After staying a little longer, Xu Qinghe headed home.
Once the matter of selling the land had been settled, she told Uncle Liu that she planned to sell eight mu and keep only two for herself.
Uncle Liu thought it over for a moment before nodding.
“That’ll work. Since we’re going to the county tomorrow anyway, we can stop by the yamen and transfer the deed. Better to get it done early so it won’t interfere with the spring fieldwork.”
The villagers were making a collective trip to the county the next day to buy and sell goods. Since they would be gone all day, they had to leave before dawn. Anyone who overslept and missed the group wouldn’t be able to go.
Once they returned, everyone in the village would begin turning over the fields and preparing fertilizer.
Which meant that, sooner or later, she would have to deal with the contents of the pit latrine.
She tossed another stone into the pit.
From the sound, the contents had softened considerably.
As expected, some things simply couldn’t be avoided.
Back inside, she took out the straw basket and hemp cloth she had prepared earlier.
She would need them for the trip to the county.
Sitting down, Xu Qinghe reviewed the entire house and courtyard once more, reorganizing her shopping list in her notebook.
For ordinary people in ancient times, traveling any distance was difficult.
If she didn’t buy everything she needed this time, she might not get another chance for a long while.
That afternoon, she accompanied Aunt Liu’s family to the village head’s house to contribute money.
The village planned to buy piglets the next day.
The pigs would be raised collectively. At the end of the year, one would be slaughtered and the other sold.
The meat from the slaughtered pig would be divided among the villagers, while the proceeds from the sold pig would be shared out as cash.
The two piglets would cost over three taels of silver.
With more than forty households in the village, each family needed to contribute less than one hundred copper coins.
By the end of the year, each household would receive over a pound of pork along with a share of the sale profits.
It was a worthwhile arrangement.
Following behind Aunt Liu, Xu Qinghe entered the village head’s house.
Uncle Liu chatted with the village head about farming matters, while Aunt Liu, Sister-in-law Liu, and the village head’s wife exchanged gossip.
The village head had a square face and thick brows that slanted upward, giving him a stern appearance.
As the two men discussed how several villagers had frozen to death this winter, the village head’s brow furrowed deeply.
He let out a heavy sigh and muttered under his breath.
“This can’t go on… it just can’t go on.”
After staying a short while, they left.
Xu Qinghe politely declined Aunt Liu’s invitation to stay for dinner and returned home.
Once there, she tightly closed the doors and windows and hurried through dinner.
She needed to wake up early tomorrow, so she had to sleep early as well.
After eating, she moved around a little, washed up, and climbed into bed.
While it was still dark outside, the phone beneath her pillow began vibrating.
She was still groggy, but the moment she remembered they were going to the county today, her eyes snapped open.
Time to get up.
She quickly dressed, washed up, and put away anything that didn’t belong in this era.
Once everything was ready, she took out two freshly made roujiamo—flatbread stuffed with meat—from her space.
There wasn’t time to properly enjoy breakfast today.
She quickly finished both sandwiches and drank a cup of warm honey lemon water.
She had packed everything she needed.
The house was tidied up.
Her stomach was full.
She had already used the bathroom.
Everything was ready.
Locking the door behind her, she headed first to Aunt Liu’s house.
Along the way, most of the village households were already awake, hurriedly gathering their things.
The silence that had shrouded the village for so long had finally been broken.
It almost felt as though the lifeless winter had truly passed.
When she arrived, Aunt Liu’s family had just finished preparing to leave.
Compared to the two pieces of hemp cloth in Xu Qinghe’s basket, Aunt Liu and her family carried much more.
Their three baskets were packed full of hemp cloth, straw sandals, and small woven baskets.
“Qinghe, all packed and ready?” Aunt Liu asked.
Xu Qinghe nodded.
“Everything’s ready, Auntie.”
Aunt Liu hurried over and tucked two warm millet buns into her hands.
“Good. You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Take these and eat them on the way. We probably won’t be back until after dark.”
“Let’s go. The village head is probably waiting for us at the entrance.”
Sister-in-law Liu and Little Brother Liu stayed behind to watch the house.
The four of them headed quickly toward the village entrance.
When they arrived, more than a dozen people were already there, chatting beside the cattle shed.
Uncle Liu and Elder Brother Liu naturally joined the men.
Xu Qinghe followed Aunt Liu over to the group of women.
Aunt Liu was well-liked in the village, and people immediately gathered around to talk with her.
Xu Qinghe turned to look at the cattle shed nearby.
Inside stood an old yellow ox.
Like the pigs, it belonged to the entire village.
No one would ever consider slaughtering it.
When spring arrived, everyone would rely on it to pull the plow.
After waiting a little longer and exchanging a few words with the village women under Aunt Liu’s guidance, the village head arrived with the remaining thirty-odd villagers.
A few loud voices called out to him.
“Anyone else still missing? We’re leaving!”
When no one responded, the village head led the group out of the village.
The sky was still dark.
Several men carrying knives positioned themselves along the outer edges of the group.
Everyone stayed close together, carefully watching the ground beneath their feet, afraid of twisting an ankle in the darkness.
Xu Qinghe looked around beyond the crowd.
Everything was pitch black.
She could only make out a few vague outlines.
The village gradually receded behind them.
Aside from the sounds of the thirty or so people talking and breathing, there was only silence.
All around them stretched barren yellow earth.
In the era she had transmigrated into, people didn’t need travel permits for short journeys, and the economy was relatively developed.
Still, venturing into sparsely populated areas carried the risk of encountering bandits or highway robbers.
That was why the villagers always traveled in groups of at least a dozen when going to the county.
Everyone walked quickly, eager to reach the county sooner.
Xu Qinghe’s stamina was enough to keep up.
The problem was her feet.
Inside the reed sandals, they had gone completely numb from the cold.
The shredded reeds scratched the soles of her feet, making them itch so badly that she unconsciously curled her toes for relief.
They walked without stopping until dawn.
Finally, she caught sight of the county town in the distance.
Letting out a long breath, Xu Qinghe felt a surge of relief.
They had arrived at last.