I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

Just as Sun was about to speak, she saw her husband return from outside. Two streams of tears immediately streamed down her cheeks. She dropped the stone, rushed over, and buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing, "Tiebao... I can't take it anymore! My sister-in-law hit me..."

Zhao Tiebao patted his wife on the shoulder and comforted her, "What happened? Tell me later."

Why wait until later? Because there's something more important to say right now.

The two women were walking home quickly and only heard the "increase in grain tax" before leaving without listening further.

Zhao Tiebao heard everything from his own father: taxes were calculated per capita, with two shi of grain levied on each adult male!

Last year's harvest was poor, and the price of one shi (a unit of dry measure) was already enough to make many families tighten their belts just to survive. If it rose to two shi... Zhao Tiebao simply dared not think about it.

Last year, the Zhao family's forty mu of land only yielded seventy shi of grain. After deducting the family's ten shi of poll tax, they exchanged a lot of coarse grains and wild vegetables to barely survive until today.

This year's grain tax is double that of last year, I'm afraid... it's going to be tough.

At this moment, Zhao Tiebao began to feel fortunate that he hadn't made a fuss about dividing the family property, as the grain could still be paid from the public funds.

The noise in the front yard subsided after a while, but thankfully no one was fighting this time. After listening to the commotion, Zhao Ningning lowered and closed the window tightly, then whispered to her parents, "How much grain do we need to contribute?"

Ning's father gave a thumbs-up and said, "Two shi per person. The exact amount of two shi depends on how they measure it here."

"Each person is responsible for two shi, which is about 120 kilograms of grain. In our family, only my parents have to pay, and they have to pay 240 kilograms," Zhao Qi added.

The reason he knew so much detail was because when the Zhao family still had the money to send Zhao Tiebao and Zhao Wenyuan to a private school, the original owner secretly followed them and eavesdropped by the window for a while.

Zhao Qi whispered about this, then asked, "I wonder if the grain harvested from the two mu of land allocated to the family will be enough?"

The thought of the two acres of cracked, dry fields with their withered grains left all four of them speechless.

"Fine," Zhao Ningning sighed, "I still need to make money."

With the harvest season fast approaching and the grain tax due in just a few days, the whole family needed to get moving and earn money. Without a word, they packed up. Ning's father, whose leg was still injured, was left at home to rest, while Ning's mother took the two children to town.

The business is hot right now, so we can't delay doing business any longer.

The nearest town to Wangli Village was eight miles away. When they were halfway there, Zhao Ningning's small body couldn't take it anymore, so her mother chose a shady spot to stop, and the three of them sat down to rest.

Seeing that there was no one on either side of the road, Zhao Ningning took out the bowls of ice jelly that she had specially prepared before leaving from her space and handed one bowl to each person.

"Luckily, Ningning is smart." Ning's mother praised, picked up her chopsticks and ate a few bites. The bowl seemed to be cooler when eaten in Zhao Ningning's space. After a few bites, most of the heat in her body was swept away.

Zhao Ningning was so tired that she didn't have the strength to speak. She was also hungry. She had only been able to walk this far by sheer willpower. After serving the ice jelly to her mother and brother, she held the bowl herself and slowly ate the ice jelly.

After a short while, the three of them had rested enough.

After finishing his ice jelly, Zhao Qi handed the bowl back to his sister. "We've walked about halfway. We're not far from town now. Keep going!"

Zhao Ningning clenched her fist and weakly gave him a thumbs-up. She put the empty bowl back into her spatial storage, and the three continued on their journey, finally arriving at Shiqiao Town before noon.

Shiqiao Town, being a small town adjacent to the county seat, is more prosperous than other towns. It was noon, and there were still many stalls on both sides of the main street. Ning's mother, with her child, stopped in front of a stall selling sweet soup, bought three bowls of sweet soup, and then went to the stall next door that sold steamed buns.

The sweet soup stall had tables and chairs. As soon as Zhao Ningning sat down, the stall owner, a young woman, filled the bowls with sweet soup and brought them to each person. Zhao Ningning took one, scooped it up with a spoon, and drank a sip. It was sweet.

Using the shade of the oil-paper umbrella overhead, she kept fanning herself with her hand.

—I definitely need to buy a big palm-leaf fan later, this weather is unbearably hot!

"Here, have some pancakes." Ning's mother took the freshly baked pancakes from the oven, and Zhao Ningning and Zhao Qi obediently took them. They ate a pancake and drank mung bean soup, and their empty stomachs were quickly soothed by the food.

Ning's mother ate faster than her two children. Taking advantage of the break, she asked the stall owner which stall in town sold the best buckets. The young woman pointed her in the right direction. Ning's mother thanked her, and just then, Ningning and Xiaoqi finished eating. After paying the money, Ning's mother tied up her purse and took the children on a shopping spree.

The wooden buckets with lids cost eighty-eight coins each, and the small buckets cost sixty-six coins each. Ning's mother thought they were quite sturdy, so she gritted her teeth and bought two large and two small buckets. These were essential items for daily life, and even if she stopped doing business later, her family would still need them.

The grocery store also sold coarse porcelain bowls, so we decided to buy some there as well. Each bowl cost four coins, and Ning's mother bought twenty of them, along with twenty matching porcelain spoons.

Seeing the small, lidded red clay jars used for storing lard, Zhao Ningning tugged at her mother's sleeve, asked the price, and ordered eight.

All of this added up to a total of 338 coins, leaving my purse more than half empty.

Although the general store had large palm-leaf fans, Zhao Ningning couldn't bear to buy any more; she needed to save the rest of her money for emergencies! And her father's leg—she needed to save up some money to get it treated as soon as possible.

The shop assistant helped place the bowls into the wooden bucket and then stuffed some straw in to secure them. Ning's mother lifted it up and shook it to make sure the bowls wouldn't wobble. She then smiled kindly at the shop assistant, thanked him, and led the child out.

It was still early, and there were still baskets to buy. If possible, Ning's mother was also thinking of buying a small iron pot, as they only had one earthenware pot at home, which wasn't very practical.

After asking about prices at the iron shop, Ning's mother completely gave up the idea of ​​buying a pot—iron pots were too expensive!

A pot costs one tael of silver, and the money needed to be used to buy other things. The three of them went to the oil and salt shop and bought a small jar of rapeseed oil and a small jar of salt.

They hadn't gone far from the oil and salt shop when the three of them were lucky enough to run into an old man selling baskets at a stall.

The old man leaned against the wall at the entrance of the alley. After noon, when the sun was slightly setting, he sat in the shade of the corner of the wall, constantly weaving something with rattan in his hands. Several baskets of different sizes were placed in front of him.

The basket looked decent, so Ning's mother stepped forward, put down what she was carrying, bent down to look at the largest one, and asked, "Uncle, how much is this basket?"

The old man looked up and greeted them warmly, "Eighteen coins each, but if you really want them, I'll give you two for thirty coins!"

"Grandpa, of course we really want them," Zhao Ningning said, putting down the small wooden bucket she was carrying. "My mother came all the way here specifically to buy your baskets because she knows how well you make them!"

"Yes, sir, I bought a bunch of things at the general store but didn't buy a basket, so I came here specifically to buy one." Ning's mother seized the opportunity to bargain: "Fifteen coins each, I'll take one home!"

The old man was stunned, then sighed. He'd been sitting here all morning without a single customer. Thinking of his grandson at home who'd been fussing all morning for candy, the old man relented: "Alright! I'll give you fifteen coins since you look kind."

As he spoke, he went to help Ning's mother separate the stack of baskets so that she could choose the one that suited her best.

After carefully weighing the contents, Ning's mother put the two small wooden buckets containing the items into a basket, paid the copper coins, and the three of them carried it away.

When they reached the grain store, Ning's mother stopped and said, "Let's buy some more grain."

"Sell grain?" Zhao Ningning asked, puzzled. "Mom...Mother, don't we have grain in a couple of days?"

The package should arrive in two days.

"We should buy less, we can't eat beans every day." Ning's mother put the basket in a shady spot at the entrance of the shop and told the two children to wait.

A moment later, Ning's mother came out of the shop with a solemn expression, carrying a small bag of grain and putting it into a basket.

Once they were out of town, Zhao Qicai asked, "Mom, what happened at the grain store?"

Ning's mother sighed and said, "The price of grain is rising."

According to the original owner's memories, two hundred coins could buy enough fine grains for a family of four to eat for half a month if they were careful with their diet. But now, the same price can only buy enough grains for a week.

"Luckily, we still have food we bought online, but this isn't a long-term solution. The clerk at the grain store told me that the price has gone up several times already, and it's likely to go up again. We need to make money quickly and stock up on some food; this trend is not right." Ning's mother looked around to make sure there were no passersby, then stopped and walked to the side, letting Zhao Ningning put everything into her spatial storage.

—If things continue like this, famine years will turn into disaster years, and we'll probably have to leave Wangli Village and flee to other places to escape famine.

The temperature in the afternoon was not as high as at noon, so the three of them hurried on their way. They only rested for a short while along the way. When they were almost at the village, Ning's mother asked Zhao Ningning to take out the empty buckets and baskets and carry them back with Zhao Qi.

Ning's father cooked red bean soup for himself at noon. After eating, he also boiled a pot of water for his wife and children who were out, thinking that they could drink it when they got home.

When the three returned, he was sitting at the foot of the bed chopping firewood. Because of his limp, he could only chop a few pieces before getting up to pick up the pieces of firewood that flew out of his hands. After collecting the firewood, he would go back to chop more.

This process was repeated over and over, until a small pile of neatly chopped firewood was stacked inside the house.

The three of them felt extremely uncomfortable watching this.

Zhao Qi strode forward, smoothly snatched the wood-chopping knife from his father's hand, and told him to rest aside.

"You're back?" Ning's father wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. "There's some cooled boiled water in the pot. What did you buy?"

Ning's mother showed him the things she had bought in town, and finally took out the bag of grain from the bottom of the basket.

"Grain prices have gone up twice already. Last year, 100 coins could buy 22 catties of coarse grains, but this spring I could only buy 20 catties. Now that the grain tax has been introduced, I can only buy 18 catties of coarse grains today." Ning's mother opened the bag, which contained some brown rice.

Ning's mother and father had both experienced hardship. Eighteen pounds of grain could feed one person for about ten days, and for four people, it was barely enough to keep them from starving.

"It's alright, just hang in there a little longer and we'll be able to fix the vase. Once we sell it, we'll stock up on some food!" Zhao Qi comforted his parents.

The two adults were only slightly worried, but as soon as the child interrupted, Ning's father was immediately distracted by other things.

In the afternoon, Ning's mother took the two children to the river to wash the newly bought wooden bucket and bowls and spoons. When they got back, they laid them out to dry. Zhao Ningning went back into her space to check what she needed to bring to the county town to set up a stall the next day.

Dinner was porridge cooked by Ning's father. He served it out and left it to cool. Ning's mother picked and washed the wild vegetables that had been divided among the family members, washed the earthenware pot with water, and blanched them in boiling water.

I poured the wastewater into a broken red plastic bucket, then heated up an earthenware pot with oil and stir-fried some wild vegetables.

There wasn't even a table in the house, so Zhao Ningning turned the small bucket of cement dust she found upside down and put the thermal underwear that had been used to wrap the vase on top of it. Although the thermal underwear was old, it had been washed clean before being thrown away.

With the table and tablecloth ready, Ning's mother placed the dishes on the table, and the family picked up their chopsticks and began to eat.

After finishing their meal and tidying up, Ning's father tended the clay stove to boil water for tomorrow's stall. Amidst the expectant gazes of the family, Zhao Ningning summoned the system panel.

The only area to explore is Xinyuan Residential Area. Zhao Ningning clicks on "Explore Available," and a system notification pops up:

[System: Skill is on cooldown, please try again later.]

It seems that the whole family's cheat codes have a cooldown period. Zhao Ningning sighed, took out a cardboard fan from her spatial storage and distributed it to her family, then quickly went to sleep.

The next morning, while everyone else was still asleep, Ning's father got up to pour the cold water from the earthenware pot into a small wooden bucket. The earthenware pot was too small; he had boiled two pots the night before, and fearing it wouldn't be enough, he boiled another pot before going to bed and let it cool.

Before the others got up, he put the last pot of water to be used for mixing lime water on the stove. After the fire was lit, Ning's mother finally woke up.

Seeing that Ning's father had boiled water, Ning's mother also got up to tidy up. Zhao Ningning had taken out the ice jelly seeds that she would need today and put them in a clean bucket last night. By the time Ning's mother finished tidying up, Ning's father had already washed his hands and was rubbing the ice jelly on the side.

Living in the same room, the soft, rustling sounds of work were especially noticeable in the early morning. The two children woke up soon after. After counting, Zhao Ningning took over the work from her father, rubbed it until it was almost done, and then poured the ice jelly seeds out of the bag and carefully collected them into the trash bag.

Ning's mother brought over the prepared clear lime water, and Zhao Ningning poured it into the small wooden bucket while stirring it with a large wooden spoon. When she felt it was about right, she stopped and let the ice jelly slowly solidify.

Zhao Qi and Zhao Ningning carried the baskets together, Ningning's mother carried the heaviest small wooden bucket, and Ningning's father, who was at the back, carefully locked the door. Before anyone else got up in the courtyard, the group quickly headed towards the village entrance.

The village's oxcart had already left, but there were still carts in other villages. Ning's father, limping on one leg, led his wife and children along the dirt road for a mile before catching an oxcart to the county town in the next village.

After a bumpy and swaying journey, we finally arrived in the county town before noon.

The oxcart stopped at the entrance of the county town. Ning's mother got off first, then helped Ning's father off.

The county town had a high city wall, and a huge plaque hung under the gate with traditional Chinese characters. Zhao Ningning looked at it for a moment and asked Zhao Qi, "Brother, do you think those two characters are Fengning County?"

"Those are three characters!" Zhao Qi followed Zhao Ningning's gaze and immediately replied, "Yes, the characters here are similar to the traditional characters we encounter when learning classical Chinese."

At least the family wasn't too illiterate in this ancient time. They carried their belongings and followed the crowd toward the county town gate.

In front of the two ancient and heavy gates stood several yamen runners. Everyone entering the county town had to have their household registration checked. After the check was completed, they would look at the things the person was carrying, and finally, each person had to pay two coins.

After the family property was divided, the information of Zhao Ningning's family of four was all on a piece of paper, which was also stamped with the official seal of Fengning County.

After paying the money, Ning's father gave Ning's mother directions.

The county town was roughly divided into the East Market and the West Market. The county government was located near the East Market, which was more formal. Stalls had fixed locations, and each stall cost 20 coins. Stalls could be set up from morning till night, and locations were first-come, first-served.

The West Market is different. There is a free morning market in the West Market, but the morning market ends at eight o'clock. After that, you have to pay to set up a stall. The fee is only fifteen coins, but it is a bit chaotic.

Without a second thought, Ning's mother picked up the wooden bucket and headed east. "Let's go to the East Market!"

The group followed her. Fengning County was small, and after walking for about twenty minutes, they arrived at the street entrance of the East Market. There were yamen runners collecting money at the street entrance. Seeing that the group was carrying buckets and baskets, they realized that they had come to set up a stall, so they stopped them.