The two returned to their donkey cart, and Aunt Yang urged, “By now, the group should be able to leave Qinghe County today. Everything’s chaotic out here, so we must be careful.”
Lin Sisi nodded and, pretending to reach into her basket, secretly pulled two eggs from her space and handed them to Aunt Yang.
“My brother still needs a few days to recover. If anything happens later, I’ll have to trouble you to keep an eye on him.”
Aunt Yang was straightforward. Hearing this, she didn’t refuse. “Our families have always been close. Besides using your donkey cart, of course we need to look out for each other more.”
The caravan started moving slowly.
After yesterday’s exhausting journey, no one felt like talking. Everyone was conserving their energy for travel.
As they skirted the Daqing Mountains and left Qinghe County, some sentimental people even had tears in their eyes.
Once they left, who knew if they would ever return.
Lin Sisi wasn’t entirely of the old world. For her, as long as family was together, anywhere could be home.
That’s why she noticed something unusual on the road.
“Brother, something feels wrong,” she said.
Lin Zheng, still a little downcast, perked up at her words. “What did you notice?”
“Don’t you think… there are too many refugees on this road?”
They were still twenty to thirty miles from the next county. Normally, this would be a sparsely populated area.
Their two villages combined had just over a hundred people, but here, small groups of refugees were scattered along the way, making a surprisingly large crowd.
And this wasn’t an official road.
Lin Zheng frowned, scanning the surroundings.
“Indeed, something’s off. Normally, even if they were escaping like our villagers, they wouldn’t behave like this…”
The refugees’ eyes were dull and vacant, yet when they saw the caravan carrying rations, their gaze flared with genuine greed.
“Brother, everyone’s spirits are low now. You should tell the village chief to warn the villagers to guard their food.”
When people are starving to the extreme, they are capable of anything.
Even just as a precaution, if the caravan were attacked, not everyone might escape unharmed.
The village chief trusted Lin Zheng’s intelligence. Having fled famine himself years ago, he knew human nature could be treacherous.
He immediately sent his sons to warn the villagers: everyone must guard their food carefully.
Meanwhile, Lin Sisi warned Aunt Yang, “Aunt, there are a lot of refugees around. Make sure to guard your food closely and don’t let anyone get too close.”
“I know, but…” Aunt Yang hesitated.
“Sisi, if anyone asks you for food, don’t lend it. During this famine, nothing else matters—only food is real.”
Lin Sisi wouldn’t play the saint, but she understood Aunt Yang’s concern and smiled in agreement.
After she left, Old Yang sighed. “Why say anything? Even if that Gu Qinglin boy comes asking Sisi for food, that’s their private matter.”
Aunt Yang shot him a look. “Private matter? They only have an engagement. Gu Qinglin is so close to Lin Qingqing now; that engagement probably won’t last. Since he doesn’t care for Sisi, why should she be the fool? Let Lin Qingqing figure it out.”
Old Yang clicked his tongue. “Even so, with Gu Qinglin acting like that, do you really want to keep Sisi in the dark? She used to like him so much.”
Aunt Yang felt a twinge of guilt but didn’t back down. “Sisi’s own brother hasn’t said anything; it’s not our place to meddle. Enough—let’s eat!”
Lin Sisi’s family wasn’t short on eggs. For lunch, her brother scrambled eggs with wild vegetables they had foraged along the road and steamed a pot of coarse grain rice.
“Nian Nian and I are on the cart; we don’t need to rush. Eat more eggs, or you won’t have energy.”
The eggs were fried with oil, aromatic enough to make anyone salivate.
Lin Sisi ignored her brother and divided a large bowl of vegetable scrambled eggs into three portions.
“Brother needs to recover, Nian Nian is still growing—let’s eat together.”
Seeing her brother about to protest, she whispered, “We aren’t lacking eggs right now, don’t hold back.”
Lin Zheng thought of his sister’s miraculous ability and let it go.
Nian Nian, already drooling, couldn’t wait to try the eggs once the meal was divided.
“Mm—so fragrant!”
“Brother, your cooking suddenly tastes amazing!”
Lin Zheng took a bite and froze. Though the eggs looked ordinary, the flavor was extraordinary. He knew his own cooking skills weren’t that impressive. This had to be…
Lin Sisi exchanged a knowing glance with her brother—they realized this must be the effect of the Spirit Spring space.
It seemed the spring didn’t just strengthen the body; even the food produced within the space was purified. Long-term consumption would be beneficial.
Lin Sisi decided that on the road, she would need to collect more seeds.
The eggs smelled so good that by the time the meal was halfway done, they attracted some attention.
“Kind souls, great people, please give us something to eat!”
“We haven’t eaten in days. Have mercy on us!”
A few gaunt, ragged people suddenly appeared, surrounding the cart and pleading.
Lin Sisi felt some sympathy but mostly caution.
“Who told you to come here? Step back!”
She wasn’t cold-hearted; these people were truly starving. But even if she helped a few, she couldn’t save everyone.
If she handed out food now, more would surely rush in.
Some timid ones saw her stern expression and stepped back repeatedly.
Only the stubborn ones remained, whining, “How can you be like this? No compassion at all! Your family eats so well—what harm is it to share a few bites with us?”