Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 119: Why don’t you stink anymore, Zhang?

Chapter 119: Why don’t you stink anymore, Zhang?

By the tenth day of fleeing the famine, it was already the end of September.

Gazing at the still crisply divided black and white sky, Nanzhi felt disheartened.

It was already deep autumn, so why was it still so hot?

Although it was cooler here compared to Lihua Village, in Nanzhi’s memory, it should be pleasant and breezy at this time.

The sky gradually darkened, yet the mule cart ahead showed no sign of stopping, leaving Nanzhi somewhat perplexed.

Night had fallen, why hadn’t Big Brother and Ercheng stopped to rest?

After walking for another quarter of an hour, Lin Yicheng finally rubbed his waist and stopped.

Seeing the mule cart ahead come to a halt, Nanzhi too uttered an ’aiyo’ and jumped down from the cart shaft.

Shen Miaomiao inside the cart was also dizzy and groggy, and only when she felt the cessation of the cart’s swaying did she unsteadily make her way down, carrying Shen Zhiyu.

"Sister Nanzhi, I feel so terrible," the young girl said, mustering all her strength to place Zhiyu down beside Mother Lin, before she bent over to the side and retched.

"Take it slowly, take it easy, we’re all out of water now, so hold it in," Nanzhi said, patting Shen Miaomiao’s back.

The water supply the family had prepared was almost depleted, and had it not been for the shade from the mule carts against the sun, that water probably wouldn’t have lasted five days.

Hearing Nanzhi’s words, Shen Miaomiao paused mid-retch, took a moment to recover and then hurriedly got to her feet again.

Seeing her small face turn red from the effort, Nanzhi stroked her forehead and said, "If you need to vomit, let it out."

But Shen Miaomiao shook her head, refusing the notion.

Doudou, Maomao, and Zhiyu, the three little ones, were all sleeping huddled together, making all the adults feel a deep pang of heartache.

"It’s the children who’ve suffered the most," Mother Lin said, wiping the corners of her eyes.

These days in the cart were unbearable even for her, let alone the children?

"We still have three bamboo tubes of water left; we’ll have to look for more water tomorrow. Otherwise, I doubt we’ll last another two days," Ercheng said, looking at the three bamboo tubes in his hand and then scanning the surrounding woods.

The trees here seemed to be growing quite well; maybe he and his big brother could venture into the woods tomorrow to check for any water sources.

"What should we eat tonight? The hen laid six eggs today," Nanzhi said, leaning on the mule cart, holding six eggs still coated with straw.

Since the start of their flight from famine, the two old hens seemed unaccustomed to their new surroundings, for the first couple of days lying limp as if dead; they had only slowly started to recover but the number of eggs they laid had plummeted.

"Let’s just boil a pot of egg drop soup to share and get your mother to simmer some porridge," Lin Father suggested, pulling out his water flask.

The eggs couldn’t be stored any longer. Boiling egg drop soup would quench thirst and also provide some nutrition for the family.

After lighting two fires, the two families finally began preparing their meals separately.

Only when the aroma of rice porridge slowly wafted out did Nanzhi realize that, without her knowing, some people had stopped around the mule cart.

They were all in a sorry state, with large bundles on their backs. It was not difficult to tell that they too were fleeing the famine.

Perhaps they hadn’t eaten anything warm for a long time; they too stopped in their tracks upon smelling the fragrance coming from Nanzhi’s group.

Nanzhi quietly tugged at her big brother’s clothes. After Lin Yicheng turned around and noticed people staring in their direction, he coughed twice, alerting Ercheng, Father Lin, Shen Zhong, and the others from the Shen Family to be wary.

Shen Miaomiao and Aunt Guihua also slowly moved closer to Nanzhi.

The strangers, seeing the cautious looks from the five men, hesitated for a moment, their expressions dimming before they continued on their way.

Watching them leave, Lin Yicheng and Ercheng still felt uneasy. They moved the mule cart to the side and took out the knives they had purchased, positioning themselves in front of the women and children.

After having dinner, Nanzhi held Shen Zhiyu and stared blankly at the sky.

"Mother, what is that black thing?" the little one asked, pointing a finger at the pitch-dark half of the sky.

Why had they all turned to darkness?

"Mother doesn’t know either," Nanzhi shook her head. She had never seen such a sight before, not even in her previous life.

Mother and child had talked for a while, and finally, she soothed the little one into a deep sleep.

Looking at the peacefully sleeping face of her child, Nanzhi sighed inwardly, hoping things would be better once they reached Yan City.

Lin’s mother eyed the road they had come from with a grim expression, only reminding them, "We need to stay alert at night too. Right now, everyone can still get by, but in a few more days, we might encounter groups banding together to rob for food."

The group nodded solemnly, taking note.

They were only slightly better off than other refugees, and they couldn’t afford to attract covetous attention through negligence.

After resting for the night, the Lin brothers went into the woods early the next morning in search of water, but after an hour, they returned only with shakes of their heads and sighs.

No water.

The party continued on its way.

Until the first day of October, Nanzhi took advantage of a rest break to search for water in the mountains and found a three-inch-wide hidden channel, finally alleviating their water woes.

Lin Yicheng wanted to find the source of the hidden channel but was blocked by a cliff.

Seeing the spring water seeping out from the crevices of the cliff, Lin Yicheng could only scratch his head and take a shovel to dig a foot-wide pit under the cliff.

Since the water source was a hundred meters away from the road, someone had to guard the mule cart, and the two families agreed to take turns fetching water.

Seeing the bamboo tubes filled, Nanzhi finally allowed herself a smile.

Just gathering water took a whole two hours, and seeing that the sun was about to set completely, they decided not to push on for the day but to fill up on water right there.

Having found water, Nanzhi indulgently made a pot of Dried Scallop Porridge and even fried a few eggs.

The Lin family enjoyed their meal, and Aunt Guihua did not hold back either.

Although they had no dried scallops or eggs, they did have Dried Meat and fatty oil to enjoy a rare sumptuous meal.

After their fill, both families leaned against a tree and chatted and laughed.

If her own behind hadn’t been aching, Nanzhi might have mistaken the trip as leisure travel for their two families.

At ten o’clock at night, Nanzhi was sleeping soundly in the mule cart when she suddenly felt someone scratching the soles of her feet. Just as she was about to reach for the ax, she heard someone softly calling her from outside the cart.

Rubbing her eyes and sitting up, her mother and two sisters-in-law were outside the cart, along with Aunt Guihua and Shen Miaomiao.

"Chubby girl, come down quickly," Lin’s mother beckoned, whispering.

"What’s going on?" Nanzhi hazily climbed down from the mule cart and saw they were all holding clothes.

"Go clean yourself up," Lin’s mother whispered.

Nanzhi was taken aback and instinctively sniffed at herself.

Indeed, a complex sour stench hit her, and she nearly stopped breathing from inhaling too sharply.

She thought she had probably just gotten used to the smell over the days but still felt a bit disgusted with herself.

"Wait for me, I’ll go get my clothes."

After saying this, she fetched a clean undergarment from the mule cart.

The six women stealthily entered the woods and wiped their bodies in the not-so-bright moonlight.

After a thorough scrub, Nanzhi felt much lighter and, following the others to wash their clothes, returned to the mule cart.

Shen Zhiyu wriggled into Nanzhi’s embrace and immediately wrinkled her brow, sniffing the unfamiliar scent, and then slowly woke up.

Looking at her mother next to her, she rubbed her eyes and asked softly,

"Mommy, why don’t you smell anymore?"