Farming Family's Pocket Dimension: A Charmed Little Lady Comes to Farm

Chapter 89: Chapter 89: An Exorbitant Demand

That evening, they once again stopped in an open field.

As they drew closer to West Mountain County, the number of refugees swelled. The bark on the trees lining the main road had been stripped clean—a shocking sight.

Fortunately, the spot Uncle Ma had found was near a small river, so at least they weren’t short on drinking water.

Every family hurried to build a makeshift stove and prepare a meal.

Seeing that there was water, Mrs. Chen boiled a large pot of it to cook dumplings.

She didn’t dare cook the pork-filled ones, instead having Gu Fei secretly bring out the wild-vegetable-filled dumplings to boil two large pots.

Mrs. Chen then sent Gu Fei and her sons to deliver a few dumplings to each family.

The dumplings sent over to Ms. Qian’s family were, of course, all for Bao’er alone. Ms. Qian had cooked some mixed-grain gruel, and after scraping the pot clean, she divided it into three bowls: a large one for Gu Zhong, and a small one each for herself and Xing’er.

Lian’er had fetched water and stoked the fire, but she received nothing.

Lian’er stood in a daze for a long moment, then suddenly walked up to Ms. Qian and demanded loudly, "Auntie, why don’t I have any dinner?"

Ms. Qian never imagined the girl would dare to demand dinner from her. Her eyebrows shot up as she grabbed a fire poker and brought it down on Lian’er. "You dare ask for dinner? What have you done all day? Do you even deserve to eat?"

Watching from the side, Gu Fei was seething. Just as she was about to speak, Mrs. Chen pulled her back and whispered, "I told you to leave her be. That woman, Ms. Qian, she’s up to something. She’s doing this on purpose so you can’t bear to watch. If you give Lian’er something to eat, then she won’t have to feed the girl herself."

She spat. "In her dreams! She wants to work the girl to the bone but expects my family to feed her!"

Gu Fei considered it. ’Maybe she’s right.’

But people can’t simply escape their own feelings.

At first, while Gu Fei had pitied Lian’er, it was nothing more than the general kindness one might show a stranger.

But now, after spending a few days together and seeing Lian’er endure such a tragedy, she was no longer just some unrelated person. It wasn’t so easy to pretend she didn’t see what was happening anymore.

Gu Fei ate her dumplings, mulling over her mother’s words. When she saw Ms. Qian still beating Lian’er with the fire poker, she couldn’t take it anymore. Gritting her teeth, she stood up with her bowl, walked over to Ms. Qian’s side, and said coldly, "Eldest Aunt, stop. Since you dislike Lian’er so much, why not sell her to me? I’ll give you a peck of corn flour."

Hearing this, Lian’er’s eyes lit up, and she looked toward Ms. Qian with a hopeful gaze.

Ms. Qian sized Gu Fei up for a moment and suddenly smiled. ’This girl, Gu Fei, really is a fool. She can’t stand to watch me beat Lian’er, is that it?’

Ms. Qian stood up. "Ah, Little Fei, nothing in this world comes that cheap. It’s not that you can’t buy her. Give me ten pecks of corn flour, and she’s yours. Or five pecks of white flour would also work."

Mrs. Chen hurried over at once, spat hard on the ground, and snapped, "Sister-in-law, I think you’ve gone mad!"

She pulled Gu Fei away. "Let’s go. Ignore her. She can sell the girl for ten pecks of corn flour to whoever she likes, but our family isn’t buying."

Gu Fei looked back at Lian’er, but the girl just shook her head, signaling for Gu Fei not to worry about her.

They had only taken a few steps when Gu Fei suddenly heard Bao’er’s wail, "Mama, she stole my dumpling!"

Gu Fei turned to see Lian’er with a dumpling in her hand, her mouth stuffed full as she chewed desperately.

Ms. Qian shrieked, "You wretched girl, you’ve really gone and done it now!" She raised the fire poker and charged toward Lian’er.

Seeing her coming, Lian’er quickly weaved through the crowd of people and darted away.

By now, the sky was dark. There was no light aside from the families’ cooking fires. Lian’er had run into the shadows, and Ms. Qian, not daring to follow, could only turn back, muttering curses.