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墨書 Inktalez
Li Yan woke up in the morning, feeling that the outside air was even colder. Looking at the child curled up in her arms, she guessed he must be cold, as his small face was instinctively buried in the blanket, sleeping soundly. Li Yan turned around in the room and finally took out a few thick wool sweaters and a candle.
There was no electricity in the house, and with the windows and doors covered by thick cotton cloth, although it wasn't completely dark inside, it was still hard to see clearly.
Li Yan glanced at the alarm clock and saw it was already past eight. Indeed, winter sleep quality was much better than summer. She lit a candle, and the room immediately brightened up a bit, so when the child woke up later, it wouldn't be pitch dark.
Once everything was ready, Li Yan looked at the child's delicate face before stepping outside. As soon as she left the room, she smelled a strong aroma of fried food. Entering the kitchen, she saw Yu Tian and Zhou Miao already eating. There was soft and glutinous red bean porridge, pan-fried wontons, a pot of noodles, and a large plate of corn and egg pancakes. Naturally, each dish had a generous portion. Zhou Miao seemed to be enjoying her meal leisurely, while Yu Tian appeared to be struggling to eat; having been in the countryside for some time, he knew how hard it was to come by food. So every time he cooked, he made enough for all four of them, never cooking extra for fear of waste.
"Eat up! I wasn't sure what you liked, so I made porridge and noodles; you can have whatever you want," the woman said after tidying up. She already looked quite good naturally, but after dressing up a bit more, she regained some of her refined demeanor.
Li Yan didn't say anything; she took a bowl to serve herself some porridge. She also served a bowl for Li Ming, planning to wake him up to eat. However, there wasn't a hint of a smile on her face, which made the woman's smile stiffen considerably. She had worked hard to prepare breakfast that morning; country folks were indeed just that—lacking in manners.
"Ha ha, I really appreciate you all for yesterday," Luo Zhijiang said cheerfully upon noticing his wife's displeased expression. The temperature outside was even lower today; their hometown was over three hours away by car. Not only had they run out of food here, but their gasoline was also nearly gone. Walking back home from here would definitely not be feasible. "By the way, I forgot to ask you all—what is your surname?"
"Our surnames are all different here; which one are you asking about?" Zhou Miao said playfully as she understood Luo Zhijiang's intentions from his gaze.
Sure enough, when Luo Zhijiang and the others heard this, their eyes lit up as they thought Zhou Miao and her companions were also seeking refuge. Their tone became more assertive and controlling. "So everyone is suffering together; what a coincidence! I'm thirty-six this year; I guess I'm your elder brother now. Come on now; since we’ve met here, let’s share some porridge instead of wine. By the way, this house is quite nice; last night’s snow froze outside while this place is still warm. We should have no problem getting through winter here. Unlike our old house... sigh... I haven't been back in many years; I heard it leaks when it rains."
"Didn’t you say your father lives in the countryside?" Yu Tian felt uncomfortable upon hearing this; it seemed these three were doing well while his own father suffered at home during this disaster yet thought about returning home now. If they disliked it so much, they should just stay away.
Luo Zhijiang's expression stiffened as he regretted saying something wrong and quickly changed the subject: "We let him go to the city; old folks are sentimental like that. By the way, this house is built quite well; it's been around for some time now." If it were modern times, such solid materials would be hard to find.
"Yes, this house has been around for a while," Li Yan said as she took a bite of pan-fried wontons—hmm... they were overcooked; she figured they might not like them. Later on, she would make some fried eggs for the child since he had enjoyed two fried eggs yesterday morning.
"Indeed! These days are tough for everyone; I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice with my sister-in-law. She's truly virtuous; since marrying me, she's never enjoyed any comfort—she's always busy inside and outside the house. You four young folks have it tough too; with your sister-in-law around in the future, feel free to come to her if you encounter any difficulties."
"Yes! We owe our precious one’s safety to you all," the woman said as she served two large bowls of porridge to Luo Zhijiang and Luo Zhiyuan while giving a boiled egg to the child. "Eat more; don’t be polite! If you need anything at all, just let me know."
Li Yan coldly glanced at them. She set down her bowl and wiped her mouth before speaking: "We’re used to these things; Mr. Luo and Mrs. Luo, we appreciate your kindness. It’s getting late; if you need to travel, we won’t keep you any longer—you might worry your family if you return late. If there's anything we can help with, just let us know."
"Right! Look at my memory—I’m wasting Brother Luo’s time," Zhou Miao deliberately emphasized "brother" loudly to tease them.
"Ha ha." Luo Zhijiang chuckled awkwardly, not expecting Li Yan to be so direct. He exchanged a glance with his wife, who immediately pretended to bump into their child, causing the Boiled Egg to fall to the ground. The child, not understanding right from wrong, reached for the Boiled Egg on the floor. The woman deliberately scolded him, "You little rascal, you can't eat something that fell on the ground! Do you understand? How have your father and I taught you?"
"Mommy, Boiled Egg." The child didn't understand what he did wrong or why he couldn't eat it. After all, the cookie that fell on the ground last time was still edible. "Little Treasure wants to eat egg."
The woman slapped the child's bottom, tears in her eyes. "This is what happens when you don't listen! You want to eat dirty things? It's my fault for not being capable enough to keep you from suffering with us adults..."
"Brother, can you let us stay a few more days?" Luo Zhiyuan said, his face flushed with embarrassment. He was an honest man; although he had suffered a lot in the city because of his older brother, it was also thanks to Luo Zhijiang that he could find a good job. Even though he knew his brother and sister-in-law were doing this on purpose, he could only plead humbly.
Luo Zhijiang kept his head down and remained silent, sighing repeatedly without eating anything. He couldn't bring himself to ask for help. Li Yan looked down on people like him; even at this point, he still cared about face and dignity.
In this apocalyptic world, it was absolutely impossible for Luo Zhijiang and his wife to enjoy life as they once did. If they were truly on the brink of starvation, they wouldn't hesitate to swallow even a moldy biscuit, let alone a fallen egg.
"I’m telling you, Brother Luo, it’s not that we don’t want to take you in. It’s just that our food supply is limited. We country folks are already poor; taking care of three more people is really... difficult," Zhou Miao said with a sarcastic smile. He noticed the disdain in the woman's eyes towards Yu Tian just moments ago.
Hmph, she has no concept of survival in this world; last night's experience clearly didn't weigh heavily on her mind.
She thought cooking breakfast would earn her some credit, but she forgot that all the rice and noodles were theirs. The egg, which was a rare delicacy now, was given to her son without anyone's consent. At a time when a food crisis was about to erupt, she still cooked up a large meal without any sense of urgency—clearly someone who didn't feel guilty about using others' resources.
"Don't go too far!" The woman frowned tightly upon hearing this. She had been pampered since childhood and had never been treated so disrespectfully before. "You’re just guests here too; we’re only thanking you for your help last night. Don’t push your luck."
"Guests?" Li Yan put down her utensils and quickly picked up the child as if she were lifting a kitten. She rushed towards the door with the child in tow.
By the time the woman and Luo Jia realized what was happening, they hurried after her. The woman screamed, "What do you think you're doing? Give me back my son, you bastard! Husband! Husband!!"
"Brother, if you don’t put my son down right now, I won’t hold back," Luo Zhijiang said anxiously; he only had this one son. His first wife had given him two daughters before he divorced her and married his current wife. Of course, this was also related to his wife's family background, looks, and figure.
Li Yan threw the child out through the front door. In broad daylight, the child began to cry loudly—"Wah wah... Little Treasure's egg... wah wah..." In no time at all, his face turned red from the cold. The woman and Luo Jia rushed outside; just as Luo Zhiyuan turned around to confront Li Yan, he heard a loud bang—the door... slammed shut.
At this point, Luo Zhijiang completely lost his temper and even found it hard to believe how foolish they were to be thrown out like this. He hadn’t even had a chance to execute any of his plans; he had thought of over ten ways last night but never imagined they would be schemed out like this.
Clearly now if they knocked again, those inside would completely ignore them. The woman was stunned; as she thought it over, she realized that those people inside had done it on purpose—saying unpleasant things because they didn’t want them to leave just to create such a scene. "Husband..." The woman became frightened; last night’s near-death experience replayed in her mind again. She regretted losing her temper earlier.
She timidly approached the door and softened her tone while pleading. "Brothers, please! Our things are still inside! My little treasure is still small; have pity on us! Please open the door; let’s talk nicely."
Yu Tian blinked, seemingly still not awake from the earlier scene. How could Li Yan do such a thing? No, it should be said that Li Yan would disdain to do something like that, right? Could it be that he just imagined it?
"Dear, don't think too much," Zhou Miao said with a smile as she served another bowl of porridge for her wife, perfectly paired with fried dumplings. "Actually, we stayed over last night to gather information from outside. If we can save someone, that would be great too."
"But just now..." Yu Tian couldn't say that Li Yan was cold-blooded; after all, he had been through quite a lot during this time. With Heavenly Father not helping, the number of beggars and thieves in the countryside had increased. Those people were beggars by day and thieves by night. If he still had the same compassion as before, even ten spaces in the Li Family wouldn't be enough.
Outside, people began to shout and curse. Luo Zhijiang even made threats, claiming to be a friend of some leader in S City. The occupation of residential homes by the Li Family was also illegal; his words were filled with references and quotes, shifting from negotiation to harsh language. Listening to this, Yu Tian went from feeling embarrassed at first to being angry. How could they act like this? No matter what, they were the ones who had saved them. Seeing their car keys on the table, Yu Tian pressed his lips tightly together, gritted his teeth, and directly pulled open the door.
When Luo Zhijiang saw the door open, his face lit up with joy. Their car was out of gas; they had miscalculated initially; otherwise, they wouldn't have gone door to door begging last night. Just thinking about this made Luo Zhijiang resent his brother Luo Zhiyuan, who couldn't even handle such a small matter. If he weren't his brother, he would have left him in S City long ago.
Before Luojia could show any joy on his face, Dumpling let out a low growl and ran out. The growl sounded as if it came straight from its throat. If it weren't for Yu Tian holding onto it, it would have lunged at them. The brothers of Luo Zhijiang were so scared they stepped back; a Tibetan Mastiff could eat people. Dumpling was already a top-tier mastiff; its ferocity when facing enemies combined with its imposing presence made Luojia retreat continuously. Luo Zhijiang turned pale with fear and naturally dared not say anything reckless; he certainly didn't want to get bitten by a dog!
"Get lost!" Yu Tian forced himself to shout. Although his voice trembled slightly, at this moment, the brothers of Luojia couldn't discern anything unusual and hurriedly ran towards their car with women and children in tow. Luo Zhiyuan glanced back at Yu Tian and Wonton, feeling somewhat guilty inside; after all, this was something they had done wrong themselves. After all, saving someone is a favor; not saving them is not illegal.
Watching their embarrassed figures leave, Yu Tian felt quite frustrated. After all, in such cold weather, they had nothing... Sigh, forget it; it's good enough to take care of their own family.
"Excuse me, is this Li Yan's house?"
While holding onto Dumpling, Yu Tian turned around and saw a middle-aged man around forty or fifty standing at their door, followed by a middle-aged woman and a pair of young men and women.
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