She didn’t want to use the water-boiling pot to stew soup—it made her feel uncomfortable. So she had no choice but to stir-fry first, then use the same wok to make soup.
Fortunately, the firewood burned strongly, and the dishes cooked quickly.
“Wash your hands and eat.”
The two sisters noticed that their mother had become unusually particular, but they obediently went to wash their hands.
“Mother, the drought is getting worse. It hasn’t rained for a long time.”
Xiaoxuan looked worried.
No wonder the vegetables in the garden were all yellow and withered.
Luckily, there was still water in the well, but the fields were already drying out. If this continued, the harvest would definitely be affected.
In her previous life, Lu Meiyu had lived in the city and didn’t know much about farming, but she understood that without rain, farmers had the hardest lives.
They relied entirely on the weather.
She glanced into her space. After taking out the white rice earlier, there was now about one jin of it again.
It seemed the supplies she had stored would gradually reappear.
How could she repair the space so that all the supplies would return?
Then she could just lie back and relax.
Right now, it was only enough to keep her from starving…
The chicken soup was rich, and the stir-fried chicken was fragrant.
After the sisters each ate a piece of meat and refused to eat more, Lu Meiyu’s expression turned slightly serious. “Just eat. Remember what I said—when there’s food, you must eat your fill.”
Xiaowei hesitated. “Mother, if we finish all the meat now, what about tomorrow?”
“We’ll deal with tomorrow when it comes. Don’t worry—I won’t let you go hungry.”
Only then did the sisters start eating freely.
The three of them finished an entire chicken and each ate two bowls of rice.
After eating their fill, Lu Meiyu felt this body growing stronger and more energetic.
Seeing it was still early, she took a large bowl and filled it with coarse grain rice taken from the Liu family.
“Let’s go to Granny Zhao’s house. We should thank her for taking care of us.”
Granny Zhao’s house wasn’t far—just a short distance away.
Hearing voices, Granny Zhao came out to greet them. “Oh, it’s you, Meiyu. I heard you jumped into the pond… how could you be so foolish? How could you leave your two children behind?”
“I didn’t jump in. I slipped and fell. Luckily the water wasn’t deep, and someone rescued me.”
“I was going to visit you, but my granddaughter was causing trouble, so I planned to go tomorrow.”
Lu Meiyu felt warmth in her heart. Granny Zhao looked to be in her fifties. Her son had died of illness, her daughter-in-law had remarried, leaving behind a young granddaughter.
Fortunately, her daughter had married into town, to a shopkeeper of a grain and oil store. They had money and stability.
That was why no one in the village dared to bully her.
Lu Meiyu went straight inside, took a large bowl from the cupboard, and poured the coarse grain rice into it.
“Oh, child, what are you doing?” Granny Zhao hurried to stop her.
“Granny Zhao, I rented your old house and haven’t even paid the rent yet. I’ll pay when I have money. I remember your kindness. I don’t have anything good at home, so please accept this bowl of rice.”
Granny Zhao waved her hands repeatedly. “Pay the rent when you can. Take the rice back. These days are hard for every household, especially you with two daughters, living separately. The Liu family has gone too far, not giving you anything…”
Lu Meiyu told her about what happened at the Liu family today and how she had taken some farming tools.
“But they didn’t give me any land. I’ll have to go again.”
Granny Zhao had been smiling, but at the mention of land, she grew worried.
Land was a farmer’s lifeline—would they really give it to her?
“If they won’t give me land, and won’t give me the military pay, then there’s no such thing as that. If they refuse, I’ll cut ties with them.”
Granny Zhao was startled. “How can you cut ties? Your husband is the eldest son—that can’t be broken.”
“But how can the military pay be kept entirely by his mother when we’ve already split households?”
Granny Zhao sighed. “Even after splitting, it can’t all go to the wife. Those are his parents—filial piety is necessary.”
Lu Meiyu sighed inwardly. It seemed she couldn’t understand the ancient concept of filial piety.
Reasoning was useless.
Only fists worked.
After much persuasion, Granny Zhao finally accepted the bowl of coarse grain rice.
When they returned home, it was already getting dark, and there wasn’t even oil for a lamp.
Lu Meiyu felt uncomfortable, but she knew that even if there were a lamp, there wasn’t much she could do.
She lay down on the bed, thinking the bedding was uncomfortable and needed washing…
She glanced into the space again. The spiritual spring water hadn’t increased, but the convenience store had new items.
There was laundry powder and soap, both in small packages. The prices weren’t expensive, about the same as in her previous life.
Laundry powder cost three coins per packet, and soap cost two coins.
After buying a bar of soap and storing it in the space, Lu Meiyu felt a bit better.
Sure enough, shopping made women feel better—even buying a bar of soap could lift her mood.
With that small sense of satisfaction, she slept soundly.
The next morning, she woke up early and couldn’t help but admire her good sleep quality.
There was rice in the space, and she had more than ten jin from the Liu family—having enough to eat wasn’t a problem.
It was just monotonous.
As if on cue, new items appeared in the convenience store: packaged pickled vegetables, one coin each.
Lu Meiyu bought it without hesitation. She noticed that the store gradually added more items, and after buying something, it would still remain on the shelf.
That was good! As long as she had money, she could buy what she needed.
She cooked rice porridge and served it with pickled vegetables. The two little girls ate happily.
She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but their complexions already seemed a bit better.
“What did we eat before?”
Xiaoxuan looked down. “Mother said we couldn’t finish all the vegetables in the garden, so we would dig wild greens from the fields and hills to cook.”
“I don’t want to eat like that anymore. I want to eat porridge every day,” Xiaowei said, her eyes full of longing.
No wonder they looked malnourished.
They had been eating nothing but greens and wild plants!
Not just the sisters—even she needed proper nourishment.
After cleaning up, Lu Meiyu planned to go to the county office to ask about the military pay.
Even if that man returned, she wouldn’t truly treat him as her husband—but if she could get the pay now, she could return it to him later.
Right now, she urgently needed money.
The sisters felt both excited and nervous upon hearing that their mother was going to the county.
“Mother, it’s fifteen li to the county town.”
Not too far.
Lu Meiyu asked more about the situation.
This village was called Dale Village. It was eight li to Fuyu Town and fifteen li to Dahong County.
The town and the county were in the same direction.
By ox cart, it cost one coin to the town and two coins to the county.