When Madam Liu returned, Gu Nianzhi had already finished cooking the fish—half boiled into soup, half grilled—and set it aside, waiting for her to eat.
The pot was an old clay pot left behind by the previous owner. It was cracked and could only hold half a pot of fish.
Seeing Madam Liu come back, Gu Nian’an brought out the chipped bowls they had just found in the house and carefully placed them in front of the three of them.
Looking at the broken pot, the cracked bowls, and the chopsticks made from branches behind the house, the three fell silent as they lifted their bowls.
After only one sip of fish soup, Madam Liu looked up at Gu Nianzhi in surprise.
“Nianzhi, why does this fish soup taste salty?”
She clearly remembered that when they left, aside from their tattered clothes, Old Madam Gu hadn’t even given them a single scallion!
Wait—
There were scallions in the soup too!
“I secretly took the salt while Grandma wasn’t paying attention, and I stole the scallions from the vegetable patch just now,” Gu Nianzhi said calmly, without the slightest hint of guilt.
The salt came from her storage space, but the scallions really were pulled from the Gu family’s garden.
There were only a few anyway—Old Madam Gu wouldn’t notice.
Madam Liu was stunned. She wanted to say something, but then seemed to think better of it. Lowering her eyes, she quietly drank the fish soup.
After eating and drinking their fill, the mother and children continued clearing the weeds in the courtyard.
Looking at the dilapidated little house, Madam Liu finally decided to visit the village head.
“This house belongs to the village after all. I’ll go let them know and borrow it for a few days.”
The house had been abandoned for years—just informing the village head was enough to move in. If they wanted to live there long-term in the future, they would only need to buy the land foundation when rebuilding.
That night, the siblings processed the remaining three fish and grilled them all.
Although salt had been added to the fish soup at noon, there were no other seasonings. Gu Nianzhi found it too fishy, so each of them had a grilled fish for dinner instead.
After night fell, the three laid some straw inside the house and lay down, gazing out through the window.
“Mother, if only we had split from the family earlier,” Gu Nian’an murmured contentedly.
Today was the fullest he had ever eaten.
If this were before, such delicious fish soup and grilled fish would have long gone into his eldest uncle’s family’s stomachs. Their second branch would only get some wild vegetable gruel.
Sometimes they couldn’t even get that—only wild vegetable soup with a tiny pinch of coarse salt.
At night, their stomachs would rumble, and after peeing once, the hunger would somehow disappear.
Thinking about today’s food, Madam Liu felt it was far too extravagant.
She had originally wanted to trade the fish for a few copper coins, but seeing An’an’s hopeful eyes and her daughter’s frighteningly thin face, she let them have their way.
At worst, she’d just wake up earlier tomorrow, dig more wild vegetables, and sell them in the city—three jin for one copper coin. She should be able to earn something.
Gu Nianzhi was also thinking about how to make money.
With no capital at all, she could only live off the mountains and waters. Tomorrow, she would have to go into the mountains to see if she could find anything valuable.
And so, each of them fell asleep with their own thoughts.
The next morning, Madam Liu woke up early to dig wild vegetables.
There wasn’t much food at home, so she told the siblings to pull weeds behind the house today. At noon, she would use the vegetables she’d gathered yesterday to cook wild vegetable soup.
Watching Madam Liu walk farther and farther away, Gu Nian’an poked Gu Nianzhi.
“Sis, where are we going today?”
From what he’d seen of her these past two days, she definitely wouldn’t obediently stay home pulling weeds.
“Come on—we’re sneaking up the mountain,” Gu Nianzhi said.
Hearing they were going to the mountain again, Gu Nian’an jumped up happily!
The last time they went with his sister, they’d eaten roasted rabbit. Now they were going again—he was thrilled.
They didn’t have a water flask, but Gu Nianzhi remembered there was a mountain spring, so they didn’t bring water and headed straight into the mountains.
Along the way, they avoided the paths Madam Liu usually took to dig wild vegetables and quietly entered the deep mountains.
Feeling the cool mountain air, Gu Nian’an was about to ask what they should do next when Gu Nianzhi suddenly raised a finger to her lips. Then, once again, she picked up a large stone and threw it into the bushes.
With a thump, a wild chicken limped out.
Seeing that it was only injured and still trying to escape, Gu Nianzhi grabbed another large stone and hurled it with one hand. The wild chicken let out a cry and collapsed, dead.
“Ahhh! Sis! You hit a wild chicken! That’s amazing!”
His sister was incredible!
Every time she threw a stone, she hit her prey—she was even better than the mountain hunters!
Gu Nianzhi waved her hand at Gu Nian’an, who was screaming excitedly.
This was nothing. Counting this life, she had lived three lifetimes already. Without this much skill, how could she have survived the apocalypse?
Carrying the wild chicken, Gu Nianzhi led Gu Nian’an deeper into the mountains.
Not long after, they heard the sound of flowing water ahead.
Parched with thirst, the siblings walked toward the water. Just as Gu Nian’an was about to rush forward and drink, Gu Nianzhi reached out and stopped him.
She pointed about two meters downstream.
There, lying by the water and basking in the sun, was a python as thick as a human arm.
Gu Nian’an’s legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed.
Hearing the noise, the snake turned its head toward them.
It’s over.
Gu Nian’an grabbed Gu Nianzhi’s hand, trembling.
He didn’t know if his sister could kill such a big snake with a stone. If she missed, they wouldn’t be able to escape.
Gu Nianzhi pulled Gu Nian’an behind her and stared the snake down.
She didn’t have time to pick up stones—if she bent down, the snake could rush forward and attack.
With no suitable weapon in hand, she tossed the wild chicken aside and prepared to fight with everything she had.
When fighting a snake, strike the vital spot. If you don’t have a weapon, grabbing it works too!
She slowly approached the snake. The snake flicked its tongue and assumed an attacking posture.
Seeing his sister move closer, Gu Nian’an wanted to tell her to run, but he didn’t dare make a sound, afraid of startling the snake and putting her in danger.
As the distance closed, the snake finally launched itself at Gu Nianzhi.
She dodged instantly and, at top speed, seized the snake by its vital spot.
Realizing it had been caught by a human, the enraged snake wrapped its body around Gu Nianzhi.
The snake was over two meters long, and its body tightened around her bit by bit.
Knowing the snake was trying to strangle her, Gu Nianzhi shouted to Gu Nian’an:
“An’an! Get a big rock!”
Gu Nian’an hurriedly found a large stone by the river and carried it over.
“Smash its head!”
Looking at the snake’s head—about the size of two fists—Gu Nian’an’s entire body shook.
But for his sister’s sake, so she wouldn’t be eaten by the snake, he closed his eyes and smashed the stone down.
Once.Twice…
The snake still wasn’t dead.
Gu Nianzhi kept encouraging him, telling him to be bold and keep smashing.
Finally, Gu Nian’an steeled himself and used all his strength. After what felt like an eternity, the snake’s head was smashed to pieces, and its body finally loosened its grip on Gu Nianzhi.
Gu Nian’an collapsed onto the ground.
Gu Nianzhi immediately picked him up and carried him away from the snake’s corpse.
“Well done, An’an! You were incredible just now!”
Hearing his sister’s praise, he looked up, his eyes shining with excitement.
His sister praised him!
He had just killed a huge snake!
He was a real man!