Chapter 90: Want to Eat Meat Buns
About ten minutes later, Lian’er finally crept out of the darkness.
The moment Ms. Qian saw her, she grabbed a fire poker to hit her again, but the village head nearby barked, "Ms. Qian, that’s enough! Since you bought her, you ought to feed her. You don’t give her any food and you still beat her—it’s no wonder she snatched Bao’er’s!"
Ms. Qian threw the fire poker down hard. "You’re really overstepping, old man. You think we’re still in the village? We don’t even have a village anymore! Hmph. Don’t you dare put on airs in front of me!"
The village head was so angry he nearly fell over backward. He pointed at Ms. Qian, "You... you...!"
Aunt Liu was having none of it. She shot to her feet, planted her hands on her hips, and stood right in front of Ms. Qian. "Even if my husband isn’t the village head anymore, he’s still a close kinsman to Gu Laoda!"
"You wretched woman, how dare you talk back when an elder is speaking to you?"
Listening from the side, Gu Fei’s eyes sparkled as she clapped enthusiastically for Aunt Liu.
Aunt Liu glanced at Gu Fei and gave her a smile, then turned back to Ms. Qian with another snort. "Everyone in the Gu Family, for generations, has been decent and kind. I have no idea how we ended up with a vicious shrew like you marrying in!"
Gu Rong, standing nearby, also began to clap with gusto. Seeing his father clapping, Hu Zi started clapping too.
Ms. Qian was thoroughly humiliated. She knew full well she was no match for Aunt Liu, who was renowned for being undefeated in arguments throughout the village. And it wasn’t just arguing—she was a formidable fighter, too.
She had no choice but to sit back down, fuming.
The old matriarch, watching from the side, grew angry. Ms. Qian was her niece, and Aunt Liu’s words had humiliated her as well.
However, she sized up the situation and knew she was no match for Aunt Liu either. Starting a fight would only end in her own defeat.
Ms. Qian didn’t try to hit Lian’er again. As night fell, the group settled down to rest.
「After several more days of travel, they entered West Mountain County.」
They stopped to rest at noon beside a village on the main road. But even at high noon, not a wisp of cooking smoke rose from its chimneys.
Boss Zhang came over to Gu Zhang. "Second Brother Gu," he said, "some of us are going to check out that village. We might be able to get some water."
Gu Zhang nodded. He called over Gu Qing and his great-aunt’s husband, and together they headed toward the village.
It wasn’t long before they came hurrying back.
Gu Rong asked curiously, "Did you find any water?"
Boss Zhang’s face was pale as he shook his head. "Water? Forget water. Every house is empty."
"The only people in there are dead!"
They had just gone into a home whose gates were wide open, hoping to ask for directions. But when they reached the doorway of the house itself, they found an old man collapsed on the ground. It looked like he had been dead for a long time.
In the house next door, they found an emaciated woman, dead on the kang bed, clutching a small child.
The men didn’t dare go any farther and quickly backed out of the village.
By late afternoon, the caravan stopped for the night in a small town.
The town was nearly deserted. Some homes had locks on their doors; others were left wide open.
Gu Zhong said happily, "We don’t need to stay at an inn tonight! There are plenty of empty houses here."
As everyone was looking around, a man emerged from a side alley.
The man was pushing a wheelbarrow that held a large steamer basket. He seemed surprised to see such a large crowd, but then he quickly pushed his wheelbarrow closer. "Care for some meat buns? I’ve got freshly steamed meat buns right here. Only thirty wen apiece."
Gu Zhang quickly waved him off. "We can’t afford them, young man. By the way, is there a well in this town?"
The man smiled and nodded. "There are a few wells, but only the one at the very end of this street still has water. It’s a deep one."
Gu Zhang hurriedly thanked him and prepared to call some men to go draw water.
Just then, Bao’er started to cause a fuss again. "Mama, I want a meat bun!"