Chapter 3: I’m Hungry
When Gu Yundong woke up again, she found herself on Yang’s back, hearing the sound of her wheezing footsteps in her ears.
The Yang family was very thin, and Gu Yundong could feel her shoulders shaking. It seemed that she might collapse if she wasn’t careful.
“Dongdong, Dongdong, are you awake?” Mr. Yang turned his head slightly, sensing her movement, and said with joy.
It was then that Gu Yundong noticed that there was still a backpack hanging in front of Yang’s body, and the little girl inside the backpack was still sleeping soundly, unaware that she hadn’t woken up yet.
Gu Yunshu also heard the sound and quickly raised his head. “Elder sister, are you awake? Just hold on, we’ll be there soon.”
“Where are we going?” Gu Yundong asked hoarsely.
The road they were walking on was narrow, with no one else in sight. It was getting dark, so they needed to find a place to spend the night.
“Let’s go back and spend the night in the village we went to last night. It’s a bit closer,” Gu Yunshu said, wiping his face and trying to smile. He had made this decision, but he was actually very uneasy and unsure if it was the right one.
Compared to the unknown path ahead, going back to a place they were familiar with seemed like the better choice. The elder sister needed rest, and he was also very afraid.
It was only then that Gu Yundong noticed the leech marks on her neck, which looked especially alarming against her swollen head.
Her expression darkened slightly. “Where’s Gu Dahe?”
“He stole the elder sister’s money and ran away,” Gu Yunshu finally couldn’t hold back his tears. Lowering his head, he wiped away a tear. “Yunshu is useless. He didn’t protect the elder sister, nor could he keep the money. I’m sorry.”
Gu Yundong wanted to tell him not to cry. She had long understood that tears were useless in the last year of the apocalypse. If the money was gone, it was gone. What was the use of crying? If there was a chance, she would make him return it tenfold and one hundredfold. It wasn’t a big deal.
But she quickly realized that this wasn’t the end of the world, and Gu Yunshu wasn’t a stranger. He was her younger brother.
But she couldn’t comfort others. Fortunately, Yang’s voice soon reached her ears. “Ashu, don’t cry. It’s your second uncle who was wrong. We’ll ignore him from now on. Mother loves you.”
Gu Yunshu was comforted and sniffed hard. “I won’t cry. I’m the only man here, I won’t cry.” With that, he hugged the bag of potatoes tightly in his arms and puffed out his small chest.
Gu Yundong, “…”
Fortunately, they soon arrived at the village where they intended to stay. The village was quiet, with hardly any people around. Everyone was desperate and fleeing, all searching for a place to survive.
Gu Yunshu had originally wanted to go to the same room they had stayed in the night before, but Gu Yundong stopped him. In the end, they chose a family that was a little away from the center of the village. The place wasn’t big, but it was secluded and peaceful, with only two other families nearby.
When they reached the house, Mr. Yang carefully set Gu Yundong down.
Although Gu Yundong’s strength had gradually recovered, her head still felt a bit dizzy from the blow.
Gu Yunshu carefully placed the potatoes in front of her and raised his head. “Sister, rest first. I’ll go find some firewood.”
He was very sensible and tried his best to smile while talking to Gu Yundong, so as not to worry her.
After he finished speaking, he turned to search for the firewood shed. Gu Yundong watched his big-headed, small-bodied figure with concern, as if afraid his head would break at any moment.
He returned after a while with two bundles of thin firewood and called out to Mrs. Yang, “Mother, help me close the window.”
“Okay.” Mrs. Yang was feeding Gu Yunke water with a bamboo jar. The little girl swallowed unconsciously and finally showed some reaction.
Once the windows and doors were closed, Gu Yunshu started roasting the potatoes.
Gu Yundong watched as he took two small potatoes from the cloth bag, carefully strung them together on the firewood, and turned them over. When they were almost done, he handed one to her.
He peeled the other one and gently put it in Gu Yunke’s mouth.
Then, he extinguished the fire.
Gu Yundong looked at the little potato in her hand, then at Gu Yunshu and Mrs. Yang, who clearly had no intention of eating it. “What about yours?”
“Sister, you eat. I’m not hungry,” Gu Yunshu said. His gaze involuntarily flickered towards the potatoes, but he immediately lowered his head.
Yang was more direct about her hunger. She gulped and said, “…I’m hungry.”
