Huawanyi spoke in a subtle way, but those who understood, understood.
After a moment of silence, Father Jiang asked her, “Madam Hua, do you also believe that there will be a natural disaster next year?”
Since everyone already understood each other tacitly, Huawanyi stopped being vague. She nodded firmly, her expression resolute and unquestionable.
“Father, better to believe it exists than not. In fact, there are already signs. Look—New Year is almost here, but it still hasn’t snowed. When has that ever happened before? People always say a heavy snow in winter means a good harvest year. If there’s no snow this year, isn’t next year bound to be a disaster year?”
Her words were a bit exaggerated. Snowfall is not the only indicator, but since there were no better explanations, the elders tended to accept this reasoning.
Father Jiang’s expression grew serious. If that were true, they needed to make preparations early—he would have to inform the village head immediately.
At that moment, Jiang Wenwan added fuel to the fire.
“Grandpa, tell the village head quickly! I swear on my life that everything I said is true!”
By now, Father Jiang had already come to trust this mysterious little granddaughter completely. Everything she had predicted before had come true, so her claim of being enlightened by immortals must also be real. This child truly seemed blessed.
The others all looked at Father Jiang with pleading eyes, waiting for his decision.
After thinking for a long while, Father Jiang finally slammed his hand on the table.
“Alright! I’ll go tell the village head tomorrow. Eldest son, you go sell the soap tomorrow alone—be careful, don’t go too far!”
“Uncle, you can take my ox cart tomorrow. I won’t be needing it recently,” Huawanyi offered generously.
“Good! It’s settled then!”
The family worked together in unity. Though the future was uncertain, they all tried their best to change their fate.
After dinner, Huawanyi and Madam Wang each carried a child back home. Madam Wang left with a heavy burden of thoughts, carrying a basket filled to the brim.
Huawanyi had been running around all day and was utterly exhausted, but she still couldn’t rest. She put the children down, went to the kitchen to wash rice and boil water, and started cooking porridge—making a large pot.
While the porridge simmered, she went into the bathroom and took a bath. After washing up and changing into clean clothes, she felt a bit more energetic.
She hadn’t had time to make soap today. Most of what she gave Madam Wang earlier were finished bars, with only a small stock of handmade soap left.
It seemed she would still need to find someone to help with the work in the future; otherwise, she would have no time for anything else. But right now, the only people she could trust were the Jiang family, and they were all busy with their own affairs. There wasn’t much time to help. She could only slowly look for others later.
The first pot of porridge was done. She scooped out a bowl for herself as a late-night snack and poured the rest into a large vat she had prepared earlier.
Then she washed the pot and cooked another batch.
While waiting, she sat nearby shaving soap shavings, thinking about when to go to town next and what she needed to buy.
The storage space in her “bathroom” was already half filled with fodder, leaving only the other half to be used wisely. Right—she still hadn’t properly organized the things she bought today. Once sorted, she might be able to free up some space.
While she was lost in thought, the second pot of porridge finished cooking. She poured it all into the vat—it filled about two-thirds.
She still needed one more pot.
She kept cooking porridge, and in between, she also finished making handmade soap, placing it around the stove so it would dry faster.
By the time the final pot of porridge was done, the large vat was finally full.
Next, she only needed to find time to cook a full vat of plain rice, and then she would have enough staple food for the journey during the famine. After that, she just needed to prepare some of her favorite nutritious dishes—and yes, nourishing soups too, especially to help with breastfeeding.
With a clear plan in mind, Huawanyi felt much better.
She cleaned up, took some braised pork belly and a black bun, and ate a late-night meal with porridge.
She had never eaten this black bun before; it was prepared to disguise her food during the famine journey. Otherwise, while everyone else was eating dry coarse rations, she alone eating white flour buns would draw too much attention.
She knew the black bun would not taste as good as white flour, so she didn’t bite into it directly. Instead, she carefully broke off a small piece and put it in her mouth.
Hmm—rough texture, not sweet. As expected, not very tasty.
She didn’t intend to mistreat herself, so she put the black bun back and switched to a white one instead. The white bun was soft, fluffy, and fragrant.
She took a big piece of braised pork belly with her chopsticks. It was tender, flavorful, and incredibly delicious.
Huawanyi nodded repeatedly—truly a time-honored shop! Even after eating so much meat, she didn’t feel sick of it at all. Next time she went to town, she would stock up more.
Satisfied, she finished her meal, then woke the two children and took them into the bathroom to bathe.
After a full day of wearing diapers, their little bottoms were slightly red. She gently wiped them dry with tissue. There was no baby powder in the bathroom, and she didn’t dare use setting powder on infants.
After dressing them in sleep diapers, she carried them out, nursed them, and the two little ones fell asleep again. It seemed they had been worn out during the day.
Early the next morning, she heard clanging sounds outside the house—likely her uncle had already arranged for people to build the ox shed. They worked quickly.
Seeing the children still asleep, she turned over and went back to sleep as well.
When it was fully daylight, both she and the children got up, and Madam Wang came over.
“Second sister-in-law, come take a look at your ox shed!”
Last night, Brother Jiang He had arranged workers and asked Madam Wang to come oversee things in case any adjustments were needed.
Huawanyi didn’t really understand construction anyway, and since the shed only needed to last a few months, it didn’t need to be built too well.
The workers were all village uncles, all surnamed Jiang. She had seen them before but never interacted much. After greeting them, she looked at the sturdily built shed—stronger even than her own house—and felt a bit amused.
Her house really was too shabby. If not for the fact that they would be fleeing soon, she would definitely have rebuilt it.
But it was fine—they wouldn’t be seeing rain for the next few months anyway. She could endure it.
She pulled Madam Wang back into the house.
“Sister-in-law, how much should I pay them? I’ll give you the money to pass on.”
She was a bit socially anxious and didn’t like interacting with strangers.
Madam Wang had already been instructed by Jiang He.
“There are five of them, five copper coins each. That makes a total of twenty-five.”
“So cheap?” Huawanyi counted the coins as she spoke, surprised by how cheap labor was.
“It’s already good!” Madam Wang replied. “Your eldest uncle used to go into town looking for work, and even then he only earned eight copper coins a day, at most ten—and that was for a full day’s work. They finished your shed in half a day. Five coins is already something many people would fight for.”
Hearing this, Huawanyi realized she had gotten carried away after suddenly having money. When she first arrived here, she had been just as poor as anyone else.