Chapter 9

While the family of three communicated in their own way, Wang Dafeng knocked the ground a few times with a dog-beating stick: “You stubborn girl, hurry up and bring the pancake to me.”

“……”

This old woman’s selfishness really shows up from time to time!

Unable to stand it anymore, Ding Gui was about to say something when Ding Xiaodie returned to the village leader’s house with a team, holding a white pancake.

She smiled sweetly and obediently, placing half of the pancake into the hands of the great-grandmother of Dabao and Erbao: “Grandmother, you are the oldest in our village, and you are the treasure of our village. You should be the one to eat the pancake.”

The great-grandmother was over ninety years old, with clear eyes and ears, and a graceful appearance. Even in her movements, she was elegant and dignified. It was said that when she was young, she was the daughter of a rich family.

As for why she married into the village to be the wife of Ding Laifu, the village leader’s grandfather, it was because back then, Ding Laifu’s grandfather was her family’s servant. The two of them had a beautiful story, with the young lady falling in love with the poor young man, following him to the village to live a hard life.

Now, the person who had followed her through thick and thin was long gone, but the great-grandmother still quietly worked hard in the village. She raised her son, who grew up, married, and had the village leader, Ding Laifu.

Later, when her son passed away, the great-grandmother became the spiritual pillar of the family, supporting her daughter-in-law and raising her grandsons. She watched as Ding Laifu grew up, married, and had Dabao and Erbao.

Although there was a ninety-year-old and a seventy-year-old in the house, the lively and kind-hearted twins were understanding and brought great blessings to the family.

At this moment, the great-grandmother looked at the little girl in front of her and gently lowered her head to press her forehead against hers: “Xiaodie, good girl, this pancake is for you. Look at how thin you are. You need to eat it to have the strength to protect everyone. Go ahead, eat it.”

The warm feeling from her made Ding Xiaodie’s heart tremble. In her previous life, her biological grandmother had been cold and indifferent, and she had never experienced the warm love of an elder.

“No, the village can’t do without the grandmother.” Her little face immediately became stubborn.

“Xiaodie!”

“Grandmother, just listen to me. Besides, we still have pancakes at home. Please eat it!”

Ding Xiaodie quickly shoved the pancake into her hands and ran off.

But her little short legs running were so adorable, and Laifu’s family watched in admiration, thinking how cute Xiaodie was.

Her little braid was bouncing and almost coming undone!

“I didn’t expect Ding Gui and Zhang Xiu to raise such a well-behaved Xiaodie,” sighed Laifu’s wife, Yang Shi.

“Yes, Xiaodie is really sensible,” they all agreed.

Dabao and Erbao’s eyes turned red.

They secretly blamed themselves for not noticing how sensible Xiaodie was before. It was truly in times of hardship that true feelings are revealed.

Laifu was also deeply moved and couldn’t say a word…

The pressure from this escape had been enormous, and he carried a heavy burden in his heart. Especially when he saw people in the village slowly starving to death, he had questioned whether his decision was correct.

But Ding Xiaodie’s innocent and adorable appearance, like a warm beam of light in the darkness, inspired him to keep going and gave him a stronger sense of faith.

“Alright, let’s count the number of people, then make our next plans,” Laifu immediately shouted in the middle of the street.

Back at the family group, Ding Xiaodie said, “Mom, my hair came undone!”

She had never braided hair like this in modern times and didn’t know how to do it.

Zhang Xiu sat cross-legged on the steps and called Xiaodie to sit in front of her so she could braid her hair.

Ding Gui was paying attention to Laifu’s roll call.

Meanwhile, Wang Dafeng glared with squinted eyes: “……”

Huh, are these people all rebelling? How dare they treat her like she’s invisible?

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She grabbed the dog-beating stick and struck it hard. Ding Gui, whose attention was elsewhere, ended up getting hit hard on the waist.

“Ow! Mom, what are you doing?” Ding Gui yelped in pain.

Zhang Xiu and her daughter both stopped and turned to look. What’s wrong with the old lady now?

Wang Dafeng gritted her teeth and quietly asked, “Why didn’t you save that half pancake for me? These three dogs are out of line?”

Ding Gui rubbed his waist in speechless frustration: “……”

In the end, Ding Xiaodie asked in her small, kitten-like voice, “Grandmother, she’s over ninety years old. You’re a whole generation older than her. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate?”

Wang Dafeng’s face turned green with rage: “I don’t care about the generations. From now on, if there’s food in this house, I’ll be the one to decide!”

Zhang Xiu whispered, “Mom, have you forgotten what we agreed upon?”

It turned out that when Ding Xiaodie had gone to speak up for Laifu, Ding Gui and his wife had reached an agreement with Wang Dafeng. As long as the old lady supported Laifu, she would get the first bowl of food.

Now, reminded by Zhang Xiu, Wang Dafeng was somewhat at a loss and muttered, “Wasn’t the pancake Xiaodie took earlier enough?”

Ding Gui shook his head, “That was given to Xiaodie voluntarily, not something we asked for, so it doesn’t count.”

Now it made sense.

Ding Xiaodie rolled her big eyes: “No wonder grandmother is on our side. I thought you were more enlightened, but it turns out it’s conditional.”

“You little brat, how dare you look down on me?” Wang Dafeng was so angry her lungs almost exploded. This was too much! When they were at home before, who didn’t fear her?

But now, just a few days into the escape, they all dared to argue with her.

At this rate, they’ll soon be riding on her neck!

“Ding Gui…”

At this moment, Laifu’s team had finished calling the roll, and the family hurried to respond. Even Wang Dafeng, who had wanted to curse, had no choice but to answer.

After their family responded, they continued calling the next family. By then, no one cared whether Wang Dafeng was angry or not.

Zhang Xiu continued to braid Xiaodie’s hair.

Ding Gui stood with the village’s young and strong men in front of Laifu, discussing something.

Wang Dafeng, once again ignored, was dumbfounded: “……”

This was too much! It made her so angry!

—-

After the final discussion, Laifu decided to gather the village’s young men. Half of them would stay on both sides of the street to ensure security, while the other half would split into two teams to search the street.

For any house that didn’t have bodies, the group would move in.

After all, everyone had been traveling for days, and the elderly, the weak, and children were all exhausted. Even though they hadn’t gotten food yet, having a roof over their heads and a place to lie down was already a huge blessing.

Thus, the people began to move. The elderly and children waited by the roadside.

Xiaodie, her hair braided, sat obediently by her mother, propping up her chin with her hand. She stared at the half-grown children across the street, not wanting to pick a fight with them.

Instead, she thought, if only she had an adult’s body, she wouldn’t be afraid of searching houses for bodies. After all, she had been a detective in her previous life and had seen all kinds of cases.

She was far stronger than those burly men who would cry out when seeing a dead body inside a house.