The naughty and cowardly little crybaby sold himself out

However, when we were having dinner, I couldn't believe my eyes.

The aunt brought her a bowl of porridge that was so thin that it could be used as a mirror. Are there even a hundred grains of rice in it? And there was a layer of gray stuff on the surface of the soup. Is this... is this edible?

I didn't dare to eat it when I first saw it.

But even this kind of porridge was only available to her and Jing Muyang. Auntie and Dazhu had no idea what they were drinking. It was so turbid that not a grain of rice could be seen. There was even more gray stuff floating on the surface of the soup, and then there were some finely chopped vegetable leaves mixed together.

"Girl, you should eat this." The aunt noticed her awkwardness at first sight and pushed the egg custard towards her.

"Don't worry, Auntie. I just haven't seen food like this before. Oh, I still have some biscuits in my bag. I have to eat them all, or they will go bad."

As he spoke, Chu Jian took out the bag and placed it on the table and opened it. The pancakes were not thin, and there were more than a dozen of them. He handed one to each person.

The aunt and Dazhu did not take it, and the aunt even refused and took the bag away.

"Eat, eat. The child is still growing, how can he only eat these?" Chu Jian felt a little uncomfortable and lowered his head to drink a mouthful of porridge in the bowl.

Only then did they take the pancakes and start eating them in small bites.

"Auntie, what kind of porridge are you drinking?"

"Girl, this is not porridge, this is bran."

"Bran? The outer shell of rice? Isn't that the husk that is hard to eat?"

"But we have no food, and we can't stop eating." The aunt was a little emotional. "This year is not a good year. There was a flood in the first half of the year, and the crops were all submerged. It was not easy to make up for the rain, but then there was a drought. The high temperature has lasted for more than three months, and the crops that were left have all dried up."

"Auntie, there's a river over there. There's a lot of water in the river."

"Girl, you are right, but our farmland is far from the river, and it is mostly sandy land that cannot hold water. Watering it is useless, and it will die faster. In order to save as many crops as possible, the village head has given up the sandy land and focused on protecting the crops on normal land. Now the men in the village are organized to transport water every day with ox carts, but it will take another month before the crops mature."

"Why do we have to use oxcarts to transport water? Wouldn't it be faster and more convenient to just use a pump?"

"Water pump?" the aunt wondered.

"Yes, they are sold in farm supply stores. Just connect the water pipe and plug in the electricity, and water will flow through. Don't you use them here?"

"Electricity?" Auntie and Dazhu looked at her in disbelief.

Chu Jian looked back at Jing Muyang, then looked back at them, "So every household in your village has no electricity?"

"Girl, we don't know what the water pump and electricity you are talking about are, but if you have a better idea, could you please teach us one or two? If those crops cannot be preserved and there is no harvest, at least half of the people in our village will not survive the winter!" As the aunt spoke, she knelt on the ground, and Dazhu also knelt beside her.

"Hey, hey, hey, auntie, what are you doing? Get up first. I don't understand much of this. If there is no electricity, then nothing I say can be done. We have to think of other ways." Chu Jian hurriedly stepped forward to help her up.

"Does the girl have any other solution?"

"me……"

What could she do when she first saw it? She wasn't trained in this field and she had only seen a water pump on TV.

"Aunt, my wife never goes out of the house. She is simple-minded and doesn't understand these things. What she said must be made up from some picture book and she believed it to be true. Please don't be offended." Jing Muyang spoke from the side. He didn't know what Chu Jian said when he first saw it, but he had to explain it to her.

The hopeful look in the aunt's eyes disappeared, which made Chu Jian feel distressed. She regretted that she had given them hope and then extinguished the fire of hope.

"Auntie, aren't there any disaster relief supplies being distributed?" Jing Muyang asked.

"Even if we get it, each family only gets one liter of food per month. That's not enough..." The aunt sobbed.

"The rules state that grain is distributed per head, and each person can get one liter of grain every ten days. How come you can only get one liter of grain per household per month? Hasn't your village head ever gone to petition?"

"I went there, and they said there's only this much left. If you want it, give it to me. If you make a fuss, there's nothing left..."

"Our old village head went to ask for relief, but he was beaten by the people above him!" Dazhu was indignant. "Those above him are all corrupt officials! They took away the relief materials from the higher authorities, so naturally there is not much left for us."

"The country doesn't care? Is there no support from other places or society?" I was very confused when I first saw it. Now the country is peaceful and the people are safe. Any small disaster will receive help from all sides. There are also countless pairs of eyes with cameras watching the corrupt officials. Who would dare to do anything small in the face of a disaster?

"The emperor is far away and the sky is high. They can't take care of something so far away!" the aunt said sadly.

"The sky is high and the emperor is far away. How far can it be? No matter how far away someone is within the country, my whip will reach them! Auntie, where are you from?" Seeing the auntie so sad, I saw the man who was filled with righteous indignation for the first time.

"We are in Yangshu Village, Li County, Yinzhou."

"Yingzhou? Where is Yingzhou?" Chu Jian heard the place name for the first time and turned around to ask Xiang Jingmuyang.

"In the central part of the country, belonging to the four provinces of central and southern China, it is reasonable to say that there is abundant rainfall all year round, and floods occur every year, but droughts are indeed rare."

At this time, footsteps were heard outside. The aunt wiped her tears and went out to greet them. "The boss is back. You are so late today."

"No way, we are watering the field at the north end today, which is a bit further away." A man in his forties came in, "Hey, we have guests at home."

"This young man and girl fell into the water and asked to stay overnight at our house." The aunt took his clothes and hung them up.

"Uncle, my legs are injured, so I have to stay here for the night. Sorry to bother you." Jing Muyang said, and Chu Jian smiled at him.

"Nothing, it's just that my home is a little shabby, I'm afraid I can't entertain you well enough." As soon as the uncle sat down, he saw the aunt put her cake into the uncle's bowl, "This cake..."

"The girl gave it to me."

"Thank you, sir, and thank you, young lady!" The uncle stood up and bowed. Their family was almost out of food, and they hadn't seen such delicate pancakes for a month or two.

"You're welcome, you're welcome, uncle. You can take all the cakes here." Chu Jian handed the bag to the aunt. "This is our food for the journey. It's been several days. If you don't finish it quickly, it will go bad."

In the end, the aunt couldn't resist Chu Jian and took it.

Fortunately, no one was restrained anymore afterwards.

*

The aunt settled them in this room and asked them to rest in peace. She said she would help call a bullock cart tomorrow, left the kerosene lamp on, and then closed the door and left.

When I first saw the bed, it was simply a few wooden boards, only about one meter wide when put together, with some hay and a straw mat spread on top.

"You sleep on the bed, and I'll use the bench for the night." Jing Muyang said. After all, they were not in the wild tonight.

Chu Jian looked at the bench which was at most fifteen centimeters wide and frowned slightly. How can I sleep on it?

"No, you go to sleep, go to bed." Chu Jian placed the kerosene lamp on the bedside, helped him sit down beside the bed, then he swiftly climbed to the inside of the bed and took off his coarse linen gown, leaving only his elbow-to-knee undergarment, "Blow out the lamp later."

Jing Muyang was speechless about her series of actions. This woman took off her clothes in front of the man, exposing her arms and legs. Did she really not treat him as an outsider? She was so shy that her face turned red and she was panicked in the morning.

"Why are you looking at me? Do you want me to help you take off your clothes?" When I first saw him, I felt that his eyes and expression were very strange.

"You want me to take it off?" Jing Muyang pretended to be calm.

"It's so hot, how can you sleep without taking off your coat? And this coat is really prickly. I have been enduring it for a long time. Look, my arms are all red, prickly and itchy, and so is my neck."

When she first saw him, she not only raised her arms and rolled up her sleeves to show him, but she also pulled her hair aside, opened her collar and came close to him to show him her neck and the back of her neck.

Jing Muyang stared at her. The swan neck with some scratches and the porcelain white area were right in front of him. He couldn't ignore them.

"First time meeting you."

"Hmm?" Chu Jian turned around and stared at him with a questioning look.

Jing Muyang's Adam's apple rolled, and he tried to read something from her eyes, but all he saw was a pool of clearness.

"It's nothing. Just lie down. I'll take off my clothes later. I don't need your help." Jing Muyang turned his head away.

When I first met him, I thought he was a bit weird.

At this time, the kerosene lamp became weaker and weaker. Under their gaze, it struggled and jumped a few times before going out. The kerosene lamp was out of oil...

"Hahaha, I told you to take it off quickly just now, but you didn't believe me. Now you can't see it, right?" Chu Jian patted his shoulder and found it funny. "Take it off quickly, and I'll put it away for you."

Jing Muyang took off his coat silently and handed it to her. Chu Jian folded it and placed it on the bench she had moved to the side of the bed. The bed was too small and she couldn't let clothes take up the space.

After a series of small noises, both of them finally lay down.

**