“Yue-niang, we’re here to help you.”
Aunt Zhang and Aunt Zhou had come with their families to lend a hand.
With more people, the work went quickly—repairing the doors, patching the walls, pulling weeds.
Aunt Zhang even got her daughters-in-law to cut a bunch of thatch, tied it into bundles, and brought it back. She handed it to Aunt Zhou’s son, Xu Dashan, who climbed onto the roof to lay it down.
Soon, the house and yard were completely cleaned and repaired.
Looking at the house now, finally looking like a proper home, Xia Wanyue’s heart swelled with gratitude.
She silently vowed to repay such kindness someday. Good people deserved good deeds in return.
With nothing to eat or drink in the house, they couldn’t offer the helpers a meal.
After finishing the work, the group excused themselves and left. Xia Wanyue wanted to say something but couldn’t; this debt of gratitude would have to be repaid another day.
Once everyone left, Xia Wanyue brought the children inside.
The house was simple: a central hall, a bedroom on either side, and behind the hall, the kitchen and wood storage.
The toilet was in the backyard, a short distance from the wood shed.
Next to the house was a small vegetable patch, though at the moment it was just barren land.
The previous table was broken, one leg snapped off, and the three barely usable stools had been fixed by Aunt Zhou’s son with wooden nails.
The right-hand room had been used for storage, while the left room contained a single bed.
The house had seen death before, and Xia Wanyue, having encountered many corpses in her past life, wasn’t fazed.
Fortunately, the bed was still usable and sturdy—not broken. Otherwise, tonight, they’d have to sleep on the floor.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
Li Ning stared at the bed with curiosity.
“Mom! Look…”
Xia Wanyue walked over. On the bed sat a backpack basket filled with items: a chipped clay pot, two bowls, a small jar, and three sweet potatoes.
“This must be the basket Aunt Zhou brought earlier. She didn’t take it with her?”
It seemed she had intentionally left it here.
The items were few, but the gesture carried weight. Sigh, another day owing someone a favor.
“An Ning, San Ya, stay home and take care of your little brother. Mom’s going out for a bit, but I’ll be back soon.”
“I’ll set up a small stove in the backyard for you. You can light a fire and roast these sweet potatoes. Have them for lunch first to fill your stomach. If I’m not back yet, you don’t need to wait for me—just eat.”
“Mom, where are you going? Can we come with you? I promise we’ll behave.”
San Ya, lacking a sense of security, clung tightly to Xia Wanyue’s hand, afraid that if she let go, Mom wouldn’t come back.
Li Ning didn’t speak, but his gaze was fixed on Xia Wanyue, his silent plea clear without words.
Xia Wanyue sighed and crouched down.
“San Ya, An Ning, don’t worry. Mom won’t leave you behind. Look, there’s almost nothing in this house. Mom has to go out and think of ways to get some things for our home, right? Don’t worry—I’ll be back soon.”
“Then hurry back, Mom! My sister and I will wait here for you.”
Li Ning, ever sensible, held his sister’s hand, gently pulling it into his own.
“Don’t be afraid, sister. I’m here. We’ll wait for Mom together.”
San Ya nodded obediently, her eyes full of hope as she looked at Xia Wanyue.
Xia Wanyue gently pinched her ear and stroked Li Ning’s head. She picked up the basket Aunt Zhou had left and turned to leave.
Stepping out of the yard, Xia Wanyue headed toward the back mountain.
Once she entered deep enough that the village was no longer visible, she quietly entered her space.
In the bathroom, she changed into a pair of comfy sleeping pants. Luckily, she had these on—otherwise, after that fight, her blood would have nearly drained.
“Ah! So comfortable! I just want to lie down here and not go anywhere!”
With her sleeping pants on, she flopped onto the bed. The warm mattress gave her a sense of security—so comforting she didn’t want to get up.
This body had suffered a lot. Luckily, she had given birth naturally. If it had been a cesarean, she’d still have an incision, and survival would have been even harder.
“Sigh, life is hard!”
With difficulty, Xia Wanyue stood, gazed at her warm bed, steeling herself. She bit her lip and left her space.
There were only two months left before she had to escape the famine, and there was still so much to prepare.
Though she had resources in her space, she still needed supplies in the open world.
And her pockets were emptier than her face. First, she needed to get some money.
She wondered if she would have the luck that novel heroines always seemed to have.
“Ginseng, Lingzhi… here I come…”
Xia Wanyue took out a watermelon knife from her space and walked into the mountains.
Half an hour passed, and not a single ginseng or Lingzhi in sight—just a barren, yellow landscape. Even a wild chicken was nowhere to be found.
“…Sigh! …Sigh! …”
Suddenly, a rabbit zipped past from the grass beside her.
Xia Wanyue only had time to stretch out her hand before it disappeared.
“This body is way too slow! If it were my old body, that rabbit wouldn’t have escaped!”
“Ugh! My body’s so weak!”
She crouched, picked up some small stones, and hurried toward the rabbit’s direction.
After running about ten meters, she saw a rabbit sitting beside a pile of dry grass, nibbling away.
She quickly threw the stones from her hand.
“Good, good.”
With a weaker body, everything had to be retrained. Hitting the target depended entirely on strength.
She walked over, picked up the rabbit, and tossed it into her basket.
Continuing deeper into the mountain, she saw more animals the further she went.
She caught three wild chickens and two wild rabbits. Deeper into the forest, the green foliage began to appear amidst the yellow leaves.
“When these green leaves turn yellow, it’ll probably be time to flee the famine,” she thought.
“Huh? What’s that?”
Xia Wanyue tightened the basket on her back and hurried toward the spot ahead.
A plant with small red berries appeared before her.
“This must be it, right? It has to be.”
The plant looked like ginseng, but she wasn’t entirely sure—she had only seen processed ginseng, never wild ones.
She had only seen pictures online.
“Whatever, I’ll dig it up first.”
“Hehe… so big! Must be a hundred years old!”
Carefully, Xia Wanyue dug out the ginseng, wrapped it in cloth, and stored it in her space.
She dusted off her hands and continued deeper into the forest.
After another hour, she found a secluded spot, changed into a fresh pair of sleeping pants, and buried the ones she had removed.
“Such a hassle…” Xia Wanyue grumbled, stamping her foot, then moved onward.