Liu Shi's attitude was tinged with arrogance, and her words were condescending, making anyone who heard them feel uncomfortable.
Without even lifting her eyes, Chen Yuezhi said, "You should find someone else. My medical skills are shallow, and I'm afraid I won't be able to treat your husband's injuries."
Liu Shi was surprised by her refusal and couldn't help but frown. "Sister-in-law, what do you mean? You've treated external injuries for family members before, so why do you say you can't treat my husband? My husband and I haven't offended you, have we?"
In truth, she didn't think much of Chen Yuezhi's medical skills, but she had no other choice at the moment. If there had been any other option, she would never have come to Chen Yuezhi. A country woman who learned a few superficial tricks from her barefoot doctor father, how could she be called a doctor?
Seeing her expression, Chen Yuezhi knew what she was thinking and was even more unwilling to get involved with Old Man Jiang's injuries.
She knew the Jiang family's character all too well.
One year, when Old Madam Jiang injured her hand and Chen Yuezhi went to bandage it, she had repeatedly told Old Madam Jiang not to get it wet. Old Madam Jiang refused to listen, leading to the wound festering and becoming infected. It took Chen Yuezhi a lot of effort to help Old Madam Jiang's hand recover, but instead of receiving any kind words, she was blamed for her poor medical skills, causing Old Madam Jiang to suffer.
Who was Old Man Jiang? He was Old Madam Jiang's favorite! Going to treat Old Man Jiang's injuries would be asking for trouble.
Moreover, Liu Shi's attitude was so rude. How shameless would she have to be to treat Old Man Jiang's injuries?
"You figure out another way. We have severed ties with the Jiang family, and we don't want to get involved in any of their affairs. Keep your two pounds of grain for yourselves; we are not fortunate enough to accept it."
After speaking, Chen Yuezhi turned her head and ignored Liu Shi.
Liu Shi gritted her teeth in anger and turned to leave with her maid.
Chen Yuezhi glanced at Jiang Pan. Seeing that Jiang Pan wasn't unhappy, she finally felt relieved.
She was still somewhat worried that Jiang Pan might not be able to let go of the Jiang family, after all, they were his half-brothers.
The lunch break was very short. As soon as Jiang Wan finished eating her roasted yam, the village chief announced that they would continue their journey.
Jiang Pan was about to lift Jiang Wan onto the luggage pile again, but Jiang Wan quickly shook her head, "I want to walk myself."
If young children lay on the swaying cart for too long, they would feel sleepy. If they slept too much during the day, they wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
Seeing that she was unwilling, Jiang Pan didn't force her. "Alright, but if you can't walk anymore later, tell your dad."
Jiang Wan smiled and nodded, then ran to Chen Yuezhi. Chen Yuezhi took her hand, and they followed the team forward.
The county where the Jiang family lived was called Yuechi County. The county was not particularly large, but it still took a considerable amount of time to walk through.
By evening, the team had just left the borders of Yuechi County.
As soon as they exited Yuechi County, they encountered another group of refugees on the road.
That group was also composed of people from a village. They looked like they had been on the road for some time. Upon seeing the team from Jiang Wan's village, the people in that group all showed obvious vigilance.
As dusk was approaching, the team stopped on a flat patch of wasteland by the roadside, preparing to spend the night there.
The other team also stopped about half a li ahead.
Jiang Pan looked at the other team, greeted Chen Yuezhi, and then got up to go to the village chief.
He wanted to go to the other team to inquire about the situation. Their village was too isolated, and they didn't know many things. Therefore, they needed to find someone to gather information to understand the external situation clearly.
The village chief thought his idea was good and went with him.
After a while, the village chief and Jiang Pan returned to the team with solemn expressions.
Many men from the village gathered around. "Village chief, what did those people say?"
The village chief sighed and relayed the information he had gathered.
Jiang Pan returned to his family and told them, "The situation outside is even more serious than we imagined. The neighboring prefectures are all in chaos, and most people have left their homes and fled to various places."
"That team over there came from Yuzhou and has been traveling for almost a month. They are heading to Qizhou. In the past month, many people in their team have died, some due to old age or being too young to endure the bumpy journey. Some were killed in conflicts with other refugee teams on the road."
Er Lang asked with some confusion, "Why would they have conflicts with other refugee teams?"
As Jiang Pan was about to explain, Jiang Wan suddenly said, "Because everyone has nothing to eat, and people with bad intentions want to rob others, so they start fighting!"
Jiang Pan reached out and stroked her little head. "That's right."
Er Lang was stunned. "Why is it like this? Everyone is fleeing famine, why do they have to hurt each other?"
Jiang Pan sighed. "When people are driven mad by hunger, what won't they do? For a bite to eat, they can abandon their own flesh and blood, let alone rob others."
"From today onwards, we must be careful to protect our food, protect your mother, sister-in-law, and Wan Wan."
According to the people from the other team, many women and children did not survive.
The older brothers, who had lived in the small mountain village, were all a bit dazed after hearing these words.
Their previous living environment was too simple. The worst thing they had ever experienced was when Old Man Jiang the second stole Jiang Wan to sell. Hearing such things suddenly, they were all a bit disoriented.
Su Shi was pale with fright, and Chen Yuezhi's expression was also very grim.
Only Jiang Wan was completely unaffected.
Her family thought she was just too young to be scared, but they didn't know that in her previous life, she had lived in such a cannibalistic environment since childhood and had seen all sorts of human tragedies.
Seeing that her family's spirits were a bit low, Jiang Wan suggested, "Dad, Mom, let's go and check out the mountains over there. Maybe we can find something to eat."
Fearing they wouldn't be in the mood, Jiang Wan whispered into Jiang Pan's ear, "The old immortal told us to go to the mountains."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Pan's spirits immediately lifted. He quickly picked up Jiang Wan and stood up. "His mother, you come with us too."
Da Lang and Er Lang also stood up. "Let's go too."
Jiang Pan glared. "What business is it of yours!"
The matter of the old immortal must not be known by a fourth person! Otherwise, these brash boys with loose tongues, what if they let it slip?
Unexpectedly, Jiang Wan said, "Dad, let Big Brother and Second Brother come along. We need to tidy up our sleeping place tonight, otherwise, Wan Wan will be cold."
It was already late autumn, and without some shelter, sleeping at night would be very difficult.
Jiang Pan, who had no principles, nodded as soon as he heard his daughter was afraid of the cold at night. "Alright, you two follow along, and remember to bring your woodcutting knives."
The two brothers quickly found their woodcutting knives and set off with their parents to the mountains by the roadside.
As soon as they entered the mountains, Jiang Pan pointed to some dead small trees on the mountainside and instructed his two sons, "Cut these. Choose the straight ones."
The two brothers saw their parents walking further into the mountains with their sister and asked, "Dad, Mom, where are you going?"
Jiang Pan said gruffly, "Why ask so many questions? Cut your trees!"
The two brothers dared not ask further and honestly began cutting trees.
Jiang Pan and his wife walked deeper into the forest with Jiang Wan. The couple looked around but couldn't find anything edible after a long time. They then asked Jiang Wan, "Wan Wan, where is the thing the old immortal mentioned?"
Jiang Wan tilted her ears and listened carefully to the sounds in the mountains. Suddenly, a faint sound was captured.
"It's just ahead, Dad, Mom, we'll have meat tonight!"