Sold immediately after wearing it? I took my family and fled the famine.

The Qian family runs a business in Yongzhou. Although they are not considered a large family, they are among the wealthiest of these refugees. They have carriages and food, so why should they listen to them?

He shifted his gaze to Jiang Xing's face, saying nothing, but the meaning was clear: you tell me, what should we do?

Jiang Xing knew what he was waiting for.

She'd seen those people's eyes these past few days, and they were getting on her nerves. She knew what they were thinking, and she knew what would happen if this loophole wasn't plugged. Some people in the group had already started eating tree bark; if they continued to starve, there wouldn't be enough tree bark to eat, so what would they eat?

"Go find Scholar Chen," Jiang Xing said.

Ma Dadan was stunned for a moment.

"Let Scholar Chen go and talk to Master Qian first. He's a scholar, and his words carry more weight than yours. If that doesn't work, then you can go."

"What should I say if I go?"

"To put it another way, we're not asking him to distribute grain, we're asking him to sell it. Don't set the price too high, just a price everyone can afford. Brown rice or coarse grain flour, whatever you have, sell it all." Jiang Xing paused for a moment. "You do the math with him. We're still at least a month and a half away from the Southwest Prefecture City, and because of the weather, we're already half a month behind schedule. If things get chaotic in the ranks, and some people get so hungry they start looting, will he be able to keep his meager rations?"

Ma Dadan's eyes lit up.

"He's not stupid," Jiang Xing said. "He can tell which option is in his best interest."

Ma Dadan stood up and patted the snow off his knees: "I'm going to find Scholar Chen."

Shen Dehou also stood up: "I'll go and talk to each household to get their money together."

After the two men left, Uncle San lit his pipe, took a puff, and the smoke lingered in the shed, making people cough.

Jiang Xing lifted the curtain a crack to let the smoke out. The snow outside had stopped, and there were a few stars in the sky, as cold as shards of ice.

When they rested the next day, Ma Dadan returned. He squatted down next to Jiang Xing and lowered his voice, saying, "Chen Xiucai is gone. Master Qian is much easier to talk to than you and I thought."

Jiang Xing glanced at him.

"He agreed to sell grain, coarse rice, ten copper coins a pound, with a limit of fifty pounds per person." Ma Dadan's tone carried a hint of surprise and relief. "He also said that if it wasn't enough, he would find another way later."

Ten copper coins a pound. Higher than the usual price of grain, but not outrageously high.

Those who still have money can afford it if they grit their teeth.

Jiang Xing didn't speak. She knew that Master Qian wasn't easy to talk to, but rather clever. Rather than being targeted by others, she would rather bleed a little and nip the trouble in the bud.

Scholar Chen also set aside 200 jin of his own grain and sold it at the same price.

He wasn't short of food, but he wasn't rich either; two hundred catties was the most he could offer.

When the news spread, families who had run out of food lined up to buy some.

Even those with limited funds would buy ten or eight catties. Some would buy only half a catty, like Widow Sun, who only had enough copper coins to buy two or three catties.

Some people bought grain and squatted by the roadside, crying, not because they were heartbroken over the money, but because they felt they could live a few more days. Master Qian didn't show up; he instructed his steward to oversee the sale. The carriage curtain was drawn, and an occasional cough could be heard from inside, but it was impossible to tell whether it was from a man or a woman.

Some people have money, while others don't even have any.

Yang Cuihua's house is one of them.

He Daliang wasn't without money. When he escaped from Yongzhou, he carried two taels of silver with him, which he kept tucked into his bosom and even slept with. Granny Li also had some; she had a silver bracelet on her wrist that she never took off.

But these two men were unwilling to spend their own money and forced Yang Cuihua to find a solution.

"Go ask your daughter for it." He Daliang squatted in the shed, his voice not loud, but his tone as hard as stone. "She has money, the money from selling wild boars, the money from selling grain, at least several dozen taels. Asking her for a few taels won't be too much."

Yang Cuihua lowered her head and remained silent.

"If you're not going, don't come back," He Daliang added. "I've already thought about the divorce papers."

Yang Cuihua trembled; she didn't want to leave He Daliang.

Yang Cuihua has only ever been devoted to one person in her life: He Daliang.

She fell in love with him when she was young. He Daliang's family was originally from Jiangxi Village. The two grew up together as childhood sweethearts. At that time, He Daliang was not yet married. The two were very affectionate under the flowers and moon. She thought he was the one for her.

As a result, He Daliang's family suddenly arranged a marriage for him with the daughter of his mother's cousin. It was said that the woman had already been intimate with He Daliang, and he had no choice but to marry her.

This incident caused quite a stir in the village back then. Yang Cuihua cried for months and almost went blind. She didn't want to be a concubine, but she also didn't want to marry someone else.

Later, after He Daliang got married, the whole family moved out of Jiangxi Village and went to Muzhugou.

Yang Cuihua's mother couldn't bear to see her hiding in her room crying every day, so she found Jiang Laosan from Jiangjia Village for her.

The three Jiang brothers were honest people. They had a few acres of poor land, and although they had two older brothers who were above them, they could still make a living.

For the first few years after Yang Cuihua got married, life was alright. Jiang Laosan treated her well, so she didn't suffer any grievances. After giving birth to Xiao Niu, the thorn in her heart gradually stopped hurting so much.

Until one year, when she went to the town market, she bumped into He Daliang again on the street.

He Daliang's wife died in childbirth during their third pregnancy, leaving him to raise their two children alone for three years.

The moment the two met, it was like a thunderbolt striking a prairie fire. That very night, Yang Cuihua did not return to the village.

From then on, Yang Cuihua would run away every few days, using excuses to buy needles and thread, tear off scraps of cloth, or see a doctor, and each time she would have an affair with He Daliang.

Jiang Laosan was kept in the dark, wearing the green hat on his head year after year, completely unaware.

Yang Cuihua was pampered every day, and the desire in her heart became increasingly difficult to suppress.

She wanted to divorce Jiang Laosan, but he couldn't make the decision; his two older brothers controlled everything at home. She gradually began to resent Jiang Laosan, thinking him incompetent and a good-for-nothing, and she became impatient with Jiang Xing and Xiao Niu as a result.

Just a few days before Jiang Laosan's accident, the original owner accidentally stumbled upon Yang Cuihua and He Daliang clapping in the woods behind Jiangjia Village, their clothes disheveled and their hair messy.

The original owner couldn't believe her eyes; she didn't even notice the basket she was holding had fallen.

She wanted to tell her father, but after opening her mouth several times, she couldn't bring herself to say it.

When Yang Cuihua heard the news of Jiang Laosan's accidental death, her face was filled with grief, but her heart was bursting with joy.

She couldn't wait to take the hundreds of copper coins from her home and gave all her dowry to Granny Li as a greeting gift. Without even exchanging pleasantries, she moved into He Daliang's house.

My long-cherished wish has finally come true.

Was He Daliang good to her? No, he beat her, scolded her, and complained that she couldn't have children. But Yang Cuihua didn't care. She felt that her life was worthwhile. She married the man she wanted to marry and moved into the home she wanted to live in.

Even if He Daliang scolded her eight times a day, she still felt sweet inside.

So when He Daliang mentioned "letter of divorce," she panicked.

She didn't want to leave He Daliang, not in this lifetime.