In years of famine and drought, their village even rejected fatty meat.

Chapter 57 An Unexpected Experience

Li Ping showed no disgust at Ding Xiaohua's dirtiness, stepped forward, took Ding Xiaohua's hand, and said with heartache, "Girl, are you from Liangzhou?"

"My husband and I fled from Liangzhou..."

Ding Xiaohua nodded and began to tell her story of fleeing from disaster. After listening, not only was Li Ping moved, but even He Cuilian couldn't help but feel a little sad.

Carrying only a small amount of food, they traveled hundreds of miles from Liangzhou to Taiping County. Even a fool would know how difficult the journey was.

Even worse... Ding Xiaohua's husband starved to death on the road. It's hard to imagine how Ding Xiaohua, with a child and her own two strong legs, managed to walk the rest of the journey after her husband's death and the loss of her support.

"This girl has really had a tough time!"

He Cuilian sighed softly. She didn't know how the world had become like this, but she couldn't help feeling sorry for Ding Xiaohua.

Li Ping did the same, holding Ding Xiaohua's hand even tighter, as if trying to lend her some strength: "Girl, go take a shower first, we'll look after the child."

"Thank you, aunt."

Ding Xiaohua's eyes were filled with tears, her heart overflowing with gratitude.

Li Ping's mother, who was her benefactor, not only did not despise her in the slightest, but also took such considerate care of her dirtiness. This kind of care was something Ding Xiaohua had never experienced since she fled.

"Go quickly, leave the child to me."

While gesturing for Ding Xiaohua to take a bath, Li Ping said to He Cuilian, "Sister He, get Xiaohua some clothes."

"okay!"

Bathing for the poor is naturally not as complicated as for the rich. After washing off the dirt with hot water, Ding Xiaohua put on He Cuilian's clothes and returned to the front yard.

It was only then that Chen Dao could see Ding Xiaohua's appearance clearly. Ding Xiaohua's features were reasonably regular, and even though her skin was a bit dark, this was normal. After all, it would be difficult for anyone to maintain fair skin after walking hundreds of miles in the wind and sun.

What surprised Chen Dao the most was Ding Xiaohua's age. He had always thought that Ding Xiaohua, who had a five or six-year-old child, should be in her thirties, but now that he saw her... her slightly immature face probably wasn't even 20 years old.

"Man……"

After thinking for a moment, Chen Dao decided to address Ding Xiaohua as "elder sister": "Elder sister Ding, how old are you?"

“My benefactor, I am 20 years old this year.”

"..."

Chen Dao opened his mouth, gaining a deeper understanding of early marriage in this world. A 20-year-old with a five or six-year-old child? That means... Ding Xiaohua was already married at 14 or 15 and had a child??

"The legal age for marriage and childbirth..."

Chen Dao's lips twitched. People in this world get married way too early, don't they? Getting married and having children before the age of 15—such a thing would have been unthinkable in his previous life.

"Let's eat first!"

At this moment, seeing that Chen Cheng and the others had finished moving the grain, Li Ping called out to everyone, indicating that they should eat.

Upon hearing that it was time to eat, Ding Xiaohua, the three Chen brothers, Chen Si, Chen Jiang, and others all lit up.

"Time to eat!"

Everyone rushed into the kitchen, only to find that... although Chen's dining table was large, it couldn't possibly accommodate so many people.

So Chen Dao thought for a moment and said, "Let's take it to the front yard to eat, and leave the kitchen to the women and children!"

After saying that, Chen Dao grabbed two steamed buns and a bowl of egg drop soup, and took the lead in walking out of the kitchen. He squatted down on the ground in the front yard and ate the steamed buns with the egg drop soup.

Chen Cheng and the others followed suit, each holding a steamed bun and squatting down next to Chen Dao. In addition, each of them also held a bowl of egg drop soup.

"Working for Daoge'er's family is so comfortable!"

Chen Cheng took a sip of the egg drop soup and said with emotion, "Not only are there fragrant steamed buns, but there's also egg drop soup to drink. I've never eaten so well before."

"Me too!"

The Chen brothers, Chen Shi and Chen Mu, nodded frantically. The time they had spent working at Chen Dao's house was the best they had ever lived. They had steamed buns to their hearts' content every day, and today they even had egg drop soup. In their eyes, the county magistrate's life was no better than this.

"You're this happy just from drinking egg drop soup. If we ever get to eat meat, you'll be ecstatic!"

Chen Dao said with a smile that the egg drop soup was only seasoned with a little salt, and the taste was extremely bland. To him, it was only slightly better than plain water. As for whether it tasted like egg at all...

Chen Dao, who eats eggs often, couldn't really taste it, but judging from Chen Cheng and the others' reactions, there must have been some egg flavor.

"Brother Dao, stop joking with us!"

Chen Cheng swallowed a mouthful of steamed bun and chuckled, "How could we possibly have meat to eat? If we could really have meat, I'd be happy even if I were a fool!"

Chen Mu: "Me too."

Chen Si: "Me too."

Chen Dao glanced at the three brothers and thought they were too easily satisfied. They were so happy just from eating steamed buns and egg drop soup, and they didn't even dare to hope for a bite of meat...

Just wait, you'll get to eat meat sooner or later!

Chen Dao thought to himself.

…………

…………

in the kitchen.

Li Ping handed a steaming hot bun to Ding Xiaohua and said with a smile, "Xiaohua, eat more, you're so thin."

Upon learning of Ding Xiaohua's plight, Li Ping couldn't help but recall the days when she lost her man. During that time, she had also experienced a difficult period, just like Ding Xiaohua, so she felt exceptional sympathy for her.

"Thank you, aunt."

Ding Xiaohua glanced casually at the food on the table. What was nothing special to Chen Dao was, to her, several times better than what she usually ate.

Even before fleeing, Ding Xiaohua mostly ate wild vegetables and rice husks; she could never afford steamed buns or egg drop soup...

Ding Xiaohua tore off a small piece of steamed bun and put it in her mouth. She immediately felt a fragrance. After chewing, a sweet taste spread in her mouth. The taste... made Ding Xiaohua, who hadn't eaten for five days, subconsciously squint her eyes and look intoxicated.

Seeing Ding Xiaohua's performance, Li Ping and He Cuilian exchanged a glance and smiled in unison. As the "chefs" who made the steamed buns, they were also filled with a sense of accomplishment when they saw others showing a satisfactory performance.

As for Chen Fei and Chen Tiedan, the two younger children, they didn't care much and were enjoying their egg soup and steamed buns with relish.

While eating her own steamed bun, Ding Xiaohua didn't forget her child. She picked up a steamed bun and said to Li Ping, "Auntie, I'll go feed the child first."

Ding Xiaohua's child has been temporarily placed in Chen Tiedan's room and is still unconscious.