Sold immediately after wearing it? I took my family and fled the famine.

The night was dark and the wind was high.

Jiang Xing remained leaning against the oxcart wheel, listening to the wind, the chirping of insects, and the distant hooting of owls.

In the middle of the night, around 1-3 AM, she heard footsteps.

The footsteps were very light, deliberately suppressed, but they still made a rustling sound as they stepped on the dry grass.

Jiang Xing opened his eyes a crack.

The moonlight was obscured by clouds, and the camp was almost completely dark.

She couldn't see people's faces clearly, only a few dark figures, bending over, creeping over from the edge of the camp, heading straight for Jiang Dazhu's cart.

The dark figure squatted down next to the cart, lifted the coarse cloth, and cut a hole in the grain sack. Another person held the sack to receive the grain. The movements were quick and skillful, clearly not the first time he had done this.

He filled three or four bags, hoisted them onto his shoulder, and returned the way he came, disappearing into the night.

Less than fifteen minutes later, two more dark figures arrived, went straight to the cart, filled two bags, and left.

After a while, a man came, tiptoed around the cart for a while, picked up a jar of cured meat, and left.

Jiang Xing remained silent and motionless throughout the entire process.

After the shadowy figure left, the camp returned to silence. Seeing that no one was taking any further action for a while, Jiang Xing drifted off to sleep, only to fall asleep again at dawn.

Just as dawn was breaking, Zhou's screams woke up the entire camp.

"Ah! The grain! The grain is gone! Who stole my grain!"

The sound was sharp and piercing, like a pig being slaughtered, shattering the silence of the early morning.

Jiang Dazhu rolled over, rushed to the cart, lifted the coarse cloth, and his face turned pale instantly.

At least half of the grain on the truck was missing; the rice bags were deflated, the flour bags collapsed, the lid of the meat jar was lifted, and more than half of the meat inside was gone; even one of the jars had been taken away.

"Who! Who did this!" Jiang Dazhu's voice was even louder than Zhou's, veins bulging on his face, his eyes wide as if they were about to pop out: "I'll kill you! I'll skin you alive!"

Zhou sat on the ground, slapping her thigh and wailing, her face streaked with tears and snot: "You damned thief! My family's grain! The lives of my whole family! You stole our grain, you deserve to die a horrible death! May you be childless and your entire family wiped out!"

She screamed until her throat cracked, her voice changing from a scream to a roar, and then from a roar to a wail. She rolled around on the ground, her hair disheveled, and her clothes covered in mud.

Jiang Qingyue stood to the side, her face pale, her lips trembling, and tears silently streaming down her face. She knelt down and pulled at Zhou Shi, saying, "Mother, don't cry, don't cry..."

"I won't cry? What am I supposed to do if I don't cry!" Zhou pushed her away. "The food's gone! What are we going to eat! What are you going to eat! What are your brother going to eat!"

Jiang Qingshan stood beside the cart, still holding the book in his hand, but he didn't open it.

He stared at the deflated bags, his face ashen, his lips pressed into a thin line, and he didn't utter a single word.

The noise was too loud and woke up everyone around.

Granny Zhao curled her lip and muttered, "Serves her right." Widow Sun, holding her two children, watched from afar with no expression on her face.

Zhang Gensheng's wife said, "Oh dear, what are we going to do? So much grain is gone just like that." Her tone was feigned sympathy, but her eyes were watching the spectacle with amusement.

Li Laosan stood not far away watching the commotion, his expression as calm as if nothing had happened.

The man and woman from Zhoujiazhai were also drinking porridge. The man kept his head down as he drank, while the woman glanced up at him and then looked down again. Most of them were there to watch the spectacle, given how blatantly Jiang Dazhu's family had acted a few days ago.

Jiang Dazhu rushed to the soldier in charge and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Sir! Someone's stealing grain! You have to stand up for us!"

The soldier leading the group was a man in his thirties surnamed Ma. He had a scar on his face and a bad temper. He had caught a cold last night and was already in a bad mood. Now that Jiang Dazhu had come to see him, he was even more annoyed.

Zhou's voice had just woken him up, and his head was throbbing. He rubbed his temples and looked at Jiang Dazhu impatiently: "Stealing grain? Who stole it?"

"I don't know! But it must be someone from this group! Officer, investigate! Investigate them one by one!"

Ma Dadan glanced at him: "How are you going to investigate? There are thousands of people, am I supposed to search them one by one? Do you have any evidence?"

Jiang Dazhu opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.

Zhou got up from the ground, rushed over, and grabbed Captain Ma's sleeve: "Can't you investigate without evidence? My family's grain is gone, we can't just let it go for nothing! Sir, you have to do us justice!!!"

Ma Dadan tried to shake him off twice but failed, his face darkening: "Let go!"

"Sir! You can't just abandon us! Our entire family's lives depend on that truck! If you don't help, we'll starve to death!"

"I won't let go! I won't let go unless you stand up for us!" Zhou gripped tightly, her nails almost digging into Ma Dadan's flesh.

Ma Dadan flew into a rage, shoving Zhou Shi aside. Zhou Shi staggered back a few steps and fell to the ground, howling even louder: "They're hitting people! The government troops are hitting people! Is there no justice left?!"

Jiang Dazhu rushed forward, blocking Zhou's path, his face flushed and neck bulging: "Sir! We've lost our grain, and instead of helping us search, you're hitting us?"

"Who hit someone?" Ma Dadan's scarred face flushed red. "Your wife was grabbing me and wouldn't let go, and I pushed her and that's considered hitting someone?"

"You pushed! You really pushed!" Zhou sat on the ground, pounding the ground. "Everyone saw it! The government troops beat people!"

The refugees formed a circle around him; some whispered among themselves, others watched the spectacle, but no one stepped forward to speak.

Ma Dadan drew his knife and plunged it into the ground, the blade making a buzzing sound.

"Shut the fuck up, all of you!"

Zhou's crying sound got stuck in her throat, turning into a sob.

"You refugees, you're always causing trouble!" Ma Dadan pointed at Jiang Dazhu and Zhou Shi, his finger almost poking their faces. "Whose fault is it that the grain is lost? Who gave you permission to brazenly cook meat porridge? As if you're afraid people won't know you have grain? Isn't that just asking to be robbed?"

Jiang Dazhu's face turned a deep purplish-red, his lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a word.

"I'm here to guide you, not to be your bodyguard!" Ma Dadan's voice was loud enough to be heard throughout half the camp. "If you make any more noise, your whole family will get out of the group! Go on your own! Let's see how many days you can live!"

Jiang Dazhu and Zhou Shi dared not speak.

Jiang Qingshan walked over from behind, tugged at Jiang Dazhu's sleeve, and said in a low voice, "Dad, let it go."

Jiang Dazhu gritted his teeth, puffed out his cheeks twice, and the flesh on his cheeks trembled.

His fists clenched so tightly they cracked, veins bulging from the back of his hands all the way to his elbows. In the end, he didn't say another word, turned around and walked back to the cart.

Zhou was still sitting on the ground, sobbing softly, no longer daring to cry loudly.

Jiang Qingyue squatted down to help her up, but she pushed her daughter away, got up on her own, and patted the mud off her body while crying.

Jiang Qingshan stood beside the cart, repacked the remaining grain into bags, covered them with coarse cloth, and weighed them down with a few stones.

He raised his head and glanced at the refugees around him.

He paused for a moment on Li Laosan.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the man and woman in Zhoujiazhai.

Then he looked away.

Jiang Xing didn't show any expression, but Jiang Xikan looked like he was watching a good show, with a smile on his lips.

"Sis, are Uncle's family going to go hungry from now on?"

"Hmm, you're happy?"

"They used to bully our family, now it's their turn to go hungry, of course I'm happy."

Jiang Xing raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She didn't sympathize with Jiang Dazhu's family, nor did she feel relieved. She just felt that this matter was not over yet.

If someone steals once, they'll steal again. This time it was his house, but who knows if it won't be someone else's next time? Nobody can say for sure.

Jiang Dazhu's family has indeed learned to be smarter.

They no longer cooked meat porridge. The porridge in the pot was as thin as other people's, with more wild vegetables and less rice. Zhou squatted by the pot, looking at the thin porridge, her eyes red, but she didn't say anything.

Jiang Dazhu took several bags of grain from the cart, stuffed them under the cart, and covered them with old quilts. From the outside, it looked like there were only some worthless things left on the cart.

He also arranged for a night watch: Jiang Dazhu would keep watch for the first half of the night, and Jiang Qingshan for the second half.

The father and son took turns keeping watch, with one of them keeping watch for half the night.

The road leading southwest became increasingly remote, but people from Central South and Southwest China still walked together. The road grew narrower and narrower, and the trees on both sides became denser.

A commotion arose from the official road.

Several carriages rolled on, horses neighed, and dust billowed.

Everyone turned to look, and two carriages were catching up from behind.