Inside the sack, aside from a few handfuls of wild vegetables, were ten dark, soil-covered sweet potatoes. Song Jiaojiao picked one up, peeled it, and took a raw bite.
The sweet potatoes produced by the System were yellow with a hint of purple, crisp and refreshingly sweet, and had the effect of quenching thirst.
The whole family looked at her as if she were an idiot.
“Is the Song disaster-starved to the point of madness, actually gnawing on tree roots? That stuff is bitter and astringent. Even refugees wouldn’t take it for free—eating too much can kill you.”
“Mother, she must have been slacking off. No wonder the bag felt so heavy; she just dug up tree roots to fill it up.”
“This is too much. Song Jiaojiao doesn’t respect you as her mother-in-law at all. Today she brings tree roots, tomorrow she might bring back a handful of dirt.”
Old Qian’s face gradually darkened like the bottom of a pot.
Song Jiaojiao exclaimed in surprise, “You don’t know what sweet potatoes are? They’re much tastier than coarse flour, filling and easy to digest.”
The whole family remained skeptical.
“Sweet trees?”
“Whatever kind of tree it is, it’s hard and tough. How could it compare to coarse flour? Just wait—she’ll definitely have a stomachache tonight.”
As it turned out, the economic level of the Dazhao Dynasty was similar to that of the Tang Dynasty. The staple foods at the time were millet and wheat, while high-yield crops like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn had not yet been introduced to the Central Plains.
It was easy to imagine how many farmers would benefit once sweet potatoes were cultivated on a large scale.
And it was undoubtedly a huge business opportunity.
Song Jiaojiao’s heart raced with excitement. Just using sweet potatoes as raw materials, she could make sweet potato noodles, starch, soy sauce, liquor… The methods for making all these things were stored in the System Entries.
The heavens hadn’t treated her badly!
“Eldest daughter-in-law, finish eating and hurry to take care of Dalang,” Old Qian snapped sharply, her face weathered and wrinkled, appearing both harsh and ruthless. “If anything happens to him, I’ll make you join him in death.”
Song Jiaojiao’s eyes widened suddenly as she realized her fate was tightly bound to “her man.”
Women in this era had no so-called human rights.
If a husband died, his wife was expected to follow him in death, and the village would even reward her with a chastity archway.
It seemed that to save her own life, she first had to revive Sheng Huaian, and later find a way to divorce him.
With her life at stake, she quickly stood up and went to the cart. First, she pressed the back of her hand against Sheng Huaian’s forehead—it was slightly feverish.
It was highly likely that a bacterial infection had developed around the wound.
She had to use penicillin immediately.
“Mother, I heard my husband suffered a knife wound. Coincidentally, there’s dandelion in the sack. Crushing its leaves and applying them to the wound can stop bleeding and reduce inflammation,” Song Jiaojiao thought for a moment before turning to send Old Qian away.
Old Qian beamed with joy. “That’s wonderful. I’ll go prepare it right away.”
As soon as the woman left, Song Jiaojiao immediately removed Sheng Huaian’s upper garment and carefully unwrapped the cloth strips, revealing his sturdy physique.
Tanned skin, robust muscles, six-pack abs!
The only flaw was a knife wound stretching from his right chest down to his navel. The wound was hideous and ugly, like a giant centipede.
The area around the scar was red, swollen, and enlarged, with faint signs of pus formation.
The situation was not optimistic.
Song Jiaojiao opened the System Panel in the air and purchased penicillin.
It cost 20 Points.
The special offer item was limited to one purchase, and the original price was actually… 10,000 Points!
Penicillin, famously known as penicillin, was virtually irresistible to bacteria in ancient times. It could prevent wound deterioration and infection, accelerate wound recovery, and was truly a miraculous medicine.
However…
Song Jiaojiao lowered her head to look at the recently purchased medicine—that syringe as thick as a finger—and fell into deep thought.
She didn’t know how to give an injection!
What if… the needle broke?
Never mind.
Seeing that Old Qian was about to finish crushing the dandelions, Song Jiaojiao couldn’t afford to hesitate any longer. She abruptly jabbed the syringe into the man’s arm. Steeling her heart and gritting her teeth, she pushed the plunger with her thumb, injecting all the medicine.
The body beneath her palm trembled almost imperceptibly.
The full tube of penicillin entered his body in less than two seconds. Perhaps the stimulation was too intense, for the man who had been unconscious for so long suddenly opened his eyes.
Eyes darker and sharper than a blade’s edge instantly fixed on her.
Dark and piercing, filled with a surging ferocity.
In that moment, Song Jiaojiao felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen. She didn’t even dare to breathe. Her hand suddenly empty, the syringe, which didn’t belong to the technological level of this era, vanished into thin air.
After a few seconds of staring, Sheng Huaian closed his eyes again.
Everything felt like a dream.
Before Song Jiaojiao could even sigh in relief, right at that moment—
“They’re stealing the grain!”
Screams of agony suddenly pierced the sky, and everyone’s faces instantly turned pale.
“Run, everyone! The refugees have rioted!”
“Damn it, how dare you hurt my father? I’ll fight you to the death!”
“Yao’er, Da Niu, slow down! Don’t leave your mother behind!”
The refugees, as if gone mad, charged into Dashe Village’s camp, seizing grain and people. Smoke and flames billowed, and the ground was stained crimson with blood. Wails and the sounds of fighting echoed all around; everything was in chaos.
Song Jiaojiao froze.
Having lived in peaceful times, she stared in disbelief at the bloody, cruel, and chaotic scene before her.
As if plunged into an ice cellar.
“Second Brother, Third Brother, load the things onto the cart. Second Brother’s wife, take care of your two children. Eldest Brother’s wife, come help me push the cart.” The Sheng family was far enough away that the chaos hadn’t reached them yet. The Sheng matriarch made a quick decision, directing her sons and daughters-in-law to slip away amid the confusion.
But the refugees had long had their eyes on the Sheng family and were unwilling to let this fat sheep escape. They swarmed forward in a frenzy, their momentum fierce.
Sheng Erlang tightly clutched the cloth bag in his arms. In his panic, he grabbed his wife’s arm and shoved her forward forcefully.
“Ah!” Mrs. Fang, holding her young son, was pushed to the ground. Looking up, she saw the ferocious faces of the refugees and was instantly terrified, tears and snot streaming down her face as her whole body trembled.
These refugees were ruthless and vicious, their hands stained with who knew how many lives. Greedily, one of them reached for the young child in Mrs. Fang’s arms.
Mrs. Fang, horrified, refused to let go of her child. She was beaten until her face was bruised and swollen, blood spilling from her mouth.
“I didn’t mean it, I didn’t!” Sheng Erlang’s face turned deathly pale, and a warm yellow liquid trickled down between his legs.
Seeing the refugees closing in again, he was so frightened that he threw down the grain bag and fled in panic.
“Let go of my mother and brother!”
With her father unreliable and her mother being abused, Da Ya’s eyes nearly burst with rage. She lowered her head and charged at the refugee like a young calf.
“Ouch! You little bitch, I’ll kill you!” The refugee staggered from the impact, then flew into a rage. He grabbed her by the collar and flung her toward the fire.
“No!”
Mrs. Fang let out a heart-wrenching cry. Just as she was sinking into despair, a figure suddenly rushed forward.
In the flickering light and shadows, a raised fire poker gleamed with flames. It swung down from above, striking the refugee squarely in the face with a heavy thud, sparks flying everywhere.
“Aaaah—!”
The refugee screamed and let go, sending Da Ya tumbling to the ground. With the momentum, she was about to fall into the fire when Song Jiaojiao suddenly grabbed her collar and yanked her hard, pulling her to Mrs. Fang’s side and out of danger.
Mrs. Fang looked up in a daze.
In the dim firelight, Song Jiaojiao’s eyes shone with a startling brightness, illuminating the dark corners of her heart until there was nowhere to hide.
It was Song Jiaojiao who had saved her and her two children.
Yet during the day, they had all joined forces to target her at every turn.
“Can you still walk? Hurry and go join Mother.” Song Jiaojiao reached out a hand to pull her up.
Only when the young child in her arms began to cry did Mrs. Fang snap out of her trance.
The four of them rushed toward the cart, where Old Qian and her three children were already surrounded by refugees.