Lin Wanwan was secretly delighted.
She knew that her father had finally come to fully believe in her predictions.
Her entire demeanor radiated confidence, and she looked exceptionally spirited.
“Yes, Father. I foresee that the Northern Barbarians will reach Qingzhou in another ten days.”
“In at most six or seven days, this news will spread throughout the entire northern border. By then, grain prices will rise to their highest point. At that time, we must quickly sell off our grain and convert it into cash, then leave the city and head south before everyone else has time to react.”
“Of course, we also need to keep enough grain for ourselves, in case anything unexpected happens along the way.”
This time, Lin Wanwan had given him a specific timeframe for when the Northern Barbarians would break through the city.
Lin Wufeng’s heart finally settled completely. He nodded at Lin Wanwan with satisfaction.
“As expected of my daughter, Lin Wufeng’s daughter. You truly are exceptionally gifted!”
“Here are one thousand taels of silver. You had only just returned home when all this trouble happened, and your father didn’t even have time to give you a proper welcoming banquet. Consider this my compensation—a little something from me. Take it and spend it however you like.”
Joy flashed beneath Lin Wanwan’s eyes.
She had returned to the Lin family to enjoy a life of comfort, but who could have expected the Lin family to suddenly be plundered by rampant bandits?
Many people in the Lin family had secretly called her a jinx, saying that she had brought bad luck with her and that the family had been unable to enjoy a moment of peace ever since she returned.
Even her biological mother, Madam Lin, no longer treated her with the warmth she had shown at first, let alone carefully preparing clothes, jewelry, and spending money for her.
But now things were different.
Once she helped the Lin family survive this disaster, her father would certainly value her greatly.
Then she would like to see who still dared give her attitude!
Lin Wanwan did not put on a false show of modesty or refuse the money.
She accepted it readily, without the coyness expected of a young daughter.
With a generous smile, she said to Lin Wufeng, “Then I wish you success in all your plans, Father, and may wealth pour in!”
Lin Wufeng’s impression of this daughter who had only recently returned home was now excellent.
She was composed and generous, neither pretentious nor timid. There was even a faint air of a future mistress of the household about her.
She was worth cultivating properly.
“Hahaha, I’ll take my daughter’s blessing. By the way, you must never reveal this ability of yours to anyone. If you foresee anything else in the future, come to me immediately. We can make plans together, father and daughter.”
“Yes, Father. I know what must and must not be said. With you making the plans from behind the scenes, we’ll surely accomplish twice as much with half the effort.”
“Hahaha, well said!”
Lin Wanwan happily left with a huge sum of money tucked away on her.
.
On the road fleeing the famine.
After the people of Peach Blossom Village had eaten their fill and rested, it was time to continue their journey.
Su Yunhai looked ahead and saw that the entire main road had been blocked by the people from Baishan Village.
He had no choice but to have someone from Baishan Village pass the message forward and tell the people at the front to get moving.
There were more than 150 people from Baishan Village fleeing the famine.
More than thirty of them were members of the Shen family. Everyone else belonged to the Wang clan.
This time, the Wang clan leader, Wang Kui, was leading the people of Baishan Village.
The villagers of Baishan Village only listened to his orders.
They completely ignored the people from Peach Blossom Village.
“Who are you? You tell us to leave, and we’re supposed to listen to you? Why should we?”
“Exactly! We’re people from Baishan Village. Why are you people from Peach Blossom Village ordering us around?”
“What scholar? Our Wang family has scholars too. We even have two! What’s so special about your scholar from Peach Blossom Village? Go away. We’re going to stay here and enjoy the shade for a while longer.”
Seeing how disrespectful the people from Baishan Village were, the villagers of Peach Blossom Village lost their tempers as well.
There were several times more people from Peach Blossom Village than from Baishan Village.
Besides, they had just killed mountain bandits the day before. The bloodshed had left them carrying a certain murderous aura.
Those with hot tempers immediately started arguing with members of the Wang clan.
The Shen family all knew that Su Yunhai was their son-in-law and a scholar, and that he was the one who had organized this journey to flee the famine.
Naturally, they weren’t about to join the Wang clan in ganging up on their own family.
When Shen Huai’an saw the Wang family bullying his son-in-law, his brows furrowed slightly.
He immediately called his younger brother, Shen Huaikang, and went to discuss the matter with the Wang clan leader, Wang Kui.
“Clan Leader Wang, it’s getting late. We really ought to keep moving. Why don’t you organize everyone and get them on the road? We’re fleeing the famine, after all. We can’t keep dragging our feet like this.”
Shen Huai’an looked at Wang Kui amiably.
Wang Kui was sitting in his family’s carriage, looking somewhat drowsy.
He had also heard that people in the procession were deliberately picking a fight, but he had paid no attention.
Why should he care?
The people from Peach Blossom Village wanted to take charge of the Wang family, after all.
Let them make a fuss.
“Hehe, it’s the Shen brothers.”
Wang Kui slowly opened his eyes and looked at the two Shen brothers with a smile.
“It’s not that we don’t want to leave. Just look at that blazing sun in the sky. It’s not easy to travel under such intense heat. Why don’t we wait another half an hour and set off once the sun isn’t so harsh?”
The two Shen brothers hadn’t expected this old Wang to show them so little respect.
They quickly understood what he was really thinking.
“Clan Leader Wang, we all make our living from the land. What hardship haven’t we endured? We’re fleeing the famine all the way south, and we have no idea how many difficulties and dangers we’ll encounter along the way. If we can’t even endure a little heat, we might as well turn around and go home to lie on the kang.”
Shen Huai’an had also run out of patience and couldn’t resist answering sarcastically.
Wang Kui hadn’t expected the old man Shen to speak to him like that.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he sized Shen Huai’an up.
“Old Shen, the reason we agreed to flee the famine together with your Shen family was because of the good relationship between our two families.”
“Otherwise, without the protection of our Wang family, your pitiful family of just over thirty people would suffer who knows how much on this journey. Don’t fail to recognize which side you’re on and bring trouble upon yourselves.”
The threat in Wang Kui’s words was obvious.
Shen Huai’an and Shen Huaikang’s expressions both darkened.
The two exchanged a few glances.
Shen Huai’an finally said, “Then we won’t trouble Clan Leader Wang anymore. Our Shen family won’t travel with you. Please have your people clear a path for us. We’ll go ahead first.”
Wang Kui hadn’t expected the Shen family to make such a decision.
His expression immediately darkened.
“Shen Huai’an, you were the ones who persuaded us to flee the famine together so we could look after one another. You were also the ones who asked our people to wait here for your son-in-law’s family.”
“It was your son-in-law’s family that failed to keep time, making us wait here under the blazing sun for two hours. And now you want to burn the bridge after crossing it?”
Shen Huai’an lost his temper as well, raising his voice several notches.
“Heh, you with the surname Wang, did I ever ask you to wait for us? I told you that we could wait for our own family and that you should go ahead. You were the ones who didn’t want to lead the way because you were afraid of encountering danger, so you insisted on waiting here with us. And now somehow it’s our fault?”
“You really do get thicker-skinned the older you become.”
“And don’t keep saying that we persuaded you to flee the famine with us. If your Wang family is so unwilling, then just turn around and go home. We’ve only just left the village. You can turn back after walking a few steps.”
With that, he returned to his family’s procession with his younger brother.