"I will go out later and look around, but I can’t look too close to home. I must go a bit further. If it’s too close, people will definitely suspect us. I need to dig a bit further away."
Now, it’s no secret in Ya Village that she and Liu Yushui’s mother are not getting enough to eat. If a nearby family loses something, they would surely suspect them.
"Mmm, going further away is better." Liu Yushui nodded in agreement.
"Mom, how about this, if you’re going to dig, dig a bit more. Just once, we could gather all the food we need. Even if they really find out, they don’t have any evidence, so they can’t do anything to us."
The difference between digging a few and several dozen was that they could eat for several more meals.
Moreover, the sweet potatoes should be quite small now, so several dozen probably wouldn’t be enough for more than a few meals.
"But if we store the sweet potatoes at home, won’t people see them?" Liu Yushui asked worriedly.
"Then don’t store them at home. Find an empty place, bury the dug up sweet potatoes in the ground, and only dig them out and bring them back when no one has noticed." Liu Yushui suggested.
"Right, we’ll do that."
Liu Rumei also thought this was a good idea, and they agreed to carry it out.
At night, while everyone was sleeping soundly, in the dark room of Liu’s family, Liu Yushui was with two others, gnawing on sweet potatoes.
Due to fear, Liu Rumei did not wash the sweet potatoes properly before bringing them back.
When they bit into the sweet potatoes, there was a gritty ’crunch crunch’ sound from the sand, but the three of them still savored every bite, not finding anything wrong with it.
"Mother, how much did you dig up, did you cover the ground up?"
Liu Yushui was gnawing on a raw sweet potato while asking Liu Rumei. They may not be afraid of being exposed since they hid the sweet potatoes outside, but ideally, nobody should discover their secret, so they could dig again in future.
Even if not from the same person’s field, they could dig in other people’s fields. This way, they would never go hungry again.
"I covered it up, it probably won’t be discovered."
Liu Rumei put the last bit of sweet potato in her mouth, stood up, washed her dirt-stained hands, and wiped her face.
"Yushui, you go to sleep after eating. I need to go too. If your father discovers us, he will definitely suspect!"
Liu Baixiao would certainly not suspect them of stealing food from other people’s fields, but he would definitely suspect her of stealing food from their own home to feed Liu Yushui. If this happens, they are certain to get a beating.
Liu Yushui was still eating while nodding at Liu Rumei.
The little maiden, who had been allocated three small sweet potatoes because Zhou Liang was coming tomorrow, had already finished hers due to her hunger. She gave Liu Rumei and Liu Yushui a quick glance under the moonlight, then sneakily crawled to a corner.
Now that she’s full, she’ll regain her strength soon and will be able to run away, won’t she?
She had been eyeing it before, her certificate of indenturement was on Liu Yushui’s person. As long as she can retrieve it, they will no longer be able to do anything to her.
That night, the bamboo house in the woods was brightly lit.
Ya Molian had brought Lin Caisang with her and right now, she was sitting to one side, listening to Ya Molian discuss matters with some subordinates.