The sun sets in the west, the rays of light spread across the horizon, and a smoky red color like fire appears on the horizon.
At this time, Jiang Laimei's stomach rumbled, and he immediately covered his belly with his hands and smiled shyly.
The gurgling sound seemed to be a signal. Not only did Jiang Qiumei's stomach start to growl, but Mingyue's stomach also started to growl.
Mingyue then remembered that the original owner had been very ill these days and couldn't eat anything. She had been going through so much trouble today, she must be hungry!
Jiang Panmei and the others were not much better off. Old Madam Jiang would not allow such losers to eat too much. On weekdays, she only gave them soup and leftovers, as long as they did not starve to death.
Now that the family has left the Jiang family, of course they can no longer live the same way as before.
However, Mingyue also knew that when they left the Jiang family, they not only did not bring any food with them, but they also did not have pots, pans, or other kitchen utensils, so naturally they could not cook food now.
After all, the Jiang family has not split up, and the whole family cooks and eats together. Old Mrs. Jiang will not allow Mingyue to take away the Jiang family's food, and Mingyue naturally does not intend to make trouble for herself.
But Mingyue was not panicked at all. She lived off the land and the water. How could she starve to death? That was impossible.
Jiang Panmei was older after all. He was sensible and sensitive. He knew that his mother and brothers were hungry, and he knew even more that they had no food.
He pursed his lips and looked at his mother: "Mom, shall I go outside to see if there are any wild fruits?"
It was obvious that what Jiang Panmei said was an excuse. Not to mention whether there were wild fruits in this season, even if there were, they would have been picked up by the children in the village. How could there be any left for them
Mingyue thought for a moment and said to him, "Let's go together." She turned her head and smiled at Qiumei and Laimei, and said gently, "Qiumei and Laimei, come along too. We are a family together and we are not afraid of anything."
Qiumei and Laimei both looked expectant and nodded in agreement.
Jiang Panmei looked at her mother in a daze, her hands placed at her sides moved, and finally clenched into fists.
In fact, he just wanted to go back to his grandmother and tell her that he was willing to marry into the Li family. He wanted to plead with his grandmother to let his mother and brothers return to the Jiang family.
Because he just realized that leaving the Jiang family was not a good decision. How could they survive without even a little food
Maybe they could go hungry for one or two meals, one or two days. But what about three or five days? What about the future? He couldn't be so selfish and let his mother and brothers die just because he didn't want to get married.
Even though Mrs. Li was so terrible, maybe this was his fate! Just like what Daddy said, even if he died, it was just his bad fate.
Jiang Panmei's fists tightened slowly, he lowered his eyes, and said suddenly: "Mom, you guys go back, go back home. As long as you admit your mistakes to grandma, she will definitely forgive you."
Lai Mei looked at her eldest brother suddenly: "What about you, eldest brother? Grandmother will definitely give you to that bad woman."
Qiu Mei also nodded: "Yes, brother, that pig-killing woman is obviously not a good person, how can we let you marry her."
Mingyue saw her eldest son’s clenched fists and slightly trembling body, and seemed to see the deep despair in his heart. After all, he was still a child!
She shook her head slightly and sighed inwardly.
"Panmei, I know what you're thinking. You don't really want to go back and marry Granny Li. You're just worried about me and your brothers." Mingyue took two steps forward, put her hand on Jiang Panmei's head, rubbed it, and smiled: "But you have to trust mother. Since I dared to bring you out, of course I have the ability to keep you safe."
In the eyes of Jiang Panmei who didn't trust her, Mingyue raised her chin, her face was full of confidence and said, "Your mother is a woman, and women have the ability to create miracles."
In fact, the three boys didn't quite understand what their mother said, but if their mother said yes, then it must be yes. This is how the world is. Women, just because of their gender, will always be ahead of men.
A family of four left the dilapidated temple.
Mingyue did not take Panmei and the others to the mountain, but instead walked towards the river.
There are a lot of fish in the river during this season, but they are too agile and some are hard to catch.
But Mingyue had a clever idea. She made a harpoon out of bamboo and put a backpack in the river. The whole family would first try to see if they could catch the fish. If not, they would drive the fish towards the backpack.
Although this method cannot be said to be a 100% sure method, there will always be one or two times when you can catch fish, and you can catch a lot at one time.
In just a short while, they had caught a lot of fish and thrown them on the shore.
Mingyue ignored her youngest son who still looked unsatisfied and gave orders: "Alright, stop playing and come up quickly. Let's find a place to grill fish."
At this time, even the desperate Jiang Panmei had a faint smile on her face, "Okay, mother," he agreed, and went to pull the third brother: "Come on, sister, stop playing, weren't you hungry before? Let's go."
Qiumei had already followed Mingyue to pick up the fish and put them into the backpack. His stomach still made a noise or two from time to time, but the smile on his face was getting bigger and bigger.
Soon the family cleaned up the fish on the ground. Mingyue asked the children to collect dry firewood and build a firewood pile, while she cleaned the fish's internal organs, picked up a stone to scrape off the fish scales, and finally strung them together with branches.
When Mingyue had finished putting on the nine fish, Jiang Laimei came running over and shouted, "Mom, we're all done."
Mingyue agreed and walked over with the fish.
Soon, the fish on the branch became brown on both sides, exuding the unique aroma of burnt fish meat, which made Jiang Laimei's nose twitch and her eyes almost grew on the fish meat.
Jiang Laimei kept swallowing her saliva and asked Mingyue almost immediately, "Mom, can we eat now? I can smell the fragrance."
However, Mingyue didn't dare to feed them uncooked raw food, as it would be troublesome if there were parasites, so she just asked him to wait a little longer.
Even Jiang Panmei and Jiang Qiumei, who did not speak, had their throats moving constantly and swallowing their saliva quietly.
But what surprised Mingyue was that after a fish was grilled, when she gave it to the youngest Jiang Laimei, Jiang Laimei did not reach out to take it. Instead, she shook her head and said, "Mom, eat first."
He is so hungry, and he is so young...
At this moment Mingyue's heart became particularly soft, and she secretly vowed to take good care of these three sensible children.
"It's okay, mother is not hungry yet, you eat first!" Mingyue stuffed the skewer of fish into Jiang Laimei's hand and started to grill the next one.
Jiang Laimei hesitated for a moment and handed the fish to her second brother: "Second brother, you eat first. I heard your stomach growling for a long time."
(End of this chapter)