Neither the crippled man nor the four children noticed anything unusual about Song Jin as they took turns lining up to drink water.
After going two whole days without a single drop to drink, Jin, Mu, Shui, and Huo still didn’t gulp it down recklessly.
Though they were only five years old and physically weak, they knew how to restrain themselves. They understood that a mouthful of water could save a life, so after only four or five sips to quench their thirst, they forced themselves to stop.
After the four children drank, Xiao Yanzhi took the water pouch as well.
The instant the spiritual spring water flowed down his throat, a strange look flashed across his deep phoenix eyes.
“Hm?”
This water was actually mountain spring water.
No… it tasted far better than ordinary mountain spring water by countless times.
In twenty years of life, Xiao Yanzhi had never tasted mountain spring water this sweet, this… miraculous.
The moment the spring water entered his throat, he immediately felt as though enlightenment had washed over him.
His previously muddled mind instantly cleared, like clouds and fog being swept away. His illness-ridden, heavy body felt as though it had swallowed some divine elixir. Energy was mysteriously returning to his body, and his entire being became lighter and more relaxed.
To confirm his suspicion, he took several more drinks.
Once he was certain his senses weren’t deceiving him, the gaze Xiao Yanzhi directed at Song Jin carried a trace of scrutiny.
Song Jin had no idea that the spiritual spring had caught Xiao Yanzhi’s attention and continued preparing food on her own.
She planned to cook a pot of wild vegetable soup and roast six large sweet potatoes.
She retrieved the iron pot that had been kicked far away, set it over the fire, poured half a waterskin of spiritual spring water into it, and then untied the sack.
When she loosened the vine rope and revealed the tender elm seeds inside the sack, then pulled out six fresh red sweet potatoes the size of bowls along with a bundle of tender wild vegetables, Xiao Yanzhi’s brow twitched violently.
The eyes of Jin, Mu, Shui, and Huo widened as well.
Each of them swallowed hard, wishing they could pounce over and snatch the sweet potatoes to eat raw.
After fleeing famine for an entire month, they had spent over half of that time eating dry rations that were nearly impossible to swallow. Later, they survived by chewing leaves and bark, to the point that all of them became constipated and unable to relieve themselves. Now, in their eyes, sweet potatoes were nothing less than walking delicacies.
Song Jin first tossed the six large sweet potatoes into the fire to roast, then added the wild vegetables into the iron pot to boil.
Just as the stomachs of Jin, Mu, Shui, and Huo began growling uncontrollably, she took out a handful of elm seeds from the sack.
Stuffing them into Xiao Yanzhi’s arms, she said, “These can be eaten raw. You and the children should eat a little first to fill your stomachs. Later you can have the wild vegetable soup and roasted sweet potatoes.”
To prove the elm seeds weren’t poisonous, she grabbed a few leaves herself and started chewing on them first.
Xiao Yanzhi lowered his head to look at the elm seeds in his arms, his eyes dark and deep like a frozen pool as thoughts surged through his mind.
During the entire month of fleeing famine, this woman had always prioritized herself when it came to food and drink. She constantly feared that she would starve to death first on the refugee road. Not only had she selfishly kept all the food on her person without ever letting it out of her sight, she even guarded against him and the children as though they were thieves.
Every time he and the children wanted food or water, it felt like they were begging on the streets.
For such a selfish woman to suddenly become generous, with behavior completely opposite from before, no matter how Xiao Yanzhi thought about it, he felt certain this woman was plotting something bad.
If nothing unexpected happened, this woman was still planning to use the chaos of fleeing famine to completely get rid of him, a cripple.
Today’s sudden generosity was probably nothing more than an attempt to lower his guard so that one day, when he wasn’t paying attention, she could steal the household registration papers and run away far from him.
Did she really think he was that easy to fool? That a little food and water would make him let down his guard and fall for her tricks?
A dark gloom hung between Xiao Yanzhi’s brows and eyes. Not only did his hatred toward Song Jin not lessen, it actually deepened. Without revealing anything on his face, he shifted his gaze toward Jin, Mu, Shui, and Huo.
“Come here and split this among yourselves.”
“Father, you should eat too!”
The four children worked together in silent understanding, each taking only a little and deliberately leaving one portion behind.
Seeing there was still a share left in his arms, Xiao Yanzhi felt warmth stir in his heart. But immediately afterward came even greater heartache for the children. They were at the age where they should have been growing, yet because they followed him, they barely had enough to eat.
Xiao Yanzhi originally wanted to say he wasn’t hungry, but the words that came out instead were, “Alright. Father will eat too.”
The moment Jin, Mu, Shui, and Huo saw him place a piece of elm seed into his mouth, they instantly broke into smiles and hurriedly stuffed their own portions into their mouths in excitement.
While the crippled man and the four children shared the elm seeds, Song Jin’s wild vegetable soup had finished cooking.
She tasted a mouthful first. Since there was no salt, the soup itself was bland.
Fortunately, the wild vegetables came from her space, and the soup had been cooked with spiritual spring water, preserving a unique fragrance and sweetness.
Having just eaten elm seeds and now being given bowls of wild vegetable soup, the excitement in Jin, Mu, Shui, and Huo’s eyes could not be hidden. Yet without Xiao Yanzhi’s approval, they didn’t dare reach out to take the bowls Song Jin offered them.
Seeing this, Xiao Yanzhi lifted his lips slightly.
“You drink first.”
Song Jin rolled her eyes speechlessly at his words. She picked up a bowl of wild vegetable soup and drank it clean in one go.
After finishing, she even raised the empty bowl and let out a mocking laugh.
“If I really wanted to kill you and the children, there’d be no need to go through all this trouble finding food for you! I could’ve just followed behind your refugee group, waited for all of you to starve or die of thirst, then taken the household registration papers afterward. Wouldn’t that have been much easier?”
After angrily setting down the empty bowl, Song Jin had barely turned around when she suddenly heard the sound of a gong coming from the village chief’s campfire area.
Then came the village chief’s shout:
“Men of Xiao Family Village, come over and listen! There’s something to announce!”
Already mentally exhausted and unwilling to keep looking at the faces of the crippled man and the four children, Song Jin carried the sack back onto the flat cart and hid it away. Then she tossed out a sentence:
“The sweet potatoes should be almost done roasting. Take them out later so they don’t burn. I’m going to hear what’s happening. If you don’t dare eat them, then wait until I come back.”
As expected, the village chief was probably going to discuss dividing everyone into smaller groups.
Since Xiao Yanzhi’s legs couldn’t move, she volunteered herself and headed toward the village chief’s campfire area after leaving those words behind.
What Song Jin failed to notice was a sneaky figure peeking around not far away.
That person was Xiao Yanzhi’s half-sister, Xiao Jinlian.
Xiao Jinlian had come under orders from her mother, Madam Yang, to spy on them. Madam Yang had sharp eyes and spotted Song Jin carrying back a sack full of food, which immediately stirred her greed. She ordered Xiao Jinlian to investigate what exactly was inside the sack.
Madam Yang had even specifically instructed her that if she saw anything valuable, she should snatch it without hesitation.
When Xiao Jinlian saw Song Jin toss large sweet potatoes into the fire, throw wild vegetables into the iron pot, and even pull out a handful of elm seeds as rations, she nearly screamed aloud. Her eyes gleamed green with greed as she swallowed mouthful after mouthful of saliva, wishing desperately that all the food in that sack belonged to her family.
“That little bitch really has some skills, finding this much good stuff!”
Seeing Song Jin leave, Xiao Jinlian originally planned to rush over, grab the sack, and run. But deep down, she was terrified of Xiao Yanzhi, so she decided instead to return and report everything to Madam Yang.
“Mother, you have no idea! Those sweet potatoes were huge and beautiful, each one as big as a bowl. And from what I saw, there’s definitely a lot more food inside that sack!” Xiao Jinlian whispered excitedly.
Hearing this, Madam Yang’s harsh face darkened. A vicious glint burst from her triangular eyes as she snorted coldly.
“That little bitch! An ungrateful white-eyed wolf! I knew that husband and wife pair were black-hearted. Our family’s practically eating dirt here, and not only are they unwilling to show respect to the family, they even dare hide food and water instead of sharing it with their own kin!”