Xu Shengzhu pursed his lips, his small face solemn, looking inexplicably adorable.
He looked at Xu Shengyan. "Sister, Father is dead. Are you sad?"
"Father?" Xu Shengyan stuffed her finger into her mouth. "Not sad. He's a bad father! I want Mother, I want Mother!"
Seeing that she was about to cry again, Jiang Jiang quickly pulled her into her arms. "Alright, stop crying."
"You heard her. He's a bad father." Xu Shengzhu didn't want to talk about his family matters—it wasn't something to be proud of—but to make Jiang Jiang pity them, he had to say it!
His brows drooped, his voice pitiful. "After Mother died, Father stopped caring about us. It was all the maids and servants who took care of things."
"He took so many concubines, but none of them were good to us. I know those concubines all want us dead. One of them even tried to drown me and my sister before."
"But he didn't care!" Xu Shengzhu clenched his little fists, his face full of resentment, his small teeth grinding tightly. "He didn't even punish that concubine!"
"He's not our father. He doesn't care whether we live or die!"
Xu Shengyan nodded vigorously. "Right, bad father. On the carriage just now, he wouldn't even give us water."
Jiang Jiang was a bit incredulous. "That can't be, right?"
There had been so much water on the carriage, and even those concubines had gotten their share. How could he not give any to his own flesh and blood?
Xu Shengyan pouted. "Really, that concubine was so mean. She said kids like us could drink less water."
So someone was stirring up trouble. The power of pillow talk—Jiang Jiang had seen it in her past life.
"You must be hungry too. Let me get you something good to eat."
Jiang Jiang pretended to rummage through her bundle, pulling out two loaves of bread, two bottles of milk, and a slab of milk candy.
She opened the bread, tossed the wrappers, and handed them over. "Eat up."
The two little ones had been starving for a while. The moment they caught the milky scent, they wolfed the food down.
Jiang Jiang poured the milk into clay jars. "Drink up. Once you're done, rest."
After a full day of travel, all three of them were exhausted.
No sooner had they eaten their fill than Xu Shengzhu was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open, yet he still fought to stay awake. "You… you promised us. You can't leave."
Jiang Jiang looked at his pitiful little face, and her heart softened despite herself. "Alright, I won't leave. Since I promised you, I definitely won't go back on my word."
Hearing this, Xu Shengzhu finally relaxed, wrapped his arms around his sister, and fell into a deep sleep.
He murmured in his sleep, "The deed of sale is in the first carriage, in a hollowed-out box…"
Jiang Jiang gazed at the night sky outside and let out a long sigh. "What a mess this is…"
Being transported through time was bad enough, but now she had two little brats in tow.
They were pitiful and cute, sure, but once they reached the prefectural city, she had to let them go.
She had never been a saint—otherwise, she wouldn't have survived five years in the apocalypse.
In a chaotic world, kindness wasn't a virtue; it was a knife pointed at your own heart!
Jiang Jiang stepped out of the cave and looked up at the night sky.
If possible, she had to get that deed of sale.
Only then could she regain her freedom, become a common citizen, and later establish her own household with her own land and house.
With that thought, Jiang Jiang pulled a drone out of her Spatial Dimension.
Luckily, she still had a diesel generator in her Spatial Dimension. The fuel wasn't much, but if she used it sparingly, it could supply power for a long time.
Jiang Jiang launched the drone and operated it with the remote control.
There was no internet here, so she could only rely on the built-in signal connection, and the flying distance wasn't far.
Since those bandits had chosen to strike outside the city, it meant their hideout probably wasn't too far away—most likely on the mountain across from them.
Half an hour later.
The drone flew back.
Jiang Jiang took out a data cable and used her laptop to check the memory inside.
Both the video and the photos were very clear.
Jiang Jiang enlarged the photos, looking down from the sky. The forest on the opposite mountain had also mostly dried up, with many leaves fallen, and she could faintly make out candlelight hidden among the trees.
That was it—the bandits' lair!
The estimated distance was about three thousand meters. If she cut straight across from here, she could reach the foot of the mountain where they were.
Aside from the drone, there were quite a few other things in the Spatial Dimension. If used properly, they could definitely help her get up the mountain smoothly.
Jiang Jiang bit her lip. She was going for it!
She would storm the bandits' lair and get back the deed of sale!
But before that, she needed to recover her strength first.
Jiang Jiang returned to the cave, leaned against the wall, and fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke up, it was already early morning the next day.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw the two little buns sitting across from her, blinking their big eyes as they stared at her.
After sleeping in the cave for a night, their clothes had gotten a bit dirty and their little faces were smudged, but it only made them look even cuter.
"Mother, you're awake." Xu Shengyan trotted over on her little legs and burrowed into Jiang Jiang's arms, her small hands clutching tightly at her clothes, as if afraid she might run away.
Jiang Jiang sighed helplessly, raised her hand to gently pat her back, and said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon you two. Get down for now—I need to wash up, and then we'll have breakfast."
Only then did Xu Shengzhu purse his lips and pull his sister down. "We don't eat much. You don't need to give us such good things like you did yesterday."
Xu Shengyan nodded along, looking adorable, and even held up two tiny fingers to gesture. "Mother, I don't eat much either. Just this little bit is enough for me."
Jiang Jiang didn't say anything. She just walked out of the cave, took out a towel and some water, and wet it, intending to wipe the two buns' faces.
But Xu Shengzhu took it from her himself. "We can do it ourselves."
He folded the towel neatly, wiped his sister's face first, then flipped it over and cleaned himself up.
Well-behaved, obedient children always endear themselves to others. Jiang Jiang's restless heart gradually calmed down.
After washing up, Jiang Jiang took out milk and bread again and handed them to the two little ones. "Eat up. Don't overthink it—my food supplies will last until we reach the prefectural city."
Xu Shengzhu grabbed the bread, glanced at the bundle on the ground that seemed slightly fuller than yesterday, and finally took a small bite, quietly tucking the rest into his chest.
After eating their fill, Jiang Jiang took out a Great All-Nourishing Pill she had scavenged from a hospital in her past life, and set off again.
There was almost no one on the main road. The scorching sun blazed down, baking the earth.
Just a few steps in, Jiang Jiang felt her clothes sticking to her body.
The heat waves in the air distorted everything, making her dizzy and lightheaded.
After walking for a while, Jiang Jiang led the two little buns to find a place to rest. She took a big gulp of water before feeling a bit better.
This damned, cursed sky—it just kept getting hotter.
Xu Shengzhu hugged his little bamboo canteen and took a tiny, reluctant sip.
His gaze once again fell on the bundle Jiang Jiang was carrying—where on earth did she get the water from?