Early the next morning, the wolf cub was exposed to everyone’s sight.
It was as if a bomb had exploded—the crowd instantly erupted.
“Oh heavens, didn’t this wolf leave already? Why has it come back?”
“Where’s the village chief? Hurry and call him over!”
“What is Jianshan’s mother doing?!”
More than a dozen furious gazes frightened A-Ming so much that he hurried forward, scooped A-Lan into his arms, and turned around to block everyone’s view.
But it was only a futile attempt to cover things up.
Very soon, the village chief arrived and saw the wolf cub too.
“Jianshan’s mother, what is this?”
“Village chief, this little thing came back on its own last night. It looked extremely sad, and its whole body smelled of blood. I’m guessing something must have happened to the wolf pack. It had nowhere else to go, so it came back to find me.”
After quickly explaining the situation, He Wanqing reassured the village chief.
“I can guarantee that what happened before, when the wolves came looking for people, won’t happen again.”
“Hah, your guarantee means nothing. What if they really do come again?” someone nearby said unhappily.
He Wanqing glanced at the person expressionlessly. “If that pack comes again, I’ll take my family and leave the group. I won’t drag everyone down with us.”
The moment she said this, the crowd burst into an uproar.
The village chief looked at both sides and sighed. “Then we’ll settle it like this. Besides, everyone doesn’t need to be afraid. Even when the wolves surrounded us before, they never hurt anyone. Even if they come again, it’ll probably be the same.
Alright, go back and pack up. We’ll be setting off soon.”
And so, A-Lan was openly accepted in front of everyone and followed He Wanqing’s family on their refugee journey.
During the day, A-Lan trotted beside them. Sometimes he would dash happily to the front of the group, but whenever he realized he had gone too far, he would stop and wait blankly for He Wanqing and the others. He was adorable beyond words.
After two days, all the sadness on A-Lan’s body had completely faded. He often played noisily with A-Ming, bringing a touch of joy to the otherwise dreary refugee road.
But A-Lan also had difficult times—namely, there was no meat for him to eat.
After all, He Wanqing’s family barely had enough food for themselves. Where could they possibly get meat for him? They could only force him to eat vegetables.
That evening, the group stopped to rest as usual.
Just as He Wanqing was preparing to look around nearby for supplies, the system gave her good news.
“Host, today’s points have been credited. Your total points have now exceeded two thousand.”
“That’s great! What about the reward? Has it arrived yet?”
“It has. Host may check it yourself.”
He Wanqing immediately closed her eyes to sense it, and a 3×3 storage cabinet appeared in her mind.
“Little Six, what’s this for?”
“Host, this is a storage grid. Each slot can store one type of item regardless of shape or size, and the capacity is unlimited.”
He Wanqing carefully pondered those words, and her eyes lit up.
“So I can put anything inside and take it out whenever I want?”
“Yes, but you may store at most nine types of items at one time. Host can try placing an item inside.”
He Wanqing casually picked up a pebble and hid it in her palm so no one would notice.
“Then how do I put it in?”
“You only need to think about it in your mind.”
He Wanqing did as instructed, and immediately felt the object disappear from her palm.
When she opened her hand, it was indeed gone.
Her eyes curved into delighted crescents.
This reward was really wonderful!
Next, He Wanqing tried to take the pebble back out, but to her surprise, the first grid didn’t contain the pebble at all—it held a pile of powder instead.
“Little Six, why did the pebble turn into this?”
“The pebble is in the second slot. This wasn’t transformed from the pebble—it was already inside the storage grid. It’s something you humans eat called flour. I guess the main system sensed your situation and threw it in as a bonus.”
Though the phrase “threw it in as a bonus” sounded strange, that wasn’t important. What mattered was that after seven whole days, she could finally eat staple food again!
Joy overflowed from He Wanqing.
She had decided!
Tonight she would take out the little bit of seasoning they had left and properly reward her stomach, which had practically been injured from eating wild fruits these past days!
Just imagining it felt wonderful!
Though He Wanqing had a million thoughts racing through her mind, only a short moment had actually passed.
The children hadn’t even gone far yet.
“Jianshan, pick some wild vegetables or bamboo shoots while you’re out. Don’t just gather wild fruits.”
After all the children had left, He Wanqing found a clean cloth sack.
“Little Six, keep an eye out for people for me.”
“Don’t worry, Host. No one’s paying attention to you right now.”
Only then did He Wanqing confidently transfer the flour from the storage grid into the sack.
Watching the bag slowly bulge, she felt deeply satisfied.
“Hm? That’s all?”
She lifted the sack and weighed it in her hand. It didn’t seem to be even ten jin.
“The main system is way too stingy. Since it was already giving me something, why not give a bit more? Sigh.”
The system didn’t respond, silently complaining inwardly: Be grateful you got anything at all, and you’re still being picky.
After carefully scooping out enough flour for three meals with a bowl, He Wanqing tightly tied the sack shut and hid it inside the luggage bundle.
She poured some flour into a basin, added water, kneaded it into dough, and left it aside to ferment.
While she wasn’t very good at stir-frying dishes, making this kind of thing didn’t require much skill.
Now all that remained was to wait for the children to come back.
By the riverside—
Ye Jianwu was filling a wooden bucket with water when he bent down and spotted fish lively splashing about in the river.
Without hesitation, he used the bucket to scoop at them.
The unsuspecting fish crashed right into the bucket.
Looking at the dazed fish, Ye Jianwu grinned broadly, showing all his white teeth.
After discovering there were fish in the river, he no longer bothered fetching water.
He tied the fish with some water grass and tossed it onto the bank before beginning an enthusiastic fishing game.
Very soon, fish after fish was thrown ashore.
Of course, Ye Jianwu wasn’t the only one at the riverbank. Others copied his method and tried catching fish as well.
But none were as quick as him, and most gained little.
In the end, Ye Jianwu returned triumphantly with six fish dangling from his left hand and a bucket of water in his right.
“Wow, Third Brother, you actually caught fish!”
At A-Ming’s excited shout, He Wanqing immediately looked over, and her eyes instantly glued themselves to the fish.
Then dish names automatically surfaced in her mind: braised fish, pickled fish soup, spicy boiled fish, grilled fish…
“Jianwu, Mother absolutely loves you to death! You’re amazing!”
Wiping away imaginary drool, He Wanqing lavishly praised her third son.
Ye Jianwu gave a silly grin, his face flushing red.
“Mother, there are six fish here. Should I give two to Uncle’s family?”
He Wanqing quickly calculated in her head. If they gave away two, four would remain—enough for their family of five.
So she generously said, “No problem. Go ahead.”
As soon as her third son left, He Wanqing immediately began assigning tasks.
“Jianshan, clean out the fish guts and see if A-Lan will eat them. If he does, give them to him. If not, bury them.”
“Jianwen, hurry and start the fire!”
“A-Ming, wash the pot and get ready to cook!”
After a flurry of activity, He Wanqing’s family of five finally sat down to enjoy their feast.
Several large bowls were placed on the ground before them. Two bowls held plump white steamed buns, while the others contained fish cooked in different styles.
The moment He Wanqing sat down, the fragrance of wheat from the buns and the tempting aroma of fish continuously assaulted her senses. The smell alone made her unable to resist.
“Eat!”
No pointless chatter—they dug in immediately!
Swish, swish, swish—several children simultaneously reached for the buns, and two people instantly grabbed the same one on top.
He Wanqing laughed helplessly. “Don’t rush, don’t rush. There are plenty of buns. Everyone gets one.”
Only after all the children had taken theirs did He Wanqing pick up a bun herself. She bit into it gently and immediately tasted a faint sweetness, happily narrowing her eyes.
“Mother, these buns are so soft! They taste way better than the ones we used to make at home.”
The children had never eaten buns this fluffy before. They went down smoothly without scratching the throat at all, leaving them utterly amazed.
“That’s because the flour is different. This kind of flour barely contains any bran, so food made from it isn’t rough,” He Wanqing explained simply.
Ye Jianwen looked puzzled. “Mother, then where did this flour come from? Even if we hadn’t finished our old flour, it wasn’t this kind.”
He Wanqing froze briefly. “Uh… this was bought before we fled. It was expensive, so I couldn’t bear to use it, and later I forgot about it. I only remembered today while sorting through things.”
After speaking, she hurriedly changed the subject.
“Alright, enough talking. Eat quickly, or bugs will fly into the bowls.”
Meanwhile, the eldest branch of the Ye family was also eating fish.
Since they had no iron pot, they simply roasted the fish directly.
Old Master Ye and Old Madam Ye shared one fish, while the remaining three people split the other.
Old Master Ye divided the fish into three portions, giving the best middle piece to his wife.
“Old woman, I’ll eat the head and tail. The middle is all yours.”
Old Madam Ye’s gaze softened considerably. She picked up the fish, took a bite, but as soon as she swallowed, her expression changed drastically. She immediately bent over, trying to vomit.
“Old woman, what’s wrong?”
Old Madam Ye’s face turned bright red, and she pointed at her throat, unable to speak.
Everyone panicked, but none of them understood what had happened.
Ye Jian’an frowned at the fish in the bowl and guessed, “Grandma, did a fish bone get stuck in your throat?”
Old Madam Ye nodded frantically, clawing painfully at her throat.
Eldest Uncle quickly handed over a water pouch. “Mother, drink some water and try!”
She drank, but it was useless. Tears of pain reddened the corners of her eyes.
After thinking for a moment, Ye Jian’an dashed toward Old Woman Chen and shouted before even arriving:
“Grandma Chen! My grandma has a fish bone stuck in her throat! Come take a look!”
He Wanqing’s family, who were enjoying their meal, heard it too.
“Grandma’s throat is hurt. Mother, let’s go take a look,” Ye Jianshan said worriedly.
Since they were almost done eating anyway, He Wanqing nodded.
“Jianwen, clean up the bowls and chopsticks.”
The remaining children followed He Wanqing over.
By the time they arrived, Old Woman Chen had already examined Old Madam Ye’s throat.
“There’s no way to remove it by hand. We’ll have to force it down with food.”
Ye Jian’an said, “Grandma already drank water, but it didn’t work.”
“If water doesn’t work, then she needs something soft to swallow. She can’t chew right now, so it’s best if it’s something she can swallow whole.”
A-Ming tilted his head and asked in a clear voice, “Would steamed buns work?”
“Of course. But you don’t have any, do you?”
“My family does!” A-Ming looked at He Wanqing, seeking permission.
“Go bring one over.”
Although the family of five had eaten plenty of buns that evening, they had intentionally saved some for tomorrow’s dry rations, so quite a few remained.
The second branch still had grain!
The news shocked everyone.
They had obviously run out of food, so how did they suddenly have grain again?
Everyone was extremely puzzled.
Ignoring their suspicious looks, He Wanqing had no intention of explaining.
Soon, A-Ming came running back with a steamed bun.
The moment people saw the plump white bun, their gazes immediately became heated. Sounds of swallowing rang out one after another.
As he approached the crowd, A-Ming nervously hid the bun and hurried over to Old Madam Ye.
“Uncle, here.”
Eldest Uncle immediately held it to his mother’s mouth. “Mother, bite off a piece and swallow it. Don’t chew.”
Old Madam Ye struggled to open her mouth and bit off a small piece, but when she tried swallowing, it simply wouldn’t go down.
Ye Jian’an handed over the water pouch. “Grandma, use water to help swallow it.”
After taking another half-mouthful of water, Old Madam Ye steeled herself, shut her eyes tightly, and forced it down.
Gulp.
The fish bone slid down together with the bun and water, and the foreign sensation in her throat disappeared.
Old Madam Ye instantly relaxed, though her voice came out hoarse and unpleasant.
“It finally went down. Eating a fish nearly cost this old woman her life.”
Old Master Ye disliked those words and grumbled, “What nonsense are you saying? It was just a fish bone, nothing serious.”
Old Woman Chen checked her throat again and found it swollen and scraped.
“Your throat is swollen and injured. You need to eat soft foods for the next few days. Wild vegetables and fruits should be eaten sparingly.”
Under normal circumstances, this would have been easy enough.
But now their grain bags were empty, and Eldest Uncle’s face filled with worry.
At that moment, Madam Ye Qian calmly said, “No need to worry. Second Uncle’s family has flour. Mother can drink flour porridge.”
She spoke as if it were only natural, making everyone else feel it should be so too.
In fact, many people thought the same and began urgingly looking toward He Wanqing.
As though if she refused, she would become an unfilial daughter-in-law.
He Wanqing disliked being pressured like this. Originally, she had planned to give them two jin of flour.
But now she no longer wanted to give it away for free.
After all, this was her own property. It had nothing to do with the Ye family. She could give it if she wanted, and if she didn’t want to, no one could force her.
“Eldest Sister-in-law should stop thinking about my flour. I only have this little bit because I saved it from before. There really isn’t much.”
After saying that, she turned and left, ignoring everyone’s shocked stares.
“T-This… Jianshan’s mother is too unfilial!”
“Exactly. That’s her mother-in-law, and the eldest branch even spoke up for her before.”
“You really see people’s true colors when trouble comes.”
People’s opinions of her had improved slightly after the earlier incident, but now everything had returned to square one.
The children followed He Wanqing back.
Along the way, Ye Jianshan looked conflicted, wanting to speak but not daring to.
He Wanqing cut him off directly.
“Don’t worry. Mother has her own plans. I won’t let your grandmother go hungry.”
Ye Jianshan relaxed.
Meanwhile, after He Wanqing left, Eldest Uncle pulled Madam Ye Qian aside and scolded her:
“You know perfectly well what your younger sister-in-law is like, so why would you say something like that?”
Madam Ye Qian looked furious. “No matter what kind of person she is, Mother injured her throat. Is asking for a little flour too much? Besides, if she hadn’t sent over the fish, would Mother’s throat have gotten hurt?”
“You—! You’re being completely unreasonable! She kindly gave us food, and somehow that’s her fault too?”
“Who cares about her fish? Without it, would we have starved to death?”