**Qingzhou, Lin Residence**
As soon as Lin Wufeng, the head of the Lin family, received the news, he immediately rushed back to the estate.
The atmosphere throughout the residence became unusually tense.
At that moment, every member of the Lin family—including Lin Wanwan—was gathered inside the ancestral hall.
Lin Wufeng stood before the ancestral tablets, holding a stick of incense with both hands. He respectfully knelt and kowtowed three times.
Seeing this, the rest of the Lin family also knelt and bowed.
Behind them, several Taoist priests danced and chanted as they performed an exorcism inside the ancestral hall, muttering mysterious incantations that ordinary people could not understand.
The sudden disappearance of every valuable item in the Lin residence had shaken all of Qingzhou.
The Qingzhou authorities, together with more than a dozen brokerage houses and over a thousand people, had searched relentlessly, yet they hadn’t found the slightest clue about the thief.
Something so abnormal could not possibly be ordinary.
Lin Wufeng had originally rushed back to meet his biological daughter.
Instead, he changed his plans midway and returned to the Lin residence half a day later, bringing with him more than a dozen highly respected Taoist priests to drive away evil spirits.
“Who on earth emptied out the entire Lin family estate?!”
Lin Wanwan frowned deeply as she pretended to kneel in prayer.
The reason she had chosen this exact time to return and acknowledge her family was to rely on the Lin family’s wealth to survive the initial outbreak of the coming disasters.
But she had never expected that the very day she returned, the Lin family would suffer such a catastrophe.
“It can’t possibly be ghosts… No, wait… If I can be reborn, then why couldn’t ghosts exist as well?”
Lin Wanwan had never believed in ghosts or spirits.
But after experiencing her own rebirth, she found herself wavering.
No matter what, however, the great famine in Qingzhou was about to begin.
She had to prepare for the future as early as possible.
“Father.”
Once the ritual ended, Lin Wanwan immediately stepped forward to greet the head of the family.
“So you’re Wanwan.”
Lin Wufeng forced a smile.
“Good child. Get up.”
It wasn’t that he was dissatisfied with Lin Wanwan.
Rather, after everything that had happened to the Lin family, he simply wasn’t in the mood to concern himself with his newly found biological daughter.
What troubled him most was that a portion of the stolen property consisted of payments that were meant to settle outstanding business transactions.
Now both the merchandise and the money had disappeared.
If the Lin family’s reputation in Qingzhou hadn’t been so well established, their business partners would probably already be knocking on their door demanding repayment.
“Father, are you troubled by the theft?”
Lin Wanwan paused before continuing,
“I have an idea. If it succeeds, it may solve your immediate problem.”
Lin Wufeng’s eyes immediately lit up.
He had long heard that the daughter who had grown up outside the family was both beautiful and talented.
After a single poetry gathering, her reputation had spread throughout Qingzhou.
Her poems had even reached the capital, earning her widespread acclaim.
Perhaps this daughter truly did have an ingenious solution.
“Come with me. We’ll talk in my study.”
Lin Wufeng strode ahead impatiently.
Lin Wanwan quickly followed.
At last, it was her chance to prove herself.
She had to seize this opportunity to establish her position and authority within the Lin family.
Inside the study…
Both Lin Wufeng and Lin Wanwan wore awkward expressions.
The study had also been completely emptied by the mysterious thief.
Even the windows had been removed.
Not a single roof tile remained overhead to block the sun.
The desks and chairs had vanished as well.
The room was so empty that it hardly mattered whether they discussed business there or not.
Lin Wufeng gave an embarrassed laugh.
“You’ve suffered some hardship, Wanwan.”
Lin Wanwan quickly composed herself.
“Father, I’m not wronged at all. I only want to help you overcome this crisis as soon as possible.”
“Very well.”
Lin Wufeng nodded.
“What plan do you have?”
“Father, doesn’t Third Uncle also lend money at interest? Why don’t we borrow some capital from him?”
Lin Wanwan spoke calmly and confidently, showing none of the timidity one would expect from someone raised in the countryside.
“I happened to learn an important secret on my way back.”
“The General of the Northern Defense suddenly died, Hanshan Pass has already fallen to the Northern Barbarians, and the entire northern frontier will soon collapse. Qingzhou is no longer safe.”
“Very few of Qingzhou’s noble families know this yet.”
“We can take advantage of this window of opportunity and purchase every grain supply in and around Qingzhou at prices slightly above the market rate.”
“Once the news spreads, grain prices will skyrocket.”
“When that happens, we can sell the grain for ten or even a hundred times the price.”
“We’ll make an enormous fortune in no time.”
“And Father…”
“Once we’ve earned enough money, we must leave Qingzhou as soon as possible and relocate to the Lingnan region.”
Lin Wufeng had never expected to hear such words from Lin Wanwan.
He was stunned into silence.
He hadn’t become the head of the Lin family by being easily deceived.
Besides, this was a daughter he had only just found.
There was hardly any trust between them.
“You can’t say things like this without proof.”
His expression turned stern.
“What evidence do you have? How can I risk everything based solely on rumors you’ve heard?”
Disappointment filled his face.
He felt this daughter was behaving far too recklessly.
Lin Wanwan knew winning her father’s trust wouldn’t be easy.
After gritting her teeth, she finally said,
“Father, I’ll tell you the truth.”
“I possess the ability to foresee the future.”
“Otherwise, how could I have known that you were my biological parents?”
“If you still don’t believe me, I can tell you several more events that will happen in Qingzhou over the next few days.”
“You can investigate every one of them yourself.”
***
**Baishan Village, the Shen Family**
“Little Sister, what brings you here?”
“Where’s your husband? Why didn’t he come with you?”
“And who is this?”
Shen Yuehua’s sister-in-law, Wang Fanghong, looked at the unexpectedly returned Shen Yuehua in surprise.
Since there were no holidays or festivals, Shen Yuehua rarely returned to her parents’ home, so Wang Fanghong couldn’t help asking.
“Sister-in-law, I came back because of something important.”
“Are Father, Mother, and my eldest brother home?”
Shen Yuehua greeted her with a smile.
“Father, Mother, and your eldest brother are all out carrying water to irrigate the fields.”
She sighed.
“The weather has been unbearably hot.”
“The crops stopped growing long ago.”
“No matter how much water we pour on them now, it’s completely useless.”
“Your second brother went into the mountains to hunt. He isn’t home.”
Wang Fanghong quickly invited the two of them inside and poured them each a cup of water.
“Sister-in-law, don’t bother with us.”
“Please hurry and call everyone back from the fields.”
“I have something very important to tell all of you.”
Shen Yuehua placed the gifts she had prepared onto the table and urged her.
Seeing Shen Yuehua’s unusually serious expression, Wang Fanghong realized something major must have happened.
She didn’t dare delay and hurried out to gather everyone.
The Shen family had once been a family of scholars.
Unfortunately, later generations lacked talent for academics, and the family gradually declined.
By Shen Yuehua’s generation, neither of her brothers had any aptitude for studying, so both stayed home to farm.
After Shen Yuehua and Su Yunhai transmigrated into this world, they quietly started a small business and often helped support her two brothers, allowing the family to live fairly comfortably.
Meanwhile, Su Yunhai was skilled in both literature and martial arts.
Whenever he had spare time, he taught his brothers-in-law martial arts for self-defense.
To everyone’s surprise, Shen Yuehua’s second brother possessed considerable talent in martial arts.
Over the past eight years, he had trained diligently and achieved impressive results.
From time to time, he would venture into the mountains to hunt and improve the family’s meals.
Before long, every member of the Shen family had returned.
“Daughter!”
Before Old Madam Shen had even entered the house, she was already calling out anxiously.
“What happened? Why did you rush back in such a hurry?”
“Mother, Father, don’t worry.”
“Let’s go inside first.”
As soon as Shen Yuehua heard her mother’s voice, she hurried outside to greet them and helped them into the house.
Behind them came the rest of the Shen family.
Once everyone had gathered, Shen Yuehua finally explained why she had come.
“Father, Mother, your brother and I have decided to leave and flee the famine in a few days.”
“We can’t continue living here any longer.”
She told the Shen family everything she had learned without leaving out a single detail.
“What?!”
Old Master Shen was so overwhelmed by the series of shocking revelations that he couldn’t process them.
“Daughter, you can’t say things like that!”
“Our great general is incredibly powerful. How could he possibly be killed?”
“And how could the Northern Barbarians possibly break through?”
His first instinct was to reject such terrifying news.
At that moment, it wasn’t just Old Master Shen.
Every member of the Shen family found it impossible to believe what Shen Yuehua had just told them.