“As long as they fit, that’s fine! All right, the total is 610 wen. I’ll give you your change.”
The cloth shopkeeper took the silver piece from Meng Ping’an’s hand and went behind the counter inside the shop. He took out a money box and began counting the copper coins.
When he came back out, he was holding a small money pouch.
“Here’s 390 wen in change. Count it and make sure it’s right.”
Meng Ping’an looked at the four strings of copper coins in her hands and slowly counted them.
Three strings of one hundred each, and one string of ninety.
Exactly right!
“It’s correct!” Meng Ping’an looked up and smiled.
“Here, take this too. You can use it to keep your money. Make sure you keep your money somewhere safe!” The shopkeeper handed her the money pouch and reminded her.
“Thank you, Shopkeeper!”
Meng Ping’an accepted the pouch, put the copper coins inside, then tucked it into her clothes and stored it in her space.
She picked up the bundle of cotton the shopkeeper had weighed and carried the bolt of gray cotton cloth in her right arm before leaving the cloth shop.
When she reached an empty alley, she put everything into her space before heading toward a grain shop in town.
After arriving at the grain shop, Meng Ping’an asked the shop assistant about the prices of grain.
She bought five jin of coarse rice at five wen per jin and five jin of coarse flour at eight wen per jin, spending a total of sixty-five wen.
She didn’t dare buy too much.
First, her body was too weak to carry much.
Second, she was afraid that buying too much would attract unwanted attention.
The shop assistant found a cloth sack and packed the rice and flour separately before handing them to her.
She also bought a jar of salt for 160 wen.
After leaving the grain shop, she found an empty place and put everything into her space. Then she went to another street and entered a different grain shop.
There, she bought five jin of fine flour at thirty wen per jin, spending 150 wen.
She also bought five jin of polished rice at thirty wen per jin, another 150 wen.
Once again, she found an empty place and stored everything in her space.
When she spotted a nearby steamed bun shop, she walked over.
Meat buns were three wen each, while vegetable buns were one wen each.
Meng Ping’an bought ten vegetable buns for ten wen.
After putting everything into her space, Meng Ping’an happily made her way back to the abandoned temple.
Having food at home meant having peace of mind!
That perfectly described how she felt at that moment.
She now had food and other necessities stored in her space, so she no longer had to worry about going hungry.
After returning to the abandoned temple, she first carried the dried weeds into the eastern room and spread them out neatly.
Then she took the cloth and cotton out of her space.
“Ah! I forgot to buy scissors.”
Meng Ping’an slapped her forehead.
How could she have forgotten something so important?
With her tiny amount of strength, she couldn’t even tear the cotton cloth.
Forget it. She would make do for another night and buy scissors in town tomorrow.
She slipped into her space, took out the remaining copper coins from today, and happily counted them again.
After buying everything, she had spent two hours begging outside the restaurant and earned another twenty-seven copper coins.
Of the one tael of silver she had started with, only fifteen wen remained after buying the cloth, cotton, grain, and buns.
The 160 wen she spent on salt had come from the 203 copper coins she had separately taken out earlier.
Meng Ping’an sat on the empty ground and took out her money pouch to count the coins.
Including the money she had earned from begging today, she had eighty-five wen left.
Adding the three taels and two hundred wen remaining in the money jar, she now had a total of three taels and 285 wen.
That was enough to last her quite a long time!
But this was only the beginning.
From now on, she needed to save more money and stockpile even more supplies and food in her space.
After putting the money away, Meng Ping’an sorted through the things she had taken from the beggars’ village.
She took out a clay pot, a wooden basin, and a wooden bucket and placed them inside the temple so they would be convenient to use.
Then she went behind the temple and brought back half a bucket of water.
She planned to mix some mud later and build a simple stove.
She temporarily found several large stones and arranged them in a circle.
She placed the clay pot on top, poured in some spiritual spring water, and added a little over half a bowl of washed white rice and coarse rice.
Using the flint she had taken from the beggars, she started a fire and slowly cooked the rice porridge.
She also took out a small handful of wild vegetables from her space, washed them, cut them into pieces, and added them to the pot.
When the porridge was almost done, she added a little salt.
As she smelled the rich aroma of the rice porridge, Meng Ping’an couldn’t help sighing.
How long had it been since she had last eaten porridge in her previous life?
So long that she couldn’t even remember anymore.
She found a clean ceramic bowl in her space and washed it several times.
Once the clay pot had cooled down enough, she carefully picked it up with her hands and poured herself a bowl of porridge.
She ate it together with the vegetable buns she had bought at noon until she was completely full.
There was still about one and a half bowls of porridge left.
She simply put the entire clay pot into her space.
She wouldn’t have to cook breakfast tomorrow.
She could just drink the porridge and eat some buns.
After putting out the fire, she used the iron pot to boil another pot of water.
She wanted to wash herself.
She had already decided that tomorrow, she would simply rub some wood ash on her face and hands.
That way, she would look dirty enough not to attract attention.
Using the wooden basin, Meng Ping’an took her first hot bath in her entire life.
It felt wonderful!
She also undid her hair and washed it.
Although she didn’t have soapberries, her hair still felt clean and refreshed after washing.
She used the cotton cloth she had taken from the village to dry herself.
Once her hair was completely dry, she spread out the cloth she had bought in town that day.
She laid down a layer of cotton and covered it with another layer of cloth.
Then she lay down on top of it.
It was soft and warm.
So comfortable!
Meng Ping’an let out a satisfied sigh.
She had eaten her fill, had plenty to drink, taken a bath, and could sleep in late.
This little life was simply too comfortable!
And so, every day, Meng Ping’an went into town to beg while quietly stockpiling grain.
A year passed.
Apart from the two taels of silver she kept untouched, Meng Ping’an had saved more than five additional taels.
The amount of grain in her space continued to grow.
All together, she had more than two hundred jin of almost every type of grain.
That was enough to last her several years!
But Meng Ping’an didn’t let her guard down.
Instead, she became more and more motivated.
The more supplies she had stored away, the more secure she felt.
One day, after leaving a grain shop, Meng Ping’an put the grain into her space.
Just as she stepped out of the alley, she saw the group of beggars walking toward her.
“Boss, she’s over there!”
One of the beggars pointed at Meng Ping’an and shouted.
Meng Ping’an immediately realized that something was wrong.
She turned around and was about to run back into the alley and hide in her space.
But before she could reach the alley, several beggars behind her blocked her escape.
After thinking it over, Meng Ping’an knew she couldn’t disappear into her space in broad daylight in front of all these people.
Once her secret was exposed, there would surely be even more trouble waiting for her.
She could only endure for the moment.
She pretended to tremble in fear and repeatedly begged for mercy.
“Big brothers, please let me go! I really don’t have any food or money!”
“Bullshit! I saw you go into the grain shop today. You bought quite a lot of grain. You even think you can deceive our boss? You’re asking for death!”
A tall boy viciously kicked her.
Meng Ping’an was knocked to the ground by the kick, and tears of pain immediately welled up in her eyes.
“Big brothers, I really don’t have any money to buy anything!”
Meng Ping’an truly didn’t have a single thing on her.
Even if they searched her from head to toe, they wouldn’t find a single copper coin.
“Search her!”
The beggars’ leader glanced at Meng Ping’an before turning around and ordering his men.
“Yes, Boss!”
Two of them stepped forward and searched Meng Ping’an.
Sure enough, they didn’t find a single copper coin on her.
Disappointed, they shook their heads at their boss.
“Tell me, where did you hide the money? And where’s the grain you bought?”
The beggar leader clearly didn’t believe that she had neither money nor grain.
He stepped on her stomach and glared at her viciously.