Blessed Girl From a Farm Family: Surviving the Famine With Space - Chapter 20

She quickly shook her head and smiled, “Uncle, thank you, but my siblings and I have already eaten. We’re not hungry right now.”

Fu An nodded in agreement, “Uncle, we’re not hungry. We just had some noo—” The word “noodles” slipped out, and Fu An immediately covered his mouth. He had almost let it slip. He wasn’t sure if the uncle had heard.

Chang Zhong didn’t pay much attention to the child’s words. He chuckled heartily, “Then I won’t stand on ceremony. I’ll eat now.”

A moment later, the man’s wife whispered complain, “You always have to be the good guy. If you give the food to those kids, what will you eat? You’re the pillar of our family!”

As she spoke, the woman wiped away tears, “I know, but those kids looked so pitiful,” the man said softly.

The woman fell silent and continued feeding the children.

“Mom, San Ya’s stomach hurts. I can’t eat,” the little girl named San Ya cried. Before she finished speaking, she suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood.

“San Ya! My dear, don’t scare Mom.” The woman rushed forward and hugged the poor child, wiping the blood from her mouth while comforting her, “San Ya, we won’t eat this anymore. When the rain stops, Mom… Mom will find something else for you to eat.”

“Ah, this poor child probably won’t make it.”

“Yeah, she’s so young. How can she survive eating tree bark every day? Heaven above, are you even letting us live?” Sighs of sympathy filled the cave.

Fu Manman’s heart ached as she watched the little girl. She had never experienced hunger herself, but in this world, she was witnessing its horrors.

It was a terrifying feeling, one that could destroy a person’s reason and humanity.

She wanted to help these people, but how? She could barely ensure her own survival. Her pity seemed laughable.

Human nature is inherently good, and she wasn’t an evil person—just a selfish one, especially in her current circumstances.

If she wasn’t selfish, how could she protect herself, the pitiful little baby in her arms, and her two younger brothers?

Fu Manman suppressed her compassion. If she took out the instant noodles and powdered milk she had hidden, she would never leave this cave alive.

Those items didn’t belong in this era. It was easy to fool her own family since they were kin and wouldn’t talk outside. But these outsiders were different—they wouldn’t be so easily deceived.

With a heavy heart and full of guilt, Fu Manman turned her eyes away.

She wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t look, wouldn’t think. She wanted to be selfish, just this once.

“Brothers, if you have any rice paste, could you spare a little for that little girl? The child might not make it. Let her have one last proper meal,” an elderly woman pleaded with a group of young, strong men.

The young men scowled, their eyes flashing with impatience and coldness. One snapped harshly, “She’s dying anyway. Why waste our food? If you have food, old woman, you give it to her. Don’t play the saint with our supplies.”

“Hmph! We don’t have enough for ourselves. Why should we share with someone who’s about to die?”

“Better she dies soon. Maybe we’ll get a warm meal out of it.”

The three young men grumbled and cursed, exchanging glances filled with naked greed. Their eyes clearly said: Wait for the little girl to die, then grab her, chop her up, and eat her.

The old woman trembled with anger at their words.

If she had any food, she would give it to the child in an instant. She was old and wouldn’t live much longer anyway.

The little girl’s mother heard the men’s words and shuddered, tears falling silently. She hugged her child and whispered comfort, “San Ya, you must hold on!”

Watching the scene unfold in the cave, Fu Manman’s mood grew heavier. She tried desperately to stay calm, to harden her heart, to not be afraid, to not get involved.