I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

The village head was worried that acid rain might fall from the sky. Now that they had food and the activity of the volcano had subsided, they were not in a hurry to go to the next place.

He told the team to rest in the village for a while, and then head towards the town.

Even after the rain stopped, black ash was still falling from the sky.

Zhao Ningning stayed in the kitchen, helping He Shi turn half of the grain into easy-to-carry pancakes.

In another courtyard, Luo Xiaozhi and Wang Yan were also working overtime to make pancakes.

The three children were very well taken care of. They were told not to go out, so they stayed inside playing with firewood.

Just as they were making pancakes, Xi Xing'er's excited shouts came from the main room.

Luo Xiaozhi put down her chopsticks, quickly crossed the courtyard and walked to the main room. Inside, Xi Ershun had already been helped to sit up by his eldest daughter and was drinking water!

"Er Shun!" Luo Xiaozhi went over, took the water bowl from Xi Xing'er's hands, and personally helped Xi Er Shun feed him.

Xi Ershun clenched his fist, coughed a few times softly, and said, "Xiaozhi, I'm sorry to have worried you."

"I was so worried, I was almost scared to death!" Luo Xiaozhi cried and laughed at the same time, watching Xi Ershun finish his water before sitting down on the edge of the bed and saying, "After you fainted, your father-in-law just threw you on the ground and said he didn't care about you anymore and didn't want you as his son."

A knowing glint flashed in Xi Ershun's eyes. "That's just how he is."

"There was no other way. I was crying when Wang Xiaohua's mother offered to lend us our little cart, so I brought you here."

"We must remember this kindness." Xi Ershun nodded.

"And there's more," Luo Xiaozhi said. "We found a village to stay in, and they discovered grain in the cellar. They decided to distribute a bag of grain to each person. I weighed it, and it was about fifty jin."

"Really?!" Xi Ershun's eyes lit up with surprise. Suppressing the dull pain in his chest, he said, "No wonder I smelled the aroma of grain when I woke up; I thought I was dreaming!"

Xi Ershun was laughing, and Luo Xiaozhi laughed along. She said, "When I borrowed the car, I said I would return it with grain. I'll share half of our grain with Xiaohua's mother."

That's half a sack of grain!

Xi Ershun felt a pang of pain in his heart, but said aloud, "It's only right. They lent me their car; they saved my life!"

A human life was exchanged for half a bag of grain—it's a good deal!

"And another thing..." Luo Xiaozhi sat on the edge of the bed and told Xi Ershun about how she and Wang Yan had moved into a courtyard after the grain was distributed, and how Old Man Xi had caused trouble outside.

After listening, Xi Ershun said indifferently, "Anyway, he doesn't acknowledge me as his son anymore, so let's not go back."

Luo Xiaozhi felt relieved, went to the kitchen to get a pancake, and let Ershun, who had just woken up, eat it slowly. She told her eldest and youngest daughters to watch over their father, and then she went back to making pancakes.

Back in the kitchen, Wang Yan had already baked several flatbreads for her. Luo Xiaozhi thanked her and sat down to continue baking.

Wang Yan: "Awake?"

Luo Xiaozhi: "Mmm!"

"That's good." Wang Yan breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that the person had woken up. Otherwise, she would have felt uneasy because Luo Xiaozhi had gone to so much trouble to bring her back and even gave her half a bag of food.

Now, she didn't feel guilty about taking half a bag of grain.

At night, Luo Xiaozhi specially cooked a pot of easily digestible brown rice porridge and brought it to the main room for everyone to drink.

After drinking the porridge, Xi Ershun was able to get up and walk around a bit in the evening, and his body didn't feel as uncomfortable as it did when he first woke up.

The next day, when the village head announced the departure, Xi Ershun was able to pull the cart, but Luo Xiaozhi wouldn't let him pull it, only letting him watch the children, while she and Wang Yan pulled the cart together.

The luggage from both families, even when put together in one car, didn't fill the entire vehicle, so pulling it was naturally easier than pulling people.

When Old Man Xi saw Xi Ershun in the group, he thought he had seen a ghost in broad daylight and was so frightened that he immediately hid behind Xi Dashun.

The light was dim, and the sun was not visible in the sky, so he couldn't tell whether Xi Ershun was a person or a ghost by the shadow.

Old Man Xi: "Da Shun, your brother has woken up, go and see him."

Xi Dashun also saw his second brother, but he didn't think much of it. He simply assumed that Xi Ershun had recovered and gotten up. He walked up and slapped him with his big hand, and Xi Ershun turned around.

"What are you doing?"

Xi Dashun: "Ershun, now that you're awake, why didn't you come back?"

Xi Ershun pried Xi Dashun's hand away and said coldly, "Didn't you say you didn't have a son like me?"

In that moment of stunned silence, Xi Dashun watched as Xi Ershun walked quite a distance away, before Old Man Xi, limping over, asked, "What happened? What did your brother say?"

"He said...didn't you say you didn't have a son like him?" Xi Dashun scratched his head.

Old Xi choked up, slapped his thigh, and said, "I was just saying that in anger!"

"Why is he so serious!" Old Man Xi said. "Look at him, he really is an ingrate! I said a few words to him, and he doesn't even recognize me as his father anymore!"

Old Man Xi grumbled and cursed, while Da Shun's wife urged him, "Dad! Hurry up and go. We'll be in town in just one day. Don't make Da Shun carry anything; he still needs to carry things."

She cherished her own husband, so Da Shun's wife chased after him, ignoring Old Man Xi behind her.

Old Xi mumbled a few words and followed behind with a limp.

There was no other way; the village gave them a bag of grain, and Xi Dashun had to carry it.

Naturally, she couldn't carry him on her back; since Da Shun's wife was a woman, she naturally couldn't carry him on her back either.

With other people blocking the way ahead, the group started moving, so he couldn't chase after Xi Ershun. He could only watch helplessly as Ershun walked further and further ahead.

During the lunch break, Old Man Xi found Ershun and asked, "Ershun, are you feeling better?"

Xi Ershun ignored him.

Old Man Xi persisted, "Your wife took a big bag of grain, which belongs to our family. You put it on the Wang family's car and got it mixed up. What if the Wang family doesn't acknowledge it? Give it to me, let's go back."

Wang Yan slowly stood up, hands on her hips, and said, "Why did you throw dirty water into my house for no reason!"

After saying that, she threw the fire poker she was holding at Old Man Xi. Old Man Xi couldn't dodge in time and was hit squarely by the fire poker.

"Hey—you woman!" Old Man Xi pointed at her nose, "Er Shun's wife hasn't even said anything yet, why are you sticking up for Er Shun! Could it be that you...?"

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Xiaohua grabbed a big stick and swung it at Old Man Xi.

The child was weak, and when he hit the old man with the stick, he only managed to knock him a few steps forward.

"You brat!" Old Man Xi was so angry that he raised his hand to hit Wang Xiaohua, but Wang Yan blocked him, saying, "Stop!"

"Stop!" The village head's voice came from behind, and he quickly stepped forward to separate the group of people.

"What's going on!" the village head frowned and asked. "We have to travel this afternoon, why are you making a fuss here instead of cooking and resting?"

"Village head!" Old Man Xi preemptively complained, "Look at Xi Ershun, he distributed grain but didn't take any home, instead giving it to this widow!"

"My daughter-in-law is still here!"

The village headman ignored Old Man Xi's rambling and instead frowned at Xi Ershun.

"Village head, we want to split up!" Xi Ershun said, "That day when the volcano erupted, I carried my father on my back and ran away, and almost died on the way."

"He said back then that he didn't want me as his son."

"It was Xiaohua's mother. She saw my wife crying on the ground and kindly lent us the stroller."

"Otherwise, I would have died in that mud pit long ago!"

When he was convulsing, Xi Ershun was conscious, but he couldn't speak or control his limbs.

He clearly heard what Old Man Xi said, and his heart sank.

At that moment, he really wanted to tell Xiaozhi: Run! Run with the children!

After escaping, they took the hidden reward money, bought some food, and survived.

But he couldn't say anything.

He just watched helplessly as he was abandoned.

Xi Ershun always thought that his father just liked to boss him around, but at least treated him as a son.

Unexpectedly, people's hearts can be so biased. His father tormented himself, seeing him so exhausted that he couldn't breathe, but he didn't want to tire Xi Dashun out even a little bit.

Look, he walked more than ten miles this morning, even with a limp, didn't he?

He just wants to torture people!

Xi Ershun pursed his lips tightly, tears welling in his eyes. "Just pretend I died in the mud!"

"Hey!!" Old Man Xi reached out and tugged at Xi Ershun's arm, then said with a forced smile to the village head, "Village head, don't listen to this child's nonsense, he's just saying it in anger! Just saying it in anger..."

"I blurted it out in a fit of anger. Who would dare not want such a good son!"

Luo Xiaozhi stepped forward, snatched Xi Ershun's arm from Old Man Xi's grasp, and, linking arms with Xi Ershun, said, "I saved Xi Ershun's life! What happens to him is up to me!"

"You!" Old Man Xi smacked his lips. "What do you know, you woman!"

Ma Laosi chimed in, "That's right, when a man is talking, what right do women have to interrupt!"

With someone backing him up, Old Man Xi felt a bit bolder and reached out to grab Xi Ershun's arm again, but unexpectedly, Xi Ershun dodged to the side!

"You!" Old Man Xi pointed a trembling finger at Xi Ershun, "You, you! You ingrate! You really are an ingrate! I raised him with such hardship, and he disowns me, his father, for a woman!"

As he spoke, Old Man Xi tried to lie down on the ground.

Just as he squatted down to watch the commotion, Zhao Ningning pointed out to him, "There's acid rain water on the ground!"

Old Man Xi, who was halfway down, jumped up, angrily slapping his other hand with the back of his hand, and said, "Both hands are flesh and blood! If you don't carry me, your brother will! It's not like I didn't ask him to carry me! Why are you getting so angry with me over something like this?"

Luo Xiaozhi was so angry at Old Man Xi's shamelessness that she laughed. Before she could speak, Xi Ershun stopped her and stepped forward, saying, "Is it really necessary!"

"When I was working myself to death, you didn't feel sorry for me."

"Even if you said you'd go find Dr. Kang to take a look at me," Xi Ershun said, "that's better than you abandoning me and saying you don't want your son!"

"In your heart, there has only ever been Xi Dashun!"

"For so many years, it's been Mother who has worked so hard to raise us, and what have you done?! You've done nothing! Since we fled the famine, it's been me and Xiaozhi who have been searching for water, firewood, and food every single day!"

"Last time I injured my head, you tried to secretly abandon me at night. It was Xiaozhi who knelt on the ground with her two daughters and begged you. She said she was willing to pull the cart and ask you to give her two more days."

As he spoke, Xi Ershun's eyes reddened. "Xiaozhi wasn't strong, so to pull the cart, she tied a rope to it, carried it on her shoulders, and dragged it with her hands. When I came back to life, her shoulders and hands were chafed raw!"

This aggressive attitude of Xi Ershun was something Old Man Xi had never seen before.

He touched his dry face somewhat guiltily and muttered to himself, "You kid, I'm just afraid you'll die in the car, it's bad luck."

"Haha, this is bad luck." Xi Ershun shed two lines of tears, which moved the villagers watching.

What adult would think their child is unlucky!

Only someone who doesn't love children would do that.

"Twice, when I stepped into the gates of hell, you were the first person who wanted to abandon me."

"This time, it's my turn to speak first. Let's split up." Tears still lingered on Xi Ershun's face, but his expression turned cold.

"That won't do!" Old Man Xi slapped his thigh. "I'm not dead yet!"

"Village head, I want to divide the family property!" Xi Ershun turned to the village head and said seriously, "If the father is kind, the son should be filial. Since the father is not kind, then I don't need to fawn over him. After the division of the family property, I will still give the filial piety due to him."

"This..." The village head sighed inwardly, feeling sorry for the child.

"Village head, what are you waiting for? Give him the money!" the villagers said. "He's already abandoned this son twice; this isn't the third time!"

"Exactly, I've seen plenty of ungrateful sons, but this is the first time I've seen an ungrateful father."

"Hahaha, 'ungrateful father,' that's a fresh term!"

Old Man Xi was struck on the sore spot by these words, and he angrily swung his arm, saying, "I gave him my life! What's wrong with me saying a few words to him as his father! I raised him to be this big, can't I even say anything about it?"

"Alright!" the village headman said, stopping the old man.

Then he said to Xi Ershun, "Have you thought about how you want to divide the family property?"

Old Man Xi panicked, "Village head! You can't side with this ungrateful wretch!"

"I've thought it through. Xiaozhi, our two daughters, and I will split it up. They'll take the larger share, and we'll take the smaller share."

Actually, there wasn't much to divide. When we escaped down the mountain, we barely had any packages left.

The village head looked at Old Man Xi, then at Xi Dashun behind him, and said, "Brother Xi, since your son has already lost his heart to you, don't force him to stay by your side."

"Otherwise, in the end, we might even lose our son."

These words were a reminder to Old Man Xi not to end up like Granny Qian. Granny Qian was the one who repeatedly tried to sell Zhao Lao Er's daughter, which led to Zhao Lao Er's uproar and the severing of the marriage.

Now, Zhao Lao Er is quite the star in the team, with a cart, a mule, and grain!

When danger arises, it's always Zhao Lao Er who rushes to the front.

But all of this has nothing to do with the Zhao family.

Because Zhao Lao Er severed ties with them.

If you separate from your family, you'll only live apart. But once you sever ties, you'll lose everything!

Old Man Xi shuddered, looked at Xi Ershun, and muttered, "Then...then we have to get a share of the bag of grain that was distributed in the village!"