"Sister-in-law, what are you saying! She's our cash cow. If she dies, we'll be in big trouble. At that time, we won't even have any capital to make a comeback. I'm doing this for everyone's sake," Zhao Liu said.
What Zhao Liu said made sense. w.a.n.g Meng felt that she had been in the cellar for too long and wanted to go up and take a breather.
"Then don't take too much time! The village chief doesn't allow you to come and see Li Gui. We're doing you a favor now. Hurry up." With that, w.a.n.g Meng left the cellar.
Seeing w.a.n.g Meng leave, Zhao Liu immediately said to Zhao Ming, "Second Brother, you should go up and take a breather too. I'll just watch her finish the meal, then take the bowl and go back."
Zhao Ming looked at Li Gui and then at Zhao Liu before following behind w.a.n.g Meng. After that, there was only Zhao Liu and Li Gui left in the cellar. Zhao Liu even pulled the cellar door halfway shut, worried that he would be seen.
"You must be starving. Eat something!" Zhao Liu placed the food in front of Li Gui.
Li Gui did not need to take a look to know that the food came from her factory. She could recognize it from the smell. These people were really scheming. After robbing the factory, they were giving her the factory's stuff as if it was their own.
"Pfft!" Li Gui spat in disdain and kicked the bowl that Zhao Liu pushed over.
Zhao Liu almost dropped all pretenses of being good-tempered. However, for the sake of his happiness in the future, he decided to endure it a little longer. He picked up the steamed buns and braised meat from the ground and placed them in front of Li Gui again.
"This is the last bit of food in the village. Every family has nothing to eat now. If you don't eat this meal, there won't be another one," Zhao Liu said in a threatening manner.
If it was any other villager who came to deliver food, Li Gui might have eaten it. However, since the person who came to deliver food was from the Zhao family, she could not trust him! Even if she starved to death, she would not eat any food or water brought by any of the Zhao family members.
"Listen to me and just eat it. We don't have any intention of hurting you. Even if you don't trust them, don't you trust me? You know that I like you and I will definitely save you. How can I bear to see you die?" Zhao Liu said seriously.
In the past, Li Gui might have believed Zhao Liu's nonsense. However, ever since her experiences with Zhang Qian, she had long known that most of what men said were lies and nothing much that came out from their mouths was true!
If Zhao Liu really liked Li Gui so much, he would not have let the people from the Zhao Family Village kidnap her. He would definitely have done his best to protect her. Clearly, he did not do that at all.
When Zhao Liu saw how stubborn Li Gui was, he became a little anxious. He wanted Li Gui to eat it so that he could do what he wanted to do. It was at this moment that w.a.n.g Meng called out to rush him.
"Elder Brother, hurry up! If other people see you, the two of us will be in trouble!" w.a.n.g Meng shouted towards the cellar.
Seeing that he could not get what he wanted tonight, Zhao Liu could only leave dejectedly. As he left, he kept looking back in the direction of the cellar reluctantly.
After Zhao Liu left, w.a.n.g Meng suddenly pointed towards the cellar and said, "Hubby! Come and take a look at what's inside!"
All the food in the village had already been s.n.a.t.c.hed away by the buyers of the seeds. When the rats could not find anything to eat, they also started to come out to look for food. Just now, the rats had eaten what Zhao Liu brought and they dropped to the ground after taking a few steps. Zhao Ming hurriedly went to the cellar to check if the rats were still alive. He touched them and could feel that their hearts were still beating.
"They just fainted. They're fine," Zhao Ming shouted towards the upper level.
"Throw the food away! Don't let that b*tch die! If that happens, the two of us won't be able to face the others!" w.a.n.g Meng shouted.
Zhao Ming cleared the food and put them aside like it was rat poison. After he checked that Li Gui was still tightly bound with the rope, he went up. The couple had planned to sleep at the cellar door tonight. Anyway, it was summer now and they would not freeze if they slept there.
"Don't tell me he wanted to do something to Li Gui just now?" w.a.n.g Meng said in shock.
"Lower your voice! Fortunately, you were smart enough to yell at him to come out just now. Otherwise, the two of us and the children would be doomed for the rest of our lives!" Zhao Ming lamented.
However, w.a.n.g Meng kept feeling like there was something wrong. If Zhao Liu had succeeded just now, would the outcome be even better than now?