The next morning, Gianna got up and cooked breakfast for the family. She told the three kids to eat first and, before Floyd could eat, she dragged him to the old house.
Old Man Liu's family was loading things onto a cart outside.
It was impressive how much they had. They ended up filling two carts.
Old Man Liu didn't want to leave with the villagers because they all knew he had a lot of food. He wasn't as foolish as Floyd, willing to give away his food to others. He knew the villagers well and saw them as ungrateful wolves.
Floyd looked intimidating with his black face. Just by standing beside Gianna near the cart, the others became wary.
Old Man Liu had been beaten by Floyd many times, so just seeing him made him shake in fear.
"We need this yard today! Hurry up and move your things," Floyd said coldly without any emotion.
Aunt Liu gave Floyd a glare. "What's the hurry? Can't you see we're moving things? We'll leave as soon as we're done. Who cares about staying here?"
When they had schemed to get this yard, it hadn't cost them a penny. Now they had exchanged the yard for over a hundred pounds of food. They felt they'd made a good deal.
Gianna and Floyd didn't leave but instead waited by the side of the yard while Old Man Liu's family moved their things. When they finished, Floyd locked the yard gate.
That day, some people started leaving the village.
When Old Man Liu saw others leaving, he also took his family and left, but he didn't go with the others.
Probably worried about leaving, Old Man Liu's family was very orderly, and there were no conflicts.
The villagers kept leaving in groups.
As they left, everyone felt a sense of sadness.
By the time Gianna and Floyd had finished their meal and returned home, 80% of the villagers had already left.
Old Man Liu was the last to leave.
Actually, Old Man Liu was the only one who treated Floyd somewhat kindly.
So, Old Man Liu came alone to say goodbye.
"Floyd, if things get tough, leave quickly. Don't stay in the village."
He was saying this out of concern for Floyd.
Floyd felt a bit heavy-hearted. He lowered his head and replied, "We'll stay until next spring. If it doesn't rain by then, we'll leave too."
Old Man Liu sighed, comforted Floyd for a while, and was about to leave when Floyd called him.
"Old Man Liu, wait for me."
Floyd went into the house and came back out with about ten pounds of coarse grains, handing them to Old Man Liu.
Old Man Liu immediately refused. "I know you have more food, but you need to save it. We've got a hundred pounds of food, we're fine. Keep it for yourselves!"
Gianna understood what Floyd was thinking.
After this farewell, it was uncertain when they would meet again.
Still, Floyd wanted to express his gratitude to Old Man Liu, and she wouldn't stop him.
So, she took the food from Floyd and handed it to Old Man Liu, saying, "We don't know if we'll see each other again, but this is just a little token of our appreciation."
Floyd also handed Old Man Liu a large gourd of water and said sincerely, "Take care!"
In the end, Old Man Liu accepted the gifts under their insistence.
As he left, he kept looking back, finally disappearing at the village entrance.
The village became quiet in just a few hours, going from lively to peaceful.
That evening, the village was especially still.
There were only a few scattered lights in the village. Gianna counted—there were only five families left.
The stars were exceptionally bright that night, and tomorrow promised to be sunny again.
Gianna shook her head and went back inside. "Husband, let's move tomorrow!"
This house is too shabby, and I want to move to a bigger one.
The kids, upon hearing that they were moving, jumped up in excitement.
Floyd sat on the side, watching the kids so happy, and his gaze toward Gianna became even gentler.
There wasn't much to move.
The two torn blankets on the bed were folded up and placed in the basket, then carried over. The children helped move some smaller items.
Someone in the village glanced over from a distance, then returned to their own home.
The furniture in the house was still there.
Old Man Liu's family had fled the disaster, so they didn't want to take up space with things like stools and chairs.
Also, the furniture was a bit old, and it was bought when Floyd's parents were still alive, so thinking about it, he didn't care much about leaving it behind.
However, when Gianna checked the room, she still frowned.
The bed slats in both rooms were deliberately broken.
It was obvious that Old Man Liu's family had done it on purpose to make things unpleasant for them.
Floyd glanced at it, standing behind Gianna, his hands resting on her shoulders, comforting her. "It's okay. I'll fix it later."
The things from the straw hut had been moved over.
Now, they were living in a mud-brick house with a tiled roof.
It was much sturdier than the straw hut, and this courtyard made Gianna feel at ease.
Since they were moving into the new home today, Gianna decided to secretly give the four of them something good to eat.
So she pretended to search around, and then deliberately found a bit of dried beans in a hidden corner.
When Floyd saw the beans, his first thought was to keep them for planting when it rained.
But Gianna directly poured the beans into the pot and said, "These beans have been here for who knows how many years. Whether they'll grow or not is another story. It's better to eat them."
With the beans already in the pot, Floyd wanted to scold Gianna but then caught sight of her clear eyes, and he swallowed his words.
He wasn't one to talk much anyway.
Gianna cooked the beans, then added a little oil she had been reluctant to use, frying a plate of cooked beans.
This was their dish for the meal.
It had been a terrible drought, and there were no fresh vegetables to eat.
She added salt while cooking the beans, so they tasted really good.
The children scrambled to finish the beans.
Watching them like this, Floyd felt even more guilty. "I'll make sure you all live well in the future."
Gianna smiled gently. "I believe you, my husband."
Her smile was like the warm sun in summer, melting Floyd's cold face.
Floyd gave a small smile. "I'll go get the water. You and the kids stay here and be safe."
Gianna was finally relieved when Floyd left.
Quickly, she gave the children some sugar water with vitamins added.
The children each drank a sip, and they didn't need any reminders. Xeno, in his soft voice, said, "We won't tell Dad."
Gianna lovingly ruffled Xeno's head and said, "Xeno is so smart."
She had purposely taken out the paper bag with white sugar in front of the three kids earlier and poured a little into a bowl.
Now, all three kids believed their mother secretly hid the sugar.
This courtyard was very safe, so Gianna decided to go take a look around.
She told Dennis to look after the house and take care of his younger brothers, then grabbed a hoe and went out the door.