Qu Jing didn’t resist anymore.
With eggs and corn to eat, why resist? These things are much tastier than fruits and raw fish.
Qu Jing looked like she accepted it even if it was a last meal, puffing out her cheeks and devouring the corn.
The village head’s wife found her expression amusing and exasperating, fearing she’d choke, handed her a glass of water and took the half-eaten corn cob from her hand.
Under Qu Jing’s incredulous gaze, filled with the message of "you won’t even let me finish my last meal," the village head’s wife laughed and said, "Lower your head, let’s wash your hair first. There are sweet potatoes in the kitchen, we can eat them after washing your hair."
Qu Jing obediently lowered her head.
Outside the house, the village chief listened with shock as the hunter recounted how he found Qu Jing: "You just picked up a girl in the mountains like that?"
"Someone would abandon a child that grown?"
"What kind of heartless family, from which village, would throw away such a big girl, and in the deep mountains no less?"
After speaking, the village chief frowned: "But I haven’t heard of any village recently where a family has a mute girl. This girl can’t speak, how do we find out who abandoned her?"
The hunter said he’s not the village chief, so he doesn’t know.
The village chief continued to frown: "Reasonably, if she’s been raised to this age, unless it’s really desperate, they wouldn’t just throw her away, and into the deep mountains, giving her no chance to live."
"I heard that Chen Longzi from the neighboring village became deaf as a child from a fever. This girl probably suffered a sickness that made her mute, and her family just abandoned her."
"If that’s the case, it would be difficult. It might be that she’s not from a nearby village, so we can’t trace it."
The hunter listened quietly.
"If she’s ten years old, a few more years and she could be married off for a dowry. If she can work, being mute doesn’t interfere with marriage. In this village, maybe someone will be willing to take her in; it’s at least a mouth to feed, not a loss."
The hunter frowned even deeper as he listened.
The village chief kept on babbling: "I’m just worried there might be other illnesses besides muteness. Otherwise, why abandon such a big girl in the mountains for no reason?"
"I found the girl, if no one will take care of her, I’ll take her in," said the hunter.
The village chief nodded: "You certainly can afford it, with just yourself to feed, your family wouldn’t go hungry. But you’ve never raised a girl before, can you really manage it? You brought her to me first thing after finding her."
"If you want a child to take care of you when you’re old, you should adopt a boy; a girl is unreliable."
"Let her stay at your place for a few days, I’ll bring some food later," said the hunter, storming off angrily.
The village head’s wife heard the commotion from inside and helplessly opened the door.
"You’ve been advising Old Qu to adopt a child so someone will take care of him in his old age, but he never listened to you all these years. It’s rare for him to find a girl with whom he has a connection, and you provoke him , how can he adopt her?"
The village chief smirked meaningfully: "When he sends food later, do you think he won’t take her in?"
"Later, let the elders go tell the other families that it’s difficult to raise her due to poor conditions. You should find some old clothes from what San Ni wore before for the child to change into and have Old Qu send more food later."
"Keep Erni and San Ni’s old clothes ready, use them for trading with Old Qu for food."
Village head’s wife:...
Qin Huai glanced around the room.
Qu Jing’s hair was still wet, with water dripping down. Her clothes were soaked in a large patch, but she didn’t care.
Because Qu Jing was busy devouring the corn.
For a moment, Qin Huai didn’t know whether to say "awesome" to the village chief or to Qu Jing.
In any case, they were both "awesome."
Even as a spirit, Qu Jing must be having a really tough time.
Just how many days had she been starving in the mountains for her to be stuffing corn into her mouth like that?