Just had a daughter and hadn't had a chance to fatten her up, and now this happens.
It seems my daughter was right. That cured meat really can't be eaten out of greed right now. Fattening her up isn't a matter of one or two days.
Carefully, she turned and pulled her daughter back into the kitchen. She instantly noticed Ah Jiu's hands were trembling, her eyes a little flustered, like a small wild kitten without support.
Her heart ached, "Good girl, Mom is here. If your dad dares to abandon us, I'll break his legs."
Ah Jiu looked at her mother blankly, still uneasy. Her mother didn't know the extent of the Li family's power.
Not long after, Meng Shaode rushed into the kitchen in a panic, unable to speak for a while.
"Lihua, let's quickly pack our things and run. I heard they're going to war."
"Didn't your mother tell you not to bring us? One more person is one more mouth to feed."
Cai Lihua said harsh words, but she was already packing. Three sets of bowls and chopsticks would suffice. The cleaver had to be taken; even if not for cooking, it was for self-defense.
Ah Jiu, scared, only bowed her head and helped her mother pack.
"What kind of spiteful words are you saying? If we're not leaving, we're leaving together. We're family, after all."
Meng Shaode was no longer in the mood to be annoyed. He sat on the ground, dejected, and muttered,
"The eldest brother has an ox cart, we have nothing. Can't we just walk? At worst, I'll carry you, and you carry Ah Jiu. With my strength, I can run faster than an ox."
Ah Jiu looked at her father again, never having thought him so responsible before.
But how could the image his words painted be so bizarre?
No matter what, if they left Xinghua Village overnight, they might escape the Li family's clutches.
Ah Jiu collected her thoughts and hurried to pack. With the severe drought, water was the most crucial thing to lack on the road.
They had a water bladder made from a bull's stomach, which could hold some water.
They had only one bedsheet at home, with many patched-up places, but it could be used as a bundle.
They had only a few pieces of clothing; sometimes on cloudy days, they didn't even have a change, so it was easy to pack.
Everything was packed, and the bundle was still flat. As soon as they reached the yard, they saw her father carrying a shoulder pole with two buckets of water.
The sunset in the sky was completely swallowed by the night. Outside the yard, scattered sounds of cartwheels and human voices could be heard.
"Ah Jiu, let's go. Dad has decided. We'll go to your paternal grandmother's courtyard and leave together."
Meng Shaode's words pulled Yuehua back to reality.
Ah Jiu thought they would leave alone, as they had agreed earlier.
"We're poor and don't have an ox cart. Otherwise, carrying these two buckets of water and fleeing south wouldn't attract soldiers."
Yes, Ah Jiu remembered. Uncle Meng Shaokang worked as a porter at the Lihe pier outside the city and had saved enough money long ago to buy an ox cart.
Their family couldn't even afford to raise a chicken. Three years ago, they bought an ox with borrowed money to plow the fields. Later, during the severe drought, her father insisted the ox was useless and sold it for money to drink, leaving only this water bladder.
"Okay." Ah Jiu pursed her lips and nodded. She would have to see her paternal grandmother again. She wondered what her reaction would be when she learned her father hadn't abandoned his wife and daughter.
"Let's go, Dad will handle any trouble." Meng Shaode rubbed Ah Jiu's head, then shouldered the shoulder pole and carried the sack out.
Ah Jiu stood at the door and looked back. It was for the best. In her past life, she hadn't felt much attachment to this family, so leaving decisively was clean and neat.
As they exited the alley, they ran into old Chen from next door, who was loading things onto a handcart, with a mule hitched in front.
Meng Shaode lowered his head and quickened his pace, as if ashamed to be seen.
"Well, isn't that Master De? Where's your ox from years ago? Did you drink it all?"
Madam Li's words made Meng Shaode's face flush with shame, wishing he could stuff his head into his armpit like a duck.
"Lihua, ignore him, let's go."
"You know how to feel ashamed too." Cai Lihua hit the nail on the head, making the fierce man blush to the point of not daring to look up.
Ah Jiu, for the first time, covered her mouth, almost laughing out loud.
Upon reaching the ancestral courtyard of Madam Wang at the east end of Xinghua Village, Ah Jiu's smile vanished.
Meng family uncles and their families were all present.
As this family of three stood inside the gate, they were like outsiders, instantly drawing several sharp glances.