Dressed as a farmer's widow, she brought her daughter to stock up on food and reached the top

Chapter 506: Prejudice

The second in command's rage instantly reached its peak. He recalled the unbearable past when he was a servant in a wealthy family, carefully serving the master.

But one day, the lady's purse containing her money disappeared. Simply because he had entered her room and emptied the tribute bucket, she assumed he had stolen the purse. No matter how hard he tried to explain, she wouldn't listen. She simply called the servants and had him severely beaten.

Beaten to the point of near death, he was then locked up in the woodshed. At that very moment, news reached his family that his mother was critically ill. He was confined to the woodshed, unable even to see his mother for the last time. The despair and pain gnawed at his heart like a venomous snake.

Later, the truth came out: it was the young lady who had taken the lady's purse out of play. But when the lady realized she was wrongly accused, she simply had him released from the woodshed and said sarcastically with disdain: "Low-class people should not live in this world. Poor people are wrong to even breathe."

At that moment, the hatred that had been pent up in his heart erupted completely. He grabbed a long knife and, taking advantage of the night, broke into the family's home. Blood splattered as he slashed the knife, one cut after another, killing every last member of the family.

From then on, he completely lost hope in this world and came to Heiguhu Mountain to become a bandit.

Seeing this, Zhou Dazhu reached out and gently patted the second-in-command's shoulder. "Second brother, don't get excited yet. We just want to eat horse meat, so we can kill them if we want! We don't care if they are war horses or not. In our eyes, they are not as precious as the wild horses that the three of us brothers ride."

The villagers of Futian Village could hear the miserable cries of horses outside.

Xiuying stood in the middle of the crowd and raised her voice to make arrangements, "Women and children, go to the back to eat first. The men will temporarily guard this side of the wall. After the women and children have finished eating, the men will come over to eat. Everyone, move quickly, and at the same time, be sure to keep an eye out for the bandits outside. Don't let your guard down!"

The old village chief came over, looked at Xiuying with concern, and said, "Xiuying, you should go eat soon. We'll take turns. You eat first, and then I'll take over."

Xiuying nodded, looked at Yang Qingfeng beside her, and said, "Okay, if you need anything, ask Qingfeng to call me." Then she looked at Yang Qingfeng again and said, "Follow the old village chief and pay more attention to the surrounding situation."

"Okay sister, I got it. You can go and have your meal without any worries." Yang Qingfeng replied.

At the back of Futian Village, several elderly villagers were cooking noodles, with steam rising from the pot on the stove.

From a distance, the women could smell the fragrance coming from behind.

"Wow, what are they doing? Why does it smell so good!" A young woman sniffed the fragrance in the air.

"I smell the aroma of eggs!" another woman shouted excitedly.

"You have a keen nose," said a slightly older woman nearby with a smile. "I heard we're having noodles today. In this tense situation, it's great to have something to eat."

The women lined up in an orderly manner, holding bowls and chopsticks in their hands, and moved slowly forward. They came to two steaming pots one by one.

Yang Si Nai stood by the pot, skillfully using long chopsticks to scoop noodles into the bowls handed to her by the women. Then, she gently handed the bowl filled with noodles to the fourth uncle who was standing next to her.

The fourth uncle took the bowl, holding a large spoon, and scooped a spoonful of the fragrant fried tofu soup from the basin beside him, adding the sour and appetizing pickled cabbage and pouring it steadily over the noodles. The rich aroma instantly spread, causing the women to swallow their saliva.

Then, the fourth uncle passed the bowl to the third uncle next to him. The third uncle carefully placed the fried egg, which was fried to a golden crisp and slightly charred edges, on top of the noodles, and then carefully placed a few slices of fresh vegetables.

The women looked at the bowl of noodles handed to them and couldn't help but exclaim in unison.

"This...this is so delicious!" A woman's eyes were full of surprise.

"Yes, I never thought that in such a chaotic situation, we could still eat noodles that are so delicious and tasty." Another woman sighed.

"It's such a blessing for us to have these elderly people in our village!" someone sighed sincerely.

"That's right. Look at those bandits outside. When they are hungry, they can only kill their own horses and roast them for food." A woman curled her lips.

"That's right, those horses are crying so miserably! It's heartbreaking to hear." The woman next to her showed an expression of pity on her face.

Hearing the women's praise, the fourth uncle spoke first, explaining with a smile, "These noodles were brought here by Xiuying's servants just now during the battle. The tofu and fried eggs were also prepared by Xiuying."

Fourth Aunt Yang continued, "Xiuying also specifically told us that once we heard no more noise outside, we should quickly light a fire and cook noodles for everyone."

Third Uncle also said: "We have to thank Xiuying very much. We old guys just cooked the noodles."

Tian Guilan was guarding a large pot. She had come over when Xiuying announced the truce and dinner. Seeing the elderly busy at work, she cooked a pot of vegetable soup.

Everyone enjoyed the noodles and soup, which made them feel comfortable, and they didn't have to gossip about her. But now, after hearing what the elders said, she suddenly felt that she had been wronged. She immediately shouted at the top of her voice, "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I'm the only one who has to do it all by myself, and you guys are so lucky, you guys have done it so easily!"

Fourth Aunt Yang, spoon in hand, spoke slowly, "Tian Guilan, when you came back from the front, our noodles were already cooked. No one else was here yet, and you gulped down three bowls by yourself. Tell me, how can you say you're losing out by eating that?"

Third Uncle also joined in, "Tian Guilan, tell me, what were you busy doing out there? Were you bravely killing the enemy with a bow and crossbow, or wielding a sword to fight bandits?"

Tian Guilan was speechless after being asked this series of questions. She recalled that when she was at the front, she was busy secretly taking things away. When she heard that it was time to eat, she hurried to the back. She seemed to be very busy, but in fact, she did not do anything serious.

Tian Guilan was stunned for a long time before she stammered, "I... I'm doing this for everyone's sake! Look, I specially cooked some vegetable soup. If you want to drink some soup after you finish eating the noodles, just bring your bowl to me." As she spoke, she pretended to be calm and stirred the vegetable soup in the pot with a spoon.