Chapter Fifty-Two: Stealing Food to Eat

After all the dishes were prepared, Gu Xiaoyao carried them on a wooden tray into their room. Liu and Chu Qingbai stood in the courtyard, staring at the food on her tray, their mouths practically watering.

“Hey, eldest daughter-in-law, where are you taking those dishes? The main house is over here! You’re not planning to eat all that by yourselves, are you?” The thought that such delicious food was being eaten in someone else’s room made Liu’s heart itch with envy.

It had been ages since they’d had meat. The scent alone made their stomachs grumble with hunger.

Hearing Liu’s call, Gu Xiaoyao paused, thought for a moment, and asked, “You want to eat meat too?”

The question made Liu and Chu Qingbai curse inwardly. Who wouldn’t want to eat meat? Only a fool wouldn’t.

“Sister-in-law, what happened yesterday and today was indeed our fault. Please, be generous and don’t hold it against us,” Chu Qingbai said, eyeing the tempting meat on the tray and swallowing hard. He quickly raised a hand and apologized, “We promise never to do anything to upset you again—really, I swear.”

He was well practiced in this trick: swearing an oath without ever actually making one, just saying it for show.

Gu Xiaoyao could see he wasn’t sincerely apologizing, but that didn’t matter. Tomorrow she would need their help clearing new fields.

“Fine. If you really want something to eat, come with me tomorrow to reclaim the wasteland.”

Life now was only marginally better than it had been after the apocalypse, and Gu Xiaoyao still felt uneasy. She didn’t want to go another day living meal by meal; her goal was to stockpile as much as possible, especially food.

“Of course, of course! Clearing the land is a family affair—we’ll definitely come, definitely!” Chu Qingbai hurriedly agreed, his expression ingratiating as he grabbed Liu’s arm to stop her from objecting. As far as he was concerned, agreeing cost nothing—he could always slip away and leave the hard work to someone else.

Liu seemed to share his thoughts and nodded her agreement without hesitation. Seeing their compliance, Gu Xiaoyao brought out a piece of meat from the kitchen.

“Cook it yourselves. These dishes aren’t for you. If you want something to eat, make it yourself.”

Liu and Chu Qingbai accepted the meat with grins, not caring in the least about cooking for themselves. They quickly hurried into the kitchen to start a fire and prepare their meal.

Bringing the dishes into the room, Gu Xiaoyao saw that Li had woken up. She sat on the heated brick bed, looking uneasy.

“Xiaoyao, I think your brother and I should go back down the mountain. I just don’t feel right staying here. It makes me anxious.”

Hearing his mother suggest leaving, Gu Xiaoshu shivered involuntarily. If they went down the mountain, Father would surely catch them and drag them back.

“Mother, please just stay here and rest easy. No one here will say a word against you. I’ve already asked the village head for an old vacant house. Once it’s cleaned up, you can move in. As for food, I’ll make sure you have something to eat—you don’t need to worry. The most important thing is for you to recover your health.”

Li felt a bit more at ease after hearing her daughter’s words. Having a place to stay—an old house, even—was better than nothing, at least they wouldn’t be in the way here.

Living with the Chu family was always a bit awkward, especially since this was the family her daughter had married into. Staying here made things difficult for her daughter as well.

“Why hasn’t your husband come to eat? Is he feeling unwell?”

Li couldn’t be happier with her daughter’s husband, Chu Chengjin. She felt like she’d struck gold with such a son-in-law.