Chapter 118 Sharing Food

Chapter 118 Sharing Food

They plan to send Xiaomei to a more remote village in exchange for her dowry, but what about him? What do they plan to do to him?

Should we just kill him and dump him in the deep mountains, or find a less law-abiding broker and sell him for money?

Atai was filled with regret. He shouldn't have let his guard down against that heartless family just because he had hired outside help.

However, it was too late to say anything at this point. He and his sister were now in the other side's hands. If he dared to make a scene, his uncle's family would knock them unconscious before any outsiders could hear the noise and come over.

Now, the only thing he and his sister can look forward to is Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan, with whom he had agreed to take action tonight.

Taking a deep breath, Atai gently wiped away his sister's tears. "Don't cry, we'll be alright."

Xiaomei didn't believe it at all. While crying, she whispered to her brother, "Brother, don't worry about me. When they're asleep tonight, climb out the window and run as far away as you can. Don't ever come back."

If it were last year when his parents were still alive, Atai wouldn't have been able to climb out of the window. Back then, he was still fleshy, and his size was simply not a good match for the window.

But now the situation is different. Atai has gone from a healthy, dark-skinned boy to a gaunt, dark-skinned boy.

With a little care and by finding the right angle, he could slowly climb out of the small window of the woodshed.

As for Xiaomei, although she could crawl out, she had just been severely beaten and was extremely hungry, so she had no strength at all. Even if she crawled out, she wouldn't be able to run fast or far.

Rather than dragging her brother down with her and both of them getting caught and brought back, she'd rather stay here obediently from the start.

Atai, however, refused to give up on his sister as always. He took out the oil paper package from his pocket and said, "Don't talk about these things yet. Eat the sugar cake first and save up some strength."

Xiaomei asked in surprise, "Where...where did this precious thing come from?"

In an even lower voice than before, so low that Xiaomei had to strain to hear him, Atai briefly explained the action plan he had agreed upon with Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang.

Xiaomei opened her mouth wide, even forgetting to eat the sugar cake, "This..."

She wanted to say, "Is this reliable? Will it work?", but she swallowed the words back.

Whether it's reliable or not, whether it's feasible or not, the siblings have no other choice.

At least Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang were genuinely taking action to rescue them, unlike their relatives who at most just talked the talk but were unwilling to break ties with her uncle's family.

Xiaomei knew very well that their hesitation was simply because her uncle had three sons, while their family only had her and her brother, who were still children.

Their relatives know perfectly well who is more dangerous and who is more valuable.

"Stop nagging and eat your pancake." Atai said, glancing at the doorway. "We still have a tough battle ahead of us."

The brother and sister waited anxiously for further developments, unaware that Atai had been locked up as soon as he returned. Meanwhile, Jiang Yuan and Xie Wanniang continued with their own affairs on the mountain.

Xie Wanniang gathered herbs, while Jiang Yuan hunted. It wasn't until the sun was setting that the two of them, with their bountiful harvest, descended the mountain together and returned to Aunt Ge's house.

They returned a little early, and Aunt Ge hadn't had time to prepare dinner yet. Fortunately, Xie Wanniang and the others weren't in a hurry to eat or rest.

Jiang Yuan untied the two live pheasants and four live rabbits and kept them in cages in the livestock shed provided by Aunt Ge. Then he plucked and cleaned the dead pheasant and took it to the kitchen to ask Aunt Ge to help him stew a pot of chicken soup.

Xie Wanniang squatted in the courtyard, quickly processing the herbs she had collected that day.

Since Aunt Ge didn't have a well, the water Xie Wanniang used to wash the herbs was partly from the water that Aunt Ge's family had stored, and the vast majority of the rest was drawn and carried from the well in the middle of the village by Jiang Yuan.

Incidentally, Jiang Yuan also cleaned up the water vat at Aunt Ge's house and filled it with the fresh well water he had brought back.

Aunt Ge felt very embarrassed and thanked Jiang Yuan repeatedly.

After Aunt Ge finished preparing dinner, Xie Wanniang washed her hands and ate with Jiang Yuan and Aunt Ge and her grandson.

Aunt Ge placed the earthenware pot containing chicken and chicken soup in front of Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan, and then placed the clean small basket containing mixed grain cakes in the middle of the table.

The two siblings, Awang and Xiaohua, salivated at the smell of chicken soup, but neither of them sensibly complained about wanting to eat meat.

Jiang Yuan was already used to Aunt Ge's overly strong sense of propriety. Without saying a word, he took Xiao Hua and A Wang's bowls and filled each of them with soup and meat.

"Oh dear!" Aunt Ge came over carrying a bowl of boiled shredded cabbage. Seeing this scene, she quickly walked to the table. "You child, you and Miss Xie eat your own food, don't worry about us."

Jiang Yuan reacted quickly, picking up her bowl and filling it to the brim as well.

"There's so much, how can the two of us finish it all?"

Without saying a word, Jiang Yuan pushed the bowl back and served Xie Wanniang and himself a large bowl each.

He just scooped whatever was in his own bowl, but he specially picked out chicken wings and drumsticks for Xie Wanniang's bowl.

Xie Wanniang's favorite food is chicken wings, and chicken legs are her second favorite. Jiang Yuan has eaten countless meals with her and has long since memorized her preferences.

Grandma Ge couldn't refuse him, and she felt sorry for her grandchildren who rarely got any money or food. After hesitating for a moment, she finally suppressed her sadness and gratitude and accepted Jiang Yuan's kindness with a smile.

The five of them sat around the stone table in her courtyard and happily finished their meal, which was a very sumptuous meal for Aunt Ge and her grandchildren, but just so-so for Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan: mixed grain pancakes with chicken soup and boiled cabbage shreds.

Because Xie Wanniang and Jiang Yuan paid their share of grain and only ate breakfast and dinner at their house, Aunt Ge would prepare staple food for them for each meal, using a pound of rice and flour.

Vegetables and the like were not included in Aunt Ge's quota because they were grown in her own garden.

She was generous, so Jiang Yuan was naturally not stingy either. Although he wouldn't pay extra for the food, when they ate meat, Jiang Yuan would let Aunt Ge and her grandson get some of the meat too.

After dinner, before it got dark, Aunt Ge cleared the dishes and went to the kitchen to wash them, while Xie Wanniang wrapped the four palm-sized mixed grain cakes that she and Jiang Yuan had specially saved in oil paper.

Although Awang and Xiaohua were a little curious about why she had set aside four whole-grain pancakes, the two children were very sensible. They didn't ask any more questions, and they didn't even glance at her twice.