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

That night, Xu Zhuzhu was sleeping soundly when suddenly her stomach started churning, so she nudged Zhang He next to her.

"Mother?"

Zhang He woke up quickly, but was still sleepy. "What's wrong, Zhuzhu?"

Xu Zhuzhu rubbed her stomach and said she needed to use the restroom. So the mother and daughter quietly got out of bed, took a lit piece of firewood, and went into the yard.

Of course, it's not done in the yard.

Behind the yard was a wasteland leading to the house, where grass grew to waist height. A few days ago, Xu Wenjie and Zhang He cleared out a vacant lot behind the house and used the pile of thatch that they had cleared out of the yard last time to make a simple outhouse.

It didn't snow that night. The waning moon hung halfway up the dark curtain, emitting a faint glow. If it were a long time ago, Xu Zhuzhu would most likely have thought that such a snowy night scene was very eye-catching.

But after months of living a life of hardship, all she could say was, "Beautiful my foot!"

As Xu Zhuzhu was thinking this, Zhang He frowned, a rare occurrence.

Finally, she couldn't help but turn her head away. The whole family eats the same things every day, and the little girl doesn't know why, but the smell is always so strong every time she goes to the toilet...

Xu Zhuzhu pinched her nose, feeling helpless; the smell of the poop was something she couldn't control.

After some fiddling around, Xu Zhuzhu settled her life's important matter. The mother and daughter were about to go back into the house when they suddenly heard light footsteps outside the yard.

Zhang He keenly sensed something unusual. She cautiously pulled Xu Zhuzhu aside, gestured for her to shush, and told her to wait and see.

Xu Zhuzhu immediately understood.

During their escape, thieves were everywhere, stealing things when no one was looking, especially food. Some people, in their desperation, started fighting each other, some even half-dead...

Therefore, Zhang He's caution was not wrong.

Xu Zhuzhu had seen a lot, and she immediately understood what her mother meant. The mother and daughter blew out the torches and quietly hid behind the wall.

Under the tranquil night sky, the north wind howled, and the desolate landscape swayed left and right, rustling softly, utterly without direction.

At this moment, a male voice came from outside the courtyard: "Mother, look how dilapidated this house is, it must be uninhabited. Let's go in and take a look. If it's really uninhabited, let's stay here. I really can't walk any further."

“My son, this old woman can’t walk anymore,” an elderly woman replied.

He added, "Cuihua's mother, go in and see if there's anyone there. You know what to do."

Towards the end, his voice suddenly rose, carrying a commanding tone, full of energy, not at all like someone who was weak.

"Yes," another timid young woman replied.

Xu Zhuzhu grinned. What kind of unreasonable mother-in-law drama is this now?

However, Xu Zhuzhu was surprised. Why was this woman allowed to go in and take a look? Logically, it should be the man who should come in to investigate. In her family, it was always her father who went ahead to scout.

Just as they were thinking this, in the moonlight, the mother and daughter saw a thin, bony woman tiptoeing into the courtyard in the dark.

The yard was cleaned up, and the snow had been swept to one side, so it didn't look deserted at all. But the woman still didn't stop and tiptoed towards the house.

Zhang He observed quietly and, seeing that no one followed the woman in, told Xu Zhuzhu to hide behind the wall and not make a sound. She then felt her way along the wall to the door and quickly slipped into the house.

inside the house.

Zhang He nudged Xu Wenjie's shoulder.

Xu Wenjie had actually woken up when the mother and daughter got out of bed, but knowing that Xu Zhuzhu needed to use the restroom, he dozed off again. Now, feeling Zhang He push him, he immediately woke up.

Zhang He simply made a shushing gesture, and Xu Wenjie immediately understood what was going on.

He immediately reached under the bed and pulled out the dagger. Unlike his usual loving demeanor, his eyes were filled with vigilance and a hint of coldness.

Zhang He quickly woke Xu An up again. Seeing that Xu An was about to speak out in confusion, she quickly covered his mouth, and Xu An immediately became nervous.

Xu Wenjie stomped out the fire, signaled the mother and son to hide in the corner of the bed, and then he leaned against the wall by the door in the dark. All was quiet, and Xu Wenjie could clearly hear his own breathing from the darkness.

Although Zhang He had already told him she was a woman, what hadn't he seen along the way?

Some heartless families specifically use women as bait; once the other party lowers their guard, the woman might be even more ruthless than herself.

Just as he was thinking this, a hand reached in from behind the newly woven curtain. Their door had no latch; it was simply resting against the curtain. When Xu Zhuzhu went to the outhouse earlier, the mother and daughter had already moved the door to the side.

So the woman reached out and groped around, found no door, exclaimed "Eh!" and then simply lifted the curtain and came in.

The house was kept warm by a fire, much warmer than outside, but the woman seemed to have been outside for a long time and did not notice at all. Instead, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that there was no fire inside.

Shout loudly outside: "No one's inside!"

Just then, Xu Wenjie quietly walked behind the woman and pressed the dagger directly against her neck.

"Don't move! Swords don't have eyes."

The woman shuddered in fright, her body instantly stiffening. She craned her neck, not daring to make a sound or make any unnecessary movements.

The man outside the courtyard was overjoyed to hear the woman's signal and swaggered into the courtyard.

"I knew it! This house looks so dilapidated, how could anyone possibly live here?"

They had no idea what was going on inside the house.

The old woman walked directly into the yard, quite surprised. "That's strange. Since no one's around, how come the snow is all cleared so well? There aren't any weeds in the yard either. It's quite cheap."

The man scoffed and said something that Xu Zhuzhu, who was hiding in the yard, couldn't hear clearly.

Her mother and the woman entered the house one after the other, and there was no movement for a long time. Xu Zhuzhu was also very uneasy. Just as she was about to grope her way over, the curtain was suddenly lifted, and a fire appeared.

Her mother came out carrying a torch, followed closely by her father, who was escorting a woman.

Zhang He flicked the torch this way, and Xu Zhuzhu took advantage of the firelight to run behind her mother.

"Is Zhuzhu alright?" Zhang He hugged Xu Zhuzhu tightly, pulling her behind her like a protective mother.

Xu Zhuzhu shook her head.

Zhang He told Xu Zhuzhu to hide inside the house. Xu Zhuzhu knew she couldn't help her there, so she obediently went inside.

Xu An, who was inside the house, came over, took her hand, and shielded her behind him.

"Zhuzhu hid behind her brother."

Xu Zhuzhu pulled Xu An to squat by the door, secretly watching what was happening outside.

in the courtyard.

The man, who swaggered in as if he were walking into his own yard, stopped in surprise when he saw Zhang He coming out with a torch.

Xu Wenjie held up the dagger in his hand and, by the light of the torch, was able to see the woman's appearance clearly.

He was pale and thin, with sunken eye sockets and bulging eyes. In the dead of winter, he was only wearing a thin autumn coat. His skin was cracked from frostbite, and his face was flushed with an unusual redness. He looked even worse off than his family.

On the other hand, the man in the courtyard, while not dressed particularly well, was at least wearing a thick cotton coat without patches and thick boots, and his face was clean; he could be considered quite handsome.

No one who meets them would think they are a family.

However, this was not something Xu Wenjie should worry about. Xu Wenjie remained calm and addressed the man in the courtyard:

"If you have any difficulties, sir, you can knock on the door and ask. There are people at home who will help you out. Why should your lady come uninvited?"

When the handsome man saw Xu Wenjie holding a dagger to his wife's neck, he showed no concern, but instead remained indifferent, watching coldly without saying a word.

The old woman's reaction was stronger, but instead of an apology or concern, she launched into a cold and merciless insult: "Useless thing! What did I tell you? Giving birth to a money-losing brat is bad enough, but she's also incredibly stupid! All these years of raising you have been for nothing..."

They kept muttering to themselves, making no mention of the woman's current situation; clearly, neither of them cared whether the woman lived or died.