“I’ll listen to Little Silver.”
Grandma Jing called Zhao Xiao’e over to help prepare lunch.
Jing Hao and Jing Da stood on the slope, keeping a close eye on their surroundings. One of them held a kitchen knife, while the other held a stick.
Grandpa Jing guarded the bottom of the slope, holding a hoe as he kept watch.
Jing Yin stayed at the bottom of the slope as well. Taking advantage of the medicinal effects these past few days, she spent every spare moment cultivating the body-tempering technique.
Even a single moment of cultivation was a huge improvement.
The refugee group.
“Mom, guess who I saw?”
Not far away, a thin-cheeked woman with a mean-looking face leaned close to an old woman’s ear and whispered.
“Who?”
The old woman looked listless.
The whole family was hungry, and she wasn’t in the mood for anything.
“The Jing family!”
The moment the sharp-tongued woman finished speaking, the old woman immediately perked up.
“Who did you say? Those people from the Old Jing family? Are you sure?”
“Mom, there’s no way I’m mistaken. I saw them clearly. Jing Da and his son are right over there.”
As she spoke, the woman pointed toward the distance.
Sure enough, two people were standing on the slope.
The old woman narrowed her eyes and barely managed to recognize that they really were the two members of the Jing family.
“Mom, look at how nervous they are. They must have food. Let’s borrow some food from them. We’re from the same village, after all. If they won’t even lend us a little food, I’d like to see how they can show their faces afterward.”
“You’re right. But about that good-for-nothing daughter-in-law of theirs… They don’t know that we were the ones who did it, do they?”
As she spoke, the old woman waved at the thin man standing a few steps away.
The man was so hungry that stars were practically floating before his eyes.
When he saw his mother waving at him, he thought she had food and hurried over.
“Mom, do you have food?”
“We do, but we have to go ask them for it. Yucai, look over there. Do you know those two?”
The old woman pointed again.
Li Yucai immediately spotted the two members of the Jing family, and greed flashed in his eyes.
“They’re from the Jing family. I’ll go ask them for some.”
Those people from the Jing family were the easiest to deceive.
“Wait. Mom wants to ask you something. When you dealt with that good-for-nothing daughter-in-law of theirs, did you let them find out?”
“How could that happen? They probably don’t even know whether that good-for-nothing is alive or dead.”
Li Yucai snorted.
He had merely thrown that good-for-nothing woman to the bandits.
He never expected the Jing family to leave afterward, leaving his own family without anyone to provide them with food.
Those damn people.
He would definitely squeeze them dry later.
“Brother, I’ll go with you.”
At that moment, another emaciated woman with tear-filled eyes walked over to Li Yucai.
Her eyes were full of pleading.
Li Yucai immediately snorted.
“Li Xiaohua, if it weren’t for me trying to save you, would I have thrown that good-for-nothing from the Jing family to the bandits?
“Just to save someone like you, do you know how many days we’ve gone hungry?”
The more Li Yucai thought about it, the angrier he became.
Without the protection of the Old Jing family, they had been bullied countless times along the way.
They had finally managed to separate themselves from the main refugee group, and now, as luck would have it, they had run into the Jing family again.
“Brother, Jing Zhao… he treats me differently. If I go ask him, he’ll definitely give me some food.”
Li Xiaohua cried pitifully.
Li Yucai impatiently waved his hand.
“Fine. Come with me. When we get there, cry as hard as you can. If they dare refuse, just say Jing Zhao tried to take advantage of you. Understand?”
“Yes.”
Li Xiaohua hurriedly nodded.
“I’ll go too. Old man, come with us. We can’t let anyone bully Yucai.”
And so, Li Yucai’s entire family marched toward the Old Jing family.
…
“Little Sister, those people look like the Li family?”
Jing Zhao suddenly spoke from the top of the slope.
At those words, Jing Yin’s eyes snapped open.
The Li family?
Li Yucai!
Li Yucai actually dared to come here?!!!
Not only had Li Yucai deceived the original Jing Yin into giving him the food that could have saved her life, but when his younger sister, Li Xiaohua, stole the bandits’ rations, he had redirected the blame onto the original Jing Yin.
He told the bandits that the original Jing Yin was not only beautiful but also had plenty of food on her.
If necessary, they could even sell her, since she was worth more than Li Xiaohua.
He would even take responsibility for luring her out…
And just like that, Li Yucai had tricked the unsuspecting original Jing Yin into coming outside.
The bandits easily captured her.
Jing Yin had remembered this incident all along.
She hadn’t even had the chance to find them yet, and now they had actually delivered themselves straight to her doorstep.
Thinking of this, a trace of excitement appeared in Jing Yin’s eyes.
“Where are they?”
Jing Yin sprang up the slope in just a few steps and excitedly looked down.
Seeing how excited his little sister was, Jing Zhao couldn’t help silently mourning Li Yucai and his family.
Here they came.
Walking toward them on their own two legs.
Those very legs that his little sister desperately wanted to break.
…
When she saw that it really was the Li family, Jing Yin excitedly shrank behind Jing Zhao.
Before long, the entire Li family came over.
Not a single one was missing.
Li Yucai’s father, a shameless bully who was impossible to reason with.
Mrs. Li, whose words were sweet but whose heart was venomous.
Li Yucai’s sharp-tongued older sister, Li Dahuā.
Li Xiaohua, the old green-tea who loved playing the victim.
And, of course, there was Li Yucai himself, who always called himself a learned gentleman, despite not even having passed the lowest scholar examination.
What a pity.
How had not a single one of this family died on the refugee road?
But it didn’t matter.
She wouldn’t let any of them off.
“In-laws?! So it really is you, in-laws!”
Mrs. Li’s eyes lit up as she shouted toward Jing Da.
Although she had never genuinely approved of Jing Yin and had never intended to let her become her daughter-in-law, those were merely words for appearances right now.
If she could get some food, who couldn’t say a couple of polite words?
Besides, that good-for-nothing might already be dead.
She had even less reason to worry now.
The most important thing was figuring out how to get food from this family.
Just moments earlier, Jing Da had heard from his son that the Li family was nearby.
He had been thinking about how to give them a good beating.
He never expected to hear the words “in-laws” the next second.
It made him feel sick.
How could this family be so shameless?
“Pah! Who the hell are you calling your in-law? If I didn’t refuse to hit women, I’d give you a couple of slaps right now! Pah! Disgusting!”
“Jing Da! Are you asking for it?”
Li Yucai’s father suddenly rushed forward from behind and reached out to grab Jing Da by the collar.
“What’s that smell? You’re cooking porridge?”
Li Dahuā suddenly cried out.
Her greedy eyes were fixed on the clay pot simmering at the bottom of the slope.
Her words immediately drew the attention of everyone in the Li family toward the pot.
“Mom, I think I smell meat too.”
Li Xiaohua sniffed the air and swallowed hard.
“It really is meat!”
Li Yucai also caught the scent.
The entire family stared fixedly at the pot, wishing they could claim it as their own right then and there.
“Pah! You heartless bastards! Get lost!”
Grandma Jing stepped in front of the pot.
Mrs. Li rolled her eyes.
She quickly came up with a brilliant idea.
Wasn’t the Old Jing family worried about that good-for-nothing daughter-in-law?
Then she could use a false piece of information about where that woman was to trick them into handing over their food.
But before she could say anything, Jing Yin walked out from behind Jing Zhao.
Not a single member of the Li family had noticed her until now.
“Long time no see.”
Jing Yin held a dagger in her hand and tilted her head with a faint smile.
Amid the Li family’s panicked expressions, Jing Yin stepped forward and kicked Li Yucai to the ground.