My whole family time-traveled! I became a god during my exile in a famine.

Chapter 297 Sense of Urgency

I didn't expect these small vendors to actually have some good stuff.

As she spoke, the small stone transformed into tiny specks of light and disappeared from her palm.

Uh... its self-absorption is very rapid.

Fortunately, this amount of energy was not enough for her to advance to the eighth rank, so her body did not react.

Xin Nian looked at the person who handed her the stone with bright eyes, "Any more?"

The boy who handed the stone was a skinny little boy, carried on his father's shoulders. He originally intended to give Xin Nian a handmade basket, but accidentally handed her the stone instead...

And he watched helplessly as the shiny stone turned to dust in the young lady's hands, a look of bewilderment still lingering on the boy's face.

Why did the stone disappear as soon as it touched the young lady's hand?
The little boy's father honestly said, "Miss, we have three or four more stones like these at home. My child picked them up to play with."

"Come on, take me to your house." Xin Nian said, pushing away various items offered to her, her face full of helplessness. "I'm not buying anything today."

Seeing everyone staring at her expectantly, Xin Nian said speechlessly, "I'll come back tomorrow to collect a batch of baskets, preferably big ones, the kind that can lift big rocks."

"Go back and prepare. One basket will be exchanged for half a pound of wheat bran. Come to collect it at this time tomorrow."

"Young lady, I have ten baskets at home. Can I collect them all?"

"Take them all, take them all, as many as you can, but you can't cut corners. They have to be sturdy and durable, or I'll come after you later, and don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Yes Yes."

"Good girl."

Xin Nian finally managed to squeeze out of the crowd, grabbed the boy's father's arm, and teleported away with them.

The father and son lived in a brick-built area, and Xin Nian followed them there only to find that the smell was unpleasant.

After all, there were too many people and the air underground didn't circulate much. Even though they had paid great attention to hygiene and built a lot of dry toilets, the father and son's brick building happened to be close to the toilets, so... the smell was terrible.

But the father and son were used to it.

Xin Nian also knew that only those with good conditions had many problems. In fact, it was very difficult for ordinary people to find a place near a water source to settle down and have enough to eat and drink every day.

This four-story brick building houses a full fifteen families! Every small room is crammed with people. Seeing this scene, Xin Nian couldn't help but recall the situation of the tenement building in her previous life, and her scalp tingled.

The father and son lived in the leftmost cubicle on the third floor, where there were three women from three generations: the man's mother, wife, and eldest daughter.

Upon seeing the man bring back a clean and pretty young girl, the wife was taken aback and quickly stepped forward to greet him, "And who is this?"

"It's the sixth young lady of the Xin family. The daughter of the troupe leader who recently moved in."

"Oh, oh." Upon hearing this, the woman bowed respectfully again, repeatedly saying, "Thank you, young lady. It's all thanks to the commander who hired my eldest son into the construction team that our family has a way to make a living."

Xin Nian then realized that in addition to the father and son and the three generations of women, the eldest son would also be living in the small cubicle!

No wonder they set up a bunk bed against the wall; both the people on the top and bottom bunks must have to curl up to lie down. It must be so arduous.

From this perspective, ground-based defensive fortifications and bases need to be built as soon as possible. Underground cities are crowded with people in small spaces, and the mixed air makes living underground unhealthy for long periods of time.

Once the ground is finished, the underground can be repaired. Then, the experienced construction workers can be consulted to see if a second basement level can be dug deeper, just in case. Thinking this way, Xin Nian felt even more urgent.

There's a shortage of manpower; the 3,000 people building it are still too slow. In her opinion, it would be better to requisition 10,000 people and start with the entire population building it, so as to build the base framework as quickly as possible.

"Young lady, the room is cramped and we haven't been able to take good care of you..." The woman awkwardly wiped her hands on her apron and turned to pour water.

Xin Nian quickly stopped her, "No need, no need, I'm just here to buy something and then I'll leave."

"Oh, right." The man realized what he meant and quickly patted his youngest son's bottom. "Go and find all those shiny stones you've collected for the young lady."

After a moment, Xin Nian stared at the dozen or so glowing stones of various sizes inside the mahogany box, her eyes crinkling with laughter.

One of them was about the same size as the large energy source stone she had cleaved out of a remote corner of the earth with her spatial blade.

The remaining ten or so pieces varied in size, with the largest being the size of a fist and the smallest the size of an olive pit.

She specially brought a mahogany box to store it, because she was worried that the small energy source stone would be instantly absorbed by her and turned into powder and light.

There's no need to worry about large energy stones; just hold them in your hand and feel their weight, and they'll only absorb a tiny bit of energy from them.

Xin Nian reached out and patted the little boy's head, then smiled and said to his parents, "I'll take all these stones. Hmm, see what you want."

"Padded jackets and trousers, charcoal, rice, flour, cooking oil, vegetables, fruits, meat, eggs, and fish are all acceptable."

The boy's father gaped, initially thinking he was hallucinating.

What? These broken stones can be exchanged for rice, flour, cooking oil, and other goods?

Xin Nian said with a smile, "These stones are quite valuable to me."

She pointed to a fist-sized luminous stone and explained to them, “It’s about this size. I can give you fifty catties of white rice, a bag of winter dates, and two bags of potatoes or sweet potatoes. I can also give you fifteen catties of pork, or ten catties of mutton or beef.”

“This largest piece is even more valuable.” Xin Nian explained the exchange rate, then looked at the family’s astonished expression and said helplessly, “Well, your place is too small to hold all this stuff. I’ll have someone move you to a large two-room mud house.”

"Tell me what you need, and I'll get it for you. If you're short of anything or want to exchange for something else, just let me know."

This sudden windfall left this simple, honest farming family completely stunned!
They had no idea how they got out with this incredibly resourceful girl, nor how they ended up in the mud house and accepted half a room's worth of things from her.

The old woman, trembling, was about to kneel and kowtow to the little girl when Xin Nian gave her a look, and two guards rushed forward to help her up.

"Alright, settle down and live a good life." Xin Nian exchanged the winter supplies she wanted with them and left the earthen house happily.

"Xiao Wei."

"Yes, miss, I'm here. What are your orders?" Wei Chi had changed the house for the family and had been following the girl around ever since. He had witnessed the little girl constantly pulling things out like a peddler carrying a load, which was incredibly amazing.

He now feels nothing but admiration and reverence for the young lady from His Highness's family.

Xin Nian smiled and said, "Go to the central square and post a notice that anyone who finds a glowing stone can come to me to exchange it for supplies."

"Yes." Wei Chi nodded. "I will have the stone drawn immediately and post it out right away."

Xin Nian was pleased. "The weather has been getting colder lately. You should issue another notice to recruit another 5,000 people for the construction team. We need to hurry and try to complete the initial framework of the city's defenses before the extreme cold fully arrives."