"Where's your husband then?" Li Shiping asked, somewhat puzzled.
The little boy had earlier mentioned that his dad was at work, but just now he said that the woman hadn't eaten for several days. If the woman's husband was indeed working, they shouldn't be struggling to afford food!
Upon hearing the word 'husband', tears instantly streamed down the woman's face, "That unlucky man died two years ago. I was afraid he'd meet bad people, so I had him tell others that."
Hearing this, Li Shiping looked at the woman with a heartache, "How do you two manage to live on a daily basis?"
The woman said, "When my back feels a bit better, I would go into the city to collect some scraps to sell for money, barely enough for the two of us to get by. This time the back pain has lasted longer, several days without getting better, so we've had to rely on him digging up wild vegetables to fill our stomachs."
