“Shen Yu is a monster! She’s not human, not human! Wuuu~~ Elder, please make a decision! Burn this little wicked girl! She can’t be allowed to harm anyone else—she really is a monster! Wuuu~~” Xie Jinhua wailed, her cries oddly musical in tone.
The village elder’s veins bulged in anger. He had no way to repay Shen Yu’s immense kindness, and yet these scoundrels dared to suggest that their benefactor be killed! He roared:“Shut your mouths! What on earth is going on? Shen Yu, you explain!”
“Shen Liu deliberately sent her grandson, Shen Xu, to steal our family’s food. When I refused, he even threw mud into the pot. Didn’t I do the right thing hitting him?” Shen Yu shot a sidelong glare at the old Shen Liu, each word crisp and clear.
“Was it just about food? Look at what you did to my grandson! You’re supposed to be his sister! How can you be so cruel?” Shen Liu tried to defend herself.
“His sister? Our severed family ties meant nothing? He came over to cause trouble, and he got beaten—he deserved it! Shen Liu, this is the kind of grandson you raised!” Shen Yong clenched his fists and shouted at Shen Liu, almost wanting to punch the old hag.
“You ungrateful wretch! How dare you curse your own mother? Aren’t you afraid of the heavens striking you down? Rotten heart! Your whole family will die miserable deaths! All of you!” Shen Liu raged, cursing Shen Yong’an with words she had repeated in her mind thousands of times.
Shen Yu had just been about to secretly flick a pebble to shut Shen Liu up when the village elder shouted sharply:“Enough! You shut up!”
The elder’s eyes were red with fury as he pointed at Shen Liu:“Right now, immediately, pack up and leave Shenjia Village! We cannot allow such a wicked woman here!”
Shen Liu went silent, stunned. She stared at the elder, and it took her a long moment to realize: leaving Shenjia Village meant certain death for her family. That was impossible.
She immediately dropped to her knees, kowtowing:“Second Uncle, you can’t do this! For the sake of our old man at home, you can’t force us out. Don’t drive us to death!”
Even Shen Yongtian and Shen Yongcai, hiding behind her, knelt and begged the elder to spare them, repeatedly promising they would behave properly from now on and cause no more trouble.
But the village elder’s decision was firm. No matter how much they begged, he made them leave the Shenjia Village group.
Xie Jinhua held Shen Xu, and the family cried and wailed as they walked out, but they didn’t go far. They were not foolish—they planned to closely follow the Shenjia villagers.
The village elder had no way to deal with their shamelessness, only instructing everyone not to speak to them or offer any help.
After the commotion settled, the villagers ate and rested for about half an hour. During this time, Shen Yu guided everyone to inspect their tents. Though not as meticulous as Shen Yong’an, to the villagers, being able to sleep in these tents at night was already a luxury.
At the back of the group, Shen Liu continued cursing Shen Yu and Shen Yong’an. Xie Jinhua gave Shen Xu some water. Shen Xu lay still for a while, then suddenly jumped up and slapped Shen Cui, shouting furiously:“It’s you! You little bitch! You made me go get the food! You caused me to be beaten, and you got my family kicked out! I’ll kill you!”
He began to hit Shen Cui with fists and feet.
Shen Cui covered her head, crying and dodging:“I went there myself! Granny and my parents knew, and none of you stopped me! It’s not my fault!”
Shen Liu stepped forward, pounding Shen Cui with her strong hand, taking out all her frustration on her:“You little brat, how dare you talk back! Didn’t you tell your brother to go eat? If you hadn’t egged him on, he wouldn’t have been beaten! I’m punishing you for talking back…”
Xie Jinhua, afraid Shen Cui would be seriously hurt and that no one on the road would help her, grabbed Shen Liu, and the family fell into chaos again.
The afternoon sky grew increasingly dark. After about two hours of walking, it looked like rain was imminent. The village elder quickly instructed everyone to find a flat spot, set up tents if they had them, and those without tents could build simple shelters with wood.
Shen Yu looked up at the sky, then at the refugees on the official road. She said to the elder:“Second Uncle, I think we should rest a little farther from the road. See that small hill not far from here? We can go around to the back of the slope and set up tents there—it will be safer.”
The elder thought it over. Indeed, with so many refugees, there would be nowhere to shelter from the rain if they stayed by the road. Tents there would attract attention.
So he led everyone off the road, around the hillside, found a slightly elevated and flat area, tidied it a little, and set up tents.
The children, seeing tents for the first time, were fascinated, crawling in and out and shouting excitedly.
The women started fires to cook, and the men, while it wasn’t raining yet, gathered dry wood. Shen Yu reminded everyone to collect extra wood and long sticks to make raised platforms inside the tents to stay dry.
Shen Yong’an led the big ox, Da Qing, to gather grass. He wanted extra in case the rain-soaked grass made Da Qing sick.
Little Shen Hao went to collect dry firewood. Although Shen Yu had plenty in her spatial storage, she couldn’t give it away freely—so she just pretended to gather some for the group.
Lin Shuyuan made a wild vegetable and egg drop soup. Shen Yu took out seven large buns, sliced them, and added some braised pork from her space, making simple meat-stuffed buns.
Little Shen Hao washed his hands and impatiently ate half a bun before Shen Yong’an returned. Together, the family ate the soup and meat buns, feeling that life as refugees wasn’t so bad. Without Shen Liu’s oppression, they could even enjoy white flour buns with meat—things they had never dared to dream of.
All of this was thanks to Shen Yu. Without her, they wouldn’t even have rice bran to eat. Shen Yong’an and Lin Shuyuan looked at their daughter, full of gratitude and pride.
After dinner, the drizzle began. Shen Yong’an made a simple shelter for Da Qing. The ox brayed a few times. Shen Yu knew it was calling for her. She stepped out of the tent, feeding Da Qing water and stroking its coat:“Da Qing, you’re almost human! You’re so smart—stay alert tonight. If anything happens, shout loud.”
Da Qing rolled its eyes: I’m a donkey, not a dog. You’re ridiculous.
Shen Liu’s family also followed the Shenjia villagers around the hillside, found a spot, and Shen Yongcai and Shen Yongtian used oilcloth to make a simple shelter before going to collect firewood.
Xie Jinhua chopped up the two chickens from yesterday, planning to eat them all tonight. They had been left two days and were starting to smell.