Carrying fifty taels of silver in her pocket gave Lin Wan a deep sense of security.
She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the familiar smells of the marketplace—a mix of steamed buns, livestock, and everyday life.
Even assassins were human. They still had to eat and sleep.
Especially now that she was taking care of a half-grown child.
Instead of wasting money on fancy cosmetics, she headed straight for the grain and oil shop at the eastern end of town.
“Shopkeeper, I’d like fifty jin of fine white flour and fifty jin of premium rice.”
Walking to the counter, Lin Wan slapped a ten-tael silver ingot onto the table.
The grain shop owner was a plump, Buddha-like man. Seeing her ragged clothes, he hadn’t planned to pay her any attention.
But the moment he spotted the gleaming silver ingot, his tiny eyes curved into happy slits.
“Right away, miss! Please wait a moment. I’ll weigh everything and pack it up for you!”
His abacus clicked rapidly.
“Fine flour is fifteen wen per jin, premium rice is eighteen wen per jin. The total comes to one tael, six mace, and five fen.”
Lin Wan nodded and pointed to several large barrels nearby.
“Ten jin of your best soybean oil, five jin of coarse salt, and two bags of brown sugar.”
After buying the grain, she went next door to the general store.
She purchased two sturdy iron cooking pots, a kitchen knife, bowls, chopsticks, cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and every seasoning they would need.
As she passed the butcher’s stall, a beautifully marbled slab of pork belly caught her eye, glistening with fresh fat.
“Boss, I’ll take the entire slab of pork belly. Throw in two large soup bones as well.”
With a generous wave of her hand, she bought over ten jin of meat.
The butcher grinned from ear to ear as he quickly tied the meat with straw rope and handed it to her.
Next came the cloth shop.
Lin Wan chose two of the thickest cotton quilts, several bolts of fine cotton fabric, two sets of ready-made winter clothes each for herself and Lin Yulong, and two pairs of fur-lined cotton shoes.
By the time she finished shopping, she had spent nearly ten taels out of her fifty.
But looking at the mountain of supplies she’d bought, she felt an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.
It was a feeling of security she had never experienced in her previous life, where she had lived with death hanging over her every day.
There was far too much for her to carry alone.
“Uncle, how much to hire your ox cart for a trip to Xinghua Village?”
She approached an honest-looking cart driver at the town entrance.
The man looked over the mountain of goods, then at Lin Wan.
“Thirty wen. I’ll deliver everything right to your doorstep.”
“Deal. Load it up.”
The ox cart, piled high with supplies, slowly made its way back to Xinghua Village at dusk.
Under the large banyan tree at the village entrance, several elderly women were gossiping together.
The moment they saw the ox cart entering the village, they stretched their necks to get a better look.
“Good heavens! Isn’t that the girl Old Lin’s family just threw out?”
Old Madam Liu recognized Lin Wan sitting on the cart at once.
“Heavens above! Look at what’s on that cart! Isn’t that fine flour? And look at that huge slab of pork!”
The women nearly bulged their eyes out, swallowing hard.
“Where did she get all that money? Didn’t she leave with nothing?”
“Hmph! She must have done something shameful in town.”
Old Madam Liu curled her lips in jealousy.
“Let’s see how long she can keep showing off.”
With her sharp hearing, Lin Wan caught every spiteful word.
She couldn’t even be bothered to spare them a glance.
Would a lion waste its time arguing with barking stray dogs?
“Uncle, please stop by the village chief’s house first.”
She directed the driver, and the ox cart stopped in front of the chief’s bright red gate.
The village chief’s wife, Aunt Li, was just coming out with a basin of dirty water and nearly bumped into the cart.
“Who parked an ox cart here without looking?”
She raised her head while grumbling and froze when she saw Lin Wan.
Then her eyes landed on the mountain of expensive goods loaded on the cart.
The spotless white quilts.
The rich, fatty pork belly.
Her eyes widened instantly, and the wooden basin slipped from her hands with a loud clang.
“W-Wan… Wan girl? Where did you strike it rich?”
She swallowed hard as the contempt on her face instantly turned into a flattering smile.
Only a few days ago, she’d been telling everyone that the siblings wouldn’t survive three days.
Now reality had slapped her hard across the face.
“Aunt Li, is Grandpa Village Chief home? I need to discuss something with him.”
Lin Wan jumped down from the cart, carrying a bag of brown sugar. Her tone was polite, but distant.
“Yes, yes! Husband! Wan girl is here to see you!”
As Aunt Li shouted toward the house, she eagerly reached for the brown sugar.
Lin Wan casually turned her wrist aside, avoiding her hand, and walked straight into the main hall.
Village Chief Li was sitting on the heated brick bed, smoking his pipe. Seeing Lin Wan and the loaded ox cart outside, he looked genuinely surprised.
“Big Girl, what’s all this about?”
Lin Wan placed the brown sugar on the table and got straight to the point.
“Grandpa Village Chief, the old Mountain God Temple at the end of the village, along with the two mu of wasteland around it, belongs to the village, right?”
He nodded.
“That’s right. The land is full of rocks—you can’t grow crops there. Half the temple has already collapsed. Why do you ask?”
“I want to buy it.”
She pulled out a five-tael silver ingot from her sleeve and calmly placed it beside the brown sugar.
The gleaming silver seemed especially dazzling in the dim room.
“Five taels should be more than enough for that ruined place, don’t you think?”
The village chief’s hand shook so hard he nearly burned himself with his pipe.
“Y-You want to buy that land? And you’re paying five taels?”
No one would even take that wasteland for free.
Had the girl gone mad?
Aunt Li, who had been secretly listening nearby, slapped her thigh in alarm.
“Wan girl! Are you burning money? Five taels can buy two mu of excellent paddy fields in the village!”
She wished she could snatch the silver ingot and stuff it into her own pocket.
Lin Wan gave her a cool glance.
“I only want peace and quiet. That place is far from the village, so no one will bother me.”
“Grandpa Village Chief, just tell me if it’s for sale. If it is, let’s sign the deed right now.”
“If not, I’ll go to town tomorrow and ask a broker to help me buy land in another village.”
The village chief wasn’t about to let such easy money go elsewhere.
Five taels going into the village treasury meant everyone could enjoy a little extra pork during the New Year.
He quickly knocked the ashes from his pipe against the sole of his shoe and nodded repeatedly.
“Sell it? Of course we’ll sell it! Wait here. I’ll get the deed and transfer it to you immediately!”
The village chief handled everything efficiently. Since Lin Wan was an independent female head of household, the paperwork was completed quickly.
In less than half an hour…
A land deed stamped with a bright red official seal rested securely in Lin Wan’s hands.
From that moment on…
The ruined temple and the surrounding wasteland officially belonged to the Lin family.
“Thank you, Grandpa Village Chief. I’ll head back now.”
Lin Wan carefully tucked the deed into her clothes and left.
Watching the ox cart disappear into the distance, Aunt Li’s eyes turned red with jealousy.
“That wretched girl… Where did she get so much money? I’ll bet she…”
“Shut that mouth of yours!”
The village chief barked.
“She’s now a legally registered female head of household, and she’s got money. If you keep spreading rumors, be careful she doesn’t split you in half with a knife!”
Remembering how Lin Wan had once held a blade to her own father’s neck…
Aunt Li shrank back and didn’t dare say another word.
The ox cart finally stopped in front of the ruined temple.
Lin Wan thanked the driver and gave him an extra five wen for his trouble.
She pushed open the shaky wooden door.
Inside, Lin Yulong was curled up in the hay, clutching a wooden stick like a frightened little rabbit.
The moment he saw Lin Wan return…
He burst into tears, threw away the stick, and stumbled into her arms.
“Big Sister! You’re finally back! I thought you’d abandoned me…”
“Silly boy. I just went to buy you something delicious.”
Lin Wan gently rubbed his still-warm forehead.
His fever had gone down, but he was still very weak.
She carried the supplies into the temple one load at a time, stacking everything neatly in the corner.
When Lin Yulong saw the white rice, fine flour, and the brand-new thick quilts…
He forgot to cry.
His mouth hung wide open.
“B-Big Sister… Are all these ours?”
He carefully reached out to touch the soft cotton fabric, as though he were dreaming.
“Of course they’re ours. Not only these—but this land and this temple belong to us now too.”
Lin Wan waved the land deed in front of him.
“Yulong… We finally have a home.”
His eyes reddened again, but this time he didn’t cry.
Instead, he nodded with all his strength.
“Alright, enough getting emotional. Give me a hand. I’ll make you a proper meal.”
Lin Wan was a woman of action.
She quickly stacked several stones together in a sheltered corner to build a simple stove.
She set the new iron pot on top.
Scooped several ladles of Spirit Spring water into it.
Cut a large piece of marbled pork belly and placed it directly into the cold water without blanching it first.
She added scallions, ginger, star anise, soy sauce, and coarse salt.
Before long, the pot began bubbling with creamy white broth.
The rich aroma of meat blended with the sweet fragrance unique to the Spirit Spring water.
The smell was so irresistible that it seemed to shoot straight into their heads.
Lin Wan mixed some fine white flour into dough and stuck several thick flatbreads around the edge of the pot.
The firelight illuminated the siblings’ faces.
Lin Yulong squatted beside the stove with his chin resting in his hands, staring at the pot without blinking.
He was practically drooling.
“Gurgle… Gurgle…”
The meat had become perfectly tender.
Lin Wan filled a large bowl with meat and broth, added a flatbread, and handed it to him.
“Go ahead. Eat slowly. It’s hot.”
Ignoring the heat, Lin Yulong grabbed the flatbread, took a huge bite, and noisily gulped down the meat soup.
The warm broth spread from his stomach throughout his entire body.
“Big Sister… It’s so delicious… This is the best meal I’ve ever had.”
He spoke through mouthfuls of food, tears dripping into his bowl.
Lin Wan filled a bowl for herself as well.
Looking out into the pitch-black night beyond the ruined temple, she bit into the meat-scented flatbread.
In her previous life, she had eaten countless gourmet delicacies.
But at this moment, this humble bowl of stewed pork tasted better than any Michelin-starred feast.
After they finished eating…
The siblings spread out the two thick new quilts and climbed into the warm bedding.
Outside, the cold wind howled.
Inside the ruined temple, however, there was a sense of peace unlike anything they had ever known.
Lin Yulong soon drifted off, softly snoring.
But Lin Wan remained awake.
She stared at the drafty roof overhead.
They now had money.
They had food.
And they finally had a place to call home.
But it still wasn’t enough.
In this feudal world, without power or influence, that little bit of wealth was like a three-year-old child carrying a brick of gold through a crowded marketplace.
Sooner or later, someone would come after it.
“I need to tear down this ruined temple and build a solid house as soon as possible.”
She silently planned her next steps.
Suddenly—
A series of urgent knocks shattered the silence of the night.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A shrill, harsh female voice rang out from outside.
“You little wretch! Open the door right now!”