In the end, Ye Lao’er nodded. They were all family, and there were so many fellow villagers with them. He couldn’t just stand by and watch everyone die of thirst and hunger.
“All right, I’ll go look for water. Don’t run around. If I find a water source, I’ll come back and get you.”
With that, Ye Lao’er and nine other men from the village turned and headed deeper into the mountains.
The setting sun stretched their shadows long as they gradually disappeared into the dense forest.
No one noticed that not long after Ye Lao’er left, three figures emerged from the distant woods and quietly followed the group. They were Jinbao’s second uncle, Jin Shuiqiao, his second aunt, Qiu Feng, and their son, Jin Xiaoyu.
This time, when Liuye Village fled the famine, the Jin family from Jinzhi Village had gone with them. They had originally planned to travel together after meeting up in town, but halfway through they encountered a band of mountain bandits. The group was scattered, with more than half the people either dead or injured.
In the chaos, Jin Shuiqiao and Qiu Feng managed to bring nothing with them. Their bundles were completely looted by the bandits. They had only been able to protect their son, Jin Xiaoyu.
Their two daughters and elderly parents had become separated from them. Qiu Feng cried every day, but Jin Shuiqiao took it much more calmly.
“At least Third Brother, Jin Muqiao, is still around. He’ll look after our parents and the girls.”
The couple hadn’t run far. They hid in a nearby forest and only came out after the bandits had left and the crowds had dispersed. They scavenged a few discarded old clothes and several hard, dry bran cakes left behind by others, barely surviving until the Liuye Village group arrived.
The previous night, Jinbao had gone out to relieve himself and happened to run into them. Upon seeing each other, the family members couldn’t help but sigh and cry.
Feeling sorry for his uncle, aunt, and cousin, Jinbao immediately patted his chest and promised that he would secretly bring them food and water every day.
“The Ye family still has plenty of grain and water on their cart. My mother is in charge of it. I can take as much as I want!”
He spoke proudly, not taking Ye Lao’er seriously at all. In his eyes, Ye Lao’er was merely an unrelated outsider—a fool they could order around and take advantage of, not someone worthy of any consideration.
At that moment, Jin Shuiqiao and Qiu Feng hid in the woods, watching the distant camp.
“It’ll be dark soon. Why hasn’t Jinbao come yet?” Qiu Feng asked anxiously.
“Don’t worry.” Jin Shuiqiao held her hand, a calculating look in his eyes.
“When it’s completely dark, he’ll naturally find a chance to come over. Let’s stay hidden for now and not let the Ye family discover us—especially that old hag, Old Madam Ye. She’s incredibly stingy and can’t stand seeing our Jin family benefit even a little.”
Back in the Liuye Village group, Jinbao pulled Jinzhu aside and quietly told her about their second uncle and aunt.
“Jinzhu, look at Uncle and Aunt. They barely escaped the bandits and don’t have any food left. They’re family. We can’t just ignore them.”
Jinzhu nodded sympathetically. She cautiously swept her gaze over the crowd and, seeing that the Ye family wasn’t paying attention, whispered,
“Brother, keep watch for me. I’ll go get something from the cart.”
She quietly slipped over to the handcart that Ye Lao’er had been pulling. Hidden among the pile of belongings was a small sack of mixed grains and a small clay jar that Wang Guihua had previously set aside for emergencies.
Jinzhu quickly took out half a bag of grain and poured half a jar of water from a larger ceramic pot. Crouching low, she hurried back and whispered to Jinbao,
“Find a chance to deliver these later. Don’t let the Ye family see, especially Old Madam Ye. If she finds out, she’ll definitely scold us for helping outsiders instead of our own family. Our things shouldn’t go to outsiders.”
“I know. Don’t worry.”
Jinbao quickly accepted the grain bag and water jar, carefully hiding them in the grass behind him while keeping a close eye on Old Madam Ye, afraid she might notice.
…
After sleeping until she woke naturally, Ye Qing finally enjoyed a good night’s rest. She lazily stretched on the stone bed before springing to her feet and getting busy.
She carried out all the large iron pots she had looted from the bandits’ hideout and lined them up on the stove before lighting the fire.
The first pot was used to boil water, all of which would be used for drinking during the journey.
While waiting for the water to boil, she took all the supplies from her storage space and sorted them neatly. Looking at the mountain of ingredients piled before her, Ye Qing’s eyes curved into crescents.
“Today, I can definitely make lots of delicious food.”
After the water boiled and cooled to a warm temperature, she took out the empty water vats from her space and washed them with water from the pond. Then she poured the warm boiled water into them and stored them back inside.
Aside from the two vats of mountain spring water, she boiled five large vats of water before finally stopping.
As for the pile of white flour on the ground, she planned to keep only half a bag and turn the rest into steamed buns and flatbreads.
It was a huge undertaking. She used hot water to knead the dough because elasticity was crucial for making both pancakes and buns.
She fetched a large clay basin, scooped in a basin of flour, and gradually added the cooled warm water while stirring with chopsticks. Once the flour had turned into fluffy clumps, she began kneading it by hand.
Now that her body had grown stronger, kneading dough wasn’t difficult at all. Before long, she had produced a smooth and elastic ball of dough, which she covered with a damp cloth and left to rest.
During the resting time, Ye Qing didn’t sit idle. She turned to the second pot, which would be used for meat soup and porridge.
She washed a basin of rice and millet, added plenty of water, then tossed in a few cleaned dried red dates and a small handful of goji berries. After bringing it to a boil over high heat, she lowered the fire and let it simmer slowly to produce a rich, fragrant porridge.
The third pot was reserved for steaming rice. To avoid attracting attention, she planned to steam all the fine rice and mix it with diced cured pork and preserved vegetables, shaping it into fist-sized rice balls that would be easy to carry.
Once the dough had become soft, fluffy, and springy, Ye Qing divided it in half—one half for flatbreads and the other for steamed buns.
Some of the flatbreads were stuffed with pickled vegetables and diced cured pork, while others were left plain, each with its own unique flavor.
The freshly cooked flatbreads were placed into bamboo baskets while still hot, then stored in her space once they had cooled slightly so they would stay fresh and not become soft.
She pinched the remaining dough into small portions and filled them with a mixture of cured pork and dried vegetables. By then, the rice pot had just become available, so she arranged the buns in a steamer basket and steamed them over a roaring fire.
When the time was up and she lifted the lid, plump, snowy-white buns filled the steamer.
Ye Qing had been busy all day and had already sampled a few bites of every dish as it came out of the pot, so she wasn’t really hungry anymore. Still, she couldn’t resist.
She picked up a bun and took a bite. The skin was soft and fluffy, and the filling was rich and savory. The crisp preserved vegetables paired perfectly with the fragrant, oily cured pork. It was so delicious she couldn’t stop eating.
After the buns cooled, she neatly stacked them into bamboo baskets and stored them away. They would make perfect breakfasts and dinners.
The cured pork in another iron pot had also become tender and flavorful. The soup was rich and perfectly seasoned. Ye Qing added sliced dried radish to enrich the taste, then poured the soup and meat into wooden buckets and stored them in her space.
The thick, creamy porridge and the distinct, savory cured pork fried rice were also packed away, ready to be eaten whenever she became hungry.
After finishing the flatbreads and buns, Ye Qing rolled out noodles, cutting them into even strips and dusting them with flour to prevent sticking. She used another iron pot to cook them, then stored the entire pot in her space. Whenever she wanted a meal, she could simply take out a bowl of noodles and pour cured pork soup over them for a steaming-hot feast.
She also mixed sweet potato flour with white flour to make many coarse-grain steamed buns. They weren’t as delicate as those made from pure white flour, but they were filling and satisfying—perfect for traveling.
She didn’t waste the pickled and dried vegetables either. Besides using them in fillings and fried rice, she stir-fried pickled cabbage with cured pork and spicy dried radish strips with dried cowpeas. The dishes were salty, fragrant, appetizing, and excellent with rice. She packed them into sealed clay jars and stored them in her space, where they would keep for a long time.