Song Jin’s method of handling the situation was simple—she would trade the food and spiritual spring water from the sack for supplies.
Rather than keeping these things around and inviting disaster, it was better to exchange them for resources useful during the refugee journey.
After all, she had her space. For the time being, she didn’t need to worry about food or water.
What she lacked most now were silver and supplies.
Song Jin remembered that in the novel, it took nearly a full year before Xiao Yanzhi and the heroine were finally settled by the imperial court.
And now it was July, the height of summer.
Wearing only one set of clothes was fine for the moment, but what about winter? What if they encountered extreme cold during the Little Ice Age?
Moreover, danger could strike at any moment during the refugee journey. The more supplies they had, the better.
Song Jin walked over to Xiao Yanzhi and the Jin-Mu-Shui-Huo siblings, crouched down, and whispered, “The sweet potatoes and water can’t be kept anymore. We can only trade them for other supplies.”
Since she had already decided to build a good relationship with the male lead to make the refugee journey smoother in the future, Song Jin felt it was necessary to start now.
After being bullied by the old Xiao family, Xiao Yanzhi and the four children must be at their most vulnerable emotionally.
As long as she showed kindness to the crippled man and the four little ones at this moment, they would surely be moved!
Xiao Yanzhi stared at Song Jin’s face and replied flatly, “You found the supplies. Handle them however you want.”
Making Xiao Yanzhi feel touched was impossible, but the hatred he felt toward her had genuinely lessened by a fraction.
He couldn’t pretend not to see the fact that she had saved Mu Mu.
“Alright then…” Song Jin’s mouth twitched slightly before she turned to look at the four children again.
Ever since Mu Mu had been rescued, Jin, Mu, Shui, and Huo had remained silently by Xiao Yanzhi’s side. None of them cried or caused trouble, quiet as little chicks. It was rather strange.
But Song Jin had no time to dwell on their odd behavior.
Looking at the refugees from the other villages who still refused to disperse, she stood up and shouted loudly:
“I know many of you have your eyes on this sack! But let me tell you this—I dared to deal with armed escorts, so I’m not someone who’s afraid of trouble! If any of you dare rob me, then I’ll throw the sack straight into the crowd of refugees. Once a riot breaks out, none of us will escape the consequences!”
Then she added, “But if you want to survive, robbery isn’t your only option. You can trade with me! If you don’t have silver, you can exchange things you brought from home—firewood knives, sickles, kitchen knives, axes, hoes, shovels, cotton clothes, quilts, handcarts… anything useful. As long as it has value, I’m willing to trade!”
Song Jin knew very well that with the village chief present, the villagers of Xiao Village would never dare rob her.
What she needed to deal with were the refugees from other villages.
Those refugees truly had intended to rob Song Jin earlier, but now they were stunned by her words.
A man so skinny he looked like skin stretched over bones asked in disbelief, “You’ll really trade even if we don’t have silver?”
A woman who thought she could spare a few cotton jackets from home also asked, “Cotton clothes work too? What can they be exchanged for?”
“Of course they can!” Song Jin answered decisively. “One cotton coat or quilt can be exchanged for two sweet potatoes. One blade, farming tool, or handcart can be exchanged for one pouch of water! I’ll trade out eighteen sweet potatoes and three pouches of water total. Once they’re gone, they’re gone! First come, first served! But you’d better keep quiet and avoid attracting the attention of other refugees who don’t know about this, otherwise nobody will benefit.”
As for the elm-bark coins that could quench thirst, she intended to keep those and let the village chief distribute them among the refugees from Xiao Village.
They were all refugees from the same village—if she could help, then she would.
The wild vegetables also needed to be divided into six portions.
One portion for the village chief’s family.
One for Third Granduncle’s family.
Two portions for her own household.
And one each for Fan Shi and Lin Shi, since they had helped her.
As for the remaining large sweet potato, she would let Xiao Dalang bring it back to Xiao Fugui.
It wasn’t because Song Jin was some saintly woman.
Rather, Xiao Dalang and his wife still couldn’t separate from the old Xiao family household. If Xiao Fugui ended up getting absolutely nothing, he would definitely vent his anger on Xiao Dalang’s family afterward.
And the reason she was keeping two portions of wild vegetables for her own family was because one of those portions was actually intended for Xiao Dalang’s family.
If Xiao Dalang brought the vegetables back openly, he probably wouldn’t even get a sip of soup himself.
“One cotton coat or quilt for just two sweet potatoes? One tool or handcart for one pouch of water? Isn’t that way too expensive?”
After hearing Song Jin’s terms, a small portion of the refugees who liked taking advantage of others immediately felt she was charging outrageously high prices.
They could all tell that Song Jin wasn’t just collecting items for self-defense—she also wanted winter supplies.
But was it really expensive?
Not at all.
After all, what she was trading were products from her magical space and spiritual spring water!
Song Jin looked at those complaining refugees and sneered. “If you think it’s expensive, then don’t trade! I’m not forcing you! Like I said before—first come, first served. Once they’re gone, that’s it!”
When people were starving badly enough, let alone supplies—they would even sell their wives and children.
Hadn’t the original owner once thought about selling her children for food?
These refugees dared to haggle only because they wanted to gain more advantage.
But advantages weren’t so easy to take.
The woman from earlier realized Song Jin wasn’t someone easy to bully and immediately shouted first:
“I’ll trade! I’m willing! I’ll exchange two cotton coats for four large sweet potatoes! I’ll go get them right now—you must save them for me!”
The woman had elderly family members and children at home. She figured that since everyone was already close to starving to death, what was the point of keeping a few tattered cotton coats? It was better to exchange them for food and survive one more day.
Once there was a first person willing to trade, naturally there came a second.
The skeletal man hurriedly shouted too, “I’ll trade my handcart for a pouch of water! Save one for me—I’ll go push the cart over!”
Handcarts were actually rather awkward during refugee travel.
Calling them useless wasn’t right, since they could still carry people and supplies.
But calling them useful wasn’t quite right either—they were more of an optional burden.
At this stage, what supplies did the refugees even have left?
Nothing more than some clothing and quilts, things that could simply be carried on their backs.
“I’ll trade an axe for a pouch of water!”
As soon as the second person spoke up, the refugees who had been complaining about the prices immediately panicked.
They were terrified all the food would be snatched up before it was their turn, and suddenly everyone started shouting at once.
“I’ll trade a quilt for two sweet potatoes! Wait for me!”
“I want to trade too! I’ll use a firewood knife! Save the last pouch of water for me!”
“I’ll trade three cotton coats for six sweet potatoes!”
“I’ll trade a quilt!”
“I’ll trade—”
Almost instantly, the refugees scattered after throwing out their offers.
Because Song Jin had warned them to stay low-key, they returned to their camps quietly and secretly, not daring to make a fuss.
Fortunately, there weren’t many of them—only around a dozen.
The group ran back and forth carrying carts, hidden tools, quilts, and cotton clothing, yet still managed not to attract the attention of the other refugees.
Watching the refugees hurrying back with supplies in their arms, Song Jin’s eyes lit up.
But she didn’t lose her head in excitement.
Looking at the two men carrying the axe and firewood knife, she said, “The two brothers with the blades—you two trade first.”