It had to be said—Yang Shi was truly talented.
She was the only one who came up with a way to get rich that no one else had even thought of.
Not only that, she had even solved the problem of household registration!
“Xiu Lan, I was wrong before. Don’t take it to heart! I was just panicking and tried to stage a pitiful act. I didn’t mean to kick you!” Xiao Fugui instantly turned into a devoted husband, kneeling and begging Yang Shi for forgiveness.
Yang Shi glared at Xiao Fugui with contempt, her face full of arrogance and smugness. “Weren’t you so tough before, saying you’d divorce me? Why don’t you go ahead and divorce me now!”
“If you divorce me, I’ll just take the two sons and go make a fortune. I’ll leave you, that old useless man, here to be torn apart by wolves! Even without a man, I can just find a widow’s household registration—someone whose husband is dead—and still live well and eat delicious food!”
“Ah! I deserve it! My mouth is trash! I’m a beast!” Xiao Fugui slapped himself three times, crying and snotting as he begged desperately to follow her in making money off the dead. “Xiu Lan, you can’t leave me here to be torn apart by wolves! I was wrong! I shouldn’t have laid a hand on you! From now on, you make all the decisions in our family, alright?”
“Hmph! I’ll only give you one chance! If you ever dare hit me again, you old fool, you’ll be on your own!”
Yang Shi had completely figured out Xiao Fugui. As soon as she came up with a way to make money, he lost all backbone and obediently knelt down.
Xiao Yongtai and Xiao Yongkang, seeing that their parents still had the mood to argue, were anxious to death.
After the two “old fools” finished bickering, they couldn’t stay still any longer and hurriedly urged them, “Mother, let’s just carry Madam Qian and the fifth child and get on the road! Otherwise, if they wake up, we’ll waste time explaining everything!”
The place where the rat swarm passed was still more than ten miles away—about an hour’s walk.
They were afraid that any surviving refugees might also think of making money from the dead and get there first, stealing their opportunity.
……
Meanwhile, as the entire Xiao family of six hurried toward the area where the rat swarm had passed, the village chief’s two sons, Xiao Changchun and Xiao Hengchun, along with six team leaders, had returned to the Xiao village rest area.
At this time, the entire resting site was lit by two bonfires.
Other villages’ refugees had formed temporary groups, more than two hundred people gathered around one fire.
Everyone knew that traveling alone meant certain death, so it was better to travel together.
But because it was a temporary alliance and they were not from the same village, everyone was suspicious and guarded against one another.
The Xiao village group of more than two hundred people also gathered around their own bonfire.
After the rat swarm passed and the Xiao family was driven away, the entire village now followed the village chief and the third elder as their leaders.
Everyone deeply understood that only by following them could they survive.
When Xiao Changchun and Xiao Hengchun returned, they saw the entire village gathered around the fire, while the village chief and the third elder were asking each household to hand over their supplies.
In order to ensure the survival of the entire village, the village chief and the third elder decided to pool all food and resources together.
Some families who feared death were unwilling to hand over their supplies, but when they saw Song Jin being the first to hand over her goods—six cotton clothes, three blankets, a bundle of wild vegetables, and a small water pouch exchanged for sweet potatoes and spiritual spring water—they obediently followed suit.
Don’t ask why Song Jin was so “foolish” to hand over everything she had worked so hard to obtain. This was actually Xiao Yanzhi’s idea. As his “wife,” she had to follow her husband’s lead.
Xiao Yanzhi’s reasoning was actually understandable.
After the rat swarm passed, although the Xiao village people survived, ninety percent of households were left with nothing but their household registration book.
If everyone acted only for themselves now, the next thing they would see would be corpses of villagers starving one after another.
At this moment, the most valuable things the Xiao village still had were unity and physical strength.
When used properly, these two forces were extremely powerful.
Xiao Yanzhi had been deeply inspired after witnessing the village fleeing together under the “red flag” during the escape.
He firmly believed that only by turning the entire village into a single rope, sharing resources, and working together to find food and endure hardship, could they all survive.
The village chief and the third elder naturally hoped everyone would survive, so they fully supported his proposal.
Looking at the pitifully small amount of supplies in front of him, the village chief could not help but shed tears, choking as he comforted everyone:
“Don’t worry! Although these supplies are being managed by me and the third elder, they will still be shared and used by everyone in the end!”
“During this escape, it was because we were prepared that we all survived. This is not luck! It shows that as long as we unite as one, support each other, and stay together, this strength can save our lives!”
“I know everyone is panicking now, but since we survived, it means we are blessed! If we don’t have food or water, the strong men will go find them with all their strength! If we don’t have cotton clothes or blankets, the women will make them from grass! In short, anything usable, we must find!”
After the village chief finished speaking, the third elder’s eyes were also red as he assigned tasks:
“Tonight we will share the last remaining food, then rest for the night.”
“Tomorrow at Mao hour, the strong men will go out again to find food. If you see withered grass, bring it back for the women to make grass clothes and blankets. If you find bamboo that hasn’t fully dried, cut it for water containers. In short, anything usable must be collected and handed over to me and the village chief.”
He then looked at Song Jin and Xiao Yanzhi and asked, “Second son, Madam Song, do you have anything to add?”
Xiao Yanzhi, lying on the cart, first looked at Song Jin, then shook his head, indicating the arrangement of the elders was reasonable.
Song Jin did not expect to be asked. The short axe in her hand paused as she played with the dirt.
After scanning the more than two hundred villagers, she hesitated for a long time before saying:
“I suggest we stop heading east. We should go south instead.”
“This time, after the earth dragon quake, not only refugees are moving east, but also rat swarms that are attracted by blood. Rats not only eat fresh food, they may also eat carrion, which can easily spread epidemics. If we continue east, we will constantly risk encountering rat swarms and may even be infected by disease.”
She knew her words would scare many people, but for survival, she forced herself to continue:
“And the most terrifying point is this—rats reproduce extremely fast, giving birth six to eight times a year, five to ten pups per litter. You can estimate for yourselves how large the rat swarm we encountered last night could become in a few months…”
Before she could finish, there were three thuds.
Three women in the Xiao village fainted from fear.
“Ugh…”
“Ugh…”
Several men who had already been vomiting also began to retch again.