"Flee famine early!"
"Huh?" Xu Huaiyi was stunned, staring blankly at his wife. Too shocked, his words stumbled, "I thought, I thought you…"
Gu Huanxi snorted with a laugh, "Thought I wouldn't agree?"
Xu Huaiyi quickly put on an ingratiating smile, "Not exactly, I thought I'd have to persuade you a bit. I didn't expect my wife to be so understanding—no, I mean so insightful, hehe…"
What kind of person his wife was, he knew all too well. A standard homebody, she loved staying at home, tending to flowers, growing vegetables, reading books, drinking tea, and binge-watching dramas in her spare time. Otherwise, she wouldn't have quit her job and returned to the countryside to write books and shoot short videos. He, on the other hand, had dreamed of wandering the world with a sword since childhood. That's why he had painstakingly built this RV. To coax his wife into traveling across the country with him, he had begged and pleaded endlessly, nearly wearing out his lips…
Now, look at this—he hadn't even said anything yet.
Gu Huanxi gave him a cool glance, taking in his delighted expression as if he'd just won the lottery, and said helplessly, "I have eyes to see. Besides, this place suffers drought nine years out of ten. Fleeing famine isn't exactly rare here. Since we can't avoid it, of course, the earlier, the better. Waiting until the cold weather hits to set out would be miserable. And the longer it goes on, the hungrier people get. Who knows what desperate things they might do?"
Xu Huaiyi nodded without hesitation, "Right, right. So, should we start preparing now?"
Seeing him rubbing his hands together, eager to get started, Gu Huanxi gloomily replied, "Hmm. First, think about what we need to buy. No matter how early we leave, we still have to wait until I finish my postpartum month. You should also take this time to recuperate. Otherwise, with the two of us in such poor shape, we'd be done for on the road. What kind of famine fleeing would that be?"
"Alright, I'll listen to you…"
That night, the family of three slept in the RV. Gu Huanxi slept soundly through the night, but Xu Huaiyi had it rough. In the first half of the night, he was too excited, his mind racing with plans for the famine escape, making it impossible to sleep. By the second half, he was finally tired, but his daughter needed diaper changes and feedings, keeping him up several times. By the time he could finally sleep soundly, it was already dawn.
The door was knocked on loudly.
Xu Huaiyi, with dark circles under his eyes, irritably shuffled over in his slippers to open the door.
Outside, Xu Huaili was startled by his haggard appearance. "Third Brother, what did you do last night?"
He looked as if a demon had drained his life force.
Xu Huaiyi wasn't in the mood for small talk and asked directly, "What do you want?"
Xu Huaili looked him up and down, probing, "Mom wants you to fetch water and irrigate the fields. If we don't water the sorghum and beans soon, they'll be beyond saving."
Xu Huaiyi shook his head, "Not going."
With that, he tried to close the door.
Xu Huaili quickly blocked it, glaring as he demanded, "Not going? Why not? This is your job. If you don't go, who will? Don't you want a harvest in the fall?"
Xu Huaiyi stared at him steadily, "So, according to you, without me, this family would starve?"
Since when did he learn to be sarcastic?
Xu Huaili's eyes flickered, a half-smile playing on his lips, "Well, not exactly. You're the only one free at home. Eldest Brother has to work in town, Fourth Brother goes hunting in the mountains, and Fifth Brother studies. That leaves only you, doesn't it?"
Xu Huaiyi curled his lips, "Isn't there still you?"
Hearing this, Xu Huaili immediately scowled. "Hah, trying to challenge me? If you have the guts, go tell our mother! It was her who assigned the work—just do as you're told!"
Xu Huaiyi sneered coldly. "I won't go! I'm an outsider—why should I work for your Xu Family? If I'm going to irrigate the fields, it'll be for the Gu Family!"
With that, he slammed the door shut and locked it firmly.
Outside, Xu Huaili stomped and shouted, and soon Li Qiuhua joined in. The couple put on a theatrical performance, cursing at the door for a full quarter of an hour.
Inside the RV, Gu Huanxi had already woken up. After washing up with warm water, she slowly stretched her body in the half-meter-wide aisle. Xu Huaiyi was in the kitchen, brewing medicine on one stove and cooking on the other.
Both of them paid no attention to the commotion outside.
After serving his wife breakfast and medicine, Xu Huaiyi swiftly cleaned up the dishes and planned to borrow a flatbed cart to move into the Gu Family residence that very day.
Gu Huanxi was still a bit hesitant. "Isn't that too rushed?"
Xu Huaiyi replied, "Rushed or not, I just can't feel at ease. Who knows what kind of troublemaking those people might pull next? If something unexpected happens, all our efforts could go to waste."
Hearing this, Gu Huanxi let go of her concerns. "Then go ahead. I'll pack up whatever we can take with us."
"Alright…"
After Xu Huaiyi left, Gu Huanxi changed out of her pajamas and put on the original owner's clothes: a narrow-sleeved blouse with diagonal fastenings on top and a dark blue horse-face skirt underneath, both made of coarse linen. Though rough in appearance, they were cool and breathable for summer wear. The only exception was the underwear—she couldn't accept it. The chest wrap was tolerable, but the underpants were open-crotched…
The Great Xia Dynasty they had transmigrated into wasn't recorded in any history books she had studied, but its ruling structure, customs, and even clothing resembled those of the Ming Dynasty. For instance, the fields were planted with sorghum and beans, but there were no more drought-resistant and high-yielding crops like sweet potatoes or corn. Peanuts, potatoes, and chili peppers were unheard of—they hadn't been introduced yet. Even cotton hadn't spread to the Central Plains region; it seemed only the borderlands had it. As a result, most commoners wore linen clothes, differing only in coarseness or fineness. The wealthy wore silk and satin, while commoners stuffed their quilts with straw or reed fluff in winter—only the rich could afford silk wadding.
In terms of hairstyles, noblewomen often wore high buns, appearing dignified and elegant, while common women wore low buns secured with wooden hairpins for practicality.
After tidying herself up, Gu Huanxi stepped out of the RV and looked around. The house was bare, with hardly any decent belongings. Only the two chests she had brought as dowry were somewhat presentable. The rest of the furniture was either broken or peeling—useless for fleeing famine later. She simply packed some clothes and bedding, leaving everything else behind.
Half an hour later, Xu Huaiyi returned. He first carried out the bedding and laid it on the flatbed cart, then loaded the two chests. Finally, he lifted his wife and daughter onto the cart and covered them with a quilt to protect them from the wind during the postpartum period.
As he pushed the cart out, there was still no movement from the main house, even as they passed through the gate.
Not even a pretense was made.
Lying on the flatbed cart, Gu Huanxi whispered, "Thank goodness it's us who came. If it were the original couple, how heartbroken they would have been, stuck with parents and siblings like these…"
Xu Huaiyi muttered, "I'm starting to doubt whether the original owner was even a biological child of the Xu family. Even if they had many sons and didn’t value them, they shouldn’t have treated him so harshly, almost to the point of death."
Gu Huanxi said, "He probably was biological. Your face does bear some resemblance to the Xu family’s. I heard that Granny Zhao almost died giving birth to you, so she believed you brought her bad luck. That’s why she never treated you well."
Xu Huaiyi sneered, "Well then, I’d like to see just how filial her four beloved sons will be to her in the future."