Lu Meiyu originally planned to take the two sisters to the county, but she hesitated. If she brought them along, the round trip would cost twelve coins!
She had never felt that twelve coins was such a large amount!
Here, one tael of silver equaled one thousand copper coins. Lu Meiyu treated each coin like a unit of money.
“You two go to Granny Zhao’s house today and play with He Ya while waiting for me to return. Don’t stay at home—if something happens while I’m away, I’m afraid you’ll be in danger.”
The two sisters nodded.
It wasn’t fear of anything else—just that the Liu family might come and bully them while she wasn’t home.
She tied her hair into a bun again and wrapped it with a cloth. At a glance, she looked like any other village woman, nothing particularly different.
After asking where the ox carts gathered, Lu Meiyu went to the village entrance.
There were already quite a few people on the cart. As soon as she got on, it set off.
To be honest, the ox cart moved very slowly, but it was still easier than walking.
So she endured it.
What was more unbearable was that others kept trying to chat with her. They all found it strange—how had such a timid young wife suddenly become so bold?
Lu Meiyu could only reply, “Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a person. When you can’t survive anymore, you have to fight for it.”
The women all agreed.
Enduring and enduring, until one was worn down to death.
“Meiyu, I heard you have a strange black stick. When you poke the Liu family with it, they act like they’ve been struck by lightning…”
Someone couldn’t resist asking about the stick.
Lu Meiyu smiled. “That’s right. Because I have that stick, I no longer want to endure. It was given to me by the Water Goddess. But it doesn’t appear casually—only when I’m being bullied, it comes out to protect me.”
Everyone stared in amazement. Such a miraculous thing existed?
No wonder this young wife had become bold—she truly had something to rely on.
Along the way, Lu Meiyu also gathered plenty of information from the women’s gossip.
For example, who had been caught fooling around in the woods, and the man even defended the outsider while slapping his own wife;
Who had been caught stealing and beaten half to death;
Who kept rejecting marriage proposals and was now getting older without prospects…
Lu Meiyu silently exhaled. For someone like her, who had spent her days immersed in the internet, what were these stories?
Not dramatic enough, not shocking enough!
Seeing her calm expression, the others thought she was quite composed.
When they reached the town, since few people were going to the county, the village ox cart didn’t continue.
Lu Meiyu paid one coin and transferred to another cart.
“Meiyu, what are you going to the county for?”
“To ask about the military pay.”
She didn’t bother hiding it. After boarding the cart, she left.
The remaining women clicked their tongues. “She even dares to ask about military pay. In our homes, it’s always the old mother who holds the money—we wouldn’t dare ask.”
“She really has become bold.”
The women all looked worried. Each household had sent one able-bodied man to war.
Although some military pay was sent back, once fighting began, swords had no eyes—life and death were uncertain.
Moreover, the household lost a strong laborer. No matter how you looked at it, it wasn’t worth it—but what choice did they have?
Lu Meiyu successfully reached the county office and, after some effort, found a clerk in charge.
The clerk was fairly idle and willing to help her check.
“Liu Qingsheng of Dale Village… here it is. Over the past two months, a total of six hundred coins has been withdrawn—by Liu Zhangshi. See? Her fingerprint is here.”
Lu Meiyu indeed saw Zhangshi’s fingerprint.
“The military pay is split—half is kept by the soldier, and the other half is sent back to be collected by the family. Since your mother-in-law has already collected it, there’s no need to ask further.”
The clerk patiently explained.
Lu Meiyu asked, “Sir, I am Liu Qingsheng’s wife. Can I collect the money myself in the future?”
The clerk looked at her in surprise. “Didn’t your mother-in-law already collect it?”
“Yes, but we’ve already split households. Can I collect it myself from now on? I have two children to support…”
The clerk grew impatient. “I’ve never seen a wife come to collect it—unless everyone else in the family is dead. Besides, when Liu Zhangshi first came, she brought proof stating she would collect it, along with Liu Qingsheng’s fingerprint. I won’t look it up again. That’s how it is.”
He waved her away, unwilling to listen further.
Lu Meiyu understood.
It meant Zhangshi had brought a document authorizing her to collect the money!
Liu Qingsheng—her husband in this life—was quite a mama’s boy.
Well, perhaps he hadn’t expected that as soon as he left for the army, his wife and children would be driven out.
Since the military pay was out of reach, she could only set her sights on the land.
Since she was already here, she might as well take a look around the county.
The county looked decent, with quite a few people, four or five streets, and all kinds of shops.
Lu Meiyu asked around to learn about prices.
Rice was 8 coins per jin, coarse grain 4 coins, white flour 6 coins…
No wonder people were poor—just eating was a problem.
Rice was too expensive!
Meat cost 25 coins per jin! Brown sugar 100 coins per jin!
After receiving quite a few cold looks, she gathered this information.
Fortunately, steamed buns were one coin each, but plain buns were two coins, and meat buns cost three!
Even eating a bun felt like a luxury.
She had originally wanted to buy some candy for the little girls, but even a small piece cost one coin.
Malt sugar, broken into chunks, cost several coins per piece!
Even sugar was unaffordable.
In the end, Lu Meiyu decided it was better to make steamed buns at home.
Looking into the convenience store in her space, she found flour for sale.
It seemed the store knew she was poor—flour was sold by the jin, at 4 coins per jin.
It was even cheaper than in the real market, and it was “high-gluten wheat flour,” supposedly not needing yeast.
Lu Meiyu hadn’t expected that after coming to the county, she would buy nothing at all.
She returned empty-handed.
When she got back to the town and rode the ox cart home with the village women, they immediately asked, “What about the military pay?”
Lu Meiyu felt a bit embarrassed. “My mother-in-law has it. Forget it, let her keep it.”
The women all showed expressions of “just as expected.”
Lu Meiyu tried to regain some face. “She can keep the money, but I’ll take back the land.”
However, no one took her words seriously—taking back land was far easier said than done.