Chapter 11: Afraid of Feeding Others

To the Zhou family, she was just a caring older brother.

They say the eldest brother is like a father; what a good brother he is.

Xiao Jingyuan finished his soup, but his level of trust in her still couldn’t compare to before she sold him.

After all, in his eyes, Xia Mo had given him a valuable lesson that would stick with him for a lifetime.

Before, when he brutally killed that person, it was somewhat fueled by personal grievances, although those grievances weren’t directed at that individual.

“Grandma, the buns are delicious; Wang Wang wants to eat more.”

Auntie Zhou’s little grandson, Zhou Wang, was only three years old, speaking in a cute, childish voice.

Auntie Zhou knew that the buns given by the young man were tasty, but how could they be greedy? They didn’t even know how far the journey to the south would be.

“One is enough; come, Grandma will feed you some fish soup.”

“No, no, Wang Wang wants to eat buns.”

A bun appeared in front of Wang Wang from Xia Mo’s hand.

Auntie Zhou felt quite embarrassed, “Young man, this food is precious; you really can’t give us more.”

Xia Mo silently turned her head to glance at Xiao Jingyuan, who was eating without restraint, and insisted on giving the bun to little Wang Wang.

“It’s okay, we still have more; we bought quite a few in Tongzhou City before.”

One can’t help but feel soft when receiving food; this family was on their first day of fleeing, and although they cooked a lot, they couldn’t resist a half-grown boy devouring everything.

Seeing him eat so heartily, Auntie Zhou’s sons and daughters-in-law instinctively ate less. Fortunately, with Xia Mo’s big buns to fill them up, they wouldn’t have been full otherwise.

After the meal, the Zhou family quickly packed up their things and continued on their way, with Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan following them.

Xia Mo quietly said to Xiao Jingyuan, “Have some sense and eat less. If you’re hungry, I can give you something else.”

Xiao Jingyuan didn’t think it was a big deal, “While the food from the gods tastes good, I think it’s not as substantial as eating rice.”

Xia Mo was speechless, “Didn’t you see that whole family? They only have that one bag of rice; how many meals can that provide?”

“They still have chickens.”

Xia Mo: “…”

“And a donkey.”

Xia Mo ground her teeth and said, “Can you have some shame? Their donkey is meant for pulling carts.”

“You already gave them buns, so they haven’t lost anything.”

Xia Mo: “….” Forget it, it was pointless to argue with him.

Xia Mo observed from a distance an old man whispering something to Auntie Zhou, occasionally glancing at the two of them.

She remembered Auntie Zhou saying that he was the village head.

Her intuition told her that he was disapproving of them.

Her intuition was indeed accurate; the old man was indeed advising Auntie Zhou not to travel with Xia Mo and Xiao Jingyuan.

“They say that half-grown boys will eat their parents poor. Did you see how much that little one just ate? He ate more than your two sons combined and didn’t even do any work.”

Auntie Zhou replied, “His brother gave us the buns; they are big white buns bought from Tongzhou City. I could tell they weren’t cheap; he gave me ten all at once, and when my Wang Wang wanted more, he generously gave me another one. They didn’t let us suffer.”

“This just shows that those two brothers don’t know how to live; your family can’t go with them.”

In a village, everyone was related, and the village head was deeply worried about them, earnestly advising, “I see these two delicate-looking people; they probably aren’t from ordinary families. This journey south is long, and the little food your family has needs to sustain you all. If they’re so careless with their resources, even a thick family fortune could be depleted quickly. If they run out of food later, won’t they rely on you?”

Auntie Zhou thought that the older brother seemed decent, but the younger one was indeed a bit… too gluttonous.

One meal was fine, but if every meal was like this, no one could handle it.

She hesitated and said, “Let’s wait and see. I already said I would go with them, so it’s not good to drive them away now.”

Zheng didn’t say anything more.

Xia Mo and the others followed the village’s group southward. Everyone was traveling on the official road, and along the way, the fleeing group grew significantly.

One after another, people heard news that the Northern State troops were coming and hurriedly joined the fleeing group.

This group not only included people but also common livestock such as pigs, horses, cattle, sheep, chickens, ducks, and geese. Anything they could take, they took, determined not to leave anything for the enemy.

Of course, there were also some stubborn people who refused to leave, expressing that they didn’t want to become wandering souls and would rather die in their own homes.

Among these people, some were forcibly dragged onto the road by their families.

Others could not be dragged away at all, crying and wailing, causing their families to let them stay behind.

There were also some elderly, weak, sick, and disabled individuals who were abandoned by others.

The mixed group of people and animals traveled steadily through the night, finding a sheltered valley to spend the night. A bonfire was lit, creating quite a spectacular scene.

Auntie Zhou’s younger daughter-in-law, Sun, was pregnant and felt exhausted after a day of walking. As soon as she sat down, she told Auntie Zhou that she wasn’t feeling well.

Seeing her pale face, Auntie Zhou anxiously began to pace.

“Er, quickly bring some water to your wife.”

“Okay, here’s the water.”

Sun took a small sip from the cup and then pushed it aside.

“Drink more,” Auntie Zhou urged.

“Mom, I can’t drink anymore.”

“Then why do you feel unwell? Just tell me what you want to eat.”

Sun shook her head, “Mom, I don’t want to eat anything; my stomach just hurts.”

“Oh dear, your stomach hurts? What should we do? You’re only seven months along; you’re not going to give birth now, are you? Sigh! I told you to sit in the cart; the donkey at home could pull it, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look, we don’t know if you’re tired or if the baby in your belly is tired.”

Seeing Auntie Zhou’s anxious expression, Xia Mo instinctively went into the convenience store.

On the shelf where the medicine was placed, there was unexpectedly a box of medication suitable for her, meant for protecting the pregnancy in the late stage.

She took the medication out, folded it using the oil paper from the checkout counter, and put the medicine inside.

After leaving the convenience store, she quietly placed the medicine into her bag and continued walking with them.

Xiao Jingyuan, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened them and looked at Xia Mo’s back.

“Grandma, let me take a look.”

Auntie Zhou and Zhou Er were both curious about why she was looking at them.

You see, in the eyes of these people, she was just a young lad, about the same age as the pregnant woman who was suffering.

It’s not appropriate for men and women to be close; what was this young man looking at a pregnant woman for?

Could it be that you’re young and also a doctor?

Xia Mo spoke up, “I am a doctor.”

Auntie Zhou was taken aback: “…”

“Ahem, I have some knowledge of traditional medicine.”

Under their astonished gazes, Xia Mo took Sun’s pulse.

It was indeed caused by fatigue; overexertion in the late stage of pregnancy could indeed pose a risk of premature birth.

She took out the medication she had prepared in her bag and handed it to Auntie Zhou, “One pill a day, just swallow it with water. Grandma, you can’t let your sister-in-law walk anymore; otherwise, the baby might be born early.”