Traveling through ancient times to survive

The noise from next door reached Zhao Decheng's study. He turned over and faced the wall, with an impatient expression on his face and annoyance in his heart.

I am so fed up! All they do is quarrel! Oh my God! Please warm up! I cannot stand this house any longer!

The old man discussed with Zhao Decheng in a gentle tone: "Brother Cheng, we don't have enough firewood at home. Can you move in with us?"

Zhao Decheng was surprised and angry. Was the person next door quarreling with him just now because he was dissatisfied with him?

"How can a scholar like me live with women? It's totally disrespectful!"

The old man suppressed his anger and said, "Brother Cheng, this is a special weather situation. The firewood can't withstand such use. If we don't live together, the whole family will freeze to death. Can you bear with it for a while?"

Zhao Decheng had no choice but to compromise and the whole family moved into one room. A total of eleven people squeezed into the small room.

The brazier was placed in the middle, and thick bedding was spread on the ground not far away, forming a circle around the brazier.

Zhao Chenghe's family of four occupied the east side of the brazier, Zhao Yuanmu and his wife were on the south side, Zhao Decheng occupied the north side, and the remaining four people from the eldest wife occupied the west side.

As time went by, the temperature did not rise, and the time the brazier in the middle was lit decreased day by day. After the New Year, the brazier had gone out.

Mrs. Zhao San was holding her seven-year-old daughter, Zhao Zi, and her twelve-year-old eldest son, Zhao Dezhu, was huddled close to his father. The family of four huddled in the quilt to keep warm.

Zhao Decheng had long since lost the pride of a scholar. He wrapped himself in layers of clothes, hunched over and shivered under the quilt, completely unlike his former image.

The eldest wife's youngest daughter, thirteen-year-old Zhao Lan, had been ill for several days and lay exhausted in bed.

Mrs. Zhao whispered, "You useless little girl! Everyone else is fine, but you are the only one who is delicate. You are a waste of money!"

After scolding the sick person, he also did not let go of the person who was taking care of her: "And you, how do you take care of your sister? You are so old and you only know how to eat white rice!"

Zhao Lan, whose mind was a little unclear, had no idea that her mother not only did not care about her, but was blaming her instead.

The older sister lowered her head. The outermost reed-flowered jacket she was wearing obviously did not fit her body. The sleeves were too short, revealing only a little bit of the gray reed flowers, and there were ugly patches on them.

The baggy pants on his lower body were rolled up at the ankles, obviously hand-me-downs from his mother. The shoes on his feet were made of cattails, with some reed fluff stuffed inside, and the shoe openings were shiny black.

The girl's exposed wrists were slender, her fingers were swollen and purple, there were large dark brown scabs on the joints, and there were traces of frostbite on her face and behind her ears.

Sixteen-year-old Zhao Hong was thin and petite, and looked only twelve or thirteen years old. She knelt beside her sister and looked after her carefully.

Zhao Hong was indifferent to her mother's accusations. She was used to it. Mrs. Zhao became even angrier: "You little girl, are you deaf? Didn't you hear what I said?"

Mrs. Zhao felt a little sorry for the two daughters of the first wife. She said to stop them: "Sister-in-law, stop arguing! You are in good spirits, but my little Zi still needs to sleep!"

Mrs. Zhao mocked: "Hey! You can't even talk to me while I'm sleeping! How can such a money-losing thing be so precious!"

Mrs. Zhao was furious: "Watch your fucking mouth! Do you think you can scold my daughter? I'll tear your stinky mouth to pieces!"

Zhao Hong, who was taking care of her younger sister, was deeply envious when she heard her third aunt defending her daughter. She thought, "I wish I were her third aunt's daughter."

Mrs. Zhao, who had no idea what her daughter was thinking, yelled back, "You uneducated thing! I'm your sister-in-law!"

Sun Xiaocao was very upset. In order to save firewood, she only cooked one meal a day. Seeing the firewood getting less and less, she was really worried! At this critical moment, the two daughters-in-law had no tact at all and were still quarreling!

"That's enough! You're all so energetic, don't eat tomorrow!"

The two of them were as quiet as chickens for a moment.

Zhao Hong's thoughts flew far away, imagining how beautiful it would be to be the daughter of her third aunt. After a while, she came to her senses and her face changed drastically. She saw that Zhao Lan's face was flushed and her breathing was rapid.

Zhao Hong put her hand on her sister's forehead to feel the temperature, and retracted her hand when she felt the heat.

She shouted anxiously: "Oh no, my sister has a high fever!"

Everyone's eyes turned towards Zhao Lan.

Zhao Hong's eyes were filled with tears as she begged, "Grandpa and grandma, please light a brazier. My sister can't bear it any longer."

Before the old man could speak, Mrs. Zhao expressed her disapproval: "A little girl wants to use a brazier? Let her carry it herself. If she can't carry it, it's her bad luck!"

Zhao Hong looked up in disbelief, feeling a chill in her heart. Is this something her own mother could say?

Mrs. Zhao Sansao and her husband were shocked. They never expected that their eldest sister-in-law could be so cruel.

This woman is so vicious! This is her own daughter, more vicious than a tiger! No, my Zi'er must watch out for her and be on guard against her.

Just as Zhao Sansao thought, Zhao Chenghe and his son approached Zhao Zi silently, fearing that Zhao Zi would be harmed.

Zhao Chengshan's eyes were mysterious, as if he had just met Mrs. Zhao for the first time. With such a cold-blooded person beside him, he would never be able to sleep well in the future.

Zhao Yuanmu and his wife were also a little surprised. Although they didn't love their daughter, she was their biological daughter after all. It was terribly cruel for him to let her die without any hesitation.

Of course, they would not remember how they drove away their second son's family. While they were righteously blaming Mrs. Zhao in their hearts, they would not reflect on the fact that they were just as cruel as Mrs. Zhao.

Zhao Decheng looked at his mother. Although he was not very close to his two younger sisters, they were his biological sisters after all. How could he just sit there and watch them die without doing anything?

"Mom, how can you say that about your sister?"

Mrs. Zhao did not notice the strange looks from her family members, and was afraid that her precious son would misunderstand her, so she hurried to explain.

"I'm not being cruel on behalf of my mother. Erya is so seriously ill now. Can she recover just by warming herself up by the fire without taking any medicine? Of course not. Cheng'er, you don't cook. You may not know that the firewood at home is almost not enough for cooking. How can you waste it? After all, Erya is my flesh and blood. If I can save her, how can I not do it?"

Hearing that the firewood was not enough for cooking, Zhao Decheng stopped talking immediately. His mother was right. It seemed that his sister could not be saved, so it was better to save the firewood.

Aunt Zhao sighed in her heart, Erya is so miserable!

If the mother doesn't love her, why would she not waste the child even though she can't save him? She's not a doctor, and she's her own daughter. If she gave up without any struggle, it means she has no feelings for her daughter at all.

My brother didn't seem to be sad. When he heard that he would not be able to eat, he kept silent.

Only the poor little sister is sincere to her.

If it were you, you would try it first no matter what.

Thinking this in her mind, Mrs. Zhao San did not object. After all, she was not her own daughter. Who would not be happy to save some firewood without having to pay for it herself?