I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

Zhao Huilan cursed the brat in her heart. She thought, "Why would she give a perfectly good pancake to an outsider instead of her own cousin?"

She almost couldn't keep her smile, and said, "I was just worried you wouldn't be able to finish it and it would go to waste... I was just trying to help you out."

"Everyone's fleeing famine now, who's going to be kind enough to help others eat?" Zhao Ningning took a bite of her pancake, chewing it half-heartedly, and mumbled, "I'll help you eat, okay?"

"You!" Zhao Huilan almost cursed. Watching Zhao Ningning take a bite of the pancake, which still had filling inside, she swallowed hard, staring at the pancake and saying, "You can't just give the pancake away to an outsider for nothing!"

"Outsider?" Zhao Ningning rolled her eyes. "Do I know you that well? This is my uncle, my own uncle! He even helps my family with chores. And you? All you do is beg for food!"

"We two help our families with chores, and that's how they feed us. What about you? Not only do you not work, but you're just loitering around here. Are you just too full to eat?"

After a barrage of sarcastic remarks, Zhao Huilan's ears turned red with anger, and her face burned, whether from the sun or from Zhao Ningning's words, it was hard to tell.

"You brat, don't be ungrateful!" Zhao Huilan pinched the fabric of her sleeve with two fingers. Seeing Zhao Ningning take a big bite, a large piece of the pancake was gone. She panicked and reached out to grab it.

Zhao Ningning had anticipated this move and dodged it with a quick movement. Zhao Huilan rushed to the ground and fell face-first, scraping her hands raw.

Zhao Huilan had never suffered such humiliation at home. She immediately burst into tears.

Helpless, Zhao Ningning moved to another spot, finished the pancake in a few bites, raised an eyebrow at Zhou Jian, and said, "Uncle, the group should move forward."

The uncle and nephew moved forward together, carrying the buckets in perfect unison.

Seeing that neither of them cared about her, Zhao Huilan cried even harder.

Just then, Boss Zhao came over to see where she was in line. When he saw his daughter lying on the ground crying, Boss Zhao stood helplessly to the side, saying, "Huilan! Are you alright? Why are you lying on the ground like that?!"

Zhao Huilan wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand, pointed at Zhao Ningning and said, "Dad! It's all their fault, they're the ones who made me fall here!"

"What exactly happened!" Old Master Zhao rushed over to find Zhao Ningning, reaching out to grab her arm.

"Wu Ya! How dare you bully your sister!"

Zhou Jian stood up abruptly, shoving Zhao Laoda aside, and glared at him angrily: "Why did you come over and pull Ningning without even asking what happened!"

"Well, I was just worried!" Old Zhao sheepishly withdrew his hand. "Wu Ya! What's wrong with you? Why are you bullying your sister!"

"Who said I bullied her?" Zhao Ningning was speechless. "She tried to snatch my pancake, missed, and fell to the side. Now she's blaming me?"

"Then if you hadn't dodged, she wouldn't have fallen! Poor Huilan, her hands are all scraped up like this, ouch..." Old Zhao was heartbroken, not because he was heartbroken that his daughter's hands were scraped, but because he was heartbroken that Zhao Huilan's hands, which she had cared for for so many years, might be scarred in the future!

Having scars makes it harder to marry into wealthy families. They are picky about looks, figure, and whether you have blemishes or scars.

If Mrs. Sun sees her daughter's hands, she's sure to start yelling at her!

"That's hilarious." Zhao Ningning, though small, was no less assertive. Standing on the rock with her hands on her hips, she said, "If I don't dodge, she'll snatch the pancake and push me over!"

"Then it won't be my hands that get scraped, it'll be my head!"

"Your wife tried to sell me, but she made me bang my head against the wall. What? Does your daughter want to follow in her mother's footsteps and make me bang my head against the wall too?"

After the scab on Zhao Ningning's head fell off, there was a faint mark that could be seen at a glance.

The villagers were already bored while waiting in line to fetch water. They could treat Zhao Huilan's earlier disturbance as childish squabbling, but now that the adults had gotten involved, they were even siding with their own children.

Someone couldn't stand it anymore and loudly voiced their support for Zhao Ningning: "Hey—Zhao, I saw it clearly just now! Your daughter was 'helping' Wuya eat the pancakes! She said she was afraid Wuya wouldn't be able to finish them and it would go to waste!"

His loud, shouting tone was somewhat comical, and those who witnessed the whole thing chuckled when they heard it.

Zhao Laoda's face immediately turned red, and he stammered in defense, "Isn't this...isn't this just sisterly kindness..."

Helping others usually means doing chores, but now that we're fleeing famine, who would be as wicked as Zhao Huilan to think of something as despicable as "helping to eat pancakes"?

"Brother Zhao, we're from the same village. I'm just being kind by helping you eat your flatbread. Here, where's your flatbread? Take it out and let us help you eat it."

Unable to argue with them, Zhao Laoda pulled Zhao Huilan, who was lying on the ground, back, leaving the water bucket she had used for queuing behind.

Seeing this, the person who was originally behind her quietly stuck out his foot and kicked her bucket aside.

The troublemakers left, and everyone continued to sit on the big rock, waiting in line to fetch water.

After Zhao Ningning and Zhou Jian filled the buckets, Zhou Jian had his little niece stand there and watch the buckets while he carried one bucket back. After several trips back and forth, when only half a bucket of water remained, Zhao Ningning carried it and walked back with him.

After getting their water, the two went back to queue.

Zhao Ningning didn't want to stay up all night fetching water; wouldn't it be better to go back to her space to get water? But if she followed the group, she had to go with the flow. Otherwise, other people would get suspicious if they saw that she had water to use without fetching any.

Fortunately, it wasn't as hot at night as during the day. With a long sigh, Zhao Ningning resignedly sat down on the rock and continued to queue.

The line to fetch water only slowed down when the water flow at the spring became extremely slow.

Zhao Ningning found an open space and continued playing the game of arranging stones with her uncle.

Zhou Jian picked out about ten pretty stones with white edges from the pile of stones as prizes. The two of them played for these prizes, sweating profusely without even realizing it.

This is the scene that Ning's mother saw when she came to find Zhao Ningning.

Ning's mother woke up as dawn broke, and as soon as she got up, she went to look for her daughter.

As they walked back with the two children, Ning's mother wiped Zhao Ningning's sweat with her sleeve, saying, "Why is it so hot at night?"

"Ever since there were nine suns in the sky, every day has been this hot." Zhao Ningning wiped the sweat off her face with her sleeve. After walking a few steps, the sweaty strands of hair on her forehead were dried by the sultry morning air.

Upon reaching their own carriage, the two children went back to their respective "homes," and Ning's mother prepared to cook.

The Zhou family's carriage was parked to the side, and Ning's mother dared not take out anything with a strong smell from her spatial storage to eat.

All I could do was obediently scoop a bowl of brown rice from the bag of whole grains and put it in the pot to cook.

Mrs. He watched with wide eyes.

After fleeing famine for more than half a month, they still managed to produce so much food all at once... No, I have to find a chance to talk to Lanxiang about this. It's too conspicuous. I need to tell her to be careful.

Mrs. He had no doubt that her daughter's family would not have enough food, because her daughter's family not only ate their own food, but also occasionally brought out cakes and steamed buns for their own family.

I don't know where they found the time to steam these buns, but they were so soft and fluffy, almost like buns steamed in a wood-fired pot.

After cooking the morning porridge, Ning's mother returned to the carriage, where Ning's father and Zhao Qi were still asleep.

They've been driving a lot lately, so today they finally didn't have to travel. Ning's mom let them sleep, and after cooking the porridge, she left a bowl for them.

In the middle of the process, Zhao Ningning went to get them a new curling stone.

Ning's father slept until Chenshi (7-9 AM), when he woke up covered in sweat.

It's still as hot as ever outside.

Zhao Qi was so hot that he couldn't sleep, and when he sat up, his whole body was flushed from the heat.

Seeing that they had woken up, Zhao Ningning brought out the porridge from her space. Her father, who was thirsty, took a couple of sips and felt refreshed.

Not seeing his daughter-in-law, Ning's father looked around and asked Zhao Ningning, "Where's your mother?"

"She went to queue for water." Zhao Ningning fanned herself with a palm-leaf fan, sweat dripping from her forehead.

Ning's father felt sorry for her, so he drank the porridge in a few gulps, took the fan from Zhao Ningning's hand, and fanned himself and Zhao Ningning.

After fanning themselves a few times, the two of them didn't feel any cooler. Ning's father told Zhao Ningning to wait a while while he went to call Ning's mother back. Once Ning's mother returned, he told Ningning to go into the space to cool off.

Zhao Ningning nodded.

A short while later, Ning's mother returned, and not only her father, Ning's father, also came back carrying a bucket of water.

"Why are you all back?" Zhao Ningning asked curiously.

Ning's father replied, "Someone fainted from heatstroke while fetching water, so the village head blocked the water outlet with stones and covered it with a large wooden basin, saying that the water would accumulate and everyone could fetch it again once it cooled down."

We have to do it this way; it's too hot around noon.

Now that she was back, Zhao Ningning closed the carriage door and took out some chilled water from her storage space to soak towels for her family to wipe their faces.

No one ate lunch, partly because there was no food and partly because it was too hot and they had no appetite.

The family members sat separately, not touching each other.

Zhao Ningning saw the livestock find a sunken burrow in the earth and curl up inside. She put her hand in and felt that the soil was cooler than the surface.

A thought flashed through her mind, and Zhao Ningning went back and said, "The cave should be cooler than outside, Dad. Did you see any caves when you went up the mountain?"

"A cave?" Ning's father thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I didn't see it..."

"Didn't the village head's family say they saw a cave?" Zhao Qi said, "We can ask them."

Ning's father really wanted to ask, "Wouldn't it be better to be a little stuffy in the cave? Here, it's like being a skewer of meat on a barbecue, being turned over and over again."

When the weather cooled down a bit, Ning's father went to ask the village head for directions.

Thinking that if it were nearby, they could persuade the village head to take people there, and when it was time to fetch water, the villagers could go to the water source together.

They left in high spirits, but returned disappointed.

Ning's father lowered his head and said, "The village head said that place is on the other side of the mountain, and it would take us half an hour to get there by horseback."

Not to mention it also drags along half of the side.

"Forget it then. It's not worth spending an hour, or two hours round trip, just to get some water!" Zhou Lanxiang was the first to object.

"I think so too."

In the end, Ningning's family had no choice but to give up for the time being.

Zhao Ningning took out more ice from her spatial storage and placed it in the car. Although it was hot inside the car, it was better than outside.

At seven o'clock in the evening, while it was still light, Ning's mother went to cook dinner—a porridge made from a handful of coarse grain flour.

Mrs. He couldn't bear to watch any longer, so she came over and gave Ning's mother a bowl of dried vegetables, telling her to add it to the pot and then add some salt.

She earnestly advised, "It's so hot outside, you can't go without eating some salt!"

Ning's mother didn't argue and cooked a pot of pickled vegetable porridge as she was told.

The family of four drank it without much appetite. Ning's father smacked his lips, feeling like he had eaten something, but also like he hadn't.

Ning's mother handed him a spicy preserved vegetable pancake. Ning's father took a bite, and the spiciness made his mouth sting. Only then did he realize—this is right! This is the taste!

While secretly eating the pancake, over there everyone was being called to line up for water. He Shi asked Zhou Jian to come and call people over.

This time, Zhao Qi and Ning's father went over, leaving Ning's mother and Ning Ning to rest in the car.

Two hours later, it finally got dark. The night was much cooler than the daytime. Zhao Ningning volunteered to guard the car door so that her mother could sleep peacefully in the car.

Ning's mother went to sleep.

Zhao Ningning sat on the hood of the car, fiddling with the straw in her hands.

He was able to weave hats out of straw, and she thought of weaving something that could be used to shield her hands from the sun.

Lately, while rushing to catch the train, my hand, which was stretched out to pull the reins, got two shades darker than my arm from the sun.

After weaving and weaving, the straw in Zhao Ningning's hand turned into a clump.

She didn't get discouraged; she put down that straw, grabbed a new one, and started studying it again.

As Zhao Ningning was engrossed in her study, the mule beside her began to whine and groan. She looked up and saw the two animals pacing back and forth restlessly.

—What happened?

In a flash, Zhao Ningning cautiously looked outside the carriage while backing away into it.

She retreated into the carriage, not daring to look back. She nudged her mother's leg and called out, "Mom, are you sleeping well?"

"Ningning?" Ning's mother got up. Why was Ningning calling for her mother in her own car all of a sudden?

"Outside," Zhao Ningning said in a barely audible voice, "something's wrong with the mule."

As soon as she finished speaking, a large knife appeared in Ning's mother's hand. Zhao Ningning was truly impressed by her mother's reaction speed.

Taking the dagger out of their spatial storage, Zhao Ningning and her companion stared intently at the outside of the carriage.

A gentle breeze rustled through the dry leaves, and the low bushes cast swaying shadows in the moonlight.

"Something's not right... There's someone in there!" Zhao Ningning has excellent eyesight, so she can see the difference in the shadows. The shadow of a person crouching down is higher than that of the bushes!

"How far?"

"About ten meters."

"Do you dare to run?"

"I'll go get help."

After Zhao Ningning finished speaking, she sheathed the dagger and retracted it into her spatial storage.

"I'll count down, and you'll run off pretending nothing's wrong."

Ning's mother patted Zhao Ningning's head.

"three,

two,

one!"

"Mom! I'm going to see why Dad and the others haven't come back yet!" Zhao Ningning yelled and jumped out of the carriage.

Ning's mother was worried about He Shi in the next carriage, so instead of retreating to her own carriage, she stood at the front of the train and watched Ning Ning run towards the inner carriage.

He glanced around at his surroundings out of the corner of his eye.

Zhao Ningning mustered her strength and ran to the village head's carriage in one breath, panting as she said, "Grandpa Village Head! Someone's there! There's a thief!"

The village head was startled.

In the grass.

The man who had originally planned to launch a surprise attack after the group fell asleep saw a little girl run away. Just as the leopard inside was about to get up to grab her, the tiger next to him held him down.

"Brother, shouldn't we go and catch her? What if she sees us and tells her off?" Leopard said, trying to get up from the ground again.

Tiger pulled him down to sit on the ground. "What's the rush! How old is that girl? What can she see in this darkness?"

The leopard had no choice but to sit down; after all, it was the second oldest!

As he crouched down, Leopard noticed the men in the group had gathered together. His face turned green. "Something's not right, bro! What are they planning to do by gathering together?!"

"I can't wait any longer, let's go! Let's start fighting now!"