Becoming the Villain's Discarded Wife
Chapter 498

Chapter 498: 498

"Brother Shen?"

Chi Sheng was stunned, a look of surprise on his face.

Wang Jingzhi was even more astonished and delighted. Looking at Shen Wenchen, who was weak but still alive before him, his eyes reddened with excitement.

"Big Brother Shen! You’re finally awake!"

With Shen Wenchen’s awakening, the entire village breathed a sigh of relief.

His ordeal was due to his efforts to save the villagers, and now that he was fine, their lingering guilt lessened a bit.

"Zhiyu, how did you and Xiaomi end up here?"

As everyone gathered around the stove, Shen Wenchen looked affectionately at his son, who had grown a little taller.

It had been a long time since he had gone home, and Zhiyu had grown taller in his absence. He wondered how Nannan was doing currently.

"I missed Daddy, so I came."

Zhiyu chewed on a bone with oil stains smeared across his face.

"Is something wrong in the city?"

Shen Wenchen raised an eyebrow, ruffling his son’s hair with his hand.

Did he not know what his son was like?

Zhiyu was most likely to heed Nanzhi’s words. He would not have risked angering Nannan and fleeing the city unless something serious had happened. And that too when Nannan was pregnant.

Zhiyu did not respond; he only hung his head, momentarily pausing from chopping at his bone.

"General, the city...the city also has the rat plague. A few days ago, there was a heavy rain for several days, and many children in the city came down with high fever. Those with weaker bodies also caught the cold. Now, in some places in the city, tuberculosis has broken out. The rats seem to be getting smarter, specifically choosing times when there are fewer people to come out. They either steal food or gnaw at pillars. The only slight consolation is that there are still comparatively fewer cases of rats harming people in the city, but that will probably change...

Lady Shen has opened the warehouse and distributed rat poison, but it’s not very effective. There aren’t enough people to maintain order in the city, and everyone is taking turns patrolling and exterminating rats. There aren’t many men in the houses who are willing to help, and the medical hall in the city is running out of medicine. Lady Shen hasn’t had much rest lately, dealing with the city’s problems, and she’s already lost a lot of weight."

Xiaomi spilled out every incident from the past few days like a bamboo tube pouring beans.

The thought of Wenwen’s corpse made Xiaomi’s nose tingle.

Shen Wenchen fell silent. Not only him, but everyone else in the room grew quiet as well.

Yan City was in such shape.

"Brother Chi, could you please send someone to fetch my horse? I’m going back to Yan City right away."

"Big brother Shen, your current condition..."

Wang Jingzhi’s words trailed off as he thought of his own wife at home.

Given the circumstances in Yan City, how was his wife?

Her body was inherently weaker than others.

Could she also be affected by the cold?

"Second Brother, go quickly and prepare some medicines. I’ll go back to Yan City with Brother Shen later."

Chi Sheng thought for a while, then turned to look at his second in command.

He could take a few brothers to help in Yan City, but his second in command should definitely not go.

On the one hand, the villagers hadn’t improved yet, and on the other, Yan City did not currently have enough medicine.

With the nearly dead forests, they would have to venture into the deep mountains to maybe come across some herbs.

He’d have to stay and prepare for it.

"Okay."

The deputy head nodded his approval, understanding his elder brother’s intentions. But glancing at Ming Qin and Yuanbao on the side, he couldn’t help but sigh.

In this way, their family would be separated once again.

"I’ll help Second Uncle prepare!"

Yuanbao jumped off the stool and ran towards the door.

Seeing her move, the deputy’s heart pounded, knowing he was about to lose some of his treasures. He had to call out and chase after her.

Those treasures of his were very precious!

Even in the past when the woods were lush, he had to put in a lot of effort to get those few pieces.

Now, let alone the forests, even the grass was stunted, and these medicinal herbs were his last pieces of property.

"Qin’er, stay in the village with Yuanbao, wait for me to come back."

Chi Sheng held Ming Qin’s hand, instructing her.

Ming Qin did not speak, but placed her other hand on top of his.

A crackling sound came from the fire, causing everyone to snap back to reality.

"It’ll be okay."

Someone in the crowd suddenly uttered these words.

It seemed like they were reassuring others, but also comforting themselves.

It took them two full months to manage the situation in the village.

What about the city?

How long would it take to handle it?

No one knew the answer.

The rats brought famine and disease.

They still had a bit of food now, but what about later?

The land was barren, they were out of food and medicine, and even their bodies were deteriorating.

Why was God being so cruel to them?

Shen Yuntian travelled further up north, eventually stopping at a river twenty miles away from Yan City.

"Master Shen, the river surface has frozen over, our boat can’t carry on."

The boatman wiped the sweat off his forehead, a hint of helplessness in his voice.

Young Master Xu had mentioned a lucrative business deal and offered him twenty tael of silver. He initially thought this was just a regular delivery, but the extreme weather and the 1000-mile journey proved otherwise!

The distance was manageable, but his boat unfortunately wasn’t equipped for breaking ice. Every time they came across a frozen river, he had to find a solution.

Though everyone pitched in, as a native of Xiejiang, he wasn’t used to the cold climate here.

If he didn’t head back soon, the cold might just kill him.

Earning money without being able to spend it would leave his wife and children at a loss.

"Then dock on the shore. Thank you for your hard work."

Shen Yuntian gazed at the desolate view on the shore and pointed in a direction.

"Eh, okay, okay."

The boatman quickly agreed, dabbed his sweat away, and set about docking the boat.

Xu Tianci had asked four men to accompany Shen Yuntian northward.

The group carried two boxes of medicines and twenty bags of grain, weighing up to nearly a thousand pounds.

Most of these were gifts from Xu Tianci, and the rest was pooled together by the Shen family.

They assumed that Yan City must be running low on food now. Fortunately, Xiejiang was a food-producing region, and with Xu Tianci’s help, they were able to gather eight hundred pounds of grain.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t carry on via the waterway, and they had no idea how to transport the grain into the city now.

Setting foot on the shore, Shen Yuntian felt like everything was surreal.

After embarking on a long quest to find his family, he was once again home after several months.

He wondered what Hexiu was doing at the moment...

Miss Zeng was enjoying her hot tea when she noticed Hexiu stop talking, which puzzled her.

"Hexiu, what’s the matter? Are you unwell?"

As she spoke, she reached out to feel Hexiu’s forehead. Upon not detecting any abnormalities, she frowned.

"You don’t have a temperature... what’s wrong?"

"No, nothing."

Hexiu shook her head and, looking at the teacup in her hand, once again fell into a trance.