Of course, Yu Yan found nothing.
He looked at Yu Yangyang with a hint of scrutiny in his eyes. “Yangyang, how did you suddenly find sweet potatoes?”
Yu Yangyang blinked, her eyes misty with tears. “I don’t know either. I was just bored and wandered around.”
“Maybe I’m like Rongrong and simply have good luck? Big Brother, aren’t you happy?”
Seeing the way she looked at him, Yu Yan’s heart softened.
He thought about it again. She had a point. Wasn’t Rongrong always mysteriously finding good things?
He had never doubted Rongrong. So why did he become suspicious whenever it came to Yangyang?
He would only hurt Yangyang’s feelings that way, especially since she depended on him so much.
Yu Yan decided not to pursue the matter.
There was no way these sweet potatoes had actually been conjured up by Yangyang.
He bent down. “Big Brother was just overthinking things. Come on, get on. Let’s go back.”
Lying on Yu Yan’s back, Yu Yangyang thought to herself, As expected, Big Brother has a good temper.
If it had been Yu Jin, he probably would have made a sarcastic remark or two.
How could you possibly compare yourself to Rongrong?
Yu Yangyang had brought back several large sweet potatoes, which, if they rationed them carefully, would be enough for the family to eat several meals.
The Yu family was delighted.
Although they tried their best to keep it discreet, they were still noticed.
The Yu family had set up camp here to rest, and quite a few other refugees traveling along the same route had also chosen to stay nearby.
The rocks here were strangely shaped, forming numerous natural shelters. They were open to the wind from the sides, but still provided protection from the wind and rain.
Bai Lan started a fire and began cooking porridge. She planned to cut one of the sweet potatoes into pieces and cook it with the porridge.
After hearing from Yu Yan that Yu Yangyang wanted roasted sweet potatoes, Bai Lan decided to throw two into the fire as well. By the time the porridge was ready, the roasted sweet potatoes would be ready too.
“Mom, you go cut the sweet potato. I can handle this little thing.”
Yu Yangyang threw the sweet potatoes into the fire while Bai Lan cut another one into pieces and added it to the porridge.
They only used half of the sweet potatoes that night. Bai Lan kept the other half, thinking she could roast them for Yu Yangyang whenever the girl wanted some later.
Sweet potatoes were truly good food. They were extremely filling and tasted delicious. Even during prosperous years, they were considered a treat.
Sugar was expensive. When children craved something sweet, families would simply boil a sweet potato for them. It was almost sweeter than candy.
When the pot began to boil, the sweet potatoes in the fire were also sizzling.
The distinctive caramelized aroma of roasted sweet potatoes mixed with the fragrance of the sweet-potato porridge, like an irresistible hook tugging at everyone’s taste buds.
What a sweet, delicious smell!
Who knew how long they had been eating dry steamed buns and black, watery gruel?
The food scratched their throats and had almost no flavor. The sweet aroma of the potatoes felt like something from another lifetime.
Yu Lan was practically drooling.
He wiped his mouth. “Mom, it smells so good!”
Bai Lan was also overwhelmed by the fragrance.
It really did smell wonderful. Perhaps it was simply because they had gone too long without eating anything sweet. Bai Lan felt that these sweet potatoes smelled richer and sweeter than any she had ever eaten before.
She poked Yu Lan on the forehead.
“Be patient. It’ll be ready soon. Don’t think only about eating. You need to know how to be grateful. You only get to eat sweet potatoes because your big sister found them. You should thank her, understand?”
Yu Lan frowned and pouted.
Clearly, he wasn’t particularly eager to thank Yu Yangyang.
Before, Yu Yangyang had stolen his food. Everyone said she was a sickly, crazy, horrible girl…
But today, Yu Yangyang had been quite gentle with him. She had even given him water…
Yu Lan hesitated.
Bai Lan snorted. “You don’t want to? Then don’t eat. Your sister Yangyang found these. Someone who doesn’t know how to be grateful doesn’t deserve to eat them!”
Just then, the porridge was ready.
The moment Yu Lan saw and heard that, he immediately surrendered to the food.
“Thank you, Big Sister! Lan’er will be grateful!”
Yu Yangyang smiled gently. “Big Sister believes you.”
Listening to their conversation, Yu Jin had the strange feeling that he was being indirectly criticized.
He lowered his head and hurriedly shoveled porridge into his bowl.
With the very first bite, he was stunned.
It was delicious!
The rice had been cooked until soft and sticky, almost melting together. The sweet potatoes were wonderfully soft and sandy, and the steaming-hot porridge made him break into a sweat.
But Yu Jin didn’t stop.
Not until he had finished the entire bowl did he feel as though the exhaustion of the entire day had disappeared.
Yu Shanghua rubbed his stomach.
“Delicious. Truly delicious. This is the best sweet-potato porridge I’ve ever had.”
Yu Yangyang also managed to finish a full bowl of porridge.
No matter when they ate, her bowl was always the fullest of the lot.
After putting down her bowl, Yu Yangyang immediately began digging through the ashes for the roasted sweet potatoes.
Just then, footsteps came from the darkness.
A man’s shrill voice sounded unpleasantly through the night.
“So… you’re all finished eating?”
The Yu family looked over.
It was the sharp-faced, rat-like man who had shamelessly tried to get them to give him water earlier that day.
Their brows immediately furrowed.
Although they disliked him intensely, the Yu family were naturally kind-hearted and mild-tempered, so they still answered him.
“Yeah. We’re getting ready to rest. What do you want?”
The man’s eyes swept over the thin layer of porridge remaining at the bottom of the pot and then over the roasted sweet potato Yu Yangyang had just dug out.
His eyes became even more satisfied.
“Big brother, sister-in-law, I’m here because I wanted to ask you for some food.”
“I admit I was wrong earlier today. I was just afraid we wouldn’t have any water later.”
“But I’m really not lying this time. I’m genuinely starving. I haven’t eaten anything all day. Please, be kind and lend me a little food?”
Bai Lan’s face darkened.
Who wasn’t struggling to survive these days?
Calling it a “loan” was just a polite way of saying they wanted something for free. Once the food was handed over, there was no chance of getting it back.
Bai Lan coldly replied, “We don’t have any food to spare. Go ask someone else.”
The smile on the man’s face faded.
A hint of greed flashed in his eyes.
“You can’t seriously expect us to believe that, can you?”
“We all clearly smelled the food just now. We also saw your daughter holding those sweet potatoes. There were quite a few of them. You haven’t eaten them all, have you?”
“How can you people be so selfish?”
“So many of us haven’t eaten. You found sweet potatoes, shouldn’t you share some with everyone?”
“Don’t you all agree?”
The surrounding campfires flickered in the darkness, illuminating vague outlines of people’s faces.
After hearing the man’s words, everyone remained silent for a moment.
Then someone spoke up.
“He’s right.”
“I heard their youngest son say they found them. Maybe they were actually dropped by one of us.”
“If they found them, then everyone who sees them should get a share.”
The sharp-faced man smiled smugly, his expression revealing his satisfaction.
“Brother, sister-in-law, you’d better lend us some. It’s always better to leave some goodwill between people. You never know when you’ll meet again.”
The Yu family was practically furious.
Bai Lan tremblingly pointed at the man.
“Get lost! Why should we give you our own things? We found these in the woods. How could you possibly have dropped them there?!”
Yu Jin was equally furious, his face turning livid.
“Have you no shame? If you see a pile of shit on the road, are you going to claim you dropped that too?”
“Look at yourselves! If you really had sweet potatoes to spare, would you all have ended up looking like this?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
The sharp-faced man’s expression darkened.
He instinctively reached out to grab Yu Jin.
“You brat, watch your mouth!”
Before he could do anything, Yu Yangyang stepped forward and pushed him.