“Uncle, sister—letter!!”
Chu Ye strode forward eagerly, taking the letter.
Rui Rui also toddled over, spreading his short little arms to hug Shu Shu.
Wah, he hadn’t seen his sister for half a day—he missed her!!
But just as he reached her, he abruptly stopped his little feet. “Wow! Sister is so pretty!”
“New clothes, pretty! Hair, also very pretty!”
Shu Shu grinned widely, her short arms already open and waiting to embrace her brother. Without another word, she hugged Rui Rui tightly. “Shu Shu missed brother!”
After hugging for a while, Shu Shu released her arms and stood steady, tugging at her new clothes to show Rui Rui like a treasure. “Brother, sister bought this! Pretty, right?”
“Sister bought for brother too! Also pretty!”
Fang Jinzhu had bought her a modernized version of Hanfu. Knowing that Beiliao was in late autumn, she had dressed Shu Shu in thick, form-fitting thermal wear underneath the Hanfu—light, warm, and beautiful.
Rui Rui’s eyes sparkled. “Rui Rui has too?”
Shu Shu nodded repeatedly. “Mm-hmm, brother’s is even prettier…”
Then she stretched out her little hand to Rui Rui’s nose. “Brother smell, Shu Shu is so fragrant!”
“Mm-hmm, sister smells so good! Like a little princess!”
“Hehe, sister gave Shu Shu a bath! Sister can even make rain!!”
“Wow! Sister is so amazing! Rui Rui wants a bath too…”
The two little ones had been together every day since birth, and this was the longest they had ever been apart. Holding hands, they chattered away nonstop.
Seeing Shu Shu washed clean and looking like a different child, Lady Chu and Wei Momo exchanged glances, their hearts filled with gratitude toward Fang Jinzhu.
Although Miss Jinzhu claimed to be just an ordinary woman, in their hearts, she was a compassionate goddess!
“Mother, Beiliao is saved!!”
Having skimmed through the letter, Chu Ye’s voice trembled slightly, along with the hand holding the letter. “Miss Jinzhu says the calligraphy and paintings are very valuable and have been successfully sold. She has purchased five hundred thousand catties of grain, which can be transported to our Beiliao tonight!”
“Beiliao is saved!!”
The shock and excitement in his eyes instantly spread to Lady Chu and Wei Momo, igniting a blaze of emotion.
In truth, amid his excitement, Chu Ye felt somewhat conflicted.
He knew very well that those two calligraphy and painting pieces were ordinary items of little value. Even if they were worth some silver in Miss Jinzhu’s other world, they could never have been exchanged for five hundred thousand catties of grain.
Most likely, a large portion of it was subsidized by Miss Jinzhu herself.
Yet he could not refuse this kind offering, for Beiliao desperately needed this grain.
The only thing he could do was engrave Miss Jinzhu’s kindness in his heart, waiting for an opportunity to repay her with all his might.
“R-really?? Who would have thought that our ordinary items would be so valuable in Miss Jinzhu’s world…”
Lady Chu’s lips trembled, her grip on Wei Momo’s hand tightening unconsciously in her excitement. “Five hundred thousand…”
Five hundred thousand catties of grain!
That meant every soldier and civilian in Beiliao City could receive ten catties per person!!
“Wonderful… wonderful!!”
Wei Momo didn’t mind the pain from Lady Chu’s grip at all; she wished it could hurt even more.
Only then could she believe this was not a dream!
“Ah Ye, how… how will the grain be transported here?”
After the initial excitement, Lady Chu’s worries resurfaced. “Five hundred thousand catties of grain! Miss Jinzhu is just a frail young woman, and she can’t seek outside help. How can she possibly manage?”
“Besides, only Rui Rui and Shu Shu can pass through that door. They’re so young—how could they move such heavy grain?”
Although the grain was secured, the problem of how to transport it remained!
Chu Ye’s ink-dark eyes flickered. “Mother’s concerns are valid, but Miss Jinzhu said not to worry on her end. She mentioned having a Mechanical Ox to assist her, so it won’t require much effort from her…”
“The real challenge lies on our side—we must make careful arrangements to receive the grain properly.”
Despite Miss Jinzhu’s assurances, Chu Ye couldn’t bring himself to fully believe her, his emotions tangled in complexity.
No matter what, this situation was truly too much to ask of Miss Jinzhu…
“A Mechanical Ox??”
Lady Chu and Wei Momo exchanged glances, both shocked and bewildered.
What kind of thing was this, to be so formidable?!
What kind of era did Miss Jinzhu live in, where not only were supplies abundant, but even a frail young woman could face five hundred thousand catties of grain without feeling utterly helpless?
“Uncle…”
Shu Shu walked up to Chu Ye, tilting her little head up to ask earnestly, “Sister… let brother go over, take bath, wear new clothes… okay?”
Chu Ye nodded. “Go ahead. Grandmother will stay here and watch over you.”
Hearing this, the two little ones held hands and happily stepped through the door, vanishing from sight.
Chu Ye steadied his emotions and turned to Lady Chu.
Before he could even open his mouth to give instructions, Lady Chu spoke first. “Ah Ye, go ahead and make your arrangements. Your mother and Wei Momo are here—you have nothing to worry about.”
Hearing this, Chu Ye’s brow relaxed, and the tension in his body eased considerably. “Good. I’ll leave this to you and Momo. I must return to the military camp immediately.”
With that, he grasped his spear and hurried away.
“Dad, don’t trade Zhaodi away. Zhaodi won’t eat tree bark anymore. Zhaodi will only eat guanyin clay from now on, okay? Wuwu…”
“Zhaodi, don’t blame your dad for being heartless. In the next life, let me be your child—you can hit me, scold me, even sell me… Don’t cry, child… It won’t be long before Dad joins you down there…”
From an alley not far from the General’s Manor came the heart-wrenching, hoarse cries of a child and the pale, feeble attempts of an adult to offer comfort.
Chu Ye’s grip on his spear tightened, and he frowned as he looked over.
He saw several emaciated, skeletal-like commoners exchanging their own equally gaunt children.
The oldest girl was about seven or eight years old.
The youngest was not even knee-high to an adult, completely unaware of what was about to happen, his face blank with innocence.
Only when the adult forcibly placed his small hand into a stranger’s grasp did he begin to sense something was wrong, letting out a sudden wail. “Gege… gege hold…”
Perhaps weakened by prolonged hunger, his cries were as frail and feeble as a newborn kitten’s, yet piercingly mournful.
Not far from them, a mother and daughter who had ventured out in search of food slumped against the street, leaning on each other weakly. The woman was biting her own finger, trying to force it into her daughter’s mouth.
“Mom, I don’t want to drink your blood. Acui is scared. Acui would rather starve to death with you…”
“Acui, be good. The general will surely find a way to keep us alive, but before that, we must endure… Mother has lived long enough and is content. Acui is still young. As long as we survive this hardship, there will be many good days ahead…”
“No…”
Though he knew the people had already begun exchanging children for food and living like beasts, witnessing it firsthand still left Chu Ye breathless with anguish. He strode over with long, swift steps.
“What are you doing here?”
He brushed past the mother and daughter, first approaching the group preparing to exchange children for food, his voice sharp and stern.
Seeing it was him, the people quickly pulled their children to their knees. Apart from the reverence in their eyes, every face was etched with bitter despair.