Er Niu’s tears streamed down her face. “I wanted to save them, but my arms weren’t long enough. They were swept too far away…” In truth, that wasn’t the case. When her mother-in-law and father-in-law were swept downstream and passed by her, their eyes had lit up with hope as they reached out, asking her to pull them up. If she had simply reached out, she really could have saved them.
But for some inexplicable reason, she hadn’t. She could only watch helplessly as they were swept away within moments, until they disappeared from sight.
At that moment, she had thought of what had just happened. If she had reached out and saved them, and the four of them had clung to the tree again, what if the flood rose once more? Would she end up suffering the same fate as before?
She did not dare gamble on whether there would be another tree to stop her. She could only seize this one chance to survive.
Her mother-in-law and father-in-law would definitely have made her let go first again. Since that was the case, they could not blame her.
But when her husband was swept down from upstream, she really had reached out. She had wanted to pull him back, but unfortunately, he had been too far away. Their hands had missed each other by less than an inch. Er Niu had broken down in tears and still had not been able to forgive herself.
Her entire husband’s family had been swallowed by the flood, leaving her completely alone. She had followed the surviving villagers all the way to Miyang County as they fled the disaster. As a single woman, she lived in constant fear, terrified that someone might forcibly take her away. The refugees might all look battered and miserable, but the way they eyed unmarried women was anything but innocent. She was frightened. She would rather sell herself into servitude. At least then, she would have a place to stay and a roof over her head.
Dahua also sobbed. “I was already engaged. If it weren’t for this flood, I would have gotten married this year. I’m a little luckier than Sister Er Niu. My parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law all escaped together. Only my six-year-old little sister died on the way… But what good does escaping do? We have no food or water. Our whole family wanted to sell ourselves, but in the end, only I was chosen. I don’t even know whether my family will be able to settle down here with this little bit of money.”
Wei Yingjie was still keeping half of the money he was supposed to pay her for selling herself. He had even said that if no one bought her, they would deduct another fifteen wen a day for food and lodging. She had originally planned to sign the deed of sale and give the remaining money to her parents so they could have a little more to live on, but now, it was uncertain whether they would even get that half.
Qiaoniang also looked downcast. “I’m about the same as Sister Dahua. I was still in the process of getting engaged, and we were almost ready to finalize it. When the flood came, my parents took all of us siblings and fled. We’re luckier than you in that my family members are all still in fairly good health. None of us got sick on the way. We survived all the way here by digging up wild vegetables and begging.”
But what good did making it to Miyang County do? They would only receive this little bit of money for selling themselves, and they did not even know whether the magistrate would accept them and let them settle here. If he refused and had constables drive them away with whips like the prefectures and counties they had passed through along the way, they did not even know where they could go.
The one who had sold herself, on the other hand, at least had somewhere to go.
After the three girls tearfully finished recounting their circumstances, they all turned to look at Li Xiaoxiao, who had remained silent.
Li Xiaoxiao had gone to bed early. The weather was hot, so she did not even need a blanket. She lay there with her arms folded and her eyes closed, making it impossible to tell whether she was asleep.
Qiaoniang, however, did not think she was asleep. It was not even completely dark yet. How could she have fallen asleep so quickly?
After gathering her courage, she asked, “Sister Xiaoxiao, are you asleep?”
Li Xiaoxiao did not open her eyes. “No.”
Qiaoniang hesitated before asking, “Sister Xiaoxiao, is your family like Sister Er Niu’s? Were they all swept away?”
Li Xiaoxiao opened her eyes. Perhaps it was only an illusion, but in the dim light, the three girls felt as though her eyes were faintly glowing.
“They’re gone,” she said calmly.
Li Xiaoxiao was not from this era.
While hunting a silver wolf, she had accidentally entered a spacetime tunnel. Somehow, instead of having her body torn apart in the chaotic flow of time and space, she had traveled to what seemed to be ancient China from more than thirty thousand years ago. Even the name of the dynasty was unfamiliar to her: the Great Wu Dynasty.
She knew nothing about this world.
The memories left behind by her history teacher were pitifully scarce. She could not even recognize many of the characters here.
When she had first crossed over, she had emerged from the floodwaters. Someone had grabbed hold of her. It was a fifteen-year-old girl named Yan Niang.
The chaotic flow of time and space had drained her strength. What little remained was barely enough for her to cling to a tree in the floodwaters, and even that was extremely difficult.
Yan Niang had been frightened. Seeing that she kept her eyes closed, she had talked to her incessantly, telling her all sorts of things about herself and this world. But Li Xiaoxiao had not remembered much. She simply could not hold on any longer, so she had untied the necklace around her neck, used it to tie her hand to the tree, and then lost consciousness.
When she woke up, she was still floating in the water, the necklace tightly binding her hand to the tree, but Yan Niang was nowhere to be seen.
She did not even know when she had been swept away.
This little girl from Niutou’ao, her lifesaver, had disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
After the waters receded, she climbed down from the tree and used the few memories she had left to fabricate an identity for herself.
She had become much weaker, and her supernatural ability had almost completely disappeared, leaving her with only a fraction of her physical strength.
Fortunately, she had not encountered anything that threatened her life for the time being.
She was someone who took things as they came. Although she had spent the past several days following the refugees as they fled the disaster, the greatest threats to survival in this world were surprisingly just hunger and disease. There were no star beasts, no insect monsters, no pollutants. She did not have to sleep with one eye open for fear of being ambushed, nor did she have to hand over valuable crystal cores as taxes every month to prevent herself from being driven out of a base.
Moreover, the food in this world was delicious in a way she had never experienced before. It was completely natural and unpolluted, carrying the fresh fragrance of the plants themselves. It was harmless to eat, with no need to worry about mutation.
Li Xiaoxiao was tired. She had fought for survival for so many years, and now, through a twist of fate, she had come to this world. She wanted to rest properly for a while.
If that meant becoming a servant, then so be it. As long as she had a bed to sleep in and food to eat, without having to live constantly on the edge of death, she could survive.
She slept peacefully through the night. Early the next morning, Qiaoniang, Er Niu, and Dahua were the first to wake up. Only Li Xiaoxiao remained sound asleep.
Qiaoniang whispered, “Granny Qin said we have to assemble at the beginning of the Mao hour. Should we wake her?”
Everyone had been fleeing for days without ever getting proper rest. The previous evening, they had gone to bed around the Xu hour, so by the end of the Yin hour, they had already slept for nearly five shichen, or ten hours. Still, because they remembered Granny Qin’s instructions and did not dare risk being late, the three girls had all gotten up.
Only Li Xiaoxiao seemed to have slept like a log. She had remained in exactly the same position throughout the night without moving an inch and was still fast asleep.
They were all girls in their teens, so it was only natural for them to be fond of sleep. Qiaoniang was about to step forward and wake Li Xiaoxiao when Er Niu stopped her.
“Let her sleep. Don’t bother with her.”
Qiaoniang hesitated. “But…”
Er Niu lowered her eyes. “We’re all going to become servants from now on. If she’s already this fond of sleeping and doesn’t know how to restrain herself, didn’t you hear what Granny Qin said yesterday? Once you become a servant, you have to remember at all times what you should and shouldn’t do. She can’t even get up early. How could a wealthy household possibly choose someone like her?”
Qiaoniang and Dahua hesitated. They were not fools. Because Li Xiaoxiao could read, Granny Qin had given her a separate set of clothes and even specially marked her deed of sale in red. It was obvious that they intended to place her in a good household.
They had all fled together as refugees, so why should Li Xiaoxiao get to enter a good household simply because she knew a few characters? If she really angered Granny Qin by sleeping in, wouldn’t that give them a chance?
So when it was time to assemble, Granny Qin immediately frowned.
“Why is one person missing?”
She might not have remembered everyone else, but Li Xiaoxiao was different. Granny Qin had paid particular attention to her the previous day and had even marked her contract in red. Naturally, she noticed her absence at once.
“Where’s Li Xiaoxiao?”
The three girls exchanged glances and lowered their heads without saying anything.
Granny Qin said, “Er Niu, you share a room with her. Why hasn’t she come?”
Er Niu stammered, “She hasn’t gotten up yet…”
Granny Qin’s gaze deepened. “Oh, she overslept. Did you wake her?”
Er Niu glanced at Qiaoniang and Dahua beside her, then mustered her courage. “We did. We couldn’t wake her.”
Qiaoniang and Dahua exchanged a glance and lowered their heads without contradicting her.
Granny Qin had seen plenty of these little tricks. However, she did not expose them. They were all going to become servants, and right now, they were competing for their future prospects. Why would anyone else have to wake her up?
She said indifferently, “Is that so? Then let her sleep. I want to see how long she can sleep.”
Er Niu was secretly delighted and studied even harder. She even boldly asked Granny Qin several questions about whether there was anything wrong with the way she performed her formal bows. To her surprise, Granny Qin actually offered her some pointers, making Er Niu’s attitude even more eager.
Granny Qin was also willing to guide servants who showed ambition. After all, the more capable the servants were, the more likely they were to be chosen by a good household, and the higher the price they could be sold for. She and Wei Yingjie were both stewards at the brokerage house. If they did their jobs well and earned their masters’ appreciation, the authority entrusted to them would naturally continue to grow.
Qiaoniang and Dahua were younger, after all. By the time they realized what was happening, Er Niu had already gotten ahead of them. The two could only swallow their pride and imitate her, asking Granny Qin for guidance as well.
Er Niu immediately shot them a glare. “Can you two stop copying everything I do? Are you my shadows or something?”
Qiaoniang and Dahua flushed with embarrassment and did not dare overstep again. They could only retreat to the side and practice quietly on their own.
Granny Qin had deliberately put on an imposing air and waited with a stern expression, expecting Li Xiaoxiao to rush out in a panic and apologize. She would then punish her severely to teach her a lesson while also using her as a warning to the others.
Who would have thought she would end up waiting until the sun was high in the sky, only to find that the girl still had not gotten up? It was already the Si hour. At this time of day, even a pig should have been out of bed.
Granny Qin could no longer sit still. She said coldly, “Someone, bring me my teaching whip.”
A maid beside her, wearing a green sleeveless jacket, bowed and said, “Yes.”
Before long, a pitch-black leather whip was brought over. Its handle gleamed brightly, evidently polished smooth from frequent use, while the whip itself was thick and heavy. Granny Qin gave it a flick, and it cut through the air with a deep, muffled whistle.
Qiaoniang and Dahua could not help but tremble. If someone were struck even once by that leather whip, it would probably tear their skin open.
Qiaoniang was still a simple-hearted young girl. She hurriedly said, “Granny Qin, why don’t I go back to the room and check on Sister Xiaoxiao? Perhaps she’s sick or something…”
“I’ve already given her a chance. Even if she’s sick, she should crawl out here and explain herself to the master! Move aside. Don’t get in the way.”
…
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