## Chapter 11: More and More Refugees
The two men trying to steal the rice heard this, turned pale with fright, and scampered away on all fours.
Shen Qiang looked at Shen Tianshu and the others who had chased after them, and his expression suddenly changed.
“You’ve all chased over here, so doesn’t that mean back with your grandpa and grandma, there’s only your mother, your aunts, and Chang-geng, Bei-chen, and Guaibao left? Let’s head back immediately!”
Hearing Shen Qiang’s words, the others realized that only the old, weak, women, and children were left with Old Man Shen and Mrs. Shen.
So, they hurriedly followed behind Shen Qiang, running toward the big tree where Old Man Shen, Mrs. Shen, and the others were.
When they ran back and found that no one had taken advantage of their absence to bully the old, weak, women, and children of the Shen family, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, after this incident, the Shen family did not dare to all fall asleep at the same time again.
Old Man Shen looked at his four sons and said, “Boss, Second, you two don’t sleep for the first half of the night and keep watch.”
“Third, Fourth, you two watch the second half of the night.”
“If you’re really sleepy, take turns sleeping for a bit, but you must make sure someone is awake!”
“Mm!” Shen Qiang, Shen Zhuang, Shen Fu, and Shen Gui all nodded with solemn expressions.
Mrs. Shen also placed the two bags of rice right beneath her. If anyone came to steal the rice again, they would first have to move Mrs. Shen, who was lying on top of them, away before they could take the two bags of rice.
Little Guaibao saw what Mrs. Shen was doing and also crawled onto one of the bags of rice, lying down straight and proper.
She was small, so lying right on top of it was a snug fit.
Seeing what little Guaibao was doing, Mrs. Shen’s furrowed brows finally smoothed out a bit, and she smiled as she said, “Guaibao, be a good girl and lie in your mother’s arms.”
“Grandma is lying on the rice. If anyone wants to steal the rice, they have to move Grandma away first.”
“If you lie on the rice, those people might just steal you along with it!”
Hearing this, little Guaibao got down from the bag of rice and obediently ran over to Gu Hanmei’s arms to continue sleeping.
The rest of the Shen family also saw little Guaibao’s cute and adorable actions, and the sorrow on their faces lifted a little.
Over the next few days, the Shen family traveled and drank thin porridge during the day, resting in deserted places at night.
They didn’t dare go to ruined temples that might have people around anymore, terrified of being targeted for their remaining food again.
During these past few days, little Guaibao didn’t ask the iron wok for food anymore, nor did Old Man Shen and Mrs. Shen let her ask the iron wok for food. They even stopped other members of the Shen family from asking little Guaibao to do so.
This was because they were afraid the “Wok Immortal” might think the Shen family was too greedy.
After all, they still had food to eat right now. They figured that once both bags of rice were eaten up and they really couldn’t find any wild herbs, they would let little Guaibao ask the “Wok Immortal” for some food again.
However, the closer they got to the capital, the more refugees there were on the road.
Even when camping in the wilderness, refugees would actively come over to rest near the Shen family.
After all, the Shen family had many men, so if any wild beasts suddenly appeared in the wilderness, there would be a few more helping hands to resist the attack together.
The Shen family had no way to avoid those refugees, and it was impossible for them to starve forever. In the end, right in front of those refugees, they cooked the very last bit of big rice into thin porridge.
…
After little Guaibao obediently finished the last mouthful of thin porridge in her bamboo tube, she couldn’t help licking the leftover rice grains clinging to the rim.
She wasn’t actually full yet.
But she was too embarrassed to say anything, because she knew the food she ate was already the thickest porridge; the porridge her grandpa, grandma, and the others drank was even thinner than hers, with just a few grains of rice floating in what was basically plain water.
She quietly tiptoed over to the large iron wok, and whispered, “Wok Brother, Grandma said Guaibao can’t keep asking you for food, for fear you’ll think Guaibao is greedy.”
“But Guaibao really isn’t greedy. Guaibao just doesn’t want Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, and the others to have their tummies hurt from hunger…”
“Wok Brother, Guaibao knows you’re a good wok. Can you please give Guaibao some more food?”
After finishing this long string of words, little Guaibao couldn’t help blinking her watery, big eyes, looking at the large iron wok in eager anticipation.
However, no food appeared in the iron wok.
Just when little Guaibao thought “Wok Brother” didn’t want to give her food anymore, a young yet familiar voice suddenly popped into her head.
“I am not Wok Brother.”
Little Guaibao clutched her little fists tightly in fright and asked the voice that had suddenly appeared in her mind, “Then… who are you?”