I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

When we checked in, the innkeeper said that there was a water shortage in the city and the inn did not provide hot water. If we wanted to fetch water, we had to go to one of the official wells in the city.

You just have to get up early, otherwise you won't be able to buy any. The queue can stretch from the east side of the city to the west side.

After tidying up their belongings, the people who were short of water planned to get up early the next morning, go to the well to fetch water, and come back to drink to their heart's content.

As soon as the door closed, Zhao Ningning slipped back into her spatial dimension to fetch water.

There was an open space for bathing, so Ning's mother took out the wooden tub she used to bathe at home from her space. Since there was plenty of time, she didn't use the hot water that had been heated in her space, but waited for Zhao Ningning to bring the water out.

Taking advantage of this break, Ning's mother laid out the food. The room was stuffy and hot, so she didn't take any hot food, only hot pancakes as the main dish, and all the side dishes were cold.

There were vacuum-packed braised beef in the freezer. Ning's mother asked Zhao Ningning to take out a package and cut off a piece.

The cold dishes we made earlier were almost gone on the road, so Ning's mom brought out the whole bowl. She said that if we finished them today, she would make some more before we set off tomorrow so we could eat them on the road.

When Zhao Ningning had almost finished carrying the water, her mother called her over to eat first.

After dinner, the group took turns showering, and Zhao Ningning acted as the water carrier, carrying water back and forth several times.

After everyone had finished showering, Zhao Ningning returned to her space, covered in sweat, and took a refreshing shower there.

While washing, Zhao Ningning thought: If only the others could also enter the space, then we wouldn't have to carry water back and forth.

After eating and taking a shower, it was time to go to bed. There was only one bed in the room, big enough for two people to sleep in.

Ning's mother originally wanted Zhao Qi to sleep in the same bed as Ning's father, but Zhao Qi insisted on sleeping on a makeshift bed on the floor. The two parents had no choice but to go along with their child's wishes.

Zhao Ningning is still the same as always, sleeping in her private room.

The entryway became her usual little haven.

With the lights off, the temperature-controlled space is neither too hot nor too cold, making it especially comfortable to sleep in.

The four of them fell into a deep sleep.

In the middle of the night, the quiet inn suddenly became noisy. Ning's father rubbed his eyes and got up, pressing down on Ning's mother who wanted to get up as well. He said, "You go back to sleep, I'll go see what's going on."

As he spoke, he got up and opened the door.

The corridor was noisy. Ning's father peeked out and saw that everyone in the corridor, just like him, had been woken up from their half-asleep state and were opening their doors to look outside.

Downstairs, the shopkeeper was questioning the waiter.

He was halfway through his dream when he was forcibly woken up. Enraged, he held up a candlestick while the innkeeper listened to the waiter's explanation.

The waiter had barely opened his mouth when the people around him started chattering away, their voices coming from all directions, making the shopkeeper's head buzz.

However, he also discerned the truth from these conflicting words.

Let's go back four hours.

The villagers of Wangli Village split into two groups at the guesthouse. One group chose to stay at the guesthouse, while the other group thought the guesthouse was too expensive and decided to spend the night in a dead-end alley where no one was around.

However, the patrolling constables saw people fleeing famine running around in the streets and kept chasing them. As they ran, they reached the north side of the county town, where for some reason there were hardly any people.

Although the house was dilapidated, at least no officials came to chase them away. They each chose an alley and rested by the wall.

The Zhao family did the same. They found a relatively clean alley, placed their cart against the wall of someone's courtyard, and then took down their clay stove to start a fire and cook porridge.

It was supposed to be porridge, but each person could only get a sparse spoonful with a few grains of rice at the bottom. Zhao Huilan held the bowl and licked the bottom, her eyes fixed on the pot.

not enough to eat.

There's still rice in the pot.

Taking advantage of the moment when Granny Qian lowered her head to drink her porridge, she reached out to grab the earthenware pot. Her movements were extremely fast; she grabbed the spoon in one swift motion.

The spoon stopped abruptly in mid-air; it turned out that Granny Qian had intervened.

Granny Qian grabbed her granddaughter's hand and said unhappily, "What are you doing! Didn't I give you some food?"

Zhao Huilan watched helplessly as a spoonful of porridge remained stuck in the water, and couldn't help but purse her lips, "Milk..."

"Even calling for milk won't work. I'll save this porridge to soothe my stomach!"

Granny Qian put the lid on the earthenware pot and held it carefully in her arms.

I didn't let go of her hand until I went to sleep.

As soon as the patrolling constables went on duty, the city suddenly became fraught with danger.

In the once quiet and deserted alley, people kept dragging their feet back and forth, and when they passed their carriage, their eyes burned with intense passion even in the darkness.

Even though she couldn't see them, Granny Qian could sense them! Their gazes were sticky and blurry, almost tangible.

Granny Qian was starting to regret not staying at the inn. Holding the large earthenware pot, she asked nervously, "Old man,... will this be alright?"

"What could possibly be wrong!" Old Zhao waved his hand. "Go away! We're refugees, too poor to afford an inn. This cart only has some firewood left, nothing to see here!"

Driven by the presence of people, passersby quickened their pace and left the area.

Granny Qian, holding the pot, settled down to sleep peacefully in the innermost corner.

Unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, a hand touched her chest. Startled, Granny Qian screamed.

The shout startled the rest of the Zhao family. The outstretched hand didn't stop; instead, it slapped Granny Qian across the face, saying viciously, "Give me the money!"

Stunned by the slap, Granny Qian froze for a moment, then covered her face and cried out, "Robbery! Thieves!"

"What are you yelling for!" The man reached out and slapped Granny Qian twice more, making her cheeks burn.

You don't even need to look to know that her face is swollen!

Old Zhao's two sons and one grandson are all in their prime. Since someone has bullied them to their doorstep, they certainly won't let this person off easily.

Zhao Laoda rushed over, eager to avenge his mother, but before he could even touch the thief, he accidentally stepped on his mother's leg.

Granny Qian let out another scream.

It was too dark, and she assumed it was the work of thieves. She had never been treated like this before. She abandoned the earthenware pot in her hand, put it against the wall, rolled up her sleeves, got up, and reached out to hit the thief.

"Snap"

A loud slap echoed through the night sky, followed by several more slaps. Granny Qian saw stars and raised her hand to slap someone, but she grabbed someone's arm and couldn't wait to slap them.

"Ouch!"

—Why does that voice sound familiar?

Granny Qian was suspicious. She reached out and touched the man's face. It turned out to be Boss Zhao!

Based on the short stature, Zhao Laoda realized that the person who hit him was his own mother. He called out plaintively, "Mother..."

Before the mother and son could catch up, the robbers grabbed knives and pressed them against Zhao Laoda's waist. Zhao Laoda's voice trembled as he cried out, "What...what do you want to do! Don't kill me!"

"Kill? What do you mean, kill you!" Granny Qian thought the eldest brother was talking nonsense, so she pulled his arm and dragged him to the side.

"Just hand over the money! Stop talking nonsense!"

Granny Qian originally intended to rely on the fact that she had three strong young men to beat this ungrateful person back, but unexpectedly, before they could even make a move, a group of people surrounded the place.

One of them brought over a torch, and at a glance, there were at least six or seven people surrounding the area, three of whom were holding daggers.

There was another one standing to the side, his arms bulging with stuffing.

"Sixth Brother, why are you arguing with them? Just fight them."

When the man spoke, Granny Qian observed the respectful manner of the others towards him and realized that he was clearly the leader of the robbery gang.

The man called Lao Liu thrust his dagger forward, and Zhao Laoda's thin, coarse linen summer shirt immediately ripped a large hole.

He dared not move or look down, but he could clearly feel a pain in his lower back.

It must have been cut!

Old Zhao, his face contorted with grief, cried out, "Mother..."

"You...you release my son!" Granny Qian said, trembling. "We have no money! Not a single copper coin left!"

The leader of the thugs raised his chin, and the other three men with daggers moved swiftly. In the next second, Zhao Laosan, Zhao Wenyuan, and Cao Rouan were captured.

Old Zhao: Are you discriminating against me?

"We really have no money left..." Granny Qian spread her hands and sat on the ground, wailing.

"The county government is so corrupt, they even charge money to enter the city gate!"

Our whole family has farmed the land our entire lives, working hard to earn just a few taels of silver. We can't bear to eat or drink anything with that money!

"They were all taken away by that heartless, corrupt official!"

"They even scavenged the leftover bran from the truck! They're leaving no way for anyone to survive!"

Granny Qian cried and wailed so loudly that the lights in several neighboring houses were turned on.

The gang leader's face changed, and he cursed, "Damn it, let's go! What an inauspicious start!"

They were planning to rob you first and then his, but the first house they encountered was run into such an amazing old woman. Her voice was as loud as a rooster crowing, and you could hear her howling for miles around.

He spat in frustration, cursed, and kicked the nearest old man, Zhao, twice before hurriedly leaving with his henchmen.

Old Zhao: ...

So he wasn't the one who got taken hostage, but he did get beaten up?

No sooner had this group of thieves left than another group arrived.

Granny Qian: "..."

When will this ever end?!

The residents of Wangli Village, who lived in the nearby alleys, were awakened by the commotion before they could sleep soundly.

They were either robbed or woken up by noise and saw someone robbing them in the dark, so they were too scared to go back to sleep.

We can't just wait until dawn; even if we get through tonight, there's still tomorrow night!

You can't stay up all night!

When the people of Wangli Village got together, they discussed it and said: Well, they just wanted to make do with staying outside, but who would have thought they would be robbed? After all that trouble, they still have to pay up.

The group walked noisily toward the inn.

Along the way, they had to avoid the officials patrolling the main road. When they finally arrived at the inn, the door was closed.

What followed was the scene we just witnessed—knocking on the door in the middle of the night, demanding to stay at the inn.

The innkeeper was having a headache as he arranged accommodations for them.

After hearing the gossip, Ning's father closed and bolted the bedroom door, propped it up with a table, and then went back to bed.

Holding the curling stone, Ning's father saw that Ning's mother was already half asleep, so he didn't disturb her. He could gossip about this little thing with her tomorrow.

I slept in the inn for one night and was covered in sweat.

Before leaving in the morning, the group took another shower. Ning's mother collected the wastewater and planned to either dump it somewhere or store it in her spatial storage.

After getting everything ready and eating the big steamed buns that Ning's mother had made, Ning's mother told the two children to rest at the inn.

They have important business to attend to today; they need to go out and exchange money!

Despite the sweltering heat, Ning's parents still wrapped their heads with thin cloths.

They were dressed in nice clothes that they didn't usually wear in Wangli Village, and they looked clean and tidy, as if they had never experienced the famine.

There was no need to even look for a yard; Ning's father simply found a dead end and told Ning's mother to wait there.

He would wait outside the grain store and, shamelessly, approach those dressed in silk or fine cotton clothes to solicit customers.

One by one, they led people directly into the alley.

Who are all those people outside the grain store? They're all there to buy grain because they're short of it.

Zhao Ningning's space can refresh food. Although the kitchen was full of half-bags of rice and noodles, little by little, she managed to accumulate six large bags.

Not to mention, there was still some food stored up before. Ning's mother roughly counted and there were still twenty bags of food left in the space. She kept eight bags and took the rest out to sell!

While waiting outside the grain store, Ning's father also inquired about the price. The price of rice had now soared to eighty wen per jin!

There was no market for it, and the grain shops only put out three bags of grain to sell each day. Each person could only buy two jin (1 kg), and even if you lined up early in the morning, you might not be able to buy any.

Therefore, when they heard someone selling grain, those who hadn't bought any, despite their doubts, still went to buy some.

Upon entering the alley, the grain sacks on the ground nearly blinded the man.

"Can I buy all of these?" He carefully went over to look at the money, clutching his silver.

Ning's mother, with her keen eye, opened the bag and showed him that it was indeed filled with pure white rice!

"Three bags of rice, three bags of wheat flour, and the rest are all coarse grains and flour." After saying that, Ning's father asked, "How much do you want to buy? I don't have a scale here, so it's sold by the basin. One basin costs two hundred coins."

As he spoke, Ning's father raised the wooden basin in his hand. A level basin weighed less than two pounds, but these days it was good enough to be able to buy grain!

The person who came with Ning's father was the steward of a wealthy family in Heqing County. Although the family was not short of food and drink for the masters for the time being, the grain in the warehouse was gradually decreasing, and there were only a few bags of fine rice and flour left.

He went out to buy things every day, but he still couldn't keep up with his masters' consumption.

"Buy! I'll buy them all!" Manager Hao waved his hand and took them all!

Ning's father estimated the price for him: the bag weighed about 100 jin, and he would sell it for 90 wen per jin, so the bag could sell for 9 taels of silver!

Refined rice and flour are more expensive; twelve bags of grain cost one hundred and fifty taels of silver.

Manager Hao didn't even blink when he heard the price. He insisted that the man in front of him keep it for him. He didn't have enough silver on him, so he took out the five taels of silver he had in his pocket as a deposit and hurriedly ran home to get more silver.

Ning's father held the still-warm silver coins, finding it somewhat amusing.

This person wasn't afraid that they would run away with the money.

Before long, Steward Hao rushed over again, bringing not only the silver but also several carriages with sidecars.

After paying the money, Manager Hao carefully opened the bag and checked every single bag. He then used a specially made iron tool to poke out the grain at the bottom. Only after confirming that everything was in order did he have people move it into the carriage.

Ning's father asked curiously, "Manager Hao, why are you being so cautious?"

Manager Hao thought the seller was angry, so he quickly wiped his sweat and said with a smile, "Good brother, to tell you the truth, I was cheated once when I bought grain, and someone mixed in moldy old grain with sand! Ever since then, I've checked the grain like this before I can feel at ease."

"Is that so?" Seeing him running around anxiously and covered in sweat, Ning's father comforted him, "It's nothing, I was just curious."

After the money was exchanged, Manager Hao thanked him repeatedly and then ordered his men to carefully cover the carriage door before heading back.

Having completed their task of exchanging grain for silver, Ning's parents stored the silver in their spatial storage and then took a detour back to the inn.