Early that morning, Yunjian climbed off the heated brick bed, drew back the curtains, and wiped the condensation from the window with her sleeve.
Before she could make out the view outside, a large face pressed against the window gave her a fright.
Wang Cuicui gave her a smile that could hardly be called friendly, then turned and went to their front gate, shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Second Uncle, I'm hungry! Hurry up and bring me something to eat!"
Her reputation was now utterly ruined not only in the Eagle Brigade, but in several neighboring brigades as well.
People from other brigades used to bring gifts to her door, asking her to tell them whether their wives were carrying boys or girls.
Ever since Auntie Sun had come and made a scene last time, she could no longer make a living that way.
The Brigade Leader had even summoned her and spent a week criticizing and lecturing her.
She had eaten all the food stored at home, and for the past two days, she had been drinking cold water to fill her empty stomach.
It wasn't that she hadn't considered going to the old man's house to freeload a meal, but Old Wang threw shoes at her whenever he saw her.
Widow Qian didn't treat her any better. If she dared swipe a pastry from Old Wang's room, Widow Qian would grab her by the ear and parade her around the village.
After thinking it over and over, she could come up with only one solution: freeload meals at her second uncle's house.
Despite not having eaten a proper meal in two days, she still had quite a powerful voice.
Winter had arrived, and with little work left in the fields, nearly every household stayed indoors to