Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 120: The Misfit

Chapter 120: Chapter 120: The Misfit

Nanzhi’s old face turned red.

Indeed, she had been travelling for several days and her body was somewhat smelly, but why would this little baby reveal her shameful secret?

Thinking about it, Nanzhi didn’t hold back, and lightly spanked Shen Zhiyu’s little bottom a few times.

The faint smell that wafted from her cheap son turned her face from red to green.

In the end, she couldn’t stand it, and holding Shen Zhiyu, she got down from the mule cart.

She had to take Zhiyu to take a bath too!

After telling Shen Miaomiao not to disturb their rest, Nanzhi carefully held the little guy and headed toward the woods, only to see Doudou and Maomao, who had also been cleaned completely.

Seeing Nanzhi also bringing Zhiyu, Chen Qiulan and Sun Cui looked at each other and let out a laugh.

They wasn’t originally planning to take the little ones to bathe, but when it was time to go to bed and they smelt the odour on them, they couldn’t bear it and decided to bring them along for a bath.

It seems that probably plump Nanzhi also could not stand the stench on Zhiyu and had to bring him along.

Zhiyu, seeing his two brothers also there, the three little ones immediately started laughing playfully.

After cleaning the three stinking little ones until they smelled refreshing, Nanzhi then returned to the mule cart with her two sister-in-laws.

Hearing the sound of them getting back on the cart, Lin Yicheng and Lin Ercheng glanced at Shen San and his father Shen Zhong, and upon seeing them nodding, they woke their father who had dozed off to the side.

The women and kids were cleaned, and it was time for the men to take their showers.

They have been driving the cart while sitting on its shaft under the sun these days. Every day their clothes alternated between wet and dry, and if the women and children smelled of sweat, then the men reeked.

Lin Yicheng, smelling his own stench, reluctantly stripped his clothing.

The ditch had been dug larger, and Lin Yicheng scooped some water to splash on his body before the father and sons began helping each other to scrub their backs.

The next morning, after waking up, Nanzhi stretched comfortably. Shen Zhiyu, still nestled in her arms, was not even up yet.

Lifting the curtain of the cart and seeing the bright daylight outside, Nanzhi’s heart skipped a beat.

Could something have happened?

Otherwise, why hadn’t her mother called her yet at this late hour?

Feeling somewhat panicked, Nanzhi hurriedly poked her head outside the cart. Seeing that the other two mule carts and the Shen Family’s donkey cart were still nearby, she breathed a sigh of relief.

After glancing at Shen Zhiyu and Shen Miaomiao who were still in a deep sleep, Nanzhi tiptoed off the cart, afraid of waking them.

Zhiyu had lost a lot of weight these past few days, which broke her motherly heart.

Since the cart was small, some people had to sleep outside at night. And because of the incident last time, they were worried that if everyone was sleeping, some desperate people might come to steal their stuff, so they always had two people on guard during the night.

Raising her eyes and seeing her eldest brother and father sleeping soundly against the tree where the mules were tethered, Nanzhi finally relaxed.

Rubbing her arm, Nanzhi reached into the basket where the chicken was kept to fetch some eggs.

When she found eight eggs, Nanzhi’s eyes lit up. Had they adapted?

Would they be able to go back to laying thirteen eggs per day at their peak?

Considering how hard everyone had worked these past few days, Nanzhi also brought out a bamboo tube of oil.

They had to eat a good meal this morning, or they would not have the energy to travel later.

Just as she finished frying the stirred eggs, she heard her mother’s voice: "Fatty, what are you doing?"

"Mom, you rest a bit more. I’ll cook breakfast this morning," Nanzhi said, scooping out some rice from the grain bag.

Seeing that Nanzhi was doing the work efficiently, her mother did not refuse and just brought a bucket of water that she had fetched last night to water the mules.

Then she started kneading some dough on the side.

Seeing her mother’s actions, Nanzhi’s face turned white, and she asked with a tremble, "Mom, are you going to make pancakes again?"

Lin’s mother nodded approvingly at Nanzhi’s demeanor, "What else? At least you’re still in the forest now. But if you don’t prepare more dry food that can be eaten immediately, do you really expect to cook every day when you get on the main road in a couple of days?"

Being scolded by her mother, Nanzhi touched her nose bashfully. She hadn’t even given it a moment’s thought.

All these days they’ve been taking mountain paths, winding their way back and forth. She thought they would keep going like this.

And on this whole journey, they actually didn’t meet many people. It never occurred to her that they hadn’t reached the main road yet.

"I’m afraid the other villages also harvested nothing from the drought disaster. Lihua Village is slower to escape. I wonder if we’ll meet so many refugees."

When Lin’s mother said ’refugees,’ she paused momentarily.

Thinking that their family had only enough to eat right now and was no different from these refugees, she could only laugh bitterly.

"Mother, let’s add some salt and five-spices into the baked cakes this time." Seeing her mother’s low spirits, Nanzhi offered the seasonings.

Being sidetracked by her daughter, Lin’s mother perked up a bit and nodded at her words.

"Alright, you young people do know how to eat."

Having cheered up her mother, Nanzhi went to prepare porridge.

Before leaving home, she had asked Ercheng to chop the dried meat into strips. Now she took a few, cut them into smaller pieces, and threw them into the pot.

When Aunt Guihua woke up and saw it was getting late, she quickly got off the donkey cart to prepare meals.

Seeing Lin’s mother making baked cakes, the two exchanged greetings.

The two women were of similar age, and Guihua was quite sociable. Even though they had been travelling together these days, their interactions were scarce. Chatting only briefly, they quickly grew familiar with each other.

Hearing her mother’s laughter, Nanzhi felt a lot better.

Having family and friends around, they were ultimately fortunate.

Perhaps because everyone had taken baths the night before, they didn’t wake up until Nanzhi’s porridge was ready.

When Chen Qiulan saw the prepared porridge and eggs, her face turned pale, a little embarrassed.

Sun Cui saw that her mother-in-law had already made quite a few pancakes and felt a bit nervous.

They had slept too soundly.

"Big sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, it’s time for meals. Please sit down."

Nanzhi smiled and gestured them to sit down.

Hearing Nanzhi speaking, they then took their kids and sat down.

Shen Zhiyu felt a lot more energetic after waking up from sleep. She happily chatted with Doudou and Maomao non-stop.

After breakfast, Chen Qiulan and Sun Cui took turns washing the pots while the other helped mother-in-law to make pancakes.

Nanzhi was staring at the dark patch in the sky, lost in thought.

Why did she feel that the spread of the strange darkness had slowed down?

When both families were full and rehydrated, they fetched another round of water before resuming their journey.

Just as Lin’s mother had said, after another two days journey through the mountains, they finally hit the main road.

Although the journey was easier, the disadvantages of being on the main road also became apparent.

Seeing those people around them with unsteady steps, Nanzhi’s heart tightened.

Some of them just walked aimlessly forward like zombies, ignoring the four passing carriages entirely, while others harbored cunning intents.

Nanzhi noticed a man constantly hovering near their mule cart, who seemed utterly out of place from the rest.

The moment she locked eyes with the man, Nanzhi’s heart lurched with a growing sense of foreboding.