiang Jiang remained.
Though none of the concubines were good people, to survive, what did it matter if they called her mother?
He pursed his lips, "Mother, don't go."
"You two are trying to scam me!" Jiang Jiang didn't want to become a mother out of nowhere, and to two kids at that!
She tried to break free, but the two little ones clung tighter than ever, wailing louder than ever.
Afraid they'd attract trouble, Jiang Jiang could only plop down on the ground, wiping the sweat from her forehead, "Alright, stop crying."
"Here's the deal, I'll take you to the provincial city. Xu Wangcai has relatives there, and I'll send you to them. But don't push your luck—I'm not going to be your mother."
Anyway, just two more cities and they'd reach the provincial city, not too far.
If it weren't for fear of attracting bad people, Jiang Jiang wouldn't have given in.
That's right, it definitely wasn't because she was soft-hearted!
The two little ones immediately stopped crying. Though they'd sobbed themselves into little tear-streaked faces, it didn't dim their cuteness one bit.
On their round, chubby faces, their features were delicate—clearly, their mother must have been good-looking too.
Though Xu Wangcai wasn't much, his appearance wasn't bad, and he'd passed on only the best traits to his children.
Jiang Jiang looked at them and sighed, "What a tragedy… Tell me your names."
"I'm Xu Shengzhu, the older brother, and she's Xu Shengyan, my little sister."
"Nice names." Jiang Jiang noted them in her mind, then looked at the two little dumplings seriously, "Since you're going to follow me from now on, you'll do as I say, got it?"
"You saw it too—I'm very weak. There's no carriage now, and I can't carry you, so from now on, you'll have to walk on your own. But if you get tired, tell me, and I'll decide when to rest."
"Once we reach the provincial city…"
Xu Shengzhu cut her off, "We'll talk about that when we get there."
The father and concubines at home were all bad people—who knew if the relatives could be trusted.
Jiang Jiang saw he didn't want to say more and didn't press on, "Can you walk now?"
Xu Shengzhu took his sister's little hand, "We can walk."
"Then let's go. The farther we get from here, the better. We'll find a safer place first, then we can rest."
They walked for half an hour.
Jiang Jiang finally stopped, looking back at the two little dumplings. They were only four or five years old, yet they hadn't complained once, gritting their teeth to keep up.
She glanced at the noticeably withered woods to the side, "Come on, there's a cave over there. It's getting dark, and traveling isn't safe. We'll sleep there for the night."
One adult and two children entered the cave.
This place had previously been an animal's den, with completely dried and hardened feces still visible.
Jiang Jiang placed an alarm at a concealed spot near the entrance—if anyone approached, it would immediately sound, giving them a timely warning.
Xu Shengzhu plopped down beside her, his small hands struggling as he tugged off the longevity lock hanging around his neck.
The Xu family really did have money; this lock was crafted from solid gold—not large, but quite heavy.
Earlier, because it had been hidden beneath his clothes, those bandits hadn't discovered it.
He reached out his small hand, offering the longevity lock to Jiang Jiang. "This is for you."
"What do I need this for?"
"My sister and I can't eat your food for free—this is payment for you."
Jiang Jiang laughed out loud. "At such a young age, you sure know a lot. But I'm not about to take things from two kids."
She flipped the longevity lock back around Xu Shengzhu's neck. "Your father's dead—aren't you sad?"