A Jiu felt like she had been turned into a hedgehog. She instinctively took two steps back, pushing her parents forward.
The silence was broken by Cai Lihua, who surveyed the unfamiliar faces. "Oh, everyone's here. When are we leaving?"
Wang Shi and her eldest son exchanged a look of surprise, then realization dawned.
"Shao De, you..."
She gritted her teeth, stepped forward, and dragged him aside, lowering her voice. "Are you out of your mind? Did you take everything mother said as nonsense? Huh?"
A Jiu knew this entire family had never liked her and her mother. In past years, her father's filial piety had made him devoted to his brothers and grandmother.
They had always felt like outsiders.
Her mother's words were completely ignored. Her eldest uncle snorted, flicking his sleeve. "Shao De, I think your head would be better off removed and fed to dogs."
"Shao Kang, speak a little less. Mother is here, where is our place to speak?"
Her eldest aunt, Luo Xiuying, timidly tugged her husband's sleeve, lest they offend the old woman and be denied food rations on the journey.
Even their eldest brother, Meng Nanxing, who had long married and separated, grumbled,
"Mother, why did you bring her? Isn't that worthless brat going to be a burden on the road? If those Li family members catch up, our Meng family will be in big trouble."
He flicked his sleeve and went out to organize the ox cart. A Jiu was surprised to notice that her young sister-in-law and niece, with whom she had never spoken, were not present.
Meng Shaokang glared at his wife, forcing the frail aunt to shrink her head, her face pale with fear, no longer daring to say another word.
In this era, women held no status in the family. A Jiu was accustomed to it. Only her mother had suddenly changed, daring to speak loudly at home.
Cai Lihua was completely stunned at this moment, a million questions swirling in her mind. Who was this person? Calling her mother? How did she not know she had such a big son?
When she looked to Meng Shaode for an explanation, he seemed to have heard something that made him angrily pick up the carrying pole.
"My wife is my wife, Meng Shaode's wife. My daughter is my daughter. In this time of war and chaos, do I have the leisure to argue with my own family? You can argue if you want, I'm not participating."
He then called out, "Lihua, A Jiu, let's go."
He walked out with the carrying pole. Her aunt stared, dumbfounded. It was the first time she had seen the two brothers so protective of their wives.
If her own husband could say half a word for her, she wouldn't be so afraid to speak in front of her mother-in-law.
A Jiu's heart sank. In recent years, taxes had increased, and the harvest from the drought had been meager. Every year, the grain collected was handed over to her grandmother for distribution.
Now, if they didn't stick together as a family while fleeing famine, their family of three would starve on the road.
"Grandmother." A Jiu turned from the threshold to look at Wang Shi, her face holding a composure beyond her years. "You may not yet know the gravity of the situation. Within three days, the ancient well in Majiazhuang will also be occupied by refugees and soldiers. The soldiers of King Chu Jiang in the city are being mobilized. Before they are deployed here, people will be conscripted everywhere to the battlefield. Is the matter of the family more important, or the outside affairs? You, old woman, should know."
Cai Lihua looked at her husband, her daughter was not only sensible but also understood propriety. Her words had more substance than those of her educated father.
"Shao De, I think A Jiu is right," Cai Lihua whispered in his ear.
Infuriated, Meng Shaode put down the water bucket with a thud.
Wang Shi in the courtyard was quite shocked, even more so than Meng Shaokang, the eldest son.
This girl had never even left the village, yet she knew more than he did, who worked at the dock?
"Alright, I am the eldest in this family, and this is settled. It is most important to leave here. Once we reach Nanling, we will find a place to settle down and then talk."
Wang Shi hadn't grasped the situation at all. Now, she slapped her thighs, jumped high, and pointed at A Jiu and her mother with gritted teeth.
"Let's go together. I'll make one thing clear beforehand. You two worthless lives, you won't get a bite of my food. Don't even think about my old woman's rations."