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

But there was another group of people in the cave who were not warmed by the heat of the soup.

The group of refugees who had first occupied the cave were now huddled inside, their faces grim. Yesterday, they had taken grain from these people, giving each family a handful. With a population of about a hundred, each person would only receive a pound or two.

They cooked a few bowls of porridge with those two pounds of grain, then went back to sleep. They figured they wouldn't get hungry if they didn't move. But now, seeing the people who came later not only drinking snake soup but also having fern roots, kudzu roots, and polygonatum to fill their stomachs, the porridge in their bowls suddenly didn't taste so good anymore.

"Why can they drink meat broth?" Someone slammed their bowl on the ground, the voice not loud but filled with sourness. "We've been living in this cave for days, we've dug up all the wild vegetables nearby, where did they find snakes?"

No one answered him. They knew in their hearts that they had indeed dug up all the wild vegetables that could be dug up nearby, but were there any left on the hillside a little further away?

They didn't go; when they chopped firewood, they only picked the nearest dry branches, finding it too tiring to walk even a few steps further.

Several people brazenly stood up from their bedding, walked up to the villagers who were distributing soup, and tried to get close to them to ask for a bowl of soup.

The woman they were talking to was Aunt Wang from Jiangjia Village. Aunt Wang was busy stirring the pot and didn't even look up. A woman next to her simply put down her ladle, glanced at them sideways, and curled her lip: "What did you say yesterday when our people wanted to squeeze in? 'Don't you sicklings spread your disease to us!' Now that you smell meat, you want to get close?"

The refugees' faces flushed red and then turned pale. They muttered a few words like, "So what if they don't want to drink?" and slunk away.

They shrank back onto their bedding and sat there, looking at each other without saying a word.

He picked up the bowl and continued drinking the porridge, but after a couple of sips, he found it so bland it tasted like dishwater. He put the bowl down and stopped drinking, muttering curses under his breath: "What's so smug about them? They're just a few snakes." "Let's see how far they can go after the rain stops."

The voices were kept very low, just loud enough for those nearby to hear. The man leading the group at the very back didn't say a word. He sat cross-legged on his bedding, his elbows resting on his knees. His gaze swept over the chaotic crowd, fixed on the four pots at the entrance of the cave. No one knew what he was thinking.

The snake soup from the four pots was distributed to each household, and basically every family received a bowl.

They couldn't wait to squat by the fire with their bowls and drink slowly. The adults would take the snake meat out of the soup and put it in the children's bowls, while they themselves would only drink the soup.

The child took a bite of the snake meat; it was tender and smooth. His eyes widened in surprise: "Mommy, is this a snake? Snake tastes so good?"

The father next to her, holding an empty bowl, turned his face away. He didn't drink a drop, just watched his wife and children drink, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down several times. Aunt Yang fed the man a mouthful of soup from her bowl, and he lowered his head, took a sip, and then pushed it back.

There was one family in the entire cave that hadn't received any – He Daliang's family.

The people serving the soup were Aunt Wang and Liu. Aunt Wang was carrying a large spoonful of snake soup and was about to walk towards the He family's house when Liu came over from the side and held her spoon down.

"Her family's? No way."

Aunt Wang was taken aback for a moment, but didn't ask any more questions. Although she wasn't close to Jiang Xing, she had seen everything that had happened along the way, including the way Yang Cuihua had made such a scene that day.

Jiang Xing and his men found the snake, and since they weren't making a fuss, why shouldn't Aunt Wang hold a grudge? But she really couldn't bring herself to share the soup with the He family. She took the spoon back, scooped some into the pot, and handed it to another family next door.

He Daliang sat on the hay where he was resting, his face still bearing the bruises from being beaten by the Qian family's servants. His ribs ached so badly that he was gasping for breath, and he was waiting to have a bowl of hot soup to replenish his strength.

After waiting for a long time without anyone coming, he asked Yang Cuihua to go check. When Yang Cuihua went to the soup serving area, she saw Aunt Wang ladling soup into other people's bowls and became anxious: "Where's my family? Why aren't you giving me any?"

"Why should we?" Old Zhao, quick to speak, interrupted Aunt Wang. "The snake was found by Miss Jiang with her people. What's your relationship with her? We're not related! She brought the snake, and you have the nerve to ask for a share? Where's your shame?"

Yang Cuihua's face flushed red instantly. Granny Li rushed out of the shed, plopped down on the ground, slapped her thigh, and wailed, "You're bullying us! You're bullying us, the old and the young! Is it really worth it for a bowl of soup? You're trying to force us to our deaths!" Her wailing was rhythmic, her voice high-pitched and loud, and the whole cave could hear it.

No one moved; most people held their bowls, heads down, drinking soup and pretending not to see anything. Someone muttered under their breath, "Here comes another tantrum."

Several shrewish women in the group refused to tolerate her.

Aunt Wang was the first to walk over, looking down at her condescendingly: "What are you howling about? Do I have to repeat all the things your family has done in public? How did your daughter-in-law treat Miss Jiang? Do I have to repeat all the dirty deeds your son and Yang Cuihua did? You still have the nerve to howl?"

Another woman squatted down to face her, her voice even louder: "Try howling again! Even if you howl until your throat is hoarse, no one will bring you soup. Save your energy and go hungry!"

Surrounded by several women who were chattering amongst themselves, Granny Li was losing face. She got up from the ground, dusted herself off, and continued to curse, but her voice was noticeably weaker.