The three little kids in front of her nodded obediently. All three children were still young. The oldest two were twins, both five years old.
The oldest was named Dennis, and the second one was Nori. Both of them looked more like her, with delicate features. The youngest child, named Xeno, was four years old and looked a lot like Floyd—he had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a bright, spirited gaze. It was said that Floyd had paid a large sum of money to a teacher in town to come up with this name.
Even though Dennis was only slightly older than the others, he was the most mature. He gently brought over a stool for Gianna and said, "Mother, you worked hard yesterday. We wanted you to sleep a little longer."
Nori also brought a stool and placed it in front of Floyd.
Gianna was touched by the two children and used a handkerchief to wipe their noses. She said gently, "You must be hungry too. I'll go cook for you."
Hearing her soft voice, the three kids smiled happily.
Since she had come here, she might as well accept it. The children were so well-behaved and sensible, there was no reason not to be good to them.
No matter what kind of person the original Gianna was, now that she was here, she would treat the children well. As for the tragic life the original Gianna had, she would never let that story repeat.
As for Floyd, she still didn't know how to get along with him. She had to be friendly, but she'd take it step by step.
Floyd didn't say anything, just walked to the stove, lit the firewood, and started the fire. The three children went out to play in the yard.
Gianna quickly started washing the pot and adding water.
Hastily, she grabbed a package of compressed biscuits and threw them into the pot, stirring slowly.
As the biscuits melted, the thin soup thickened considerably.
When Floyd entered with firewood, Gianna was already serving the food.
She called the children over to get their portions.
Each person got half a bowl of porridge, just enough to fill them halfway.
Floyd finished his porridge in just two or three bites.
Just as he was about to pour water to wash the porridge off the bowl, Gianna quickly grabbed his arm.
Seizing the moment when Floyd didn't react, she poured half of her porridge into his bowl.
She said, "You're the man, you have to do so much every day, you should eat more."
Floyd was very surprised.
He was genuinely shocked.
In the past, it was always Gianna who took his food, and he wasn't sure if it was just his impression, but today's porridge tasted especially sweet.
Gianna walked to the pot, scooped some water, and washed off the porridge stuck to the sides of the pot.
Then she poured it into her own bowl.
They didn't wash the bowls with water after eating.
They used a handful of sand from outside to roughly wipe the bowls clean.
Water was precious and couldn't be wasted.
The water in the tank was almost gone, and if they didn't find more, they wouldn't starve to death, but they would die of thirst.
Floyd glanced at the water tank with concern and said, "Tomorrow, let's go further. I'll take a water bucket and put Dennis and Nori in it. You just need to carry Xeno."
That night was Gianna's first night in this world.
But it was also the most peaceful night she'd had since coming from the apocalypse.
The next morning, Gianna woke up early.
The food in the house was down to half a bag of grain.
Floyd didn't trust the villagers, so after thinking about it, he decided to carry the grain on his back.
Seeing this, Gianna suggested, "Let's take the pot and bowls too! We might travel far, and if it's late, we'll sleep outside."
The pot wasn't big, and the bowls weren't heavy.
Floyd agreed.
There was nothing valuable left in the house.
He locked the door and, taking advantage of the fact that the villagers hadn't woken up yet, they left the village.
Floyd had planned to put Dennis and Nori in the water bucket, but the children were too sensible and immediately refused the idea.
Gianna held one child in each hand, while Xeno was carried by Floyd, as she insisted.
After leaving the village, there were few green plants left.
The trees that had edible bark had already been stripped, and the villagers had dug up the edible roots.
The forest, once lush, now appeared bare and desolate.
A gust of wind blew, raising the yellow sand, turning the surroundings into a yellowish haze.
Floyd walked ahead, speaking from time to time.
"Yesterday, I went to the places where there used to be water. They're all dried up now. Things are getting harder."