Liu Ye left the empty alley and went to the grain shop, where she bought 50 jin of mixed coarse grain rice for 1,500 wen. Grain really was expensive. She also took the opportunity to buy one jin of rice seeds and one jin of wheat seeds, which cost another 50 wen. She only dared to buy a jin of each since the silver wasn’t hers anyway.
Next to the grain shop was a general store. She went in and bought two large water flasks, spending 200 wen—also outrageously expensive. But everyone was fleeing famine and buying supplies, so prices had soared. She also bought ten pairs of chopsticks, which were cheap—only two wen for all ten pairs.
After finishing her purchases, Liu Ye carried everything and started walking back.
There were many people on the road, most of them also carrying large bundles of supplies. Suddenly, a man walking in front of her turned around—and Liu Ye’s heart sank.
Bad luck. That was Liu Laoe, the second uncle of the foolish girl. And the man beside him, though he hadn’t turned around yet, she could already recognize—Liu Laoda, the foolish girl’s father.
Liu Laoe immediately spotted her and stopped walking.
“Brother, look! Isn’t that the stupid girl? Look at what she’s carrying—grain? Clothes in that bundle? Where did she get money to buy all this?”
Liu Laoda frowned and turned around. “Hmph. That stupid girl must’ve stolen money from our house. Shameless thing. Second brother, let’s take everything back. Maybe she still has more money on her!”
Liu Laoe took off his basket and cracked his knuckles, ready to strike as soon as she came closer.
“Wretched girl! Stealing from us? I’ll beat her to death today!”
Liu Laoda also set down his load. Inside was a large sack of grain and five water flasks.
“Useless girl. I’m going to teach her a lesson too!”
Seeing their posture, Liu Ye immediately understood—they were going to rob her.
Reasonable people don’t argue with dogs.
She quickly ran into the woods beside the road and slipped into her space.
The two men froze.
They hadn’t expected the “stupid girl” to react so fast.
Liu Laoe said, “Brother, you watch the stuff. I’ll go chase her!”
Liu Laoda’s eyes were full of malice. “Find her and kill that disgraceful thing.”
Liu Laoe grinned and rushed into the woods, searching everywhere—but after a long while, he couldn’t find her. In the end, he returned empty-handed.
“Brother, she ran too fast. I couldn’t find her.”
Liu Laoda unwillingly nodded. “Forget it. We’ll deal with her another time.”
In the space, Liu Ye heard every word clearly.
Those shameless bastards—when she got the chance, she would deal with them properly too.
She stayed inside for a while longer. Then she organized her items: the wheat seeds and rice seeds were set aside. Once she finished harvesting the corn, she would plant them. The corn in the field was already ripe, but she hadn’t had time to harvest it yet.
She then opened the large bundle of cloth and was delighted.
The shop assistant hadn’t lied—inside were all kinds of colorful fabric scraps. Coarse cotton, fine cotton, even a few pieces of silk. The largest pieces were enough to make an entire set of clothing, and even the smaller scraps were over a meter wide—enough to sew pants.
“Wow, this is a huge win.”
That shop assistant really was a good person. He even gave her so much high-quality fabric.
This piece feels smooth—perfect for making underwear.
Wearing only pants without underwear was uncomfortable anyway… and not wearing a bra felt insecure too, even though there wasn’t much there right now—just two small “beans”—it still needed support.
Then she remembered—she forgot to buy needles, thread, and scissors.
Oh well, she could buy them later when they passed another town on the way south. She’d also bring some apples for that shop assistant.
It should be about time. Those two idiots should have gone far away by now.
She slung the bundle over her shoulder, carried the smaller bag, and left the space. She returned to the road through the woods and headed home safely.
Back at the ruined house, Bai Zilin finally relaxed when he saw her return.
“You’re back safely. Tired? Sit and rest a while. Did anyone bully you on the way?”
Liu Ye placed the grain into the basket and the cloth bundle beside him.
“On the way back, those two fools from the Liu family tried to stop me. Probably wanted to rob me. I quickly hid in the woods and came out after they left.”
“Brother Bai, look at the clothes and shoes I bought. Do they fit?”
Bai Zilin was startled by how casually she said it, but more worried than anything else.
“I believe you. From now on, stay far away from the Liu family. They’re too dangerous. Just like the Bai family—they’re all the same kind of people.”
Liu Ye handed him a pair of shoes.
“Brother Bai, do these fit you?”
He took them and measured them against his feet. “They’ll fit. As long as they’re not too small. I’ll keep them for when my leg heals.”
She then handed him the money pouch.
“Brother Bai, I spent exactly 200 wen on clothes, 100 wen on water flasks, 2 wen on chopsticks, and after buying grain, there’s 15 wen left.”
He pushed it back to her.
“Keep it for now.”
She didn’t refuse and tucked it away again. Perfect—she could use it later for needles and thread.
“Brother Bai, did the Bai family come to cause trouble this morning?”
“No. They left not long after you did. Haven’t come back yet.”
As if on cue, the Bai family returned shortly after.
Each of them carried a basket full of supplies. As they passed the ruined house, Bai Wusheng spat hard on the ground, and Bai Wangshi glared at them before moving on.
Liu Ye was speechless.
What kind of people are these?
“Brother Bai, you must be hungry. I have a pot in my basket—let’s cook some porridge.”
Bai Zilin nodded. “Alright. But be careful when you start the fire. There’s a lot of firewood in the yard—don’t burn the whole place down.”
Then he paused.
Wait… they didn’t have water.
“How are we going to cook porridge without water? Maybe we should go ask Village Chief Zhao if his well still has water…”
Before he finished, Liu Ye suddenly slapped her forehead.
“Oh right! I forgot. Brother Bai, I’ll go fetch water from the mountain. I know a secret spot that still has water.”
Bai Zilin didn’t suspect anything. The foolish girl often ran in the mountains; knowing hidden water sources wasn’t strange.
Liu Ye took the two water flasks and went up the mountain.
Once out of sight, she slipped into her space, filled them, and quickly returned.
“I’m back! I brought water!”
Bai Zilin sighed. “Good… water is getting scarce. We should save it.”
Then he added, “Forget cooking porridge. Let me teach you something—take two jin of grain and stir-fry it in the pot until it’s cooked. Then we can just eat it dry. It saves water.”