Old Man Jiang's face stiffened. For years, whenever he wanted to inconvenience the eldest branch, he would always use words like "the family must be of one heart, sharing blessings and hardships together" to fool him.
Who would have thought that Jiang Pan would use that very phrase to block him at this moment!
Madam Zhou rushed out, pointing at Jiang Pan's nose and cursing, "Who the hell is one family with you lot! If your eldest branch wants to court death, go die yourselves, don't try to drag us down with you!"
Chen Yuezhi immediately stepped forward and slapped Madam Zhou's hand, "You speak, but don't point! Believe it or not, I'll pluck your fingers off!"
"If it weren't for you bunch of inhuman wretches trying to sell my daughter today, how would we have gotten into such big trouble! Since you've all been saying we're family all these years, then this time we'll die together! No one gets to escape!"
With that, Chen Yue pulled Madam Su, called her sons, and went into the house.
Jiang Pan held Jiang Wan, looked at the expressions of the people in the courtyard, and smiled, "Yuezhi is right. Since we're family, we'll die together."
After speaking, he didn't care about the expressions of Old Man Jiang, his wife, and the second branch's family, and followed them into the east wing room.
Not long after, Old Madam Jiang's wailing could be heard from the courtyard.
This time, the crying was much more genuine than the previous perfunctory wailing.
However, the people of the eldest branch did not feel relieved; worry was etched on everyone's faces.
Master Liu, behind that old woman Wang, was no easy character. They were merely farmers and had no power to resist.
Jiang Wan looked at her family's worried faces and said after some thought, "Daddy, why don't we leave here? If we leave, won't that Master Liu not be able to find us?"
Honestly, she didn't have a good outlook on this place. There was no food to be found here, and there was such a dysfunctional family. What was the point of staying? It would be better to leave and find a prosperous place to settle.
As the saying goes, a rolling stone gathers no moss.
This suggestion made everyone pause.
Jiang Pan patted Jiang Wan's back, "What does a little girl know? It's not that good outside. It's chaotic everywhere now. What if we're unlucky and run into rebels?"
It wasn't that he hadn't considered leaving, but with such a large family and the unrest outside, it was better to stay. Perhaps it would rain in a few days?
Only now did Jiang Wan understand that the dynasty she had transmigrated into was called the Great Liang Dynasty. It had been established for over two hundred years. Since the pleasure-seeking and incompetent emperor ascended the throne ten years ago, the Great Liang Dynasty's fortune had begun to decline. Coupled with years of natural disasters and man-made calamities, the common people's lives had become unbearable.
Their area was considered relatively good. It was said that other places were already filled with starving refugees, resorting to cannibalism.
What was even more dire was the rampant banditry. It was said that many refugees who had left to escape famine had died on the road.
Therefore, no one in the village where the Jiang family lived was willing to leave.
Understanding this, Jiang Wan felt very disappointed.
It seemed things were not as simple as she had thought.
However, she would not give up and was determined to persuade her family to leave this cursed place!
She had intended to persuade them further, but sleepiness came as it pleased. Jiang Wan felt her eyelids were as heavy as a thousand pounds, and her mind couldn't turn anymore. She even saw double.
But she was unwilling and wanted to rally her spirits, yet yawns came one after another.
Seeing how sleepy she was, Chen Yuezhi quickly picked her up and gently patted her.
Jiang Wan felt her embrace was so warm and reassuring that she involuntarily relaxed, and then she remembered nothing more.
The next time she was conscious, Jiang Wan vaguely heard her parents talking about getting up to fetch water from a distant place.
Due to years of drought, the village wells had long since dried up. Now, their daily drinking water relied entirely on a spring on the back mountain. That spring still had water flowing out, and it was guarded like a treasure by people from several nearby villages. Outsiders were absolutely not allowed to come and fetch water.
This was also why the nearby villages were unwilling to leave.
No one knew the exact situation outside. But by staying in their hometown, at least there was a spring, and people wouldn't die of thirst.
Jiang Wan heard Jiang Pan getting up and had an idea. Closing her eyes, she started to cry.
Jiang Pan was startled and quickly turned to check, "Wanwan, what's wrong?"
Jiang Wan opened her eyes, hugged his neck, and cried loudly, "Daddy, I'm scared. I dreamed of an old man with a white beard. He said he was an immortal. He calculated that disaster would soon befall us here and told us to leave quickly. Daddy, that old man also said that the spring on the back mountain wouldn't last long, and soon there would be no water, and then we would all die of thirst and starvation."
Jiang Pan's heart panicked, and he quickly said, "Wanwan, don't be afraid. That's just your dream. With Daddy here, nothing will happen."
Jiang Wan held his neck tightly, "Daddy, let's go. Let's leave here and go somewhere else. Wanwan doesn't want us all to die here. Wanwan is scared."
Jiang Pan's heart ached as he listened to her cry, "Wanwan, don't be afraid. Come, Daddy will take you to see that spring. You won't be afraid after you see it."
Chen Yuezhi quickly got up, "I'll go with you too. Otherwise, you'll have to carry Wanwan while carrying water, which is too dangerous."
Jiang Pan thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
So, the family of three got up. Jiang Pan carried Jiang Wan, walking in front, with Chen Yuezhi following behind carrying an empty water bucket.
It was not yet dawn, but quite a few people from the village were going up the mountain to fetch water. Many of them smiled and greeted them when they saw them.
A man in his thirties came over, "Brother Pan, I heard your family caught a big pheasant yesterday?"
Jiang Pan smiled and said, "A small, undeveloped pheasant. Wanwan caught it."
Every household was short of food now, so he wouldn't be foolish enough to tell the truth.
The man who asked clearly didn't believe it, "Wanwan? She can catch pheasants?"
Jiang Wan poked her head out and smiled, "Yes, I caught it."
Her speaking startled the asker greatly, "Wanwan? You can talk now?"
Jiang Wan smiled and nodded, "Yes, Uncle Daniu, I recognize you."
Uncle Daniu exclaimed, "My heavens, Wanwan, you're not foolish anymore! This is truly great news!"
His exclamation startled everyone else who was going to fetch water. Hearing that Jiang Pan's little daughter was no longer foolish, they all ran over to see the novelty, surrounding Jiang Wan and testing her, guessing who they were.
Jiang Wan was not timid. She called out directly to those she recognized, and for those she didn't, she asked her parents, and after finding out, she called out to them again, making the villagers clap and exclaim how clever the little girl was.
Jiang Pan and Chen Yuezhi were so happy they couldn't close their mouths.
They chatted and laughed all the way, crossing two mountains before finally reaching the location of the spring.
However, as soon as they arrived, the smiles on everyone's faces faded.
Someone couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah, why is the water flow so much smaller today?"