"I think it's delicious. Sister A Jiu's cooking is simply the best in the world. Before our family's troubles, I'd never tasted such good barley porridge."
Tuoba Yan stood up and shouted cheerfully from across the ox cart.
A Jiu's heart warmed. Why did she feel that the most prominent trait of this little Yan Yan was his honesty?
It was quite embarrassing.
"You, yes, you. If you eat this bowl of rice, you can walk away on your own," Meng Shaokang stretched his neck and pointed at Tuoba Yan.
He couldn't stand such fawning. Wasn't it just for a bite to eat? But their family was already short one person's food.
This was clearly relying on a face to beg for food and drinks. If this continued, the whole family would be fooled by him.
Tuoba Yan didn't get angry. He scratched his head and looked at the "boss" with a smile.
A Jiu's heart was soft: "Uncle, he's just recovered, and he also said that in these times of war and chaos, even if we don't starve to death, we could encounter refugees or soldiers at any moment. Besides, he also said he'd leave us when we reach Nanming City."
"What does that have to do with us? You little girl are getting too bold. Your parents haven't even spoken, and you, a smelly girl, have the right to speak?"
Meng Shaokang had been carrying a belly full of anger all the way, with nowhere to vent it.
His mother had gone mad, his second brother had become overly merciful, and his second brother's wife was even fiercer than the second brother, not batting an eye when killing rats.
Now even this little girl dared to defy his wishes as an elder. What status did he, the eldest son of the Meng family, have left?
"Brother, my daughter can only be spoken to by me, her father. You cannot. Hurry up and eat, brothers, and let's find a safe place to prepare for the night."
Meng Shaode was exhausted today. The ground was too dry; the holes they dug could have buried him vertically. Only then did they manage to find a rat hole.
Crucially, the rat holes were interconnected. They had dug pits and used fire and smoke to fumigate these two field mice out.
Seeing his wife and child eating happily, he hadn't dared to eat himself, but his heart was finally at peace.
When Meng Shaokang heard this, his face fell. He angrily finished the bowl with the bottom facing up.
No need to wash this bowl; a little sand and dirt rubbed and blown would clean it.
Everything was packed onto the ox cart, and the fire was extinguished.
"Let's move forward before it gets dark and see if we can find a place to stay."
Meng Shaode spoke, and the arrangement remained the same. Tuoba Yan limped onto the ox cart and rested his hands.
"I'm not going," Meng Shaokang, with his wife and children behind him, threw a tantrum at the ox cart:
"Is there any place for me to stand in this family anymore? I don't even have the right to speak? After all, I am the eldest son of the family."
Meng Shaode and his wife looked back, and their faces instantly fell.
Putting aside the possibility of encountering other refugees or soldiers, what would they do if Zheng Sangou's thieving son came after them again?
"Brother, why are you throwing a tantrum? We are all grown men and elders. Are you going to argue with a child?"
Meng Shaode muttered tiredly, his voice heavy.
Tuoba Yan, on the ox cart, looked at the thin, small figure sitting on the edge of the cart. He seemed to be truly causing trouble for Sister A Jiu.
But the whole world was unfamiliar to him. He hadn't found any of his subordinates. Apart from meeting the good person that was Sister A Jiu, he was filled with an unknown fear of this world, like a cosmic black hole.
"I'm not going. Our family of four was already separated long ago. I am the head of the family, and my word is law."
Meng Shaokang turned his head, crossed his arms, and flatly refused to travel with them.
Luo Xiuying looked distressed and cautiously tugged at her husband's collar:
"Shaokang, it's too dangerous for us to travel alone. And for the past few days, it's been your second brother's family taking care of us. You..."
"Whose person are you? Who are you speaking for?" Meng Shaokang's roar made Luo Xiuying dare not utter another word.
"Xiuying is with you. I... I am your person."
Luo Xiuying looked at the ox cart with grievances and pity. She was speaking from her conscience. If not for the help of her second brother's family these past few days, they would have been captured by the refugee army at the mountain cave.