After transmigrating, he supported his family by working at a garbage dump.

The group walked and stopped intermittently, and nearly half an hour passed before they had only covered half the distance.

The road is not very smooth, and apart from woodcutters, no one usually travels on it, so it is rarely visited.

Especially at this moment, apart from them, no one else seemed to have left.

Xu Zhuzhu could understand why there was no one in front of her, since they had all passed safely before the landslide.

But what about the people who were affected by the landslide? Why didn't anyone else leave after them?

Zhang He also had this question.

In response, Hu Sanniang explained, "Further along this official road, the only villages we can pass through are my mother's home and our Laoya Village. There's another well-known road leading to our village, so naturally there are fewer people there."

Zhang He let out a heavy sigh, then casually pulled up her sleeve to wipe the sweat from her forehead. After a moment, she nodded.

Xu Zhuzhu noticed that her mother's mouth was very dry and she didn't seem to want to talk much.

This explanation makes sense. Perhaps those who came to the market in Laoya Village all went home early and just happened to avoid the landslide!

Seeing that Zhang He seemed exhausted, Hu San Niang discussed with Zhang He about carrying Xu Zhuzhu for a while.

"In my opinion, we should take turns carrying you for a while, so you don't get too tired."

Zhang He felt embarrassed and said, "It's kind of you to go to so much trouble, sister-in-law. I can still manage now. I'll let you take over when I can't carry it anymore."

Hu San Niang insisted, but Zhang He dismissed her lightly, and she finally had no choice but to give up.

Xu Zhuzhu felt uneasy clinging to her mother's back. She really wanted to get off and walk, but her mother wouldn't allow it, saying the path was too steep and that if she fell, it would be no laughing matter.

The reason she let her brother walk was because he was older and taller than her, and could walk faster.

It's not like her; now that she's short-limbed, if she were to walk, her mother would probably walk even slower, and who knows how long it would take.

Li Quanfu knew about this road because he discovered it when he went up the mountain to chop firewood and make charcoal before the New Year. His father-in-law brought him here for the first time.

Although he told his wife that he could walk, he had only traveled from here to Laoya Village two or three times. Therefore, he was extra careful in leading the way, only looking for places where people had walked and left many traces.

I was thinking of making things safer.

Even so, he was terrified, afraid that he might make a wrong move and lead the group to some unfamiliar mountain valley.

After walking for a while, the group finally reached the top of the hill, and from there the path began to descend.

The snow on the mountain melted more slowly than on the official road below, so the mountain path was still a bit slippery. For safety reasons, and seeing that everyone was getting tired, Li Quanfu decided to rest for a while at the top of the mountain.

"You guys rest here for a while. I'll go fetch some spring water over there to quench my thirst. The path down the mountain is flatter, so it won't take long."

He happened to know that there was a mountain spring nearby when he was burning charcoal here before. Seeing that these people's lips were cracked from exhaustion, he thought of going to fetch some water.

Hu Sanniang pursed her dry, chapped lips and nodded, telling Li Quanfu to hurry back, as she was indeed thirsty.

She didn't realize it until she mentioned it, but just thinking about it made her throat feel dry and uncomfortable. If she felt this way, she could only imagine how Zhang He felt. She glanced at Zhang He and saw that Zhang He's lips were dry and chapped.

Li Quanfu decided to go and return quickly, and it just so happened that Zhang He had a newly bought bowl; otherwise, he wouldn't even have a tool to scoop water.

Although we could only find some leaves to make do, large leaves were really hard to find in this freezing weather...

After Li Quanfu left, everything became eerily quiet.

The wind whistled through the treetops, and the snowmelt dripped down the leaves, occasionally startling the mountain birds in the distance, creating a desolate feeling of the empty mountains and the utter silence.

Xu Zhuzhu was actually very happy.

Fortunately, the wolf pack left, otherwise they would be in danger now.

She thought to herself.

Zhang Hechen had finished the boiled eggs and, after walking for about half an hour, realized that the two children were getting hungry, so she took out some snacks from her basket.

There were mung bean cakes, yam cakes, and other snacks, which I bought to give to my two children, Xu Zhuzhu and Xu An. I bought quite a few.

They then called Hu San Niang to come and eat.

Hu San Niang knew these snacks weren't cheap, and they were only meant to appease the children, so even if she was starving, she wouldn't fight with the children for the food.

Seeing that Zhang He didn't speak, and since she wasn't very hungry, she said she wouldn't eat, otherwise she wouldn't have the nerve to ask for food.

"He Niang, what are you doing? We just ate eggs. This is for the children. I can't eat any more right now."

Xu Zhuzhu could tell at a glance that Hu Sanniang was lying clumsily and looking guilty, let alone her mother.

As expected, Zhang He ignored all of this and without saying a word, she stuffed the pastries into Hu San Niang's mouth, forcing her to eat them in the end.

Due to limited family resources, she rarely ate these kinds of snacks, except when she was still a girl and her older brother brought them to her home.

Now that the sweet and soft pastries had entered her mouth, Hu Sanniang couldn't help but sigh with delight.

"No wonder it costs ten coins to get three such tiny pastries, they're not even as wide as two of my fingers. But they taste so good, it's worth the price."

Zhang He urged Hu San Niang to eat heartily, and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, have two more pieces. I bought quite a few more." As she spoke, she picked up another pastry, "This is cloud cake. It's soft, glutinous, and sweet, but it doesn't taste as sweet as mung bean cake."

Hu San Niang took it and tasted it again. Sure enough, it was just like that. She exclaimed with delight, "This suits my taste even better!"

Just then, Li Quanfu returned carrying two large bowls of spring water.

"Thank you for your trouble, Brother Li. Come and try these pastries. My sister-in-law said they are delicious."

Zhang He hurriedly invited him to eat some pastries as well.

Li Quanfu didn't like sweets, so he took a small bite and put the rest down. He didn't forget to remind the two of them, "This water is a bit cold. Third Sister, you should warm it up in your mouths before swallowing, so you don't catch a cold."

Hu Sanniang chuckled and said irritably, "I know, you're like an old woman, even more nagging than me!"

That's what they said, but they were secretly delighted.

Zhang He, who was standing nearby, joked, "My sister-in-law said these pastries are sweet, but the water looks sweeter than them to me."

Upon hearing this, Hu San Niang laughed heartily.

Li Quanfu's ears turned red instantly, pretending not to understand, and he muttered, "This pastry is sweet, but what's sweet about water?"

Zhang He and Hu San Niang both burst out laughing, and Xu Zhuzhu joined in, leaving only Xu An confused.

He subtly asked Xu Zhuzhu, "Little sister, is it so funny whether the pastries are sweet or not?"

Xu Zhuzhu put on a mysterious look, touched her chubby double chin, and said in a cheeky tone, "You'll know when your brother grows up."

Xu An looked at his younger sister, who was two years younger than him, with a face full of doubt. Logically speaking, shouldn't Xu Zhuzhu be the one to say this?

Just as the group was chatting and laughing, they suddenly heard a rustling sound coming from the bushes not far away.

The noise was so loud that it didn't seem like a bird.

The group held their breath in anticipation. Li Quanfu immediately became alert, looking at the bushes, picking up a stick, and shouting in the direction of the noise.

"Who?!"

He was met with a long silence, followed by the sound of birds flapping their wings, and then a pheasant with a long tail flew out of the bushes.

Zhang He and the others, including Xu Zhuzhu, breathed a sigh of relief, but were also taken aback.

"It turned out to be a pheasant."

Hu San Niang sighed.

Xu Zhuzhu had never seen a pheasant before. Taking advantage of this moment, she suddenly saw one and thought it was really beautiful. She then pulled Xu An aside to discuss it for a while.

Sudden--

"Help……"

Just then, as everyone lowered their guard, a faint female voice came from the bushes, startling them into awe...