Compared to Zhang Zifu, Wang Xiuying actually had more ideas about many things.
Although she spoke little, she understood things more clearly in her heart than anyone else.
Originally, she hadn't had the idea of dividing the family, but for some reason, at that moment, she really wanted to do it.
Especially now, seeing this location at the end of the village, Wang Xiuying wanted it even more.
She could even already imagine how warm and cozy it would be inside.
Zhang Zifu, who was following Wang Xiuying, fell into deep thought upon hearing her words.
"The fourth branch dared to separate and live independently even in their state; our third branch is all healthy and sound. Could we really not survive?" Wang Xiuying spoke again.
"But in this current situation, Father and Mother might not agree to let us separate."
Sure enough, after hearing this, Wang Xiuying also fell into deep thought.
After a long time, Wang Xiuying spoke again: "No matter what, we still have to try; otherwise, our third branch will have no place to stand in that family. Look at the kind of life we're living now? Who else gets kicked out to gather pigweed in the middle of the night?"
"I know, I'll think of a way!" Zhang Zifu said honestly.
He truly hadn't considered this idea before, but tonight, after hearing his wife's complaints, this thought suddenly popped up.
"Alright, alright, don't think about it now, hurry up and gather the pigweed so we can go back! Otherwise, we won't get any sleep tonight, and we have to get up early tomorrow morning to work in the fields!"
"Okay, I'll listen to you!"
Now, with only one pig, the couple gathering pigweed together was much faster.
In no time, a full basket of pigweed was gathered.
When they passed the thatched cottage again, Zhang Zifu stopped.
"Xiuying, do you hear something inside?"
"It seems like there is, could Fourth Sister-in-law still be awake?"
"Should we go in and take a look?" Zhang Zifu asked again.
In the past, at the old residence, he and Zhang Zixuan were the only two brothers who were close.
When Zhang Zixuan first became paralyzed, Xu Xiu couldn't carry him most of the time, so he was the one who often helped carry him.
It was only later, as he became thinner and thinner, until he barely had any flesh left on his body, that Xu Xiu could finally carry him.
"Isn't it a bit late now?" Wang Xiuying hesitated.
"I'm worried they might need our help with something, you know, Fourth Brother is like this..."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
In the small yard of the thatched cottage.
After confirming that his wife and children were asleep, Zhang Zixuan carefully slid out into his wheelchair.
Perhaps it was because he had eaten better these past few days and gained a bit more strength in his arms and body, or perhaps because his mood had gradually brightened.
This time, he had managed to get into the wheelchair entirely by himself, without relying on anyone.
There were still many bamboo shoots outside that hadn't been peeled, and some plantain herbs hadn't been washed yet.
He was different from Xu Xiu; Xu Xiu had been carrying things back and forth all day, which was very labor-intensive.
He, however, had mostly been sitting; it was just some work on his hands and feet.
However, he hadn't peeled many bamboo shoots when he heard a knock at the door.
"Xu Xiu, are you asleep?" Outside, Wang Xiuying called softly.
Hearing it was Wang Xiuying's voice, and also some sounds from Zhang Zifu, Zhang Zixuan slid his wheelchair towards the door.
But after sliding a few steps, Zhang Zixuan turned back and took a deep look at the bamboo shoots and plantain herbs.
It wasn't that he didn't trust the third branch couple, but he knew clearly that these things were currently the only means of supporting his family's survival.
There could be absolutely no mistakes.
He opened the door; the couple stood directly at the entrance, carrying their baskets on their backs.
Looking at their baskets, Zhang Zixuan could roughly guess that they had been kicked out to gather pigweed.
After so many years in the old residence, how could he not know the nature of those people there?
One could say that after their fourth branch separated, the ones suffering hardship should be the people of the third branch.
"Gathering pigweed so late?" Zhang Zixuan asked softly.
He stood right at the doorway, clearly not intending to invite them inside.
The couple hadn't planned to enter anyway; they naturally knew the children were asleep.
However, their minds weren't on whether to enter or not at that moment, but on Zhang Zixuan himself.
"Fourth Brother, you are..." Pointing at Zhang Zixuan's wheelchair, Zhang Zifu asked with wide eyes.
"This is a wheelchair, your sister-in-law made it," Zhang Zixuan said softly.
"So, Fourth Brother, can you move around now sitting in this wheelchair?"
"Yes, I can. I can also weave some baskets, then have Xu Xiu try selling them at the market."
Seeing the couple looking inside the house, Zhang Zixuan quickly slid his wheelchair out, saying:
"Xu Xiu and the children are all asleep. I just came out because I thought there were still some things left to tidy up. I should go to sleep soon too."
"Alright, Fourth Brother, then you go to sleep. We were just passing by and heard sounds in your yard, so we thought we'd come and check. If everything's fine, you should rest early. We should head back too."
"Okay, you head back too!" Zhang Zixuan said softly.
Fortunately, it was this Third Brother; if it had been Zhang Zirong or Zhang Zihua, he wouldn't have even wanted to speak to them.
But seeing the couple turn to leave, Zhang Zixuan ultimately couldn't bear it.
He called out to them again: "Wait a moment!"
"Fourth Brother, what's wrong? Do you need help with something?" Zhang Zifu quickly asked.
"Wait a moment!" Zhang Zixuan replied instead of answering.
He then went back inside and soon came out holding two bundles of cooked rice wrapped in something.
"This is a leftover from our dinner tonight. take it to eat on the way!"
"This won't do, won't do. You already have so little food; this could feed your family for a day."
Zhang Zifu absolutely refused to accept it.
"Take it. I still have more there. Besides, what kind of people are in the old residence? We both know them very well. If you two go back now, will there be any food left? Not just you, Wu-Tou and Da-Ya probably won't have any either."
With the parents not home and no one to care for, the children would have even less food.
Wu-Tou might be slightly better off, but Da-Ya could forget about it; not getting beaten would already be pretty good.
Hearing this, the couple ultimately didn't refuse.
However, as they looked at Zhang Zixuan, their brows remained furrowed.
"What's wrong?"
"Fourth Brother, you really shouldn't be living like this," Zhang Zifu said earnestly.
Hearing this, Zhang Zixuan was momentarily stunned, clearly not expecting his third brother to say such a thing.
But thinking about it again, it also felt quite normal.
In the entire old residence, only this third brother had genuinely treated him well.
Thinking of this, Zhang Zixuan softened his tone and said:
"Don't worry about us, we have food. Take this back for the children to eat!" After saying this, he turned and went back inside.
His wheelchair had only slid a couple of steps when he saw Xu Xiu standing in the doorway.
From her appearance, it was obvious she had been standing there for some time.
Zhang Zixuan didn't know that Xu Xiu, a high-level special agent, had actually woken up when he carefully got out of bed.
She just knew he didn't want to wake them, so she kept 'sleeping'.
But when she heard voices at the door, her curiosity got the better of her.
She wanted to know who could be looking for him so late, and she was also worried about him.
"Xiuer, about that rice just now..."
"I don't blame you, you didn't do anything wrong, so you don't need to apologize to me," Xu Xiu directly interrupted Zhang Zixuan.
Then she walked behind him, pushing his wheelchair towards the room.
Her meaning was clear: she didn't want him staying in the yard to work anymore.
"Xiu, I'm not tired. Besides, it's still early; I wanted to peel a bit more."
"If you peel late tonight, you won't have energy tomorrow. Then you'll naturally peel less tomorrow. So won't the amount of work you do be the same? It's better to rest now. Tomorrow, with more energy, you can work more efficiently with better focus."
After saying this, she personally helped Zhang Zixuan onto the bed. Her tone, which brooked no argument, left Zhang Zixuan speechless.
"You said those porks offal were delicious today, right? Tomorrow, I want to take the dried bamboo shoots to Yuexiang Restaurant along with them."
Just before getting into bed, Xu Xiu said to Zhang Zixuan.
Her tone was one of arrangement, almost like an order, but whatever the tone, it seemed to carry an air of finality.
"Mum, be careful! If the price isn't very high, you can try negotiating with him!" Zhang Zixuan said softly.
He never dreamed that his once-timid wife would one day become so assertive.
One could say that the entire family now relied on her to hold it up.
But she didn't utter a single complaint; on the contrary, she was holding the family up very well.
Thinking of this, Zhang Zixuan felt even more guilt deep inside.
The next day, before dawn, Zhang Zixuan was already in the yard.
Although he had wanted to peel more bamboo shoots last night, he fell asleep shortly after getting into bed.
Waking up early, he found it strange himself, not understanding why his sleep had been so good lately.
"Mother, are you going to the county town today?" Liu-Tou asked Xu Xiu.
"Yes, do you want to go with Mother?"
"No, Mother, you go! I want to go dig more bamboo shoots!" Liu-Tou said very sensibly.
"Alright, then you go! Mother will come back early and bring you some delicious food. After pulling those bamboo shoots, just pile them to the side. Wait for Mother to come back and carry them back, understand?"
"Understand, understand! Mother, be careful!"
Xu Xiu gave a soft "Mm," then looked at the dried bamboo shoots that had been placed by the fire last night.
Seeing they were completely dry, she casually put them into her basket.
Then she also put the leftover pork offal and the several dozen pounds of pork inside.
There was no refrigerator here; if she didn't sell this pork soon, it might spoil.
She only kept a few pounds, putting them in a wooden basin and placing it in the spring water.
This way, it should keep for a few more days.
The current weather wasn't suitable; otherwise, she could have made it into cured meat.
Thinking this, she really did need to raise a couple of pigs.
These past two days in the back mountains, there wasn't just the usual pigweed they gathered.
But actually, Xu Xiu knew that the so-called "pigweed" wasn't what pigs liked to eat the most.
Or rather, that pigweed wasn't best for raising pigs.
What truly raised pigs well was the water greens that everyone looked down on and thought tasted bitter.
In the apocalypse, many people gathered those water greens to feed pigs, but these greens needed to be cooked, preferably with some rice bran added.
This way, the pigs wouldn't get sick, wouldn't have worms in their bellies, and naturally would grow faster.
But where would she raise these pigs?
She didn't want to be like the old residence, raising chickens, ducks, and pigs right in her own yard.
That way, the whole yard would smell terrible.
"What are you looking at?" Seeing his wife looking around, Zhang Zixuan couldn't help but ask.
"I want to buy a few piglets to raise."
Qi-Tou, who was about to leave nearby, became excited upon hearing this:
"Great, Mother! Go buy them! Then I'll gather pigweed every day. I promise to raise the piglets fat and healthy!"
Xu Xiu: "..."
Hearing this, Zhang Zixuan immediately understood what Xu Xiu was looking at.
So he suggested: "If you really want to raise them, in a few days we can ask Zhiyong and the others to help build a pigpen. After all, this whole area belongs to us now, doesn't it?"
"Right! How come I didn't think of that?"
The day they divided the family, Old Madam Liu had given her the deed to this land at the end of the village.
Although the land wasn't worth much, if they were to settle down properly, they could build houses on it.
She didn't plan to live in this thatched cottage forever.
It might be okay now in spring, but come winter, even if they didn't freeze to death during the day, they'd freeze at night.
It seemed she needed to plan carefully.
Thinking about it, she hadn't even earned the silver yet, but there were already countless places where she needed to spend it.
She shook her head helplessly and headed towards the village center.
But just as she stepped out the door, she saw Lin Zhi and Lin Xia walking in.
Zhang Zhiyong had to drive the ox-cart in the morning, and Zhang Haifei also had to go to the fields, so they had discussed yesterday that Lin Zhi and Lin Xia would come in the morning.
In the afternoon, when Zhang Zhiyong returned with the ox-cart, he and Zhang Haifei would come together.
"Xu Xiu, hurry! Your brother Zhiyong left a bit earlier today; I told him to wait for you under the banyan tree in the village center."