Yu Shanghua rubbed his nose.
“That’s not what I meant. I’m just trying to consider things from both sides.”
It was true that they couldn’t abandon Yangyang, but what Jin’er had said wasn’t entirely unreasonable either.
Bai Lan’s eyes suddenly turned red, and she shouted in a low voice,
“Not a single one of you father and son is any good!”
Yu Shanghua: “……?”
He had only casually tried to mediate between them. How had he suddenly earned such a reputation?
Yu Shanghua couldn’t bear to see his wife looking so wronged and on the verge of tears, so he hurriedly coaxed her.
“Don’t cry. It’s my fault.”
The husband and wife continued quietly arguing and soothing each other, while Yu Jin sat in the corner with an indignant expression, his face cold.
Yu Jin genuinely couldn’t understand what his mother was thinking.
Did she really intend to disregard the lives of the entire family just for a heartless Yu Yangyang?
He had never said they should abandon Yu Yangyang.
She wasn’t missing an arm or a leg. Would walking a few steps really kill her?
What kind of girl was as lazy as her?
The more Yu Jin thought about it, the angrier he became.
His face turned livid as he cursed Yu Yangyang in his heart, all the way back through eighteen generations of her ancestors.
But then he suddenly remembered that he himself was also one of those eighteen generations.
His expression became even uglier.
Gods and Buddhas above, just pretend you didn’t hear what I said earlier.
Just then, the hem of a dusty skirt appeared in Yu Jin’s line of sight.
Yu Yangyang’s clothes could be considered the best among the second branch of the family.
There were only five patches on the entire outfit.
Aside from the fact that years of traveling, eating and sleeping outdoors had washed away most of its original color, there was nothing particularly wrong with it.
The longer Yu Jin stared at it, the more distorted and jealous he felt.
He raised his head and looked at her sharply.
His tone was cutting.
“What are you doing here? Why aren’t you properly rolling back onto your bed and lying down? Are you trying to faint again and frame me?”
Yu Yangyang’s cheeks suddenly reddened.
The original owner really had done this before.
She was greedy and lazy. Whenever she wanted food from Yu Jin and the others, if begging didn’t work, she would resort to threats.
Pretending to faint and framing someone else had been one of her favorite tricks.
Yu Yangyang had indeed felt considerably better after drinking the Spiritual Spring Water.
And what Yu Jin had said made sense.
So she softly replied,
“Second Brother, I just came to tell you that we can leave tomorrow morning. I’ll tell Dad and Mom tonight.”
A flash of surprise crossed Yu Jin’s eyes.
To be honest, he hadn’t believed a single word Yu Yangyang had said earlier about wanting to change.
And he didn’t believe her now either.
After all, whenever they traveled, either the family had to carry Yu Yangyang, or their parents had to carry her.
What did she have to complain about?
Thinking of this, Yu Jin leaned against the trembling mud wall and answered indifferently,
“Oh.”
What does that have to do with me?
Yu Jin thought Yu Yangyang would leave after saying that.
But she continued standing in front of him.
Yu Jin frowned impatiently.
“What else do you want?”
Yu Yangyang wasn’t angry.
Considering the original owner’s past behavior, she thought Yu Jin’s attitude was completely understandable.
In fact, he was already being quite tolerant.
The girl was only fourteen years old.
Because she was so weak and thin, her almond-shaped eyes looked unusually large on her palm-sized face. Her nose was small and delicately upturned, while her lips were pale.
Even though most of the family’s good food had been given to the original owner, she was still much smaller and thinner than girls her age.
At fourteen, she looked barely twelve.
She tilted her head slightly and gave him a faint smile.
“Second Brother, I want to go outside and see if I can find something to eat. Can you come with me?”
Her eldest brother, Yu Yan, had gone out to gather firewood.
Her youngest brother, Yu Lan, was too young to be useful.
As for her parents…
Well, Yu Yangyang actually preferred to go with Yu Jin because she wanted to improve their relationship.
His attitude was by far the sharpest and most hostile among all of them.
Yu Jin impatiently said,
“Ask Mom to go with you.”
Yu Yangyang blinked.
“But Dad and Mom are arguing.”
Bai Lan and Yu Shanghua were too busy arguing to pay attention to them.
Otherwise, by now they would have already rushed over, fussed over Yu Yangyang, and carried her back to bed to rest.
Yu Yangyang looked a little disappointed.
“Second Brother, I already know I was wrong. Can’t you really forgive me?”
“Forget it. I’ll go by myself.”
Looking pitiful and fragile, as if a gust of wind could blow her apart, Yu Yangyang turned around and walked toward the entrance of the ruined temple.
Yu Jin cursed Yu Yangyang again in his heart.
Then, reluctantly, he followed her out.
He shouted angrily,
“Are you trying to make Mom blame me again?”
If Yu Yangyang went outside and accidentally bumped or injured herself again, then came back and complained about him, he’d be the unlucky one again.
Yu Yangyang froze for a moment.
She genuinely hadn’t meant that.
Just then, she saw Yu Jin impatiently squat down.
When he noticed that she wasn’t moving, he looked back at her.
“Hurry up and get on.”
Yu Yangyang’s fingers suddenly tightened.
Was he… going to carry her on his back?
In both of her lives, Yu Yangyang had never experienced what it was like to be carried on a family member’s back.
Although Yu Jin was sharp-tongued and irritable, he had never actually considered abandoning her.
Her heart softened slightly.
Her voice became soft and sweet.
“You don’t have to carry me.”
Yu Jin immediately stood up.
“You said it yourself. Don’t come crying to Mom later.”
Yu Yangyang: “……”
In the end, my feelings were misplaced.
But actually, Yu Jin was still at the age where he was supposed to be rebellious and energetic.
He was sixteen, yet he looked barely older than her.
And now he was expected to carry his sickly sister while traveling.
It was perfectly normal for him to have some resentment.
Yu Yangyang felt a little sorry for him.
The original owner’s family really had it too hard.
Now that he didn’t have to carry Yu Yangyang, Yu Jin’s expression improved somewhat, and the two of them left the temple together.
There was a small forest not far from the ruined temple.
Unfortunately, after the severe drought and the passage of countless starving refugees, the forest had long since been stripped bare.
Not a blade of grass remained.
The ground was dry and cracked.
However, Yu Yangyang knew that when spring came the following year, when the ice melted and the snow disappeared, these plants would come back to life.
Humans were different.
Far too many people would never make it to the following spring.
But that had nothing to do with Yu Yangyang right now.
She only wanted herself and her family to survive.
Just moments earlier, the system had informed her that there was something in the forest.
Seeing her about to enter the woods, Yu Jin couldn’t help mocking her.
“This forest was picked clean by the refugees a long time ago. There’s nothing left. Going in there is just a waste of effort.”
Yu Yangyang wasn’t angry.
Her expression remained calm.
“I want to go take a look.”
Yu Jin had only casually warned her.
After all, he wasn’t the one who would get tired.
He shrugged indifferently.
“Suit yourself.”
The two entered the forest.
At first, Yu Yangyang had still been thinking about how to improve her relationship with Yu Jin.
But once they entered the woods, she immediately focused on searching.
The system didn’t tell her which direction to go.
However, Yu Yangyang discovered that whenever she went off course, the system would notify her that she was moving farther away from the target.
Yu Yangyang clicked her tongue.
Even this little system has a tsundere personality.
System: “……”
Soon, Yu Yangyang’s sharp eyes spotted a hint of green.
Her eyes lit up.
“Second Brother!”
Before she could say anything else, Yu Jin also spotted the small patch of vibrant green.
After his initial surprise came overwhelming joy.
He quickly ran over.
A small cluster of plants had grown beneath a bare tree.
They looked like they had only recently sprouted.
What incredible luck that they had actually stumbled across them!
Yu Jin examined them for a moment before happily saying,
“It’s purslane!”
Purslane, also known as pigweed, was a plant that could tolerate both drought and flooding.
Yu Yangyang slowly walked over.
Her eyes curved into a smile.
“Looks like we really are lucky.”