Some people were calculating that if they could establish themselves in Jinsha City, they would be willing to stay there.
The South was too far away, and the journey had been fraught with stumbling. Many people in the village had died, and many had become numb and fearful from the travel.
Gu Dou, who had been appearing and disappearing around Uncle Six, suddenly noticed Gu Qingcheng leaving Uncle Six and his wife and walking towards the shady side of a large rock.
As Gu Qingcheng walked, she seemed to be holding something, looking around furtively.
"Gu Qingcheng, what are you eating?"
Just as Gu Qingcheng was hiding behind the large rock, secretly gnawing on a baguette, a cruel voice suddenly sounded above her.
Gu Qingcheng shivered, appearing very frightened, and even dropped the food in her hand onto the ground.
She looked up and saw it was Gu Dou, who had apparently followed her stealthily and was now perched on top of the rock, looking down at her.
Gu Dou could only see Gu Qingcheng gnawing on something, eating with great relish, making smacking sounds with her mouth.
Moreover, a peculiar fragrance wafted up, a rich aroma of fat, which made Gu Dou's perpetually thin stomach rumble.
Under the immense temptation of food, and seeing that Gu Qingcheng was not carrying a bow and arrows, Gu Dou could not help but speak.
As soon as he spoke, he used an absolutely forceful tone, intending to intimidate Gu Qingcheng.
He felt he had seen through the weakness and incompetence of Uncle Six's family. Gu Qingcheng had almost been beaten to death by him, and she hadn't even dared to tell her parents about it. Perhaps that was why they hadn't pursued him.
As for Gu Qingcheng's momentary burst of strength, he had dismissed it as a display of guarding her food.
Due to years of accumulated prejudice, Gu Dou now regarded Gu Qingcheng as prey.
The more Gu Dou thought about it, the bolder he became. Seeing Gu Qingcheng eating something good, he jumped down from the top of the rock and landed in front of her.
Seeing the crumbs on Gu Qingcheng's lips, he couldn't help but swallow hard and barked,
"What are you secretly eating?"
Gu Qingcheng seemed surprised by his appearance and said tremblingly,
"A pancake."
"Where did you get a pancake from? When you divided the family yesterday, you didn't take a single grain of flour with you. Did you hide it?"
Gu Qingcheng picked up the food that had fallen on the ground.
In fact, when Gu Dou wasn't looking, Gu Qingcheng had poked the fallen baguette into the dirt, letting it pick up more mud and sand, and then pretended to reluctantly pick it up and hand it to Gu Dou.
Gu Dou eagerly took the baguette. For him, who had been in a state of hunger for a long time, his sense of taste and smell for food were extremely keen. At this moment, he was completely immersed in the fragrance of wheat and oil.
He didn't care if there was Gu Qingcheng's saliva on it, he took it and took a big bite.
It was so delicious!
It was so wonderful!
He had never eaten such delicious food before!
Although he could feel the dirt mixed with the flour, he didn't care. He gnawed vigorously, stuffing the flour and dirt into his belly together.
Gu Dou finished the hard baguette in almost no time.
He licked his fingers with dissatisfaction, then rolled the crumbs on his fingertips into his mouth, and then menacingly asked,
"Gu Qingcheng, why didn't you give me such delicious food before? Are you asking for a beating? If you don't tell me the truth, I'll beat you every time I see you!"
"Liu Dazhuang, the butcher's son, gave it to me."
Gu Qingcheng pretended to be scared, her voice trembling slightly, as if she were reluctantly revealing the truth under Gu Dou's coercion.
"Liu Dazhuang? Ha, is that kid interested in you? You're as skinny as a weakling, and someone's actually interested in you?"
Gu Dou heard this and immediately believed it.
He knew Gu Qingcheng too well; she was usually honest and didn't lie.
Moreover, Liu the butcher was one of the few wealthy families in the village. Their family slaughtered pigs and could render a lot of lard every day.
The Liu family almost always ate fried rice with lard, and if they added a little egg and a few pieces of fried pork fat, that fried rice was simply heavenly.
Liu Dazhuang would often deliberately walk through the village eating such fried rice, attracting a group of little brats to follow him, their eyes longing.
However, Liu Dazhuang only ate it in front of them and never shared it, at most letting them smell the aroma.
Gu Dou still vividly remembered Liu Dazhuang's back as he finished his meal and walked away with an empty bowl.
Indeed, only Liu the butcher's family could make such a pancake, with the fragrance of oil and substantial flour.
"How often does Liu Dazhuang give you some?" Gu Dou asked in a deep voice.
"He probably won't give me any more. Last night, when I was washing my face by the river, he accidentally fell into a water pit. I pulled him out, and he gave me this hard pancake to thank me."
Gu Qingcheng didn't want to be involved in any gossip with Liu Dazhuang.
According to the original body's memory, Liu Dazhuang was not a good person.
He was the type of person who would dip a mouse's tail in oil, light it, and take pleasure in watching the mouse's tail catch fire and scurry around in pain.
Perhaps it was related to his family environment; he was cold-blooded, ruthless, and lacked empathy.
Torturing small animals for amusement, such a person, analyzed from a modern psychological perspective, was a potential serial killer with antisocial personality disorder.
Although Gu Dou knew about some of Liu Dazhuang's eccentricities, he did not realize Liu Dazhuang's dangerousness.
"So you helped him, and then he gave you food? You're too stupid. You saved his life, and only got one pancake.
This is your responsibility; why didn't you ask him for more food?"
"Oh, is that so? Liu Dazhuang is quite generous. If I ask him actively, he should give me some too."
Gu Qingcheng said, feigning innocence.
"Pah! I thought he was interested in you, a little yellow-haired girl, that's why he gave you food. I didn't expect you to earn something to eat by helping him. You're useless."
Gu Dou was still unwilling and muttered.
"Then should I go ask him for some more?" Gu Qingcheng asked, pretending to be inspired by Gu Dou.
"Forget it, I'll go ask him."
Gu Dou's eyes rolled. He abandoned Gu Qingcheng and presumably went to find Liu Dazhuang.
Gu Qingcheng was amused.
This Gu Dou was greedy and stupid; he had indeed fallen for it.
It wasn't difficult to find out where Liu the butcher's family lived.
Everyone in the village was thin, but Liu the butcher's family was plump and strong, standing out in the crowd.
When Gu Dou found Liu Dazhuang, he was roasting a piece of dried meat by the fire.
The dried meat was too hard to eat right out of the package; it tasted better after being roasted by the fire.
Gu Dou smelled the roasted meat and his mouth watered uncontrollably.
Liu Dazhuang took the palm-sized piece of dried meat from the grill. As usual, he started walking and eating it, his mouth greasy.
He liked to let everyone see his greasy mouth; it gave him a strange sense of satisfaction.
Unexpectedly, before he could reach the core area where the villagers were gathered, Gu Dou, who had appeared out of nowhere, followed him and said,
"Dazhuang, what are you eating? It smells so good!"
"Huh? I'm eating dried meat, can't you see?"
Liu Dazhuang was so infuriating. As he said this, he took a big bite, and the fragrant dried meat was immediately devoured by his large mouth, leaving only a small piece in his hand.
Gu Dou looked at this with great heartache, feeling as if Liu Dazhuang had eaten his meat. He frowned and said,
"Dazhuang, can I have the rest of the meat?"
"Give it to you? Why should I share it with you?"
Liu Dazhuang had always been protective of his food. He liked to show it off, but that didn't mean he liked to share it with others. Therefore, he refused without any hesitation.