In times of chaos and famine, I traded one pound of rice for two royal flushes.

The yamen runners and the crowd of onlookers scattered like birds and beasts, and soon only Qin Shaolang and two little girls trembling like leaves remained in front of the post station.

Under the blazing sun, yellow sand lashed against our faces.

The atmosphere became quite awkward.

Qin Shaolang looked down at the "personal register document" in his arms, which was even worse than a piece of toilet paper, then looked at Su Jin, who was kneeling on the ground and still in the position of kowtowing, and the little one behind her who was almost crying herself unconscious.

"Um...can I get up now?" Qin Shaolang asked, his voice a little dry.

Su Jin's body trembled violently, and she slowly raised her head.

Her forehead was covered in yellow dust mixed with sweat, making her look utterly disheveled. Her once delicate face was now etched with despair and deathly stillness.

She didn't get up, but said in a calm tone, almost as if facing death, "Young master, please... give me a quick death. We sisters will repay you in our next life as your slaves."

Her younger sister, Su Tang, standing behind her, was so frightened by these words that she stopped crying and her small body trembled even more violently.

Qin Shaolang: "..."

I'm so damn pissed off.

This script is wrong! Shouldn't they be extremely grateful, bow down in gratitude, and remain loyal to each other from then on? Why are they trying to kill themselves right from the start?

"Seriously, what kind of logic is that?" Qin Shaolang felt his brain was a bit out of sync with the pace of ancient people. "I just spent a pound of grain to buy you, and you want to die in front of me? Wouldn't that be a loss for me?"

Su Jin gave a bitter smile, her eyes vacant: "Going to the border to be a military prostitute is worse than death. It's better to die in front of you now, young master, at least... I'll still be innocent."

Qin Shaolang finally understood.

So, the girl actually took his flirtatious words that he had just used to fool Boss Wang seriously.

He felt a headache, even worse than when he had just woken up from a hangover.

"Get up!" Qin Shaolang's tone became more forceful.

Su Jin bit her lip and remained motionless.

Qin Shaolang sighed, too lazy to waste any more words. He bent down, picked up the two sisters, one in each hand, and lifted them up from the ground.

Although the original owner was physically weak, he was, after all, the descendant of a general, and his constitution was still intact. He was more than capable of lifting two girls who were as thin as chicks.

"Ah!" Su Tang exclaimed in fright.

Su Jin also looked terrified and instinctively tried to struggle.

"Don't move!" Qin Shaolang hissed. "If you move again, I'll throw you both back to that leader Wang!"

These words were more effective than anything else; the two sisters froze instantly, not daring to move an inch.

"Come with me." Qin Shaolang said succinctly, and carried the two of them toward the back of the post station.

The place he's living in now is a... storage room that the original owner managed to get from the postmaster by using the last bit of face he had left.

After passing through the stinking stable and around a half-collapsed woodshed, a solitary thatched hut came into view.

The thatch on the roof was sparse and loose, crumbling down with every gust of wind. The cracks in the earthen walls were cleaner than Qin Shaolang's wallet; even a mouse that went in would come out with tears in its eyes, and would have to pay extra for it.

The door was just two broken wooden planks pieced together, without even a hinge, leaning against the door frame, emphasizing a carefree attitude.

Qin Shao-Lang kicked the "door" open, and a smell mixed with mold, rancidity and an unknown rotten odor rushed out.

"Cough cough cough!"

Qin Shaolang himself was choked quite badly.

He put the two sisters down and went inside first.

The house was utterly bare, literally bare. Apart from a pile of rotten straw spread in the corner to serve as a bed, there was nothing else that could be called "furniture."

This is his home now.

A hellish start, worse than even the beginner village.

Su Jin and Su Tang followed behind him, completely stunned by the scene before them.

They thought their family was poor enough, but little did they know... there were even poorer families.

The legendary young master of the Qin family, who supposedly squandered his entire fortune, actually lives in a place like this.

Ignoring their shock, Qin Shaolang plopped down on the pile of straw, feeling as if his bones were about to fall apart.

He needs to calm down and carefully plan his next steps.

He was definitely going to the border; that was the law. But he couldn't be a fool and go to his death.

He has to live.

Not only must we live, we must live well.

Just as he was deep in thought, Su Jin suddenly pulled her younger sister down to her knees again with a "thump".

Qin Shaolang: "?"

Sister, how much do you like this pose?

"Young master," Su Jin said this time, not with despair, but with a hint of determination, "I know you were lying to that constable."

"Oh?" Qin Shaolang raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"If you really wanted to send us to be military prostitutes, you wouldn't have brought us here." Su Jin's logic was clear: "You yourself are already struggling to survive, why bother with all this trouble?"

Qin Shaolang mentally gave it a thumbs up.

Not bad, you're quite sharp.

"So?" He looked at her with a leisurely air.

Su Jin took a deep breath, as if she had made a tremendous decision: "Young master saved my sister and me, and we have no way to repay this kindness. From today onwards, I, Su Jin, belong to you. I will do whatever you ask. I only beg you... to spare my sister; she is still young."

As she spoke, she began to untie the belt of her already tattered coarse cloth dress.

His movements were slow and clumsy, his body trembled uncontrollably, but his eyes were unusually firm.

Su Tang, standing nearby, turned pale with fright and frantically shook her head, clutching her clothes, "Sister, no, no..."

Qin Shaolang's mind went blank.

What the hell!

What kind of plot twist is this?

After the forced purchase and sale, it was a buy-one-get-one-free deal, and now they want to inspect the goods on the spot?

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" Qin Shaolang tried to do a somersault... but failed and almost strained his back. He could only get up awkwardly and rush over to hold Su Jin's hand.

"What are you doing! Trying to scam me?"

Su Jin was taken aback by his shout.

"Let me tell you," Qin Shaolang felt his worldview being shaken, "I, Qin Shaolang, although poor and down on my luck, have never come to the point where I have to force women to find a sense of existence!"

He pointed to his head: "I saved you because of this," then pointed to his chest, "and this place. I couldn't bear to watch you being pushed into the fire. Understand?"

"I'm a doctor, not an animal."

He said those last words very softly, but they were like a stone that struck the hearts of Su Jin and Su Tang.

doctor?

They didn't understand that word. But they understood "beast."

Su Jin stared blankly at Qin Shaolang, forgetting to do anything.

Qin Shaolang released his grip, took two steps back, and rubbed his throbbing temples.

"Alright, stop kneeling. My temple is too small to accommodate you two big shots." He waved his hand, his tone full of exhaustion. "What I said earlier was a lie. I won't do anything to you. But I can't support idlers either. If you want to survive, you all have to work."

He looked around the dilapidated house.

"Now, we face three problems."

"First, there's no food to eat. My one pound of grain is all gone."

"Secondly, there's nowhere to sleep. This pile of hay is only this big."

"Third, I'm going to the border in three days. You two have to come with me."

Every problem is like a mountain, pressing down on you and making it hard to breathe.

The color that had just returned to Su Jin and Su Tang's faces quickly faded again.

Yes, they escaped the clutches of the yamen runners, but the crisis of survival had only just begun.

"So, we need to think of something." Qin Shaolang's gaze swept over them. "What can you two do?"

Su Jin pursed her lips and said softly, "I can... I can do laundry and cook, I can sew, I... I can even go to the mountains to dig for wild vegetables."

"I...I can too..." Su Tang, the younger sister, added timidly, her voice barely audible.

"Very good." Qin Shaolang nodded.

Having skills is enough.

"Now, split up." He stood up, brushing the grass clippings off his clothes. "I'll go get some decent food. You two, go and see if there are any edible wild vegetables or dry firewood around here. Remember, don't go too far, and be careful."

"A main dish?" Su Jin asked, puzzled.

"It's meat," Qin Shaolang said succinctly.

After saying that, he walked out of the hut.

Get meat? How? He didn't even have a knife on him.

Su Jin was full of questions, but watching Qin Shaolang's departing figure, she didn't dare to ask any more. She took her sister's hand and whispered, "Tang'er, let's go and find some wild vegetables."

……

Qin Shaolang left the thatched hut and headed straight for a small river not far from the post station.

This is the place he had observed when he woke up yesterday.

As a top-notch military medic, wilderness survival is a mandatory course. On the battlefield without medical equipment, using whatever resources are available and struggling to survive are commonplace.

Although the original owner's body was weak, his mind contained a complete knowledge base of modern medicine and wilderness survival.

That's his biggest advantage!

By the river, he found a resilient vine and searched through the crevices of the rocks for a long time before finding a sharp-edged stone slab.

I cut the vines with a stone shard and tested the strength in my hand.

Then, he took off his coat, leaving only his shorts, took a deep breath, and plunged into the water.

The water is shallow and crystal clear.

Soon, he spotted several plump river fish swimming leisurely among the water plants.

Qin Shaolang's eyes lit up.

He didn't grab it with his hands; that would have been too stupid.

He dived to the bottom of the water, quickly dug a small pit with the stone, and then made a simple camouflage with some small stones and seaweed.

This is a simple trap.

Then, he swam downstream and began to stir up the mud and sand at the bottom of the water.

When fish are startled, they will instinctively swim upstream, and the pit he dug is right on their path.

Sure enough, not long after, several fish, panicked and disoriented, plunged headfirst into the trap he had set.

Qin Shaolang quickly swam over, threaded the vines through the fish's gills, and tied them together securely.

Half an hour later, when Qin Shaolang walked out of the river carrying five big, fat fish that were jumping around, he couldn't help but want to whistle.

This business acumen is absolutely top-notch!

On the other hand, Su Jin and Su Tang were not so lucky.

They wandered around the nearby mountains and forests for half a day, but didn't find many wild vegetables. Instead, because they were unfamiliar with the terrain, they went deeper and deeper into the mountains.

"Sister, I'm scared." Su Tang clutched Su Jin's clothes tightly, her face pale.

The surrounding woods grew denser, and the light dimmed.

"Don't be afraid, we'll go back right away." Su Jin comforted her sister, though she herself felt a little uneasy.

Just then, a low wolf howl came from the woods not far away.

"Awooo—"

The two sisters' faces turned completely pale in an instant!

It's a wolf!

"Run!" That was the only thought in Su Jin's mind. She grabbed her sister and ran back for her life.

The howling of wolves behind them grew closer, and tree branches tore at their clothes and skin, but the two women were oblivious, only knowing to run wildly with their heads down.

When they scrambled back to the dilapidated hut, both of them were out of breath, and Su Jin had a long, bloody gash on her arm.

They leaned against the wall, still shaken, panting heavily.

Just then, Qin Shaolang returned, carrying a string of fish and swaying back and forth.

Seeing their disheveled appearance, he frowned and quickly walked over.

"What happened?"

Upon seeing him, Su Tang felt as if she had found her pillar of support, and burst into tears, crying, "Wolves... there are wolves..."

Qin Shaolang immediately looked at Su Jin's arm, where the wound was still bleeding.

Without saying a word, he threw the fish in his hand on the ground, grabbed Su Jin's arm, and began to examine it carefully.

"The wound isn't deep, it's alright." He tore a relatively clean strip of cloth from his own clothes and neatly bandaged her wound.

The movements were skillful, fast, and steady.

Su Jin stared at him blankly.

Watching him intently tend to his wounds, and looking at the several large, fat fish still wriggling on the ground.

This man solved their biggest survival crisis in just one afternoon.

But they almost became the wolf's snack.

A complex and inexplicable emotion welled up in my heart.

There was a sense of relief at surviving a disaster, a shock at his abilities, and a hint of... inexplicable dependence.

This so-called spendthrift son seems... completely different from the legend.

He's not a good person; he admits it himself.

But he wasn't a bad person either.

After bandaging the wound, Qin Shaolang stood up and clapped his hands.

"Alright, stop crying." He glanced at Su Tang, then said to Su Jin, "Dinner's all taken care of tonight."