The beloved baby has a space

Chapter 7 Sending Food
Hujia Village was one of the poorest villages in the entire county, and even the entire town. Other villages, no matter how poor, at least had a small landlord with a hundred or two hundred mu of land, but Hujia Village had none. The richest family, the village chief, only had ten more mu of land than others, just enough for his family to cultivate.

The house was half brick and half stone; once it was built, we were poor.

Because of poverty, every household had no surplus grain. The mountains were blocked by heavy snow for a month and had not yet truly thawed. Even if they wanted to sell their pots and pans to exchange for food, there was no way to get out.

Therefore, food is like life itself.

When Grandma Wang saw the grain in the bag, she was stunned for only a few breaths.

This Jiang Dahua!
"Come back here! Take your things back!" Old Mrs. Wang stepped forward, grabbed Aunt Hu, and stuffed the bag into her arms. "Are you looking down on me? Our Wang family isn't starving yet!"

Aunt Hu's heart was still bleeding when she was suddenly forced to accept this, and hearing what Old Mrs. Wang said, she immediately blurted out: "Do you think everyone knows what your family is worth? A half-grown boy, eating his father out of house and home! You have seven sons! And you, you've taken in a little girl—"

She actually wanted to say "worthless good-for-nothing," but after being chased and beaten by Old Lady Wang several times throughout the village, she changed her tune.

Along with the others in the village who liked to say the same thing, they all changed their tune.

It really hurts when you get hit by that broom, and it's embarrassing to be chased around!
"Shut up, you old hag! I'm in a good mood today, I've got plenty of energy to deal with you!" When Old Mrs. Wang heard that she was going to bring up Ayu again, the little bit of gratitude she felt was instantly blown away, leaving only anger.

She immediately stretched out her withered claws towards Aunt Hu.

"Oh dear, what's going on here? Who knows how many more days this weather will last? Save your energy! Don't you want to celebrate the New Year?" A hoarse voice came from behind.

Old Mrs. Wang had just grabbed Aunt Hu's hair when she heard this and let go. She straightened her cuffs and turned around to look. It was Old Master Hu, followed by two young men.

The two young men each carried a basket on their backs, walking briskly, suggesting that there wasn't much inside.

"Grandpa Hu, are you out sunbathing? Why did you come all this way?" Grandma Wang glanced at the two young men again. "Are you going to the mountains to look for something? Although it's been sunny for a few days, the snow in the mountains hasn't melted yet. You'd better not go in, or you might slip and fall."

Grandpa Hu was a kind old man, a clan elder in the Hu family, and highly respected in the village.

Old Master Hu stroked his beard, shook his head, and said, "I think the weather won't be clear for more than two days, and it will snow again."

It turned out that Old Master Hu and his two young men were delivering grain from house to house.

When he was young, Grandpa Hu was a teacher at a private school. Later, he returned to the village and accumulated some wealth, not a lot, but enough for his retirement.

Sometimes, when people are so poor they can't even afford to eat, some shameless folks will come to ask for help, and Grandpa Hu will help them out as appropriate.

"I discussed it with Zhu Zi. The snow hasn't melted, and the road to town is very dangerous. So we pooled our resources with some elders and collected some food. We shared it with the poorest families so we could get through the next few days. More than ten people starved to death last year. It broke my heart to see them like that..."

Zhu Zi is the village chief's nickname.

Old Master Hu had come to deliver grain; perhaps he had come along to encourage everyone.

Hujia Village has more than 100 households and more than 700 people. Last year, heavy snow blocked the mountains, and five young people who went out to find food froze to death, while twelve people in the village starved to death. No one dared to mention it.

Old Wang had already seen Hu Taiye from afar when he arrived, and quickly followed him over.

Grandpa Hu doesn't usually talk to these village women, but he spoke up just now because he was afraid they would actually fight.

"Wangzi, you've come at the right time. Take your family's grain inside." Old Master Hu had the young man take out a bag of grain, and then took out another bag for himself. "Your family has taken in a girl, so you're probably even less likely to have enough grain. Consider this extra bag as a supplement for you."

Not every household has it; it depends on which household is more lacking.

Upon hearing the purpose of Old Master Hu's visit, Old Wang remembered the giant python still being skinned in the yard and turned to look at Old Madam Wang.

Old Mrs. Wang naturally understood what he meant.

If they were to eat the python themselves, they would have no problem getting through the cold winter months.

But if it's to be divided up, how should it be divided? "You're the head of the family, so naturally it's your decision." Old Mrs. Wang was a little resentful. She turned around and took the two bags of grain from Old Master Hu's side, and then snatched the ones from Aunt Hu's arms.

Aunt Hu protested, "Hey, hey, hey, Zhang Donkey, the old man gave your family all the grain, this is ours, give it back to me! I don't want to go hungry!"

"Who says you have to take back what you borrow?" Old Mrs. Wang rolled her eyes, turned and left. "Lending me grain is your good fortune!"

This infuriated Aunt Hu. That old woman, she could hold a grudge against her for so long just because she was called a "money-loser"!
However, Aunt Hu quickly calmed down because Old Wang invited her and Old Master Hu to the gate of the Wang family.

Everyone was stunned when they saw the giant pythons filling the entire yard.

"My God—" The sight of the giant python with half its skin peeled off was so shocking that Aunt Hu couldn't take it and fainted.

Old Wang rubbed his hands together and said to Old Master Hu, who was almost unable to stand, "This was killed by our Ayu. We'll keep three hundred catties for ourselves. As for the rest, you can decide how to divide it."

He wanted to keep more, but he had to make sure everyone could get through this period.

But Old Master Hu didn't hear the last sentence at all.

Who is Ayu?

"Oh, I forgot to mention, the doll we found was named Ayu."

Old Master Hu's eyes widened in disbelief: "What???"

Isn't that just a baby in someone's arms? How could it kill such a big snake?
He must be a deity reincarnated!

Grandma Wang, carrying three bags of grain, went to the kitchen somewhat annoyed and told him about the giant python again.

The wives had different expressions, but none of them felt there was anything wrong with dividing up the python meat.

Their family was the poorest in the village, but also the one that received the most assistance.

The proud and arrogant old lady Wang didn't often ask for their help, but that didn't mean they didn't need to remember those kindnesses.

Even half an ounce of meat could save a life.

Looking at the sleeping baby, everyone couldn't help but think: Isn't saving this person also bringing good fortune to the baby?

Ayu had a good sleep. When she opened her eyes, she saw Old Mrs. Wang by the stove, muttering to herself.

“This bag of rice that Jiang Dahua brought in was earned by Ayu. Don’t even think about it. Grind the rice and cook it into porridge for her. Poor child, her family can’t even afford a steamed bun if she wants to eat it…”

His face was so sour that it didn't seem like he was saying anything caring; instead, he looked unwilling, sad, and resentful.

The little boy got down from Liu's arms, took a few steps, and tugged at Old Mrs. Wang's sleeve.

"Grandma..."

Grandma Wang looked down and saw the baby, whose face was still sleepy, looking at her very intently.

"Grandma, don't be upset."

The little boy stretched out his tiny hand and tried very hard to hug one of Grandma Wang's legs, even gently patting it with his little fingers.

"When I grow up," Little Ayu said, stretching out her hand and pointing to her head. After thinking carefully, she said, "I'll give Grandma lots of steamed buns!"

Four-year-old Ayu's life goal: to grow as tall as her grandmother, to have an endless supply of steamed buns, and an endless bowl of egg drop soup!
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(End of this chapter)