The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the Somersault Cloud, Old Zhu was so envious he cried!

The man walked dejectedly out of the woman's courtyard, dragging his heavy steps back to his own dilapidated thatched hut.

As soon as the man stepped into the house, his wife immediately came to greet him, trembling uncontrollably.

She knew perfectly well why the man had gone out.

At this moment, she was experiencing immense inner turmoil.

On the one hand, she desperately wanted the other party to agree, hoping to barely survive the famine and keep her family alive by exchanging children.

But as a mother herself, she was extremely resistant to this outcome; no one wants to send their own flesh and blood away with their own hands.

Her Adam's apple bobbed, and she asked in a trembling voice, "Did...did she agree?"

The man silently shook his head.

His wife first instinctively breathed a sigh of relief, but the relief at not having to part with her own flesh and blood was fleeting.

But the next moment, an indescribable sense of embarrassment and despair surged up.

The woman's eyes instantly reddened, and she gripped the tattered hem of her clothes, growling angrily, "Why won't she agree? Why can she insist on staying with the child? We all agreed, why..."

As she spoke, the woman could no longer continue.

Large, cloudy tears rolled down his gaunt cheeks.

She squatted on the ground, head down, sobbing uncontrollably. The woman next door's refusal felt like a slap in the face.

She felt both bitter and ashamed, as she had clearly prepared herself to part with her own flesh and blood.

The other party refused to compromise.

This only made her look even more pathetic.

It was as if she were a villain who would stop at nothing and be cruel and ruthless in order to survive.

Hearing his wife's heart-wrenching cries.

The man felt as if his heart was being repeatedly cut by a sharp blade, the pain making it hard to breathe.

He suppressed the urge to cry, looked up at the blazing sun and sky, his heart filled with a sorrowful and indignant cry:

Does this merciless God really have the heart to watch these ordinary people starve to death on this parched land?

And what about all the gods and Buddhas worshipped by the world? Are they all blind and deaf, unable to see or hear the suffering of the human world?

Who else can save us?

And on the other side,

After the man left, the woman dragged her weak body slowly back into the house.

The house was completely empty; everything that could be sold had long been exchanged for food.

But now the food has been eaten up.

Inside the room, on the bed, lay a little girl who was as thin as a rake, her hair a tangled mess.

Hearing the noise coming from the doorway,

She forced her eyes open, her throat dry and hoarse, and asked with difficulty, "Mother, who came just now?"

Upon hearing her daughter's question, the woman quickly composed herself, moved to the bedside, gently embraced her thin daughter, and whispered, "Your Uncle Wang is outside the door. I asked him to come over this morning to help with a small matter, and he's already finished!"

After he finished speaking, the room remained quiet for a long time.

The women all assumed their daughter was asleep.

Unexpectedly, the frail little girl stirred and whispered in a dry, hoarse voice:

"Mother, I heard what you said just now. Please agree to Uncle Wang's request."

The woman froze, feeling as if a boulder had struck her chest, and hurriedly shook her head in denial.

Then, forcing herself to remain calm, she stroked the child's dry, yellow hair, her voice trembling as she said, "Xiaoman, what nonsense are you talking about? Are you hungry? Mother will go out and find you something to eat."

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman, supporting her weak body, got up and walked out, but behind her floated the light voice of a little girl.

"Mom, you don't need to lie to me. I know everything. Just switch me with Uncle Wang's son. That way, you can live!"

The woman abruptly stopped in her tracks, remaining silent.

The little girl watched her mother's retreating figure, a faint hope quietly rising in her heart, thinking that her mother had finally given in.

But a moment later,

The woman simply said, "Xiaoman, listen to your mother, stay home and don't move. I'll go out and find you something to eat."

After saying this, the woman seemed to have made up her mind and stepped out of the empty, dilapidated house.

Stepping out the door, the woman walked alone on the empty, desolate road, her feet crunching on the cracked ground, and soon arrived at the Wang family's courtyard next door.

At this moment, Wang's man stood blankly in the courtyard, his face full of dejection.

The faint sound of a child crying could still be heard from inside the house, mixed with the soft sobs and choked whispers of his wife trying to comfort him.

When Wang's husband looked up and saw the woman approaching, a flicker of surprise flashed across his dim eyes, which then fell silent again.

His Adam's apple bobbed twice, and he asked tentatively in a low, hoarse voice, "Little sister, you... you've figured it out?"

Upon hearing this, his wife's choked sobs inside the room instantly ceased.

However, the woman shook her head, her voice weak but incredibly firm: "Brother Wang, Xiaoman is my lifeline. I would never sacrifice her life to save myself."

Upon hearing this, Wang's man's expression immediately changed, and he said in an unhappy tone, "Then what are you doing here?"

The woman replied, "I came here to exchange some food with you!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Jiahan almost laughed out of anger, a bitter and sarcastic smile curving his lips.

"If I'm not mistaken, besides your daughter and a broken wooden bed, what else do you have in your house? What are you going to trade for food?"

The woman raised her withered face, her eyes frighteningly calm, and said, word by word, "Take myself."

"You?" The man from the Wang family glanced at the other person from head to toe, his eyes filled with numbness.

In years of plenty,

He might even have some other thoughts.

But now, his entire family is almost starving to death.

How could I possibly have time to think about anything else?

"Young lady, if you're planning to rely on this to exchange for food, why don't you go into the city and find the officials there?"

The man crossed his arms, his face numb and exhausted, his tone devoid of any emotion, "My whole family is starving to death, we don't have the time or energy to worry about these things."

However, the woman gently shook her head and said calmly, "Brother Wang, you misunderstood. When I said I would give myself, I didn't mean anything else. I meant I would use one of my arms to exchange for your family's food so that Xiaoman could survive."

Upon hearing this, the man was stunned. His previously numb and dull eyes widened suddenly, and his face was full of disbelief.

Before he could speak, the curtain to the inner room was suddenly flung open, and his wife stumbled out, her eyes red and swollen, her voice urgent and sharp: "No! I won't allow it!"

"You think you can trade one of your arms for my child? Dream on! You'll have to trade your daughter for it!"

The woman's calm demeanor was somewhat frightening as she softly said, "If one arm isn't enough, then I'll add a leg."

"I don't want your child. I only ask that you spare some food to save my Xiaoman."

They don't want children, they only want a little food, and the price is losing an arm or a leg.

The man and his wife exchanged a glance, both taken aback by the woman's decision.

After a while, the man came to his senses and said in a deep voice with a complicated tone, "Your body is already weak. If you lose an arm and a leg, you simply won't be able to withstand it. In the end, you will only bleed to death. This will not save your life at all."

The woman raised her bloodshot eyes, which held no fear, only a stubborn determination to gamble everything.

"So what? As long as Xiaoman can live, I don't care what happens to me."

"My life, and this body, are worth it if they can bring her a bite to eat."

These words are truly powerful and moving.

The Wang couple were inexplicably shocked when they looked at her thin and frail figure.

The other person looked gaunt and haggard, as if a gust of wind could blow them over.

But at this moment, her figure suddenly became incredibly tall in their eyes, as if she stood tall and imposing.

Just as Wang's heart softened and he was about to nod in agreement...

A clear and curious child's voice suddenly came from the sky.

"What are you doing?"