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

She knew what her third uncle was thinking. She wanted to go up and say something, but after taking half a step, she pulled her foot back.

She's not good at comforting people; she's used to never lingering or looking back.

Just as she hesitated, a small figure walked past her.

Xiao Niu watched Jiang Xing for a long time and saw that his third uncle was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed and his wrinkled lips curving downwards, which made people feel uncomfortable.

He released Jiang Xing's hand and walked step by step to his third uncle.

The light was dim under the locust tree. The old man opened his eyes a crack and saw the child standing in front of him with his face upturned.

The little calf stretched out his two thin little hands and touched his third uncle's face. His hands were dirty, and there was still mud stuck in his fingernails from yesterday's climb, but his palms were warm.

He placed his palm on the old man's face, which was as rough as tree bark, and gently rubbed it.

"Third Uncle." His voice was childish, but he tried his best to act serious like an adult. "Don't be sad. When we get to the new place, Xiao Niu and Sister will work hard to earn money and buy you a new cow."

Third Uncle opened his eyes slightly and looked down at him.

The calf thought the old man didn't believe it, so it took its hand off the old man's face, then spread its arms and made a huge circle, its eyebrows furrowed with seriousness: "If I buy such a big one, I'll cut grass for it every day and feed it well so you won't get tired."

The third uncle lowered his gaze to the little guy's face, which was wrinkled from making his promise. He remained silent for a long while. It was as if a crack had been opened in the face of a lifetime of hardship and loneliness, and a small but warm current flowed through it.

After a long while, he slowly revealed a smile, and the deep lines between his brows gradually relaxed.

He stretched out his calloused and frostbitten hand and gently placed it on the back of the calf's head, his broad, rough palm touching the child's soft hair.

"Okay, then you can feed the cows to your third uncle."

When Little Niu saw his third uncle smile, he grinned too, revealing a gap in his teeth. He looked a bit silly, but it made his third uncle feel inexplicably sore and swollen.

Jiang Xing stood a few steps away, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.

She discovered that her younger brother was thoughtful, perceptive, and organized; he was open and honest with whoever treated him well.

She quietly withdrew her gaze, not going forward to disturb the old man and the child, leaving them alone.

A gaze had been intentionally or unintentionally glancing in her direction ever since she stood still.

She could sense that someone was watching her from behind without even turning around.

She subtly rotated her ankle, her gaze sweeping past the groups of people sitting on the ground to her right and rear.

She ran straight into Yang Cuihua's furtive glances.

Yang Cuihua squatted at the base of the low wall on the east side of the threshing ground, her neck hunched, her head wrapped in a dusty old cloth, and her cotton-padded jacket so dirty that its original color was unrecognizable.

She was clutching half a multigrain pancake that she had somehow gotten her hands on. The pancake was completely cold, but she hadn't eaten it; she just held it there.

The moment her gaze met Jiang Xing's icy stare, she shuddered violently, as if burned by something, and abruptly lowered her head, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the pancake.

Jiang Xing's gaze lingered on her for less than a moment before moving past her shoulder to look behind her.

He Daliang leaned against the wall, his face ashen, his eyes sunken, his lips chapped and peeling, and he looked much thinner.

His right hand was wrapped in gauze, which was stained with a mixture of pale yellow pus and dark red blood. The bandage was crooked and messy, and it looked more like he had just wrapped it himself rather than having it bandaged by a doctor.

Judging from the location of the gauze wrapping, two fingers are missing, the index and middle fingers, severed at the base, and blood is still seeping from the cut.

Last night, he was running slowly and was caught up by a fleeing soldier. When the soldier swung his knife at him, he instinctively tried to block it with his hand. The blade sliced ​​through his fingers, and two of his fingers flew off.

He was in so much pain that he almost fainted, but he still managed to crawl out of there.

At this moment, his eyes were half-closed, and it was unclear whether he was awake or unconscious.

He Youtian and He Youliang squatted beside him, both with injuries on their faces. He Youtian had a large bruise on his forehead, and He Youliang's left eye was swollen shut. Granny Li huddled at the back, her lips moving as if she were muttering something.

Jiang Xing withdrew his gaze and inwardly snorted coldly, his face expressionless.

It's true that evil can live on for a thousand years.

She stopped looking at them, turned around and walked to the locust tree, where she sat down next to her third uncle and the calf.

Uncle San was in much better spirits than before. He was telling Xiao Niu stories of his youth as a merchant. His voice was soft and his pace was slow, but Xiao Niu listened with great interest.

Zhang and Granny Chen were still talking, the two old sisters touching heads, their voices low, occasionally letting out a few sighs.

More and more people gathered in the threshing ground, and later several more groups of refugees who had been taken in by the soldiers arrived. The village chiefs were busy counting the number of people in their own households, crossing out names one by one from the paper. Those whose names were crossed out breathed a sigh of relief, while those whose names were not crossed out felt their hearts sink.