Chapter 7

“That old hag!” Sun shi growled through gritted teeth.

Zhu shi snarled viciously, “Go starve to death with Third Brother’s family, you useless old thing!”

Walking beside her parents, Ding Xiaodie couldn’t help but look up curiously at Wang Dafeng. She had just cursed her two sons as if they were animals. Could it be that although she treated their family harshly, deep down she knew exactly what was going on?

Whatever else could be said about her, that unyielding attitude—even if the sky were to fall, she’d keep on scolding—was something Xiaodie couldn’t help but grudgingly admire.

But just then, Wang Dafeng suddenly turned to her and began ranting, “What are you looking at, huh? You little brat, already learning bad things at your age. Don’t think I don’t know you’re playing games with me. Your fool parents—if it weren’t for your schemes, how could they come up with this stuff? Hmph! You dared make me climb such a steep hill? Ding Gui, Zhang Xiu, you two are heartless!”

The Ding family of three: “……”

Clearly, shutting this old lady up was still going to be a long-term battle.

Soon, the family of four made it to the front of the line.

Following the rest of the villagers, they stepped onto the main road, curved around two hills, and finally saw the city gate archway that read “Yangliu Town.”

“Ah, we’re finally here!”

“We’re saved, we’re saved! No more starving to death for our village!”

“Hurry! Let’s go house to house and beg—anything we get is better than nothing!”

The strongest villagers at the front charged forward with all their strength…

Now that they had made it this far, the Ding family naturally couldn’t afford to lag behind. Ding Gui could barely carry the old woman anymore, but if he didn’t, his wife would have to—and so he had no choice but to power through.

Seeing they had finally arrived, he perked up instantly, hoisted the old lady on his back, and dashed forward: “Xiaodie, wife, keep up—quick, quick, quick!”

Zhang Xiu grabbed her daughter’s hand tightly and warned, “Dear, don’t get trampled again this time!”

Another fall, and they really wouldn’t survive.

Ding Xiaodie struggled to keep up with her mother’s pace—her little legs were definitely not helping at the moment.

But soon, she sensed something was wrong!

Why weren’t there any people on the streets of this town?

Just then, the villagers behind them had already gone wild and rushed through the city gate in a frenzy.

Starving for days, the crowd—dreaming of meat and food—couldn’t care less about trampling others.

As the tragedy of the previous night looked like it was about to repeat, Xiaodie shouted in panic, “Dad, Dad, move to the side—quick!”

At that moment, whether they got food or not didn’t matter anymore—staying alive was the top priority.

Zhang Xiu also cried out as she saw the maddened crowd closing in, “Dear! Move now!”

Ding Gui, who had been charging ahead with his head down, heard their voices and immediately realized what was happening. “Not good,” he thought and quickly ducked into a nearby hut.

But no sooner had he entered than a dozen villagers followed and barged in after him…

“Dad!”

Seeing her father swallowed up by the mob, Ding Xiaodie’s little face turned pale in an instant.

Zhang Xiu nearly burst into tears, but the only thing she could do was hold her daughter tightly and watch as the villagers stormed past them like a swarm of ravenous ghosts.

Village head Laifu’s voice sounded weak and useless amidst the chaos: “Slow down, everyone! We’re not beggars—we must act with dignity and respect—don’t make others look down on us…”

But no one was listening. Even his own family had charged in madly.

Soon, the entire street was taken over by the villagers—one entering this house, another that one. Words like decency, honor, morals, and respect meant nothing now. All that mattered was survival.

Not a hint remained of the half-dead appearance they had up on the mountain.

Ding Xiaodie and Zhang Xiu stood stunned.

Without time to think, the two of them rushed toward the small house. They didn’t know if Ding Gui had been trampled or injured.

“Ah!”

“A dead body! There’s a dead body in there!”

A sudden, terrified scream rang out as someone bolted from the house, followed by another… then more and more.

Soon, people began staggering out of other homes too, shrieking.

What was going on?

Ding Xiaodie’s heart sank.

Laifu shouted from the side, “What happened?!”

“Village head! Someone’s dead!” a villager cried, on the verge of tears.

Another shouted, “They… they hanged themselves in this house!”

Just then, Ding Gui came stumbling out of the small house with Wang Dafeng still on his back. The mother and daughter rushed over: “Dad!” “Dear, are you okay?”

Ding Gui didn’t have time to answer—he quickly set Wang Dafeng down and started retching violently.

Zhang Xiu patted his back hurriedly. After a moment, he managed to say hoarsely, “On the kang bed inside… someone’s been dead for days! That smell…”

As he spoke, Ding Xiaodie and the others caught a whiff of the stench.

The family quickly moved away.

A few meters down, they sat on the steps of another house, struggling to recover.

Soon, the whole street was full of villagers from Aozi Village. Everyone had been terrified by what they saw, and now no one dared to enter another house. They sat or lay along the sides of the road, shaken.

Village head Laifu finally went into a house himself. When he came out, he also began retching. The reality before him made his already weary face look even more ghostly pale—he couldn’t utter a single word.

“Looks like Yangliu Town is in even worse shape than Aozi Village,” Ding Gui whispered. “They didn’t even have time to bury their dead. It’s horrible…”

Wang Dafeng immediately started, “But didn’t the village head say—”

Xiaodie quickly put her little hand over the old woman’s dry lips. “Grandma, don’t say anything rash.”

Now was not the time to criticize Laifu. Everyone was starving and driven by a single glimmer of hope to make this journey. If someone pointed fingers and said it was all Laifu’s idea, it could light a fuse of anger.

If that happened, Laifu would be in danger.

From Xiaodie’s perspective, he was all alone in this village. Despite his good intentions, he had no one supporting him.

But Wang Dafeng, oblivious to such logic, glared at the little girl. “You brat, how dare you stop your grandma from talking?”

Xiaodie stayed calm. She got up, hugged the old woman’s neck, and whispered in her ear, “If you don’t behave, next time we catch a rabbit, you’re not getting any.”

“……”

Wang Dafeng instantly choked. Damn it! She’d lived her whole life, and now at the end, she was being blackmailed by a little brat? Who’d believe that?!

But just as Xiaodie feared, the worst still came.

While Wang Dafeng fumed and struggled to do anything about it, Ding Rong was the first to speak up: “Village head, didn’t you say once we got to Yangliu Town, there’d be everything we need? That we’d be feasting? Well, where is it now? Where’s the food?”