I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

This is a small slope, not many people walk this way, which makes it convenient for them to pick the fruit!

Wherever Sun and Zhao went, even the newly sprouted mushrooms couldn't escape their grasp!

The two of them, their hands bulging with food, casually picked up some firewood from the ground and headed back.

Seeing them turn back, Zhao Huilan, who was following behind them, carefully slid down the slope to the spot where her parents had picked things. It was completely empty, with nothing there!

Zhao Huilan sat on the ground and cried for a while. Thinking that she should go back early and follow them, she decided to make a fuss and get some food. So she picked up a few dry branches from the ground and hurriedly walked towards the cave.

Like his parents, Zhao Wenyuan also found a place where mushrooms grew and secretly picked some mushrooms to bring back.

Cao Rou'an is pregnant with his child! Unfortunately, the child is unlucky. He encountered a series of disasters as soon as he became pregnant, and then he was constantly fleeing famine. His mother was constantly on the move, unable to eat or sleep properly.

Zhao Wenyuan was worried that Cao Rouan might miscarry, but fortunately, Cao Rouan's body was strong enough to carry her through all kinds of hardships, and the baby in her womb was still healthy.

However, Cao Rouan was delicate and would avoid walking whenever possible, and she also needed to eat.

Occasionally, when they could stop in town, Cao Rouan would spare a small amount of silver for him to exchange for some food.

Zhao Wenyuan also benefited from it.

Since arriving on this mountain, the young couple had eaten all the food they had secretly hidden. It was Zhao Wenyuan's quick thinking and the years of studying that had paid off; he figured there would be mushrooms on the mountain after the rain, so he risked going out to look for them.

He actually found it!

Zhao Wenyuan was timid and only dared to pick mushrooms he had seen before. Because he had to keep it a secret from his family, he never dared to pick too many at once, but would stuff a few into his clothes and have Cao Rouan hide them when he got home.

Zhao Laosan was more cunning.

He didn't take any into the cave at all. He first found a place to hide it, and after accumulating a bagful, he took out some mushrooms as a tip and stuffed the package into the hands of a grandfather and grandson in the group, asking them to help watch over it.

The grandfather and grandson had already exhausted all their resources to get to where they were now, so there was no reason for them to refuse such a good opportunity.

Zhao Laosan wasn't worried that they would embezzle his mushrooms. The family consisted of old and young people, and if it weren't for the village head of Wangli Village taking care of the people in the group, they probably wouldn't have been able to leave Lingbei Prefecture.

Zhao Laosan would search for mushrooms for a while, then hide a bunch back at home. Finally, he would gather a bundle of firewood and take it home.

He was the most fidgety and the last to return home. When he got to his family's cart, he saw his mother sitting on the hood with a stern face. Zhao Laosan asked, "Mom! What's wrong! Aren't we going to go find firewood?"

"Find! Find firewood!" Granny Qian couldn't stop herself from shouting, but thankfully she didn't tell anyone about the mushrooms.

She told the third son to sit closer, and then Granny Qian threw Sun's bundle on the ground. The loosely tied bundle bounced, and mushrooms of all sizes tumbled out.

Granny Qian spat out her words through gritted teeth: "Look at this! When did our Zhao family raise such a traitor!"

Sun's face turned pale.

Although Granny Qian's eyes were fixed on her brother-in-law and her husband when she spoke, she was clearly referring to her! She also knew that the package was hers!

"Our Wangli Village has come this far thanks to the unity of the villagers," Old Zhao began, offering some pleasantries. "Our Zhao family should learn from the way people conduct themselves in the village; only by uniting can we go further."

He and his wife always did this, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop.

"I'll pretend I didn't see any of that. From now on, our family needs to work together... otherwise, there's still such a long way to go, and one person alone can't get there."

As the old man spoke, Granny Qian stared at each of the people.

She also noticed that her eldest grandson seemed to have something stuffed in his arms, but it was just a small amount, probably not many mushrooms. Granny Qian felt a pang of heartache for a moment, but quickly moved on.

The third child, who had been away the longest, had mud on both feet but was clean on her body, proving that she was indeed her favorite youngest child.

Granny Qian looked at it with satisfaction, which made Zhao Laosan feel a little guilty.

The eldest son and his wife both had their heads down, looking like they'd been caught stealing a chicken. Granny Qian, exasperated, gritted her teeth and said, "If you want to separate, just say so! I'm not as easy to talk to as your father. If there's a next time, I'll take away your food, and you're fired!"

Old Zhao lowered his head even further.

He doesn't want to separate from the family! He's the eldest son, and he has to shoulder the responsibility of the family! If he were separated from the family like the second son, the villagers would spit on him and drown him in their scorn!

Granny Qian would hit someone with a stick, and Old Man Zhao would give them a piece of candy. In the end, she left Cao Rouan and Liu Ya and the four boys to watch the things, while the eldest couple took everyone to find mushrooms.

This time, even the third son's wife has to go!

Granny Qian dragged her weak body and followed them out.

She was afraid that if she didn't go out with them, what if Madam Sun and Old Master Zhao hid the mushrooms?!

Just as she stepped out of the cave, a flash of lightning struck not far away, startling Granny Qian so much that she lifted her heels and tried to walk back into the cave.

After taking two steps back, Granny Qian gritted her teeth, turned around, and disappeared into the rain.

She was more afraid of starving to death than being struck by lightning!

Following the eldest son and his wife, Qian Pozi dodged and weaved her way to a slope.

"Mom, the mushrooms are right down here, but the path is slippery. Why don't you stay here? Sun Mei and I will go down."

Old Zhao said timidly.

"No way! Picking mushrooms isn't just about picking them in one place; we'll end up going further and further away!" Granny Qian insisted on going down, so Zhao Laoda and Zhao Laosan each took one side of their mother and helped her up the slope.

With someone on his shoulders, he walked with uneven steps. Zhao Laoda wasn't paying attention and slipped on a stone, almost throwing his mother off the hillside.

Zhao Laosan managed to turn the tide, holding onto the tree while pulling on his mother, using his strength to prevent her from falling into the ditch.

Old Zhao, Sun, and Wu, who were following behind, hurriedly pulled Granny Qian back.

When the person returned, it took a long time for the departed soul to return to its place. Granny Qian was so frightened that her heart was pounding, and she refused to go down with him no matter what.

There was no other way, so Zhao Laoda and Zhao Laosan sent her back up, while Granny Qian kept an eye on them from the top, afraid that one of them would slack off or hide mushrooms from the others.

Following the eldest brother, Zhao Laosan picked mushrooms without hesitation, stuffing them into his arms in clumps. In no time, the entire patch of mushrooms was picked clean.

Old Zhao and Sun led them onward.

You can find some mushrooms along this slope, more or less.

This time, Granny Qian specifically asked them to bring the bags that had previously contained grain. Once the bags were full, they would take some time to bring them up. Granny Qian would pull the bags along as they moved upstairs.

Unbeknownst to them, they had moved up the hillside.

Granny Qian also followed them to the top of the hill.

It was still raining, and bursts of thunder came down, making Granny Qian a little scared.

"old--"

She opened her mouth, wanting to call the third brother up.

Fearing her third daughter might get struck by lightning, she thought for a moment and called out, "Er Ya! Er Ya, come up here and carry the bag!"

There were already two large bags at her feet, and it was a bit of a hassle for Granny Qian to carry them all by herself.

Hearing Granny Qian calling, Zhao Huining reluctantly climbed up the slope, carrying a bag.

After her granddaughter came up to keep her company, Granny Qian was still a little afraid of being struck by lightning. She shrank her neck and directed Zhao Huining to go and pick some wild grass from the side so she could use it as a cushion to sit on the slope.

With the trees providing shelter, at least the rain overhead wasn't too heavy.

Zhao Huining resignedly went to pull weeds for her.

She grabbed a handful and shoved it over, then sat down heavily on it as a cushion. She shifted a couple of times, then, annoyed by the muddy water seeping up, she ordered, "Er Ya! Go and fetch some more!"

Zhao Huilan took a deep breath, patted the mud off her hands, and went to a farther place to fetch more mud.

She had only taken a few steps after turning around when a loud "crack!" echoed behind her. Zhao Huilan clutched her heart, which was pounding with fright from the sound, and stiffly turned around to look.

Granny Qian, who was sitting under the pine tree, was now lying there with her mouth and eyes crooked. Her face was charred, her hair was disheveled, and she was still smoking!

—Oh no! Milk has been struck by lightning again!

Zhao Huilan was so frightened that she fell to the ground. While looking around, she scrambled to the edge of the slope, trembling as she cried out, "No, no! Grandma's been struck by lightning!"

Hearing the shouts, the people at the bottom of the slope stuffed the mushrooms into their clothes and climbed up the slope.

Upon reaching the top of the slope, Zhao Lao saw that Granny Qian's clothes were riddled with holes from being struck by lightning. His legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, crying out, "Mother!!!"

The two sisters-in-law following behind also stood there dumbfounded, at a loss for what to do.

Granny Qian has already been struck by lightning once... how could she be struck by lightning again!

Wu glanced at Sun secretly and thought to herself: Mother-in-law sold Wu Ya twice, and Sun Ya also sold her twice! Why didn't Sun Ya get struck by lightning? Could it be that what Mother-in-law did was even worse?

Sun was terrified. The first time she saw Granny Qian struck by lightning, she could lie to herself and say it was a coincidence. The second time she saw Granny Qian struck by lightning... no matter what, she couldn't lie to herself!

Doing bad things really will get you struck by lightning!

My mother-in-law has already been struck by lightning enough times, so next... is it her turn?

Startled, Mrs. Sun immediately knelt on the ground and began to pray in a muttered prayer.

Old Zhao mustered his courage and went over to check; his mother was still breathing!

"Come quick! Our mother is still breathing! There's still hope!" Zhao Laosan shouted as he reached out to try and support her.

It wasn't that he disliked his own mother, but the way she was struck by lightning this time was truly appalling... her clothes were completely torn to shreds by the lightning!

Only after dragging Granny Qian out from under the tree did Wu dare to approach her. She went to support her mother-in-law's head and saw that Sun was still kneeling there with her eyes closed, looking like she was praying to a god. She was furious.

"Mrs. Sun! Come quickly and help our mother!"

After Wu finished shouting, Sun opened her eyes, looked around with her head down, and ran to Granny Qian's side, reaching out to support her other arm.

A person who has fainted is much heavier than usual. The two women couldn't lift an unconscious old woman, so they could only drag her along the ground.

Old Zhao led the way, while Old Zhao followed behind with his hands behind his back.

On the left and right were Zhao Laoda and Zhao Huilan, carrying two and a half bags of mushrooms.

When they were almost at the cave, Old Man Zhao asked Madam Sun to wipe Granny Qian's face, which had been blackened by the lightning strike, with rainwater and to straighten her hair.

So at least from the outside, Granny Qian's clothes were only a little tattered, but otherwise she looked no different from an ordinary person.

Fearing that the villagers would question them if they saw the bulging bags, the third and eldest brothers went to find some dry branches nearby and packed them up, pretending to be collecting firewood.

The group entered the cave in a grand procession, inevitably attracting attention. Someone noticed Granny Qian dragging herself along with her legs dangling on the ground and asked, "Old Zhao, what's wrong with your wife?"

Old Zhao waved his hand: "Hey! She just woke up and insisted on going out to collect firewood. She lost her balance and fell into the ditch! I'll have to find Doctor Kang to take a look at her later. She's such a worry..."

After asking the questions, the villagers didn't say anything else. Only after they left did they whisper to the crickets beside them: "This guy didn't just fall into the ditch! If he fell into the ditch, his clothes wouldn't be tattered and there wouldn't be any wounds on his body!"

How strange!

The two brothers exchanged a glance, and a sudden realization struck them: Had they been struck by lightning again?

They discussed it for a while, and realized that no one who falls into a ditch and is unconscious without any injuries would be able to do so without any wounds, unless they hit their head right after rolling down—and even if you hit your head, you can't be completely free of any injuries!

Just like Zhao Jia Wu Ya, when she fainted, there was such a big gash on her head!

It must have been struck by lightning!

When Granny Qian went over just now, they smelled a burning odor!

The two exchanged a glance, and after finishing their cricket-keeping, they went to find other people who had seen Granny Qian being dragged away to cricket-keep!

The Zhao family had barely reached their cart when the news spread throughout the cave that Granny Qian had been struck by lightning again!

After laying Granny Qian flat on the cart, Zhao Laoda quickly went to fetch Doctor Kang to take her pulse.

Old Zhao dared not lie to Dr. Kang; what if lying delayed the doctor's treatment of his wife?!

He spoke the truth, and upon hearing that Granny Qian had been struck by lightning again, Doctor Kang remained silent for a while.

—What a terrible thing!

After taking his pulse, Dr. Kang stood up, stroked his beard, and looked deep in thought.

The people standing to one side watched Dr. Kang nervously.

"The person is fine, judging from the pulse, he was just stunned by being struck by lightning." Doctor Kang also found it strange. Usually, when he heard of someone being struck by lightning, eight or nine out of ten people were directly killed by the lightning.

The first time Granny Qian woke up, the second time she was able to wake up, and apart from her pulse being a little weak, she was actually fine.

It's both lucky and unlucky.

There weren't many medicinal herbs in the group, and Doctor Kang didn't prescribe any medicine for Granny Qian. He just told them to feed her some thin porridge if they had any food.

Old Zhao slipped a small bag of mushrooms into Doctor Kang's hand and personally saw Doctor Kang off on his way back.

The villagers who were just talking about Granny Qian being struck by lightning all stopped talking as soon as they saw the Zhao family, and the crickets stopped chirping abruptly.

After Old Man Zhao returned from seeing Doctor Kang off, Granny Qian got up on her own!

It recovered even faster than when I was first struck by lightning!

"Ouch—" Granny Qian groaned, "My whole body aches—"

When she woke up this time, she felt like her whole body was falling apart. Granny Qian tried to raise her hand, but she had barely raised it a foot before she weakly put it down again.

She can't even get up this time!