This sudden shout caused the entire Zhou family to freeze in surprise.
Zhou the Third looked at his boy in confusion. “What’s wrong with you? Did you find a gold nugget to get this worked up?”
“Father, it’s not a gold nugget, it’s large pig’s legs!” Zhou Sanlang’s small face was flushed with excitement.
He gripped the tattered cloth bundle tightly with both hands, as if terrified the contents inside might sprout legs and run away.
“What?!” Zhou the Third thought Sanlang had gone mad from hunger.
The Zhou family didn’t even have a single mouthful of rations left right now, so how could they possibly have any pigs or cattle?
He let out a sigh and walked over to take a look. “You silly child, how could our family have…”
Yet in the very next instant, his eyes widened and went completely stiff!
Inside the bundle, there actually were two fresh pig’s legs, and neither of them was small!
How was this even possible?!
Zhou the Third gasped in shock. “Good heavens! Where on earth did this spring from? When did our family get such good stuff!”
Hearing even the third son say this, the rest of the Zhou family hurriedly crowded around.
The moment they laid eyes on the pig’s legs inside, they were instantly filled with such shock and joy that they nearly jumped up and down!
Song Nianxi had just been stunned by her daughter opening her mouth to speak, and now, seeing these pig’s trotters appear out of thin air, she was thoroughly rooted to the spot.
Naturally slow-paced in her reactions, she couldn’t quite process it all for a long while.
Old Mrs. Zhou, however, reacted with lightning speed.
She reached out with her large hands and quickly tied the bundle shut to keep others from spotting it.
Then, she urged her sons and daughters-in-law to sit back down quickly, so as not to attract the attention of the surrounding people.
“Mother, where did this pork come from? To think it was inside our family’s bundle!” Zhou the Third suppressed his voice in disbelief.
He desperately wanted to bite himself just to prove he wasn’t dreaming.
Old Mrs. Zhou’s heart was thumping wildly. “I don’t know either! It certainly wasn’t there just now when I grabbed the white sugar!”
At that moment, Old Mrs. Zhou looked down, only to see Zhou Mianmian blinking her large, round eyes.
The little one was mischievously covering her mouth, snickering to herself.
As she giggled, her tiny gaze darted toward the bundle from time to time, looking thoroughly greedy in the most endearing way.
Connecting the dots that her sweet granddaughter had just learned to speak by crying out for meat, and now fresh pig’s legs had literally dropped from the heavens, Old Mrs. Zhou felt a sudden surge of profound excitement wash over her!
“Could it be… our Mianmian brought this to us?! Children blessed with luck are just like this—whatever they want to eat appears, and they are fated never to go hungry!”
The rest of the Zhou family excitedly agreed with the old lady. Only Li Chunzhu curled her lips in discomfort.
How did this worthless girl suddenly turn into a completely different person? What’s all this nonsense about being lucky or unlucky? Pure rubbish.
Old Mrs. Zhou gleefully hid the pig’s legs away.
She planned to secretly cook and eat them later when it got dark, not daring to let the other villagers find out.
Seeing the pig’s legs being hidden, Li Chunzhu grew anxious and blurted out in a loud voice.
“Mother, why are you putting them away? You can’t be thinking of saving all of it for Mianmian to eat, right? I’m still starving here!”
Old Mrs. Zhou’s face warped with anger, and she raised her hand to slap her right across the mouth.
“Shut your trap! You brainless fool, fourth daughter-in-law.”
“With this much meat, do you really think you won’t get a bite? If you end up drawing thieves over, you truly won’t have anything to eat. Just you wait!”
It was no wonder Old Mrs. Zhou was so guarded; their group of fleeing refugees consisted of at least a hundred households.
Having endured up to this day, most of them had gone without a single grain of rice for days. If they caught sight of a piece of meat, their eyes would surely turn blood-red with slaughter.
Their Zhou family didn’t fear trouble, but they weren’t willing to invite it needlessly either. It was better to be cautious.
With her mouth slapped swollen, Li Chunzhu realized this made sense, so she quickly shut her mouth and stopped clamoring.
However, her eyes kept shiftily staring right at that cloth sack, terrified she would be shortchanged a few bites of meat when it came time to eat.
Having finally endured until the sky darkened a bit, Zhou the Third went out to find a secluded spot with no one around.
He then brought the entire family over to finally have a meal with meat.
After starving for so many days, everyone in the Zhou family had thinned down significantly.
Old Mrs. Zhou also panted with heartache for her family, so she gave the order to cook and eat all the pig’s trotters without saving any.
“Only when we eat our fill in one go will we have the strength to keep traveling.”
Everyone hurriedly started a fire to roast the pork.
Though the conditions were primitive, Song Nianxi still patiently selected a piece of ham meat with a perfect balance of fat and lean, cutting it into paper-thin slices.
She fed it right to Zhou Mianmian’s small lips.
The moment the tender, savory pork slid down her throat, Zhou Mianmian’s cheeks flushed rosy with satisfaction.
She rubbed her round, chubby little belly, split her tiny mouth into a grin, and let out two more little baby hiccups.
This absolutely enchanted the entire family.
Even though the pig’s legs were barely enough to go around, Song Nianxi ate exceptionally little. She knew the children had suffered deprivation these past days, and her heart couldn’t help but brim with guilt.
Thus, she saved her own portion of meat and divided it into four pieces.
She intended to keep them for the four children to eat at night if they grew hungry.
Beside her, Li Chunzhu snatched two large trotter tips and devoured them ravenously, as though she wanted to swallow the bone fragments down along with them.
Because she ate too fast without chewing properly, the food ended up entirely blocked in her throat.
Wiping her mouth, she immediately set her sights back on the meat Song Nianxi had just finished roasting.
Taking advantage of Song Nianxi’s lack of attention, Li Chunzhu lunged her hand out to snatch it.
“Third Sister-in-law, you can’t finish that, right? Let me help you eat it.”
“Bah!” Fortunately, Old Mrs. Zhou was quick of eye and deft of hand; she snatched the meat right back.
She shoved it back into Song Nianxi’s hand.
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard of someone needing help to eat a meal! Wife of the fourth son, have you no shame?” Old Mrs. Zhou spat a torrent of scolding directly at Li Chunzhu’s face.
Li Chunzhu turned her head away sheepishly, acting as though nothing had happened.
Then, with supreme thick-skinned shamelessness, she picked up the bones left behind by the second daughter-in-law, sucking on them with great relish.
Zhou the Fourth felt he had lost all face, so he hurriedly dragged Li Chunzhu away.
“Mother, don’t be angry. We’re heading back to sleep. Tomorrow morning, I’ll carry you on my back as we travel.”
The moment Zhou the Second heard Zhou the Fourth taking the initiative to shoulder the labor, he let out a sigh of relief in his heart. He too hurriedly took the second daughter-in-law back to rest.
Once they had all departed first, Zhou Mianmian felt things had finally quieted down quite a bit.
Her tiny body curled contentedly into Song Nianxi’s embrace, arms and legs splayed out in relaxation. Her little hands couldn’t stay still either, aimlessly pulling at her own little toes to play.
Song Nianxi stroked her tiny head with absolute adoration.
It felt as though she could never stroke her enough.
“Mianmian, call me Mother one more time for me to hear, alright?” Song Nianxi coaxed softly.
Zhou the Third also hurriedly joined in on the fun. “Mianmian, call me Father too!”
Zhou Mianmian puckered her little mouth, just about to speak, but on second thought, she decided against it.
The original owner of this body had been a little mute fool who had unfortunately succumbed to her severe illness, which was how she had ended up taking over this body.
For now, it was better to speak less; otherwise, shifting too quickly might easily terrify the Zhou family.
Thus, Zhou Mianmian remained silent, merely offering a chubby, milky grin. She exposed a row of tiny baby teeth that looked precisely like milk-white seashells.
Seeing this, Zhou the Third’s heart completely melted from the sheer cuteness.
He hoisted Mianmian up, placing her right onto his shoulders, patiently teasing and playing with her.
Song Nianxi and Old Mrs. Zhou watched on with beaming smiles. Though the family was currently displaced and wandering, they didn’t lack warmth.
Once daylight came, they would have to continue their journey. Zhou Mianmian knew that there were no dry rations left inside the Zhou family’s bundle.
It seemed she had better prepare tomorrow’s meals as well; otherwise, this whole family would have to suffer empty stomachs again.
With that, Zhou Mianmian returned to inspect her spiritual pool.
The spiritual pool was cloaked in celestial mist, and there was absolutely no shortage of fresh melons and fruits.
However, as for chickens, ducks, geese, and cattle, she had eaten far too many of them without restraint previously, so there weren’t many left now.
Therefore, the livestock was left behind in the spiritual pool by Zhou Mianmian to reproduce on their own first.
Instead, she selected some fruits that were highly effective at staving off hunger and pulled them out.
On the way back, Zhou the Third, doting heavily on his daughter, let Zhou Mianmian sit on his neck, carrying her on his back as they walked.
Suddenly, a tiny hand reached out stealthily from behind him, abruptly tugging a fistful of Zhou the Third’s hair without warning.
Zhou the Third cried out “Ouch!” from the sharp pain, and his feet couldn’t help but come to a halt.
Right after, out of the corner of his eye, he happened to catch sight of a large burlap sack hidden beneath a pile of fallen leaves nearby.
“What’s that?” Zhou the Third’s spirits jolted.
Still carrying Mianmian on his back, he hurried over and retrieved the burlap sack.
Once he opened it to look inside, the laugh lines around the corners of his eyes nearly flew off his face from sheer joy.
Inside was actually a sack packed full of sweet peaches and fragrant muskmelons!
The large, sweet peaches were glossy and dripping with moisture, each one as large as two fists put together.
They looked nothing like the sour, astringent peaches from their old village.
Zhou the Third sniffed the peaches, and as if still unable to believe it, he shoved one into his mouth to take a bite. Only then did he confirm they truly were peaches.
“Mother, Axi, quick, look at what I found!”
“Where did such good fruits come from?” Smelling the intense fragrance of the melons and fruits, Old Mrs. Zhou couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.
“Mother, Axi, our Mianmian really does carry some fortune on her person.” Zhou the Third held Zhou Mianmian, his eyes brimming with pleasant surprise.
If Mianmian hadn’t suddenly yanked his hair, how could he have possibly noticed these excellent fruits?
“Do you even need to say that? Your old mother here said long ago that our Mianmian is a little bundle of luck!” Old Mrs. Zhou held her neck high with pride.
She was absolutely certain that the melons and fruits had been drawn here by her sweet granddaughter.
Thus, she hurriedly called her three grandsons over to hide the fruits on their persons to bring back together.
They absolutely must not let the other refugees see this.
The Zhou family boys were also thrilled out of their minds. While hiding the fruits, they swarmed around their lucky charm of a younger sister, circling her endlessly.
“Little sister is so wonderful. Silang likes little sister best,” Zhou Silang said, laughing with a slight lisp.
Zhou Sanlang patted his chest. “When I grow up, I’ll buy a massive house for little sister to live in, give her beautiful clothes to wear, and take care of her for the rest of her life.”
Hearing this, Zhou the Third and the others couldn’t help but laugh happily.
Only little Mianmian lay against her father’s back, waving her small, fair hands while humming softly with a silver trail of drool hanging from the corner of her mouth.
Mianmian doesn’t need her older brothers to support her; Mianmian’s spiritual pool can support the whole family!