Heavenly Blessed Baby: Fleeing Famine, Busy to Prosper!-Chapter 34: Er Laizi Loots His Own Home

Er Laizi sprinted home, and as soon as he entered the house, he saw his mother sweeping the yard with a broom.

"Mom, why are you still sweeping? Hurry up and run!"

His sudden shout startled Mrs. Lai Sr., who scolded, "You little runt, what are you doing with all the jumping around? Are you trying to scare me to death?"

"Mom, enough with the useless talk, grab the valuables and run! The rebels are coming!"

Er Laizi said this while rushing into his room.

In a hurry and panic, he didn’t know what exactly he should pack. He only knew that since the villagers were all carrying bundles and blankets, he tore the ragged sheet off his bed, rolled up the quilt and clothes, and tied them up.

Mrs. Lai Sr. hadn’t reacted yet and followed him into the room, only to see him frantically packing: "Er, what do you mean by that? The rebels, they are coming?"

"Exactly! Ji Hu brought the news back from the county town; now everyone in the village is heading for the hills. Mom, quickly pack your things, or we’ll be finished!"

Er Laizi kept packing and urging, sweat dripping down his forehead in large beads.

"Oh my heavens, are they really coming? Could it be fake?"

Mrs. Lai Sr. still didn’t believe it.

Er Laizi was exasperated, shoved the bundle into his mother’s arms, and rushed straight into her room.

Mrs. Lai Sr. stumbled when pushed, crashing into the doorframe beside her, grimacing in pain.

But her usually dutiful son ignored her completely, making her even more anxious.

Er Laizi knew where his mother hid the silver, but usually, he didn’t want to touch the old lady’s things, so he pretended not to know.

At a time like this, he couldn’t pretend any longer, so he directly lifted the grass mat off her kang bed, and swiftly pulled out a clay brick.

Underneath the clay brick lay a small clay pot, not large, but inside it was all the money his mother had saved.

"You good-for-nothing kid, how, how did you know..."

"Mom, stop nagging! Pack your things, we’re leaving now!"

Er Laizi didn’t have time to pour the contents from the clay pot, and simply smashed it on the ground.

With a crack, the pot shattered into pieces, scattering several pieces of broken silver and copper coins all over the place. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

"Oh, how can we live this way!"

Mrs. Lai Sr. wailed in distress.

Er Laizi didn’t care how his mother cried; he stuffed the silver and copper coins into his pockets.

Finally, he didn’t forget to wrap a few of his mother’s clothes in her quilt, hoisted them onto his shoulder, freed up a hand, and lifted Mrs. Lai Sr., bolting outside.

Mrs. Lai Sr. truly believed something was wrong now, otherwise her son wouldn’t have grabbed the money and whisked her away.

As they reached the middle of the courtyard, Mrs. Lai Sr. cried out, "The food! The food!"

"Hold onto the stuff and head for the rear mountain, I’ll catch up!"

Er Laizi stuffed both bundles to Mrs. Lai Sr., then dashed into the kitchen.

Mrs. Lai Sr. was holding the bundles, couldn’t even see the road ahead.

She wanted to run but was worried about her son, so she could only stand and wait.

The Lai Family didn’t live well; the mother and son relied on each other to survive.

Year-round, Mrs. Lai Sr. didn’t grow much grain, and Er Laizi was a rogue, idling all day and earning nothing much.

So there wasn’t much stuff at home before, not to mention the grain, barely enough for the two of them to scrape by for a month.

Added up, less than twenty pounds of coarse rice and flour, mixed in one flour sack without distinguishing.

They ate coarse salt at home, now there was only a thin layer left at the bottom of the salt jar, and forget about the oil.

All year round, only during New Year could they see traces of oil in the oil jar.

"Er, the chickens! The chickens!"

Mrs. Lai Sr. remembered her two old hens in the backyard.

Although they didn’t lay eggs daily, they would lay one or two every few days, enough to exchange for some coarse salt.

Er Laizi emptied the coarse salt into the rice and flour sack and tied the opening directly to his belt.

Upon hearing his mother calling out for chickens, Er Laizi could only go to the chicken coop.

The old hens were clucking frantically in fear as they saw Er Laizi’s fierce approach. But before they could flutter twice, Er Laizi caught them by the neck.

Snap!

Snap!

With a swift twist, he broke a chicken’s neck, instantly turning the hen into a carcass without even spilling blood.

"Such sin! That’s a laying hen, how could you just kill it!"

With great difficulty, Mrs. Lai Sr. managed to hold the bundles between her arms, revealing her view ahead. She saw her son running towards her with two dead chickens in hand, the sack of grain tied to his waist.

"Stop nagging! If we don’t go now, it’ll be too late!"

Er Laizi still remembered Ji Hu saying the rebels would reach their village in less than an hour.

Having run back, packed things up, and carried his elderly mother to the mountain, there wasn’t enough time.

He casually threw the two chickens into a shabby backpack nearby, tossed the sack of grain in as well, pressed a bundle on top and grabbed the remaining bundle, freeing a hand to support his mother towards the mountain foot.

As they could see the mountain foot from afar, they just caught sight of the village’s group disappearing.

"Mom, hurry up!"

Er Laizi was desperate.

If they couldn’t catch up with the village group, just the two of them on the road, even if they weren’t caught by the rebels, they wouldn’t survive long.

He couldn’t hunt, and his mother had bad legs; they’d just be food for the wild animals.

Mrs. Lai Sr. jogged along, dragged by her son, exhausted and breathless, her vision darkening.

Every time she nearly fell, her son clung to her firmly.

Mrs. Lai Sr. ran and cried.

What kind of world is this, how come rebels are attacking?

Her vegetable garden still hadn’t been harvested, there were clothes left at home, and...

The more she thought about what they hadn’t brought, the more it hurt her heart.

The more it hurt, the harder her tears flowed.

The harder her tears flowed, the less she could see the road ahead.

Finally, with Mrs. Lai Sr. hindering them, Er Laizi also stumbled and fell flat on his face.

On a regular day, Er Laizi would have started cursing, but today he just gritted his teeth, climbed back up, and grabbed his mother’s arm to continue running towards where the group had disappeared.

Right now, he had only one thought in mind: catch up with everyone!

If they catch up, the two of them will have a way to survive; otherwise, it’s a dead end.

After the first tumble, it felt like they were trapped in some strange cycle.

With just over thirty meters to go, the Lai mother and son tripped six or seven times before reaching the edge of the forest.

"Son, let’s rest for a while!"

Mrs. Lai Sr. couldn’t run anymore, leaning against a big tree, panting like a bellows.

Er Laizi also wanted to rest, but he looked back and saw a cloud of dust far away; his face changed dramatically. Without saying a word, he dragged his mother and rushed into the woods.