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As other people had yet to react, the old village head took a giant step forward and charged in.
Upon seeing the grain piled up in the corner, he immediately fell to his knees and kept shouting, “Thank you, old immortal, thank you, old immortal.”
The others were confused as they listened to the old village head’s words.
However, they couldn’t convince themselves that they had overlooked such an obvious pile of grain when searching for food the day before.
The old village head explained to them what had happened the previous night.
As they listened to the old village head’s story of what had happened, their hearts were filled with a sense of wonder, and they rubbed their eyes to make sure that all of this was not just a dream.
After the old village head finished speaking, he wore a mysterious expression and said, “The old immortal must have thought that we were able to overcome this together. He also mentioned that the imperial city is not a good place to go, so we need to discuss and reconsider our next destination.”
…
Shen Yu’an was unaware of all of this, as she had left the town with her family after arranging the food and water.
At this moment, they were already far away from the county town.
There was only one main road, so even though Shen’s family had separated from the villagers of Shen’s Village, they had to follow the same path as they had just walked.
Without the sluggishness of a large group, they were able to walk faster, and after over an hour, they saw the Shen’s Village group ahead of them in the distance.
It was already noon at this point, and Shen’s family could see that the group ahead seemed to have stopped to rest.
After the commotion earlier, Shen’s family didn’t want to get too close to the other group, so they stopped and found a spot under a tree to rest.
Although they called it a spot under the tree’s shade, in reality, there were only shadows cast by the slanting trunks and branches.
It had been a long time without rain, and even the trees were almost lifeless, with only a few bare branches on them.
After walking for several hours, everyone was tired and feeling hot. Shen Yu’an felt that her clothes were sticking to her body due to sweat, and she felt uncomfortable. She tugged at her clothes.
Looking at everyone drenched in sweat, Shen Yu’an asked her father and a few others to take out the oilcloth from the cart and tie it between several adjacent trees with ropes, covering the area beneath it.
Although it couldn’t completely block the scorching sun shining on them, it was much more comfortable than sitting under the sun.
Shen Yu’an looked at the large shaded area and called on others to come in too.
A few straw mats were laid on the ground, and she quickly occupied a spot and lay down.
“Ah, so comfortable~”
She stretched out her body, lying down in a star shape on the mat and let out a satisfied yawn.
Song Shi laughed at her and scolded, “Look at you, you don’t have any of the demeanor of a young lady.”
The people from the Shen and Zhang families were already used to her behavior.
The Shen family felt that ever since Shen Yu’an fell into the water and had a falling out with Lin Chunyan, she seemed to have opened some strange energy channel and became even more lively than before.
The Zhang family, on the other hand, had seen this side of Shen Yu’an while they stayed here. They even marveled at how the Shen family doted on their girls, but now they were already calm about it.
It was Shen Xingwang’s who was surprised and secretly peeked a few times.
He couldn’t walk well and rarely went out.
Most of the information from the outside came from idle chatter among family members or murmurs during meals.
However, what he heard was mostly about how well-behaved and clever Shen Yu’an was. It seemed different from what he knew.
But since nobody else showed any surprise, he suppressed his confusion.
“It must be that he hasn’t been going out much these past few years, and he doesn’t know what the girls’ families are like anymore.”
“Yes, that’s right!”
Old man Shen Xingwang brainwashed himself and quickly convinced himself.
Shen Yu’an lay on the ground and heard her mother’s criticism, raising one hand and shaking it.
Her little head also swayed along with the shaking.
“Not really, not really. If everyone was the same, life would be so boring, wouldn’t it?”
“It is precisely because everyone is a different kind of fireworks that we have colorful lives and experiences. Don’t you all agree?”
Everyone laughed and answered in unison, “What Yu’an said is true.”
But what caught Wulang’s attention were the other things in her words.
He asked curiously, “Sister, what are fireworks like? Have you ever seen fireworks?”
“Of course…” Shen Yu’an realized she almost misspoke and quickly corrected herself, “I haven’t seen them, but I have seen firecrackers.”
In the past life, she had seen quite a few, but the “she” now should not have seen fireworks.
During the Chinese New Year, ordinary people only buy some firecrackers. Fireworks are luxury items that only nobles and wealthy merchants can afford to play with. Ordinary families cannot afford them.
Sanlang, Silang, and Wulang also came over to listen. When they heard that she had never seen fireworks, they couldn’t help feeling a little regretful.
“Sister hasn’t seen them either. I heard that fireworks are much prettier than firecrackers and can even fly up to the sky.”
“I heard they are also colorful; I don’t know if there will be a chance to see them. Ah…” Sanlang sighed heavily and also felt a little regretful.
Shen Yu’an comforted them, saying, “Don’t worry, you will definitely get to see them.”
While they were talking, Song Shi had finished cooking lunch.
Today’s lunch was noodles, but each bowl of noodles had a boiled egg on top, and there were three slices of delicious-looking pork in each bowl.
Anyway, they were all family members, so Song Shi didn’t bother hiding anything when cooking.
As the aroma wafted over, everyone instinctively looked in the same direction.
To be able to eat a bowl of noodles like this on the road of fleeing the famine was really a blessing.
Each person held a bowl of noodles and happily slurped away. In that moment, they all felt that it was so fortunate not to follow the big crowd.
Otherwise, it would have been such a pity to have food but not daring to eat it.
A few people praised while eating, and Shen Yu’an’s younger brother, Shen Wulang, said with his mouth full of noodles, “Slurp… Mom, your cooking is getting better and better…Slurp…almost as good as third aunt’s.”
Laughter and joy filled the air, and the people of Shen’s Village ahead also stopped to prepare for lunch.
However, their food supplies were limited, and there were hardly any people who could start a fire to cook. Most of them just nibbled on the dry cakes they had prepared in advance, and then took a few sips of water to moisten their mouths before being afraid to eat anymore.
After eating her half of the cake, Shen Xingwang’s eldest son’s daughter, Shen Daya, leaned against a tree trunk and planned to take a nap.
But as soon as she turned her head, she saw the Shen family group several hundred meters away.
She suddenly became spirited and patted her mother’s arm, saying, “Mother, do you see that behind us? Is that Second Grandpa’s family?”
Her mother followed her pointed direction and indeed saw a group of people not far away.
However, it seemed that there was something covered on top of them?
“Hmph, they really know how to enjoy themselves.”
She rolled her eyes and said, “They said they wouldn’t follow the team, but look, they came after all.”
“Uncle Rong and his family must be regretting it now. They won’t be able to come back easily after what cousin did to them,” boasted Shen Daya.
As Shen Daya was speaking, she heard her second aunt chime in, “It’s better if they don’t come back. If they do, they’ll just be another burden to feed.”
She was referring to Shen Xingwang, who was Daya’s grandfather.
Afterwards, she continued, “Do you know why that girl was kicked out of the group for arguing this morning?”
Shen Daya and her mother became interested and asked, “Why?”