He Wanqing led the children straight toward the grain shop.
Zhao Zichen originally wanted to follow them, but his father grabbed him by the arm.
“Where are you going? Come with me to the bookstore to buy some books.”
Watching A Ming and the others walking farther away, Zhao Zichen looked anxious. “Dad, if you want to buy books, just go yourself. Why drag me along?”
Village Chief Zhao refused to let go. “Who said I’m buying books? You’re buying them. I think you’ve been too idle lately, so I found a private school for you. Until your master returns, you’ll attend classes there.”
Although the village had its own clan school, Village Chief Zhao knew it couldn’t keep his son in line, so he deliberately found a stricter academy in the county town to prevent him from skipping class whenever he pleased.
The moment Zhao Zichen heard the word “study,” his head began to ache.
“Dad, I don’t want to study! I want to practice martial arts and become a general!”
“You think becoming a general only requires martial arts skills? Then you’re wrong. A general must understand troop formations and military strategy! And where do formations and strategy come from? Books! Now hurry up and come to the bookstore with me.”
Just like that, Zhao Zichen was forcibly dragged into the bookstore by his father.
Meanwhile, at the grain shop—
The first thing He Wanqing did upon entering was check the grain prices.
She discovered that coarse rice was the cheapest at thirty-six copper coins per dou. White rice cost sixty coins per dou, black flour was also sixty, while white flour was the most expensive at ninety-eight coins per dou.
He Wanqing still preferred rice the most, so she said to the shop assistant, “I’ll take two dou of white rice and one dou of white flour.”
“Certainly. Did you bring grain sacks with you, customer?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll get you two new sacks, but it’ll cost an extra two copper coins.”
“Alright.”
He Wanqing quickly calculated the total price, then pretended to take out two strings of one hundred coins each from a cloth bag, along with twenty loose coins.
The shop assistant accepted the money and counted it at lightning speed—so fast He Wanqing could barely follow his movements.
“Exact amount. Thank you, customer. Please come again.”
Ye Jianwu lifted the grain, and the group walked out of the grain shop.
Afterward, He Wanqing went to a general store to buy some oil and salt, spending another hundred or so coins.
Then she stopped herself.
Although there were still many things they lacked, they simply didn’t have enough hands to carry more. Restraining her urge to continue shopping, He Wanqing led the children toward the city gate.
“Candied hawthorns! Sweet and sour candied hawthorns—!”
The bright red candied hawthorns gleamed dazzlingly under the sunlight.
Carrying A Lan in his arms, A Ming instantly stopped walking, staring at the skewers of candied fruit while swallowing hard.
Noticing his reaction, He Wanqing stopped and smiled lightly. “A Ming wants some?”
A Ming obediently nodded.
He Wanqing turned to ask the others, “What about you? Do you want some too?”
The children all nodded enthusiastically.
He Wanqing walked over to the elderly vendor. “Grandpa, how much are the candied hawthorns?”
“Five copper coins per skewer.”
“I’ll take… five skewers.”
After hesitating briefly, He Wanqing decided to buy one for herself as well. She wanted to see how the candied hawthorns here tasted.
Soon, each member of the family held a skewer of candied hawthorns as they slowly walked toward the city gate.
Before they even got close, they heard Zhao Zichen shouting.
“A Ming, over here!”
In the shade beside the city gate, Village Chief Zhao and Zhao Zichen were waiting.
“Wow, you all got your own skewers of candied hawthorns! Did you buy them from that old man?”
A Ming nodded. “Mhm.”
“You definitely made the right choice! That old grandpa’s candied hawthorns are the best in our county. He uses plenty of sugar.”
As he spoke, Zhao Zichen swallowed hard.
Unable to endure his burning gaze, A Ming silently turned his back and continued licking his candied hawthorn.
Village Chief Zhao looked utterly disgusted. “If you want some, then go buy them yourself. Stop embarrassing me.”
Immediately, Zhao Zichen held out his palm toward his father.
Village Chief Zhao looked confused for a moment. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Hehe, money.”
“…You can’t even take out five copper coins?”
Zhao Zichen blinked innocently at him. “It’s not that. I just want to save money to buy something.”
Without asking further, Village Chief Zhao quickly pulled out a handful of copper coins from his robe and dropped them into Zhao Zichen’s hand.
“Take it, take it. All you ever think about is eating.”
Zhao Zichen made a face and darted into the crowd as lightly as a swallow.
Watching the entire exchange from the side, He Wanqing secretly laughed.
Unexpectedly, Village Chief Zhao immediately looked over at her, freezing the smile on her face.
Village Chief Zhao didn’t mind at all. “Sorry you had to see that. My son never listens.”
“They’re all the same. My boys love eating too. Village Chief Zhao already saw their appetites earlier—I’m already worried about how I’ll feed them.”
This time it was Village Chief Zhao’s turn to laugh.
“Don’t worry, Madam He. You already survived the hardest days. Things will only get better from now on.”
“I’ll borrow your good words then.”
After Zhao Zichen bought and finished his candied hawthorn, the other three families gradually arrived as well.
Village Chief Zhao then led everyone back to the village.
Returning to Shangliu Village once again, He Wanqing’s feelings were completely different now.
From now on, this place would be her new home.
As soon as they entered the village, Village Chief Zhao assigned Zhao Zichen a task.
“Son, take the gong and gather everyone at the clan school. Tell them to come meet these four families and get acquainted.”
Zhao Zichen immediately ran off.
Meanwhile, Village Chief Zhao led He Wanqing and the others toward the clan school while introducing the village along the way.
“Our village originally had thirty-six households, most of them surnamed Zhao. Those without the Zhao surname are families who fled famine here years ago, just like you.”
“This is our Zhao clan ancestral hall, where we enshrine the memorial tablets of thirty-six generations of Zhao ancestors. I am Zhao Li, the thirty-seventh clan leader of the Zhao family and also the village chief of Shangliu Village.”
“Our Zhao clan has its own school. All expenses are covered by the output of the clan-owned farmland, so Zhao family children don’t need to pay tuition.
As for children from other families, they pay normal tuition. But don’t worry—children from our own village are charged less than outsiders.”
“Oh, right. Our village has plenty of uncultivated land. You’re welcome to reclaim as much as you want. Starting from the third year, you’ll have to pay land tax to the county office.
And if you want to build houses, just choose a location and report it to me before starting construction.”
Seeing villagers approaching, Zhao Li stopped speaking.
“That’s enough for now. You can slowly learn the rest later.”
Once everyone had gathered, Zhao Li stood atop a tree stump.
“Villagers, I gathered everyone here to tell you something. Our village has new residents now—the families standing beside me.
They fled famine all the way from Zhenxi Province and traveled for over a month to get here. It wasn’t easy for them. In the future, if you can lend them a hand, then do so, so they can settle smoothly into our village.”
The moment those words were spoken, the gazes of more than three hundred villagers shot toward the four families.
Standing at the center of attention, He Wanqing generously smiled back at the crowd.
After briefly introducing the families, Zhao Li began arranging their accommodations.
“There just happen to be four vacant houses in the village. You can stay there temporarily until your own homes are built.”
According to the size of each household, Zhao Li distributed four houses of varying sizes.
He Wanqing’s family received a place near the back of the village, closer to the mountains and some distance away from Eldest Brother Ye’s family, who had been assigned near the village entrance.
Zhao Zichen enthusiastically volunteered to guide He Wanqing’s family there.
Before long, several shabby thatched cottages standing side by side appeared before them.
Zhao Zichen clearly hadn’t expected them to be this run-down and looked embarrassed.
“Auntie He… this is the place. It’s a little broken down, but it should still be livable.”
But unexpectedly, the moment he pushed the gate—
Crash!
The entire door collapsed onto the ground.
Dust instantly billowed everywhere.
The cloud of dust made He Wanqing and the others cough repeatedly.
“Cough cough cough!”
Even Zhao Zichen himself got caught in it.
Now the atmosphere became even more awkward.
A blush spread across Zhao Zichen’s pale face, making it especially obvious against his fair skin.
“I-I’ll go find my father and have him switch you to another place.”
“Wait, Zichen. Let’s check inside first.”
He Wanqing stopped him. After all, only the door had broken so far. They still didn’t know the condition of the interior. If it truly was uninhabitable, then they could discuss changing houses later.
So the group simply stepped over the fallen door and entered.
The thatched cottages were several connected rooms, and the overall space was not small. The walls were made of packed earth and looked stable enough not to collapse, though the thatched roof was extremely messy.
Just as He Wanqing was about to enter one of the rooms, Ye Jianshan immediately blocked her.
“Mother, I should go in first.”
The main hall was dimly lit. Through the light from the doorway, they could see it was completely empty.
There were doors on both sides. Ye Jianshan picked one and gently pushed it open.
Fortunately, this one held up and didn’t collapse.
It was a bedroom. Aside from a bed frame and a wooden stool, there was nothing else inside.
The remaining rooms were similar.
The worst part was the kitchen—half of it had collapsed.
Still, overall, the place was livable.
After all, this was only temporary, so they couldn’t demand too much.
But they also couldn’t move in immediately. The house had clearly been abandoned for years, and cobwebs covered every corner. It practically looked like a spider cave.
So the family began a massive cleanup.
The moment Zhao Zichen realized there would be work involved, he immediately found an excuse to slip away.
“Auntie He, you all carry on. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
“…”
That brat!