Chapter 449: Chapter 439: Bargaining with a Tiger

"They..."

Tan Jing’s expression soured. These men all looked vicious and menacing, nothing like ordinary people.

What’s more, they were all tied up. Who knew what crimes they had committed?

’Can this group of people really be trusted?’

"We’re already at this point. Do you have a better idea? Are you really still counting on my sister?"

Xu Yuanshan knew, of course, that these men were dangerous, but he was completely out of options.

He reached out and pulled the cloth gag from Zhang Laohu’s mouth.

Zhang Laohu’s mouth was finally free. The muscles in his jaw were so sore they felt numb, and for a moment, he couldn’t even close it.

"Water... water..."

Having been tied up for days, he could endure the hunger, but the dryness in his mouth and throat was sheer torture.

"Do you know where there’s any food around here?" Xu Yuanshan asked.

He wasn’t doing this to save them. If they didn’t have any useful information, then these men were worthless to him.

"Water..."

Zhang Laohu kept repeating that single word, his desperate thirst driving him past the point of reason.

Seeing that the man wouldn’t even speak until he got some water, Xu Yuanshan had no choice but to go to the kitchen, get some water from the tap, and pour it for him.

Zhang Laohu drank from Xu Yuanshan’s hands for a long while, GULP, GULP, GULP, before he finally recovered. A bit of clarity returned to his eyes.

"Do you guys have anything to eat?"

Once he’d had his fill of water, Zhang Laohu started asking for food.

"Don’t push your luck!"

Xu Yuanshan was getting angry.

"All of you look so healthy and rosy-cheeked, and you don’t have a single bite of food on you?"

Zhang Laohu eyed them sideways, trying to figure out where they’d come from.

He had heard their earlier conversation, but it was all a blur, and he hadn’t been able to make out the gist of it.

"We’re not from around here. We were visiting relatives and got kicked out. Do you know where there’s any food nearby?"

"Visiting relatives? At a time like this? Sounds more like you were trying to freeload off someone well-stocked."

Zhang Laohu sneered. He had learned how the world worked the hard way, clawing his way up from the bottom. He was intimately familiar with the street-smart logic of the lower rungs of society. If it weren’t for his cunning, he wouldn’t have been able to run circles around everyone at the beginning.

Exposed so bluntly, Xu Yuanshan’s face turned ugly. He flew into a rage out of sheer embarrassment. "Aren’t you afraid we’ll kill you?"

Zhang Laohu watched Xu Yuanshan’s empty threat and sneered inwardly.

"Would you dare? Besides, if you kill me, you’ll all starve to death in a few days anyway."

"Can you really find food?"

Xu Ru couldn’t help but ask. She had eaten pretty well at Xu Yin’s place these past few days. Even if it was only one meal a day, it was far better than being trapped at home. She was terrified of going back to starving.

Hearing a young girl’s voice, Zhang Laohu turned to look.

Xu Ru had just come of age. While not exquisitely featured or what you’d call beautiful, for a country girl, she had a lot of spirit and vitality.

She wasn’t skinny, either, which was exactly to the taste of a man like Zhang Laohu, who also came from the countryside.

"What do you think? Impressed with your big bro, huh? Hurry up and untie Big Bro’s ropes, and I’ll get you something good to eat."

Zhang Laohu’s words were so sleazy they were nauseating to hear.

Xu Yuanshan now understood that this bound man was definitely not someone to be trifled with, and he gave up on any thought of trying to enslave him.

And so, the group quieted down, each lost in their own schemes.

Of course, to shut Zhang Laohu’s foul mouth, the gag was stuffed back in.

Life in the property management center was truly miserable. With no food at all, they could only starve. On top of that, the central air conditioning had stopped working, making the room freezing cold. It was a hundred times worse than sleeping on the floor at Xu Yin’s place.

The group was so hungry it felt like their stomachs were eating themselves, but there was nothing they could do.

Meanwhile, peace had returned to Tang Mo’s home. She went back to her blissful days of lying in bed, reading novels and binge-watching dramas.

One night, however, she felt a fluctuation in the spiritual power she had placed by her front door.

’Someone’s trying to go out.’

In one smooth motion, Tang Mo opened her door and flipped on the light, catching Xu Shan right at the entrance as she was putting on her shoes to leave.

"Auntie, where are you going?" Tang Mo asked, her eyes on the plastic bag in Xu Shan’s hand.

Without a word needing to be said, both of them knew exactly what this meant.

"I... I’m worried about your uncle."

Although Xu Shan felt extremely guilty, she still told the truth.

It had to be said that Xu Shan was a truly simple person. Tan Jing had originally told her to wait for the dead of night, not just to sneak out some food, but more importantly, to bring the two little ones with her.

Everyone had seen how much Xu Jinsan’s family doted on those two children they’d found. If they had the kids in their grasp, would Xu Jinsan really watch them starve? He’d have no choice but to obediently hand over his food.

But deep down, Xu Shan was a good person, just like Xu Jinsan. Besides, after looking after Pingping and An’an for the past few days, she had grown attached to them and couldn’t bear to take the two innocent children out to suffer.

However, she was also desperately worried about the younger brother and niece she had practically raised. In the end, she decided to just steal some food from her older brother’s home to help her younger brother.

Truthfully, Xu Shan resented her older brother for kicking her younger brother out, but she felt powerless to do anything about it, so this was the only solution she could come up with.

Tang Mo sighed. She understood what Xu Shan was thinking.

People are sentimental creatures. Xu Shan felt an almost motherly affection for Xu Yuanshan, whom she had raised since he was a child. Naturally, her feelings for Xu Jinsan weren’t quite as strong.

But sending food to Xu Yuanshan and his family was absolutely out of the question.

"Auntie, if you want to go find Xu Ru and the others, I won’t stop you. But leave the food.

"But that family... they’re out there on their own and don’t even know what they’ll eat or how they’ll survive. If you add one more mouth to feed... just think about it."

Tang Mo wouldn’t stop Xu Shan if she wanted to leave. In the past, this aunt had been good to Xu Yin.

Xu Yuanshan’s family was a heartless bunch. Back when Xu Jinsan had injured his leg and his family was driven out, they had also kicked Xu Shan out along with them.

After all, one less mouth to feed meant saving a lot of food.

Back then, Xu Shan had been worried about her older brother, so she had gone with Zhou Jingyi to take care of him.

Of course, in the end, after Xu Yin had run out to find food and that entire family had died, Xu Shan’s fate was also to starve to death.

But this woman, Xu Shan, was infuriatingly foolish—even more so than Xu Jinsan. Even after being kicked out by them, she never once said a bad word about Xu Yuanshan.

Perhaps the Xu family’s foolishness was hereditary. Except Xu Yuanshan’s genes must have mutated, turning him into the complete opposite: a morally corrupt, ungrateful backstabber.

In her past life, Xu Shan had been kind to Xu Yin. But Tang Mo could only say so much. As for what choice she would ultimately make, that was up to Xu Shan herself.

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