Chapter 14

Would the Cai family obediently drink the medicine? Of course, they would. They were more afraid of death than anyone else. After enduring such hardship on the exile route, none of them would give up now.

As soon as the medicine was ready, the first thing from each of the three households was to have their own children drink it, and then they would drink some themselves. As for the two elderly, it seemed they had forgotten about them entirely.

Old Mr. Cai had cursed all day but still hadn’t received his medicine, his heart growing colder and colder. He had always believed he knew his three sons inside and out after controlling the Cai family for so many years, but now he realized he was wrong. They were even more ruthless than he had been.

These three beasts were determined to kill him and his wife!

A sudden warmth spread through his lower abdomen, and the diarrhea, which had stopped, began again. His wife, Old Mrs. Cai, wasn’t much better, her body as limp as a noodle, unable to move.

Not far away, the three households drinking the medicine were unusually peaceful for once.

“Don’t you care about father and mother?” The third son asked uneasily.

This was truly a rebellious act, effectively harming their parents. If anyone found out, it would be disastrous.

But look at this—Old Third didn’t actually care; he was just afraid of being found out.

Old Second Cai sneered. “If you care, then you take care of them. Let them live with your household in the future. These two old folks have been treating us like oxen all these years, now they still act like masters, expecting us to help them while eating our food. I can’t stand it anymore.”

He still remembered the look in Old Cai’s eyes when he and Eldest had pushed him out, cold and indifferent. He had given up on his father first, so it wasn’t wrong for him to no longer acknowledge him as his father.

When Old Second said this, Old Third fell silent.

Old Second’s family had three sons and didn’t want to take care of their parents, while Old Third only had a young daughter and no energy to look after the elderly.

“Shuyuan, you know, the old master and his wife always doted on you the most. They made sure you got the best of everything. Now, it’s your turn to repay them for their kindness.”

“Second Aunt, I… cough cough… I…” Cai Shuyuan coughed a few times after drinking his medicine and suddenly fainted. Liu Lian was so angry that she nearly started fighting with Chen Minru again.

“Chen! My Shuyuan’s health has never been good, and now he’s the one who needs the medicine most. Stop with your sarcastic remarks. If you upset me, none of you in the second household will get any medicine!” Liu Lian scolded.

Old Second gave his wife a glare—this was a time when they needed the third household to stay united, not cause trouble. Chen Minru pouted but quietly sat back down.

Outside the grass hut, the voices died down, and only the soft sound of people drinking medicine could be heard.

A single tear suddenly slipped from Old Mr. Cai’s eye as he turned and saw that his wife had passed away. He felt as though his own life was slipping away, so trembling, he took three broken silver coins from inside his belt and bit them down, swallowing them.

He had originally planned to give the silver coins to Old Second to pay for two quotas and buy some food.

Ha…

His whole life had been wasted.

After a stick of incense, Old Mr. Cai finally closed his eyes in reluctant resignation.

The news that the Cai couple didn’t survive quickly spread through the village. The earlier theft by the Cai family had already been gossip material, and now with the two elderly dead, the villagers couldn’t help but murmur.

People really shouldn’t do evil things—look, now they got their comeuppance.

The third son of the Cai family didn’t have money to bury his parents. It was said that they just dug a random hole and buried them without much ceremony. Some said it was unfilial, while others said they had no choice.

This new event in the village became the topic of every household.

Yin Huaixi didn’t believe that the old couple had died naturally. She had diagnosed both of them before and knew that as long as they had been drinking the medicine properly, their health might be a bit weak, but they definitely wouldn’t have just passed away suddenly—unless they hadn’t taken the medicine properly.

This was something she, as an outsider, couldn’t say much about. After all, the harshness of the Cai family was something they themselves had taught their children.

They had brought this on themselves.

“Big Brother, Big Sister-in-law, I won’t be going to the sea today. I want to go up the mountain and see if I can find any useful herbs. Maybe I can make something and sell it for a bit of money.”

“Aunt, I’ll go with you!” Yin Ning quickly spoke up. She didn’t want to go back to looking for sea creatures. Just thinking about those rocks made her feel like something was crawling on her feet, giving her goosebumps.

It was terrifying.

“Pfft!”

Jiang Wan knew that her cousin was traumatized by the octopus.

“Cousin, don’t worry. We’ll roast the culprit that scared you at noon.”

“No, no, no, I don’t want to eat that.”

Yin Ning shook her head like a rattle drum, her face full of resistance.

But after trying it at noon…

It was delicious.

Of course, that’s another story.

Yin Huaixi quickly took Yin Ning up the mountain to gather herbs. Yin Huaishan didn’t have time for the sea today; he had to go into the mountains to cut bamboo to make some simple tools. Song Wenhui also went with him because she had lost all the bamboo shoots they had previously dug up, and now she needed to dig up some more.

Although bamboo shoots weren’t meat, they were big and could fill your stomach. Compared to clams, which were heavy on the shell but little meat, Song Wenhui thought bamboo shoots were more worthwhile.

So today, Jiang Wan was the only one left to go to the sea.

At the beach, many people were gathered, so her family wasn’t worried. Jiang Wan wasn’t scared either. After all, she was an adult in spirit and felt more at ease being alone.

She grabbed a basket, a small shovel, and a bundle of dry grass—her usual preparation for going to the sea.

This time, she didn’t go to the previous reef area but ventured farther out to find a beach with sand crabs. Unfortunately, she didn’t see a single one, but she did end up in another reef area.

This new area was half-submerged in water, and the water was so clear that she could see all the stones beneath. Jiang Wan picked up a couple of pretty stones as she walked along.

She would also pick up shiny shells. Occasionally, underwater rocks would reveal large conchs, and sometimes clusters of spicy snails.

The spicy snails were smaller than the sea oysters, but their meat had a natural spiciness, which was a refreshing change in this area where the food was generally bland. Jiang Wan really liked them, and whenever she found some, she would gather a handful.

By the time she had caught only two crabs, her basket was already nearly half full of sea snails.

Wait? What’s that purple thing moving in the crack between the rocks?

Jiang Wan stepped a little closer, her eyes lighting up.

Ah! It’s a purple sea urchin!

She was having really good luck today, stumbling upon such a treasure so soon after coming out.

Sea urchins were much more nourishing than the clams, crabs, and sea snails at home. They were great for replenishing the yin and nourishing the kidneys.

“Let’s go, let’s head home~”

Jiang Wan grabbed her shovel, ready to pry it out.

“Don’t touch it!!”

A loud shout startled Jiang Wan, and she jumped, looking around but seeing no one. As she looked more closely, she realized the person was on the surface of the water.

The person who shouted at her was rowing a bamboo raft, getting closer and closer.

Hmm? This person looks a little familiar…

Ah, it’s the older brother who helped her cousin (not the main male character).