After arriving at the woodshed, she found that the two children had already mixed in some cold water to make the temperature suitable.
Such good children!
She finally enjoyed a comfortable bath and even washed her hair. Without shampoo or body wash, she could only use plain water.
Lu Meiyu felt a bit uncomfortable, but she had no choice but to endure it.
While bathing, she examined this body—its figure was actually quite good.
Long legs, full chest, slim waist, and fairly smooth skin.
Estimating for herself, she was at least 165 cm tall, a bit on the thin side, which she found just right.
Leaning forward, she carefully looked at her reflection in the basin. To her surprise, her face was quite delicate—a pretty and well-formed farm woman.
Wrapping her wet hair with an old cloth, Lu Meiyu felt refreshed and got up to look around.
There were three mud houses. No man was in sight—only herself and the two children.
The family was extremely poor. There wasn’t even any grain in the rice jar in the kitchen.
There were some vegetables in the backyard garden, but they looked yellow and unhealthy.
“What are we going to eat later?” Lu Meiyu couldn’t help asking.
“Mother, we’ve run out of food. We can only pick some vegetable leaves and boil them,” Yadan replied cautiously.
Why are they so poor?
This overturned Lu Meiyu’s understanding. Even in a village, even if there was no silver, there should at least be grain, right?
“Mother, there’s been a severe drought this year. The harvest was very bad. Many people have run out of food.”
“Sister, the Zhao landlord’s family hasn’t run out. They eat white rice every meal,” the younger one argued.
The two little girls looked about six or seven, and five or six years old.
“Lingdan, they’re landlords. Of course they have food,” Yadan explained to her sister.
Yadan… Lingdan.
What kind of names are those?
Removing the cloth from her head, Lu Meiyu felt her hair was too long—it reached her thighs. Washing it was too troublesome.
After searching around, she finally found a pair of scissors. They weren’t very sharp, but at least they weren’t rusty.
Lu Meiyu skillfully cut her long hair down to her back, making it easier to tie up.
Yadan was horrified. “Mother, why are you cutting your hair? Hair shouldn’t be cut.”
In tradition, ancient people rarely cut their hair—“the body, hair, and skin are given by one’s parents,” and cutting it casually was considered unfilial.
Lu Meiyu didn’t care about that. She only wanted convenience.
If only the hair could be sold—it could at least be exchanged for some silver.
【Host, do you intend to sell your hair? The system is willing to recycle it for twenty copper coins.】
Lu Meiyu wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but the mechanical voice of the system seemed slightly warmer.
【Sell.】
Her hair disappeared, and twenty copper coins appeared in her hand.
Lu Meiyu felt more at ease. Having money was good—no matter how little, it brought some sense of security.
All of this happened discreetly; the two children didn’t notice.
“Yadan, just now your grandmother said she took the copper coins from the house?”
Tears welled up in Yadan’s eyes. “Mother, a few days ago Grandfather said we’d split the household, and the three of us were separated. We were only given thirty copper coins and a few jin of coarse rice. This house is rented, and we haven’t even paid the rent yet. But this morning, they took the coins away again.”
“Mother, I’m so hungry,” Lingdan’s soft voice made Lu Meiyu’s heart ache.
“It’s okay. We have rice—I hid it. Let’s cook.”
The two girls didn’t believe her. Where would rice come from? There wasn’t even coarse rice, let alone white rice.
Yet their mother really took out white rice and began cooking.
She quickly washed the rice and put the pot on the stove, while the two sisters happily tended the fire.
She then went to the backyard garden and picked whatever vegetable leaves she could find.
There wasn’t even oil or salt at home!
【Host, the temporary convenience store has been opened. You may purchase freely.】
Lu Meiyu checked—sure enough, there was a shabby little store inside the space, with only a few crude items on the shelves.
Fortunately, there was oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and soybean paste.
She bought oil for one coin, salt for one coin, and a spoonful of soybean paste.
Seventeen coins remained in her hand.
The rice was soon cooked, and the two little girls were practically intoxicated by its aroma.
Just as she was about to stir-fry some vegetables, she heard someone shouting loudly as they entered the yard.
Lu Meiyu put things away, narrowed her eyes slightly, and gripped the electric baton in her hand.
“You shameless woman! You actually dared to hit our mother!”
A rough-looking young man shouted rudely.
The woman beside him also shrieked, “Sister-in-law, even if you’ve split from the family, you can’t hit Mother! This is unfilial—we’ll drag you to the ancestral hall and let the whole village see!”
Lu Meiyu glanced at Yadan, who obediently called out, “Second Uncle, Second Aunt.”
Such a clever child. Lu Meiyu smiled at her daughter.
“Fine, you shameless woman—you’re even eating white rice! We don’t have any rice, yet you do! You must have stolen it from our Liu family. No wonder those three jin of rice went missing!” Liu Er shouted as if it were true.
The woman immediately reached out, trying to grab the rice pot.
Lu Meiyu acted. She turned on the electric baton and gave each of them a quick shock.
Both let out a miserable scream and collapsed to the ground, their faces filled with terror.
Lu Meiyu looked down at them. “You say I beat your mother—is this how I did it? Want to try again?”
They finally recovered, scrambling to their feet and hurriedly refusing, “No, no, no, we don’t want to try again.”
They didn’t dare say another word and fled in a panic.
Lu Meiyu burst out laughing. Thankfully, even the broken space had left her a weapon—a very effective one!
She looked back at the two little girls. “Don’t be afraid. Let’s cook.”
Yadan hesitated before asking, “Mother… are you really our mother?”
Lu Meiyu paused, then replied, “Of course I am. But remember this—we were always bullied before, but not anymore. When I fell into the pond and nearly died, a fairy gave me some good things. If anyone asks, don’t say too much.”
“So that’s how it is! Mother, no wonder we have white rice, and oil and salt,” Lingdan said, easily convinced due to her young age.
Lu Meiyu looked at Yadan, who also nodded. “Mother, we’ll be able to live better lives now.”
As long as they could be fooled, that was enough!
While stir-frying vegetables, Lu Meiyu added another lie, “When I fell into the pond, I barely survived, but I’ve forgotten many things. You’ll have to remind me in the future.”
“Mother, no wonder there are many things you don’t know. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you,” Yadan thought for a moment. “Should we go find Doctor Li to get some medicine? Maybe after taking medicine, you’ll recover.”
Lu Meiyu shook her head. “It’s fine. Maybe I’ll remember on my own. Medicine costs money—we need to save.”
Yadan nodded worriedly. Her mother was injured but couldn’t even afford medicine—it was truly pitiful.