Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Being home alone without a man around was simply blissful.

Momo completely let herself go.

Holding an ice cream in each hand, she indulged in a full-on binge-eating spree…

Taking bites left and right, Momo was overjoyed, all her worries forgotten.

Even Chubby baby crawled over to Daddy and took a nibble.

Kitty Snowball wasn’t left out either—he got his own ice cream.

As the three happily ate, Golden Kitty Qiu Qiu suddenly appeared, letting out a little "meow" as its tiny tail brushed against Daddy’s ankle.

Momo, sitting cross-legged, shivered slightly—the fluffy touch felt incredibly soothing.

She grabbed Qiu Qiu and buried her face in her belly, taking a deep breath, not caring that the ice cream on her lips smeared onto Qiu Qiu’s fur.

After showering the kitty with affection, Momo also handed Qiu Qiu an ice cream.

The usually aloof Qiu Qiu, in Momo’s eyes, turned out to have a sweet tooth—how adorable.

Momo then brought out a cake, and one grown-up plus three little ones finished it all together.

After eating so much, they had to have milk tea to top it off.

So Momo sipped her milk tea while poking a straw into another cup to share with the two babies.

As evening fell, Chen Xia from next door called out toward Shen Yi’s place, “Momo, Momo, are you home?”

Hearing the call, Momo responded, “Sister Chen, I’m home. What’s up?”

She opened the door and stepped into the yard.

Chen Xia said, “It’s like this—do you remember when we bought potatoes before?”

“Of course I remember. What’s up?” Momo opened the gate and looked at Sister Chen standing outside.

Chen Xia smiled and said, “Food’s scarce these days. Xiaoyu and the others went to that field last night to scrounge for leftovers, and they actually found quite a few small potatoes. Do you want to go?”

“I called for you at noon, but you weren’t home—no one answered. I just thought I’d try again,” Chen Xia added.

After hearing this, Momo said, “Sister Chen, wait a moment. I’ll bring the baby and go with you.”

Chen Xia nodded.

With her husband away, Momo was bored at home. The fun was over and she felt at loose ends. Now she had something to do.

She lit a lantern and hung it on the handle of the stroller.

Though the night breeze was warm, Chubby baby was thrilled to be outside, babbling happily.

Momo popped a small bottle into Chubby baby’s mouth—it was just water.

Chubby baby drank it eagerly.

After a few swallows, he realized something was off—this wasn’t the delicious milk from earlier. It was just plain water.

Chubby baby let go of the bottle in disgust.

Luckily, the bottle was secured to the stroller, so even if Chubby baby dropped it, it wouldn’t fall to the ground.

Qi Mo put the cap on the bottle.

He pushed the stroller outside and locked the gate.

By now, quite a few people had gathered, heading into the distance. Some carried torches, while others simply relied on the moonlight.

Others brought candles and kerosene lamps—everyone had their own way of getting by.

Not only villagers were out gathering leftover potatoes; many who had returned to the village also joined in. With little food at home, they needed it even more.

Huo Xiaoyu caught up to them: “Momo, where were you at noon? I came to call for you, but you weren’t home.”

Qi Mo replied, “Liangzhou and I went up the mountain to see if we could find something to eat.”

“Did you find anything?” Huo Xiaoyu asked.

Qi Mo shook his head. “Food’s harder to find now. We only got some wood ear mushrooms.”

“At least you found something,” Huo Xiaoyu said.

After walking over an hour, they reached the once-empty potato field, now packed with people.

Torches were planted in the ground, lighting up the pitch-black night.

People dug with hoes, tossing every potato—big or small—into sacks. All of it was food. They could be roasted and eaten straight, no washing needed.

Even if these potatoes had long been shriveled, losing most of their moisture.

Chubby baby kicked his feet, occasionally shouting “Dada! Daddy!” completely content.

Qi Mo picked up a small hoe and started digging.

Soon he found some tiny potatoes—the ones buyers had taken the larger ones and discarded the small ones.

Huo Jiayun watched as Qi Mo dug. “Where’s Eldest Brother Huo? Why did you come alone?”

Chubby baby made a couple of protesting sounds. *Hey, I’m right here! Don’t ignore me!*

Qi Mo glanced at Huo Jiayun and smirked. “He’s worn out, so he’s resting at home. I need to dig more potatoes. What if he gets too weak?”

Huo Jiayun scowled, fed up with the PDA. “Gross!”

“They’re married—what’s the big deal?” Chen Xia shot back bluntly. “You’re just jealous. Hurry up and find someone yourself. Plenty of young people have come back to the village recently—some are pretty good catches.”

Other villagers chimed in, ribbing him...

Huo Jiayun stormed off.

Since daytime temperatures hit over fifty degrees, villagers had switched to going out at night.

But they always traveled in groups.

Going solo? You might not come back.

The village was safer, at least. In town, rumors spread of people vanishing without a trace.

Children were the first to go missing.

This had gone on for days, with only one or two vanishing at a time.

Today, it wasn’t just children anymore—a mother and daughter went out in the morning and hadn’t returned by evening.

Villagers returning from town brought the news.

Chen Xia looked at Qi Mo and said, “I was worried when Xiaoyu called for you at noon and got no answer. Don’t take Chubby baby out of the village by yourself at night.”

Qi Mo nodded. “I understand, Sister Chen.”

If girls were being kidnapped, it could be for one thing—sex—but kids going missing? That meant people were eating each other now.

In his past life, Huo Liangzhou had protected him at this time, so he hadn’t known about these things.

Now, he’d have to watch Chubby baby like a hawk.

Looking at Chubby baby grabbing Snowball and biting her, Qi Mo said, “Snowball, you’ve got to keep an eye on your brother, or someone might steal him and cook him.”

Snowball meowed back.

Qi Mo got the gist—she’d watch her brother.

By ten that night, Qi Mo was on his way back to the village with a bag of dried-up potatoes weighing over ten pounds, pushing the stroller along with the others.

Sister Chen and the rest wouldn’t be back till dawn—they planned to stay up all night because later on, food might become impossible to find. They had to take whatever they could find, no matter how little.

On the way back, villagers from Chenjia Village showed up, holding long torches and heading toward the potato fields.

“What’s up? They coming to dig potatoes too?” Qi Mo asked.

Huo Xiaoyu, walking back with them, replied, “Maybe?”

“Not sure,” someone else said. “That land belongs to Chenjia Village.”

Seeing them, Huo Jiayun and Huo Jianian urged, “Move it! They might be here to steal from us!”

Hearing that, Huo Xiaoyu shouted, “Someone quick, go get the chief! I’m worried something’ll happen!”

A few teens responded, “We’ll go call for help!”

“I see people coming our way!” A sharp-eyed girl—great at seeing in the dark—yelled.

Huo Xiaoyu shouted again, “Run, run!”

They were just a bunch of teens, ten at most, around fifteen or sixteen years old. Hoes or not, they couldn’t put up much of a fight.

Qi Mo bolted, pushing the stroller.

If they tried stealing, Qi Mo figured he’d let Snowball handle it—no way he was letting anyone take what they worked for.

Gasping, Qi Mo made it to his door.

Chubby baby giggled, thinking Daddy was playing with him…

The quickest ones had already told the chief.

The village chief immediately gathered the young and strong villagers to retrieve the people from Chen Family Village.

Qi Mo watched as the village chief approached.

Seeing Qi Mo, the village chief called out, "Momo, where's your Liangzhou?"

"My husband went to Jiangcheng."

"He's sleeping, Chief. Just wait a moment," Qi Mo replied.

Then Qi Mo gave Kitty Snowball a little poke on the rear: "Go get your daddy."

Little Snowball meowed and jumped off her father’s lap.

Huo Liangzhou, who had just finished his work, saw his youngest son coming for him and immediately returned to the old house.

Hearing the village chief say, "I'll go with you to take a look. Momo, put the child to bed. Don’t go roaming at night—it’ll be trouble if you encounter mutant insects."

By then, the villagers from Chen Family Village had already cornered people from Huo Family Village, Huang Family Village, and some nearby villages.

A heated argument erupted—the Chen Family villagers claimed the land was theirs, the crops belonged to their village, and they wanted to take the potatoes.

Those who had worked hard digging for half a day were unwilling to hand them over.

After all, although the land belonged to Chen Family Village, the original leaseholder wasn’t from their village. Now that the leaseholder had left and the lease period hadn’t expired, the crops weren’t Chen Family Village’s property—whatever was harvested belonged to whoever collected it.

In Taohua Town, a piercing shriek shattered the quiet night.

Unfortunately, no one dared to investigate.

That night, several households in Taohua Town vanished without a trace...