Blessed Girl From a Farm Family: Surviving the Famine With Space - Chapter 37

The children in the bed occasionally exclaimed, “This blanket is so warm!”
“Mom, I feel so happy!”
“Me too.”
“You all sleep! I’ll keep watch here tonight.” Chang Zhong added another log to the fire.
“Fu brothers, how about the men take turns keeping watch tonight?” Chang Zhong said to Fu Qiang and Fu An.
Fu Qiang nodded, “Okay, we’ll listen to Uncle Chang.”
“Alright then, you sleep first. I’ll take the first watch.” Chang Zhong said readily.
Fu An was already sleepy, yawning. Hearing Chang Zhong’s words, he tucked his neck in, burrowed into the blanket, curled up his body, and squeezed in with everyone else. So warm! Fu An wriggled comfortably under the covers.
Fu Qiang leaned against Fu An and also fell asleep.
Seeing everyone asleep, Chang Zhong felt a sense of calm. He carefully adjusted the branches blocking the cave entrance and then returned to the fireside. He silently prayed in his heart for a peaceful night without any wild beasts appearing, for the war to end soon, for the famine to pass quickly, and for the children to have hot meals.

In the latter half of the night, Fu Qiang woke up and relieved Chang Zhong.
Fu An couldn’t be woken from his deep sleep, so he didn’t try.
Fu Qiang added some wood to the fire, then quietly started rummaging through the bundle. He wanted to find his token.
He searched back and forth but couldn’t find it. Suddenly, he heard the cry of a baby. Fu Qiang was startled, afraid it would wake Fu Manman.
He turned to pick up Little Maodan, only to see Fu Manman was already up, holding Little Maodan drowsily and soothing him, “Good boy, don’t cry! Sister will make you some milk.”
Fu Manman, shrinking her neck, emerged from the warm blanket, fetched the bottle and water flask from the bundle, and started preparing milk for the child. When pouring water, she found there was no hot water left in the flask, so she took out the iron pot to boil water.
Luckily, she had filled the iron pot with water beforehand.
“Xiao Qiang, haven’t you slept at all?” Fu Manman looked at Fu Qiang, thinking that although this younger brother had a bit of a strange temper, he was quite responsible. A good brother.
Faced with Fu Manman’s sudden concern, Fu Qiang didn’t know how to respond. She had never been nice to him before, always hitting or scolding him. He wasn’t used to her suddenly speaking to him like this.
Fu Qiang said nothing, sitting there and occasionally adding firewood to the fire.
Fu Manman was also accustomed to his silent demeanor and didn’t press further. When the water boiled, she poured it into the flask and then prepared the formula.
While waiting for the milk to cool, she heated the bowl of wolf meat soup she had secretly saved in the pot.
This was saved for Fu Qiang. Although she had said she wouldn’t leave him any earlier, that was just said in anger. She actually had saved a bowl for him.
Not eating at night, in such cold weather, would be hard to endure.
Fu Qiang saw the meat soup in the pot and thought, “That glutton Fu Manman, she’s so greedy, she even secretly saved a bowl. Really hasn’t changed a bit.”
The soup in the pot heated up quickly. Plus, she had added instant noodle seasoning packets to it earlier, so it smelled incredibly delicious.
Honestly, smelling it made her want to eat it too.
But this was for Fu Qiang; she wouldn’t eat it. Fu Qiang only ate a little snake meat in the evening. That stuff was so disgusting, how could it fill him up!
“Here, this is saved for you. Eat it!” Fu Manman handed the bowl to Fu Qiang.
Fu Qiang, who had been inwardly criticizing Fu Manman, was suddenly stunned, looking at the meat soup before him with doubt and surprise.
He glanced uncertainly at Fu Manman, thinking, “What’s wrong with her? Is she crazy?”
“Hurry up and take it. I told you to eat earlier in the evening, but you threw a tantrum and refused. Now it’s perfect, eat it to warm up. Hurry up and eat!” Fu Manman urged again.
She’s really giving it to him? Fu Qiang was dumbfounded. Under Fu Manman’s urging, he unconsciously took the bowl.
The enticing aroma, the warm feeling… He couldn’t help but hold the bowl tightly. So warm.
But… thinking about those scenes of cannibalism, he instinctively resisted… “I… don’t…”
“Eat it! If it gets cold, I won’t heat it for you again. Young as you are, you’ve picked up quite a picky habit.” Fu Manman glared at Fu Qiang and even raised her hand.
Under Fu Manman’s glare and the raised hand, Fu Qiang instantly became timid. Without hesitation, he lowered his head and drank the soup.
If he didn’t drink it, Fu Manman would probably hit him.
Chanting in his heart, “This is wolf meat, wolf meat,” the soup entered his mouth, and Fu Qiang’s eyes lit up. So delicious, so fragrant!
Watching Fu Qiang obediently drinking the soup and eating the meat, a satisfied smile appeared on Fu Manman’s face.
Hah! Little brat, no matter how stubborn your temper is, you still lower your proud head in the face of delicious food.
“I know you’re angry with me because I sold our sister. Don’t worry, I said I’ll find her back, and I definitely will.” Fu Manman suddenly spoke.
Over the past few days, she had figured it out. These two younger brothers were angry with her because of their sister.
This Fu Qiang had a more stubborn temper, unlike Fu An, who was softer.
Fu Qiang lowered his head and didn’t respond. Was Fu Manman trying to make amends with him? But had she forgotten how she had hurt him?
He wouldn’t forgive her so easily.
Seeing Fu Qiang remain silent, Fu Manman didn’t say more. She took the cooled bottle and fed Little Maodan.
Little Maodan sucked on the milk and, once full, fell asleep happily. Just as Little Maodan finished eating, the little tiger cub also woke up, crying to be fed.
Fu Manman prepared more milk for the little tiger cub.
After settling Little Maodan and the little tiger cub, Fu Manman wasn’t very sleepy anymore. Seeing that only Fu Qiang was keeping watch, she also sat by the fireside to keep him company.
Fu Manman watched the leaping flames in the fire and began to seriously think about the path ahead.
From the first day she arrived in this world, she had either been fleeing for her life or searching for food. Along the way, she hadn’t had a proper chance to stop and think.
Now, in the quiet of the deep night, she needed to carefully consider how to proceed in the future.
Before that, she had to find and bring back that younger sister.
In such chaotic times, where could a young girl be sold to after being trafficked? The thought of this young girl possibly suffering immense torment made Fu Manman’s heart ache with discomfort.
She must bring her back.
After retrieving her younger sister, she wanted to take her siblings to a safe place, be it a village or a town. She needed to earn money to support these young ones.
Her younger brothers and sisters still needed to study. In this era, boys should pursue scholarly honors, and girls should learn about how to conduct themselves in the world. She would also teach them some skills so that even if they didn’t marry, they could support themselves.
Fu Manman considered all her younger brothers and sisters, but didn’t think about herself.
For her, marriage wasn’t her wish, and she hadn’t found any particular goal yet. For now, the priority was to find her sister and raise them all.
To raise these young ones, she needed to quickly find a way to access the space!
Space! Space, how do I get in!
Fu Manman muttered to herself. Suddenly, she felt a dark blue color appear before her eyes, similar to the space from last night, but this blue seemed distant.
It seemed something was still missing. Fu Manman felt she had almost found the method to enter the space.
She saw Fu Qiang crouching in the corner, huddled up, his eyelids half-drooping as if he was sleepy.
No, she couldn’t enter the space here. Suddenly disappearing into thin air would raise suspicions!
There will be bread, and we will definitely find our sister. Go, Manman!