Looking at the worn-out mosquito netting above her head, Li Qingling heard the sounds coming from the kitchen. She sighed and got up.
After three days, she had no choice but to accept the fact that she had really been reborn from the modern era into the poverty-stricken ancient countryside.
From the memories of the original owner, Li Qingling, her life had been pretty good. Her father Li Laigui was good at hunting, and from time to time, he would go to the mountains to get some wild chicken and wild hare to eat.However, three months ago, a sudden outbreak of the plague took her father"s life. Her mother, Madam Zhao, was so heartbroken that she almost miscarried. She could only lie on the bed to keep her baby. Her aunt became impatient to them then.
Not only did the Madam Lin despise Madame Zhao for being ill and crooked, but they also despised her for not being able to do any hard work with her five-year-old brother, Li Qingfeng. It was a complete waste of food to raise the three of them.
His grandparents had always been biased towards his uncle, Li Laifu. After being encouraged by Madam Lin, they immediately agreed.
The division of the family was also very strict and they wanted them to clean up. However, the village chief couldn"t bear to see this, so he came out and spoke a few words for them. Only then did they barely divide the two acres of land, ten barrels of brown rice, and some shabby furniture.
This also angered Madam Lin. She felt that they didn"t know what was good for them and made her lose face. That day, she chased them out of the Li family.
They didn"t have any place to stay for the time being, and coincidentally, at the foot of the mountain, there was an abandoned hut. The Village Chief told them to temporarily stay there.He had lived in the thatched cottage for two months. Even if he had saved himself, he would only eat one serving of brown rice porridge a day. He had eaten all ten bowls of brown rice and there was nothing else to eat at home.
Seeing her brother crying so hard from hunger, Little Li Qingling couldn"t do anything about it. She ran to the Li family to ask her grandparents if they could give her a bit of rice.
Hearing the purpose of her visit, Cousin Li Qingfu angrily pushed her away. She was originally very hungry, but after being pushed so hard, she was knocked against the wall, breaking her head.Little Li Qingling was carried home. She was not able to endure it. In modern times, when she was in a car accident, she, Li Qingling, was reborn in this body.
On the day of the accident, the house that she had bought had just been renovated. She had planned to take her parents to live with her, but things were unpredictable.
Knowing that she was dead, he hoped his parents wouldn"t be too sad.
Li Qingling sighed heavily again. She looked at her younger brother, who was still sleeping soundly, then turned around and pushed open the door. When she saw Mrs Zhao, who was about to cook the porridge, she quickly walked over."Mom, let me do it!" She saw that Mrs Zhao was so thin that only her belly was left. She smiled bitterly and said, "You can go sit!"
Mrs Zhao avoided Li Qingling"s hand, and worriedly asked her, "Your body is still weak, go sleep for a while more! Mother will call you after cooking. "
Three days ago, her daughter was brought back with blood all over her head. Even a doctor would have said that there was no hope for her now. Fortunately, with the Bodhisattva"s blessing, her daughter woke up.
Mrs Zhao would never have thought that her daughter had already changed her mind."After resting for two days, I"m fine now." Actually, the wound was still hurting faintly, but she didn"t want Mrs Zhao to worry, so she could only comfort her like this.
Li Qingling reached out to take the ladle from Mrs Zhao, and went to fish the brown rice under the rice jar. This brown rice was given to her fiance, Liu Zhi Mo, on the day she was injured, but it could only last for a day or two.
She lit a fire, looked at the bright flames, and softly said, "Mother, I want to go for a walk around the mountain and see if there"s anything else I can eat. I"ll pick up some food and bring it back."
Mrs Zhao was stunned for a moment after hearing this. She looked at her daughter"s face, which had been slightly recovered by the light of the fire, and closed her sore eyes, "You"re not well yet, so don"t go. Mother, wait a bit … …" I"ll go to your parents" home and borrow some rice later. " All the food on the mountain had been picked up, what else could they pick up?
"I can"t loan it to you. Mother, I"ve already died once for this. Can"t you see what kind of people they are?" She even suspected if her father, Li Laigui, was the son of the Li family. If he was his biological son, how could he be so heartless?
As soon as he said that, the kitchen quieted down.Li Qingling raised her head to look at Mrs Zhao, who had her eyes lowered. She stood up and tiptoed. She took off the basket that was hanging on her back and carried it on her back.
"Don"t worry, if I can"t find food, I"ll be back soon."
Madame Zhao lifted her head to look at the frail figure walking out of the courtyard. Tears silently streamed down her face, and the bitterness in her heart was intense.It was early in the morning, and the fog was very thick. Li Qingling"s thin clothes had been wet not long after she went up the mountain. However, she did not care about that. Gritting her teeth, she continued to walk deeper into the mountain.
At this close distance, all that could be eaten was swept away. She could only head deeper into the mountains.
In her previous life, she was also a child from the countryside. Since she was young, she had followed her father to hunt in the mountains. Her skills were not bad, and she hoped to catch some wild chickens and rabbits deep in the mountains.However, her dreams were plentiful and reality was bony. She had been walking for almost two hours and hadn"t even seen the shadow of a wild chicken or hare.
Sitting on the ground without strength, Li Qingling took a deep breath, then silently smiled bitterly. This b.a.s.t.a.r.d, he sent her here to make her suffer, didn"t he?
Even though she had been born in a rural area in her previous life, she had never suffered so much!
Raising her head and looking at the bright sun, she shook her head, not daring to think any further. She was afraid that if she kept thinking about it, the courage she mustered with great difficulty would disappear once again.
When she had rested enough, she felt less tired. She got up, picked up a basket of mushrooms, and rushed home.Fortunately, she still managed to pick some mushrooms, which gave her a little bit of comfort in her heart.
Actually, there were a lot of mushrooms on this mountain. It was only because there was someone in the village who had picked mushrooms to eat and died from the poison that no one dared to pick them and eat them again.
With these mushrooms on the mountain, her family at least had a chance to survive.
When she got home, she put down the basket and neatly washed the pot to boil the water. While waiting for the water to boil, she washed the mushrooms, and when the mushrooms were done, the water was also boiling.She poured in the half basket of mushrooms that she had washed. The house was so poor that it didn"t even have oil, so she put a little salt in it, covered the pot with the lid, added two sticks of firewood and made the fire burn brighter.
After about a quarter of an hour, after smelling the fragrance of the mushrooms, Li Qingling stirred them up with a spoon and waited for a while longer before she scooped up a bowl of mushrooms and started wolfing down the mushrooms.Qing Feng, who had just eaten two mouthfuls, smelled the fragrance and entered the kitchen. He pulled on Li Qingling"s sleeve, crying out in hunger.
Li Qingling carried the five-year-old, but as skinny as a three-year-old, Qing Feng into her embrace. Hearing his constant swallowing sounds, her heart ached. She picked up a pair of mushrooms and blew on them before stuffing them into his mouth.
He didn"t even bother to chew and directly swallowed it down. "Sis, it smells like …"
"Eat slowly, there"s more in the pot." She slowly fed Qing Feng. After he finished eating a bowl and touched his stomach, she wouldn"t let him eat anymore. "You can"t eat too much all of a sudden, you"ll get sick."
Although Qing Feng still wanted to eat, he nodded his head obediently. He knew that his family was poor and he couldn"t afford to see a doctor when he was sick.He looked at the fragrant mushrooms in the bowl and said in a daze, "Sis, you will die if you eat them."
Li Qingling, who was holding the mushroom in her hand, stopped. She looked at his withered yellow hair and asked, "Then why do you still dare to eat it?"
"I"m hungry …" He answered in a low voice.In her previous life, she had fought alone in a big city and had gone through all sorts of hardships. She had gritted her teeth and never shed a single tear, but now that she came to this place, it was simply too bitter. She didn"t even know if she could continue on.
She finished a bowl of mushrooms with tears streaming down her face, hugging him tightly and explaining in a small voice, "Some furs are poisonous, some aren"t. What I picked up was not poisonous, and won"t eat dead people." After pausing for a moment, he continued, "Don"t tell anyone, understand?"
Even if word of this spread, no one would believe it. Not only did they not believe it, they would even be scolded by the villagers.Qing Feng nodded in agreement.
At the time of the declaration, Mrs Zhao, with her big belly, came back with a hoe. Li Qingling called out to her mother before stepping forward to take the hoe from her.Qing Feng shouted as well. He ran to pour a basin of water and carefully placed it in front of Mrs Zhao. "Mother, wash your hands."
Mrs Zhao quickly took it and placed it beside the stove. Seeing the big pot covered with a lid, she smiled and asked, "What did you cook? "It smells so good …"
Li Qingling stepped forward and lifted the lid of the wok, her eyes looking at the mushrooms in the wok as she said indifferently: "When I was going up the mountain, I met an old white-haired grandpa. He told me that this kind of place is edible. She didn"t know if Mrs Zhao believed her words.After a long while, no one made a sound. She uneasily raised her head to look at Madame Zhao and saw that her entire body was trembling. Her sallow face was filled with tears.
She immediately panicked and took two steps forward, helping Mrs Zhao to sit on a stool. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but didn"t know where to start so she could only call out to her mother.Li Qingling looked at her back, which seemed to have been crushed, and felt that she did not believe what she had said. She probably thought that she and her brother couldn"t stand the hunger, so they ate these mushrooms that would kill people.
"Mother …" Qing Feng was still young and still didn"t know why Madame Bai was crying. When he saw that his mother was crying, he also started crying.Looking at the two crying in pain, Qing Feng"s heart ached. Tears flowed out of his eyes due to disobedience.
She didn"t know how long she had been crying, but Mrs Zhao was still crying. Li Qingling was afraid that if she continued to cry, it would be bad for her baby, so she tried to persuade her in a low voice.
Mrs Zhao slowly stopped crying. She raised her head and looked at her daughter and son with misty eyes. She stood up and scooped up a bowl of soup. Without a word, she started to gobble it down.
When Li Qingling saw the despair on Mrs Zhao"s face, her heart trembled. She probably wanted to die together with everyone, right?"Sis …" Qing Feng grabbed the earth stove and peeked into the pot with his feet. He raised his head and called for Li Qingling.
Li Qingling pursed her lips, filled two bowls with mushrooms, and pushed one bowl towards him. She picked up the bowl herself and started to eat without a word.