A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

She wasn't impatient; she simply looked at them calmly and said, "Uncle, Aunt, I understand your anxiety. No one feels good about leaving home. But have you considered this? Last night, did the three of them—grandparents and grandchildren—not have a home? They did have a home, but it might have been robbed or burned down."

"We're tired and struggling now, but at least we're all together. We have food, a car, and blankets. Compared to them, aren't we much better off?"

Wang Shun and Wang Gui fell silent after hearing this. Yes, compared to that family from last night, they were worlds apart.

Wang Jinzhu continued, "I know everyone is worried about having nowhere to go once we get to the prefectural city. But does staying in the village guarantee a way to survive? If refugees or rebel soldiers come, we won't be able to save our land and houses, let alone our lives. Of course, they might not come, but are you willing to take that gamble?"

"We're on the road now, and although it's dangerous, at least we have a choice. I can't guarantee that we'll have a good life once we get to the capital, but as long as we all work together with one mind and one goal, we'll definitely find a way to survive!"

Wang Dali, who had been listening nearby, also stepped forward and said to Wang Shun and Wang Gui, "Jinzhu is right! Now that we've come out here, let's not think about anything else."

Zhao Xiulan, pulling her husband Chen Wangda along, addressed everyone, "Uncles and elders, Wangda and I are determined to follow Jinzhu. I trust Jinzhu! We're all in this together now; no one can escape on their own. If we didn't trust her, we shouldn't have come. Now that we're here, we have to follow her orders!"

Zhao Xiulan's words were less polite, but they were very effective.

They chose to follow Wang Jinzhu because they valued her abilities. Now, to back down so soon after starting is not only spineless but also offends Wang Jinzhu.

Wang Shun's wife tugged at her husband's sleeve and muttered, "Alright, stop talking. Jinzhu is right. We...we'll just follow their arrangements."

Wang Gui sighed and forced a smile that looked more like a grimace at Wang Jinzhu: "Niece Jinzhu, don't take it to heart. We were just... just feeling uncertain and venting. We didn't mean anything by it. Don't worry, we'll definitely listen to you from now on."

"Yes, yes, I'll do whatever you say," Wang Shun quickly agreed.

After Wang Jinzhu's admonition, the group behaved much better for the rest of the journey. The Wang Shun and Wang Gui families no longer dared to complain, and they did whatever they were told to do each day, going when told to go and stopping when told to stop.

They all knew in their hearts that Wang Jinzhu was right. Compared to the migrants on the road who were struggling to find food and shelter from the rain, they, with their families, carts, and provisions, were practically living a life of luxury. To think any further would be ungrateful.

However, the further south you go, the more frightening the scenery becomes.

At first, they only encountered individual families of refugees, but now, the roads are filled with more and more groups of refugees. They are ragged, emaciated from hunger, and their eyes gleam with a green light, like wolves that have been starving for a long time in the wasteland.

When they saw Wang Jinzhu's well-equipped team, their eyes were filled with undisguised greed and desire.

Fortunately, Wang Jinzhu's group consisted mostly of able-bodied men. Wang Dali, Wang Tianfang, and the three Wang brothers, along with Chen Wangda, Wang Shun, and Wang Gui, were all armed. Wang Dali even had his old butcher knife, which he'd used for many years, tucked into his belt; the blade gleamed coldly in the sunlight, making him look menacing.

Although the refugees were envious, seeing that the group was large and powerful, with strong and healthy men, they dared not provoke them easily. They simply followed from a distance, hoping to find something to steal.

The feeling of being watched like prey made everyone in the group very uncomfortable. The adults kept a close eye on the children, either holding them in their arms or holding their hands tightly, as if afraid that something might happen if they weren't careful.

The atmosphere inside the carriage was somewhat somber.

Wang Guilan looked at her two grandsons, while Cao'er was nestled in Chen Yuxiang's arms. Hu Zi was still young and didn't understand much, so he peeked curiously out of the car window through the curtain.

Looking out the window at those people who were about her age but were so thin they were just skin and bones, and filthy all over, Cao'er felt a pang of sadness.

In her small hand, she still clutched half a multigrain pancake that Chen Yuxiang had given her that morning. She couldn't bear to eat it herself and had been saving it.

The procession slowly passed by a group of refugees. Among them was a boy who looked even smaller than a blade of grass, being held in his mother's arms. The child was so hungry that he didn't even have the strength to cry.

Cao'er's heart clenched instantly. She remembered the days when her father had just passed away, and she and her mother were always hungry, cold, and beaten. She glanced at Chen Yuxiang, who was holding her and talking to Wang Guilan, not noticing her. Without thinking, Cao'er threw the half-eaten pancake she was holding through the crack in the car window at the little boy.

She just wanted the little boy to have something to eat. She assumed the biscuit would end up in his hands, just as she expected.

But she was wrong.

While the half-eaten pancake was still in mid-air, the crowd below instantly erupted in chaos!

"Food! It's food!"

Someone shouted, and the eyes of all the refugees around instantly turned red. They rushed towards the spot where the half-eaten pancake had fallen, like madmen.

The woman holding the child was closest, and she excitedly reached out to catch the pancake.

Before she could even touch it, a man rushed over and shoved her to the ground. Immediately afterwards, people swarmed in from all directions, pushing and shoving, fighting and grabbing, completely going crazy for that meager amount of food.

"Mine! It's mine!"

"Get out of here!"

Screams, curses, and the sounds of fighting mingled together.

The woman holding the child was pushed down and couldn't get up. The already dying child in her arms fell to the ground.

The woman screamed in terror, trying to protect her child, but she herself had been trampled several times and was unable to move at all.

In the chaos, countless feet trampled over it.

The little boy didn't even have time to scream before he was trampled to death by the crowd.

This bloody and cruel scene happened in the blink of an eye.

The little girl in the carriage watched as the boy she wanted to help was trampled to death because of the half-piece of bread she threw out.

Her face turned deathly pale in an instant, completely devoid of color. She covered her mouth with her small hands, her eyes wide open.

"ah--"

A short, terrified scream escaped her lips, and then her eyes rolled back as she fainted.

"Cao'er! Cao'er!" Chen Yuxiang finally realized what was happening and started shaking Cao'er in her arms.