Chapter 36

Chapter 36

An outsider suddenly intervened, and Grandma Sun lost interest in scolding her granddaughters. However, she still coldly asked Little Ya's Mother, "Since you seem to like these two wretched children so much, why don't you buy them back for 10 pounds of aged rice?"

She looked at Little Ya's Mother expectantly. Little Ya's Mother looked at the two poor little girls pitifully. Her heart was willing, but she lacked the means. They didn't even have enough food for themselves, let alone rice to buy children.

Seeing her conflicted expression, Little Ya's Dad knew what she was thinking and hurriedly pulled her away, "Let's go, let's go. We're starving ourselves, where would we get grain to buy children?"

"Pah! What good is it without grain?" Grandma Sun spat an old phlegm at their retreating backs.

Then, pointing at her two granddaughters, she said, "You two wretched brats don't have such luck. Since no one wants to take you, you can only be cattle and horses at my old Sun family, serving my great-grandson."

Little Ya's Mother heard what Grandma Sun said from afar. She turned to look at the two little girls huddled on the ground and asked Little Ya's Dad with some reluctance, "Husband, why don't we ask Master Six for ten pounds of rice and buy those two children?"

"Wife, we have our own daughter. Why would we need to buy someone else's children? What would our daughter think?" Little Ya's Dad was very troubled. It was like this in the village before, and even after fleeing the famine, it was still the same.

"Wouldn't it be nice for Little Ya to have two more sisters to keep her company? I can't have any more children, so Little Ya will be quite lonely without any siblings."

Lonely? Not to mention the character of those two little girls, they were surviving on Master Six's charity. How could they afford to feed two more children when their own survival was uncertain?

Would they take in two more children to compete for food with their daughter?

Little Ya's Dad flatly refused in a cold voice, "No, we don't have the ability to raise two more children."Fôllôw new stories at novelhall.com

However, Little Ya's Mother was not discouraged and had a fanciful idea, thinking she had come up with a good plan.

She asked Little Ya's Dad excitedly, "Husband, Master Six's family only has Miss Chang An as a daughter. Why don't we ask Master Six to buy them to be companions for Miss Chang An?"

"Why would they buy them?"

Before, when they were in the village, he didn't find her character troublesome. But now, he felt her kindness was indiscriminate.

"They can afford it, right? Since they've already rescued one, saving two more isn't too much to ask. Moreover, those two children are quite diligent. If they're bought back, they can help out with chores."

Hearing footsteps outside, Chang'an hurriedly took the dishes out from her space. Not too hot or cold, just right, without worrying about the aroma drifting out.

It was Chang Le who came back, the young man wearing a wooden mask. His body was no longer gloomy like when he first arrived, and the lean youth exuded confidence and calm, seeming to have emerged from the shadow of his disfigurement.

"Old Gu Six said he'll be out for a while but will be back soon," his voice was a little hoarse, perhaps from not speaking for too long.

Chang'an poured him a bowl of water, "Have some water first."

Not knowing when Old Gu Six would return, Chang'an added some cold water to the sand pot and placed a small steamer on top, just big enough for two large bowls of food.

She covered the steamer and added some fuel under the sand pot to keep the dishes warm. The two sat in front of the fire, silently waiting for Old Gu Six to return.

Chang'an knew Chang Le didn't like to talk, and he was the same. Both of them quietly gazed into the fire in silence.

Meanwhile, Old Gu Six was leaping through the snow-covered mountain forests, heading deeper into the mountains.

In the depths of the mountains, the trees were dense, and the snow on the ground was not as thick as the outskirts. However, the towering trees were bent over, and some had even broken.

With the snow stopped and the sun out, those small animals that had been hibernating for over a month should be coming out to forage.

Old Gu Six wanted to hunt some fresh game for his daughter to eat. Children were still growing, and after eating nothing but salted meat and dried vegetables for over a month, he didn't want her health to deteriorate.

Old Gu Six was always lucky. He didn't frequently bag large prey, but whenever he ventured into the mountains, he never returned empty-handed with small animals.

A rather scrawny rabbit bounced in front of him. Old Gu Six hurled a stone, and the merrily bounding rabbit tumbled to the ground, its short legs twitching a couple of times before falling still.

Old Gu Six picked up the small rabbit, his eyes full of disdain. "Starved to skin and bones? Barely any meat, all bones."

He bound it with a grass rope and carried it as he ventured deeper. This time, he encountered a wild chicken foraging for food, easily dispatching it with a well-aimed stone. The wild chicken collapsed without even a twitch.

Suddenly, a series of loud bangs echoed from within the forest. Old Gu Six's expression changed abruptly. He glanced upwards at the towering trees around him, spotted a suitable one, and nimbly climbed up, awaiting the large prey that would come fleeing in his direction.