Upon hearing that she would be searched and expelled from Xiao Village’s refugee caravan, Xiao Jinlian rolled her eyes back and fainted on the spot.
“It’s over, it’s over, it’s all over…” Xiao Yongkang trembled violently, his face drained of all color.
Yang Shi had bitten Xiao Fugui’s ear, but he was too shocked to feel the pain. Thinking he had misheard, he turned around in disbelief.
“Village Chief, what do you mean by that?”
Yang Shi spat at his face and sneered.
“You useless old dog! You still can’t understand? They want to take away our household register and hand it over to that ungrateful wretch!”
“Shut up! Call me useless one more time and I’ll divorce you!”
Xiao Fugui had kicked Yang Shi earlier merely as part of an act. But this time she had deliberately hit a sore spot.
Truly enraged, he kicked her to the ground and snorted disdainfully.
“I’m the head of the household! Even if they take the household register, what good will it do them?”
Standing nearby, Xiao Yongtai suddenly felt that he understood something.
Before the village chief could speak, he quietly reminded his foolish father.
“Father, actually, it would be useful. Eldest Brother is the eldest son. If our entire family dies and the villagers are willing to testify, then the register becomes useful to him and his wife.”
“What do you mean?”
If Xiao Yongtai had said nothing, Xiao Fugui might have remained less confused. The more he explained, the more baffled he became.
“I mean—”
“It means all of you die during the rat infestation.”
Xiao Yanzhi suddenly interrupted him.
His dark eyes fixed on Xiao Fugui as he continued calmly,
“When the court later resettles everyone and issues new registrations, the village chief and Third Granduncle will truthfully report the number of casualties suffered by the Old Xiao family. When the new household registers are issued, Eldest Brother will naturally become the head of the new household.”
His explanation was crystal clear.
Even a child could understand it.
Surely Xiao Fugui could too.
“What?”
At last, Xiao Fugui understood.
His eyes widened in horror as he stared at Xiao Yanzhi.
“You unfilial son! So this was your scheme all along! I’m your father! You’re plotting against your own father? Are you trying to turn me into a wandering refugee without registration?”
This son had always been too clever to seem like his offspring.
He looked nothing like him.
And when it came to ruthlessness, even Xiao Fugui found him frightening.
Being called unfilial did not affect Xiao Yanzhi in the slightest.
His expression remained indifferent, as though the insult were directed at someone else.
Then, as if deliberately trying to infuriate his father to death, he let out a cold laugh.
“Ever since my mother died, when have you ever acted like my father?”
“Now you suddenly remember you’re my father?”
“Too late.”
“The day you chose to indulge Yang Shi was the day you should have expected an ending like this.”
“You beast!”
Xiao Fugui staggered backward in fury.
But a scourge lives for a thousand years.
How could he collapse so easily?
After several ragged breaths, he recovered and swept his gaze across the crowd before stopping on the village chief and Third Granduncle.
Still unwilling to give up, he pleaded,
“Village Chief! Third Granduncle! You can’t listen to this beast! If we leave the caravan and lose our household registration, how is my family supposed to survive?”
Third Granduncle acted as though he had heard nothing.
The village chief merely snorted.
“Afraid now?”
“Where was that fear earlier?”
“Didn’t I warn you? Didn’t I tell you not to let that foolish woman of yours keep causing trouble?”
“Haven’t I given you chance after chance?”
“And only now you know fear?”
“Erlang is right. It’s too late.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he waved his hand.
The squad leaders immediately surged forward and began searching for the Xiao family’s household register.
The squad leader assigned to search Xiao Fugui quickly located it.
However, he couldn’t remove it right away.
“Village Chief! The register is on him! It’s sewn into his clothes!”
The village chief didn’t even blink.
“Strip the clothes off.”
After all, sewing the household register into one’s clothing was common practice among the villagers.
Very soon, Xiao Fugui’s upper garments were stripped off in public.
His inner shirt was torn apart.
Not only was his dignity completely destroyed, but the Xiao family’s household register ended up in Xiao Dalang’s hands.
Xiao Fugui nearly coughed up blood from rage.
“Howling to the heavens, he cried out,
‘Give me back my household register! Heaven above! You can’t take it away!’”
The village chief no longer wished to look at the troublesome Xiao family for even another second.
Immediately, he issued another order and a warning.
“Drive these troublemakers away!”
“From this day forward, there is no more Old Xiao family!”
“Everyone remember this!”
“Anyone who refuses to obey on the refugee journey will end up exactly like them!”
The road of famine migration was already difficult enough.
Only through unity and mutual support could people hope to survive.
The recent rat plague had killed tens of thousands.
To the people of Xiao Village, it was a bloody lesson.
If they failed to learn from it and instead followed the Xiao family’s example of causing needless trouble, then dying on the road would be nobody’s fault but their own.
With the village chief’s command given, Xiao Fugui, Xiao Yongtai, Xiao Yongkang, and Yang Shi were directly driven away by the chief’s two sons and two squad leaders.
Qian Shi and Xiao Jinlian were still unconscious and had to be carried away.
The family of six looked like exiled criminals under escort as they were expelled from the Xiao Village refugee caravan before everyone’s eyes.
To prevent them from sneaking back, the village chief ordered his sons to drive them at least five li away.
Only after escorting them more than five li from the caravan did the chief’s sons finally abandon them.
Once they were truly left behind, the four conscious members of the family—except for Yang Shi—were filled with regret, terror, and despair.
Especially because Xiao Changchun had abandoned them in the middle of an endless plain.
As darkness descended, it felt as though a giant black curtain had covered the heavens.
The surroundings became eerie and terrifying.
Looking around, Xiao Fugui nearly wet himself from fear.
Thinking about how his family had ended up in this situation because of a handful of fools, he suddenly slapped Yang Shi and Xiao Yongtai across the face.
Smack! Smack!
“It’s all because of you idiots!”
“Now our household register is gone, and we’ve been abandoned in this cursed place!”
“The whole family is finished!”
“Happy now?!”
Xiao Yongtai didn’t even dare breathe loudly after being slapped.
Yang Shi, meanwhile, wanted nothing more than to strangle Xiao Fugui.
But she knew now was not the time for internal fighting.
Rising to her feet, she surveyed the area.
Then, as though she had suddenly discovered something, she burst into laughter like a madwoman.
“Hahahaha!”
“Old dog Xiao!”
“Who says the Old Xiao family is finished?”
“I’m telling you, not only are we not finished, but we might even make a fortune because of this!”
“What nonsense is Mother talking about?”
The cowardly Xiao Yongkang was shaking nonstop.
He thought his mother had gone insane from fright.
Otherwise, how could she say something so ridiculous?
Yang Shi ignored him and turned to Xiao Fugui.
“Old dog Xiao, do you remember which direction we came from while fleeing?”
Before he could answer, she continued triumphantly,
“You may not remember, but I do!”
“What exactly are you trying to say? Hurry up and spit it out!”
Xiao Fugui felt that even if the village chief hadn’t driven him mad, Yang Shi certainly would.
Couldn’t she just speak plainly for once?
Seeing his anxious expression, Yang Shi snorted smugly.
Then she said,
“All those refugees the rats killed…”
“The things the rats left behind are ownerless now, aren’t they?”
“The household registers, silver, cotton clothes, blankets—don’t they all belong to the Old Xiao family now?”
“Mother, not just that!”
Before she could finish, Xiao Yongtai interrupted excitedly.
“There were so many merchant caravans passing along the road!”
“Maybe we can even find gold!”
“We could make a fortune from the dead!”
His entire body trembled with excitement.
Greed shone brightly in his eyes, as though he could already see piles of gold before him.
“Then being driven away was actually a blessing in disguise?”
Hearing Yang Shi’s idea, Xiao Fugui’s anger instantly vanished.
So did his fear.
In fact, he suddenly felt his wife was a genuine genius.
To think she had actually come up with a way to profit from the dead!