If she couldn’t figure it out, then she simply wouldn’t think about it. The important thing was that she was still alive.
Mm, she really was such an easily satisfied little cutie~
The pearl rice was stored in her space in a small burlap sack.
After taking the rice out, Jing Yin carried the water and rice back along the same route, while Tangyuan limped along behind her.
“Grandma, Tangyuan found these.”
Jing Yin placed the water and rice in front of Grandma Jing.
Now that Tangyuan had become so skilled at taking the blame, she could just let it take the blame for everything.
Grandma Jing first glanced at the bamboo tube. When she opened it, she saw that it was filled with clean water.
“Whoa!”
Grandma Jing’s mouth fell open in shock. Then she opened the burlap sack and saw that it contained bright white rice.
Even during the two years when the Jing family had been doing relatively well, she had never eaten rice this white.
After just one glance, Grandma Jing nervously tied the burlap sack tightly shut, then buried the little sack of rice at the very bottom of the bamboo basket.
Only after finishing all this did Grandma Jing cover her wildly pounding heart and finally breathe a sigh of relief.
She never would have imagined that on this famine journey, where they couldn’t even find enough tree bark to eat, the old Jing family would actually have white rice.
“Mom, is that rice?”
Jing Da’s eyes widened in shock. Although he had only caught a glimpse of it, he immediately recognized what was inside.
It was rice!
“Bah! What rice? I’m telling all of you, from now on, watch your mouths. Eat whatever you’re given, and don’t ask a single word about anything you shouldn’t ask. Otherwise, you might offend the deity!”
Grandma Jing had always been superstitious. Now that she had received such benefits, naturally she wasn’t going to ask any questions.
It was enough to keep good things safely in their own hands. Why ask about this and that?
After being scolded by Grandma Jing, Jing Da immediately shut his mouth.
Zhao Xiao’e did the same. She was naturally quiet and shy, and besides, these were things her own daughter had brought back. Just like Jing Da, she naturally wouldn’t ask anything else.
Jing Zhao had always been a quiet person. Even though Jing Yin had brought back both water and rice, she was his own little sister. Surely she wouldn’t harm him.
As for Grandpa Jing, although he was the head of the family, he had always been very tight-lipped. He never said anything that might bring trouble to the Jing family.
As for the remaining member, Erdan was usually timid under Grandma Jing’s authority, but he had inherited Grandpa Jing’s personality. Despite being so young, he kept his mouth tightly shut and never told anyone anything.
“Grandma, have some more water before we leave.”
The group had rested for nearly half an hour, and the sun was no longer as scorching as before.
As soon as Jing Yin spoke, Grandma Jing took out the water bag and divided the little water that remained among everyone.
The weather was extremely hot. They shouldn’t get sick just because they were trying to save a little water.
Besides, Little Silver had asked. How could she refuse her?
They walked for another hour or so.
By then, the sky had already darkened. Once night fell, they could barely see anything, so they couldn’t continue traveling.
“All right. Let’s find somewhere nearby to spend the night.”
As soon as Grandma Jing spoke, Jing Da immediately went looking for a suitable place to settle down.
The days had been unbearably hot, while the nights were freezing cold. They had to find somewhere sheltered from the wind.
Fortunately, they soon found a suitable place.
It was a dried-up pond. One side was almost vertical, while the other was a sloping bank. It happened to be sheltered from the wind.
“Daughter-in-law, take these and make some soup.”
Grandma Jing reluctantly poured some elm leaves from the bag and handed them to Zhao Xiao’e, roughly a tenth of what they had left.
They still had two bamboo tubes of water, and one tube was barely enough to make soup.
“Grandma, the elm leaves are already wilted and won’t keep for long. Let’s cook them all. And take out half the rice and cook it together. That little bit of elm leaves won’t fill our stomachs anyway.”
They needed to eat their fill to have the strength to survive, and only by having enough strength could they deal with danger.
Grandma Jing: “…”
This family would fall apart without her.
They were eating so much in one meal! Even during those two good years when their family had been better off, they had never eaten like this.
If she had known, she would have turned all the elm leaves into dried vegetables. That way, they wouldn’t be wasting everything at once.
But that was only something she could think about.
During the half-day they had spent traveling, they had frequently encountered refugees passing by. If those people discovered that they had food, wouldn’t that be disastrous?
Rather than letting others discover it, they might as well eat it. At least then it would end up in the stomachs of their own Jing family.
Thinking this way, although Grandma Jing still felt heartbroken, she took out all the elm leaves.
Then she took out a small handful of rice, not even enough to weigh two ounces.
Only after Jing Yin urged her did she reluctantly take out another handful.
“That’s all. There really isn’t any more. Little Silver, if you keep asking me to take more out, you might as well take your grandma’s life…”
Grandma Jing was practically on the verge of tears.
The good stuff had barely reached her hands before it was already disappearing. Of course she was heartbroken!
“Grandma, I want meat. Cut up some more meat.”
Jing Yin stopped asking for rice and started asking for meat instead.
Grandma Jing’s face twitched.
Then Jing Yin continued, “Grandma, we need to eat our fill so we’ll have the strength to survive. Once we reach our new home, I’ll build you a big house and buy you new clothes. We’ll wear a different outfit every day, eat white rice at every meal, and have meat every day…”
Even Jing Da, her own father, couldn’t listen to this grand promise anymore. He shook his head and went to cook with his wife.
In the end, Grandma Jing gritted her teeth and cut off a small piece from the remaining half-strip of dried meat she had saved earlier, handing it to Zhao Xiao’e.
Here!
Little Silver wanted to eat it. How could she not give it to her?
Grandma Jing hid the remaining meat away as securely as possible, while Jing Yin made her way to the top of the pond.
Jing Zhao was responsible for keeping watch. If anyone approached, he could warn them in time.
“Big Brother, can I keep learning how to read with you from now on?”
Modern Chinese characters and ancient Chinese characters were still different. Although she could recognize most of them, she really didn’t know how to write them.
She would be living here from now on, so naturally, she needed to learn how to write.
Jing Zhao had attended school for several years and studied under a teacher. Many years ago, the Jing family’s circumstances hadn’t been too bad, so they had sent him to school.
Later, when the family’s situation deteriorated, Jing Zhao had no choice but to stop attending school.
The original owner had never attended school, but when she had learned about medicinal herbs from the village doctor, she occasionally needed to recognize written characters. Because of that, she had learned some characters alongside Jing Zhao, though she eventually stopped studying.
“Mm.”
Jing Zhao didn’t ask anything and simply nodded in agreement.
The fragrance of rice porridge mixed with meat gradually drifted up from below, growing stronger and stronger.
Both Jing Yin and Jing Zhao couldn’t help swallowing.
It smelled so good.
Beside the fire, Zhao Xiao’e chopped the elm leaves into small pieces and dumped them all into the porridge.
There were quite a lot of elm leaves, so she had no choice but to cook them in two clay pots.
Just as Jing Yin was about to run down and wait for the food, she suddenly stopped.
Her gaze darkened as she stared into the darkness in the distance.
“Little Sister?”
Jing Zhao followed her gaze. He quickly sensed that something was wrong as well and stood up warily.
“Dad, someone’s here.”
Jing Zhao quietly warned the people below.
Hearing this, Zhao Xiao’e hurriedly covered the two clay pots and carefully hid them to the side.
Jing Da immediately grabbed the only kitchen knife the family had.
Grandpa Jing raised the sickle he had been carrying all along, while Grandma Jing also tightened her grip on the carrying pole.
Even Erdan picked up a stick, determined to defend their food to the death.