"But what?"
Meng Shaode looked as if he were seeing a delicious meal.
"This girl is too thin, and she has a red tear mole under her eye. Her life must be difficult."
"Huh?" Meng Shaode, who was almost drooling, mumbled, "You're a chef, when did you learn physiognomy? Really."
He then rubbed his hands and examined the unconscious A Jiu, finding her quite pleasing to the eye.
"This is our daughter. What hardship or misfortune? I think she's quite pretty, just..."
Her face, thin and gaunt, made her eyes appear unusually large. Even with her eyes closed, one could tell from the narrow, slanted corners that her neck was so slender it seemed unable to support her large head.
The couple's brows furrowed with worry. Cai Lihua murmured pitifully, "Why is she so thin? Sigh..."
"Yes, I think so too. But she's a bit thin, she's quite pretty, she takes after you. And you're a chef, so you can take good care of her later and make her plump and fair, then she'll be even more beautiful."
Meng Shaode grinned broadly, looking like a big toad.
What time is it?
The couple suddenly realized this was inappropriate. Cai Lihua slapped Meng Shaode.
"Hurry up and take her home. Do you want to bake our daughter to death in this sun?"
"Right, right. Wife is right." Meng Shaode ignored the slap and easily lifted the girl, who weighed barely forty pounds at fifteen years old.
A Jiu, however, found herself in Majia Village, fifty li away. But the environment had changed. It didn't seem like the Majia Village of the past. Why were there so many green grasses?
Distant mountains layered upon each other, with green hills meeting the endless sky.
Puff, puff, puff, there was a sound.
A Jiu looked down and saw a water puddle, about the size of a bent elbow, amidst the grass.
Water? A Jiu didn't care about anything else and lunged forward, cupping her hands and bringing the water to her lips.
The water was so sweet. A Jiu felt as if she had tasted ambrosia, and her stomach felt full.
A indescribable sense of clarity and strength washed over her body.
Only then did A Jiu look closely. The water was gone in two gulps. All that was revealed beneath were pebbles.
A Jiu felt a coolness slide down her throat and her eyes snapped open, two pairs of pupils appearing on her face.
Her eyes were filled with hunger and joy, as if she had been placed on a dining table.
A wave of fear coursed through her, and she suddenly tried to sit up, but her father held her down.
"Jiu'er, you must be hungry."
"Yes, yes, A Jiu, you must be thirsty. Mom... no, Mother has water, drink some quickly."
The couple, one holding a waterskin and the other a coarse grain cake, thrust them toward A Jiu's face. The opening of the waterskin nearly poked into her nostril.
A Jiu looked at Meng Shaode, then at Cai Lihua, and couldn't come to her senses. Hadn't she already reached Majia Village and drunk water? Why... was she at home?
Wait, that's not right. She didn't feel thirsty at all, and she felt completely full. That didn't seem like a dream, did it? Otherwise, why would the reality feel so strong?
"Here, have some coarse grain cake." Meng Shaode's face was full of joy, his mouth couldn't close. He exchanged a look with his wife, full of anticipation.
Only then did A Jiu see the coarse grain cake below her nose. She shook her head, "I'm not hungry."
"Huh? How can you not be hungry? You haven't eaten or drunk anything for three days." Meng Shaode knew this, wasn't he regretting it deeply for the original owner?
Cai Lihua looked at Meng Shaode in shock.
"What did you say? Three days? You haven't given our daughter anything to eat or drink for three days? You..."
The more Cai Lihua looked, the more she liked A Jiu. She and Meng Shaode had been a couple in their previous lives. An earthquake had occurred at the end. When she first woke up, she had appeared in a ditch at the east end of the village.
But when she opened her eyes, she was truly terrified by the surroundings.
Fortunately, her man, though a bit uglier now, was still her man. He had just rescued her from the mass grave when he went to look for her.
And now, they had gained another daughter. No matter how difficult life was, the couple didn't feel bitter.
Now, upon suddenly learning that her husband hadn't given their precious daughter anything to eat or drink, she immediately threw the waterskin she was holding.
"I'll cripple you today."
"Oh no, don't waste it." Meng Shaode covered his head, his ferocious expression now resembling a scurrying rat, and he also felt pained by the hard-won water.
A Jiu's eyes widened like bronze bells. Was her mother crazy? She dared to hit her father.