I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

The next day, Sun got up early and waited. She saw that the mud house in the backyard was burning a fire before dawn. When it was fully light, the three of them came out of the house.

Seeing Zhou tightly gripping Wuya's wrist as they walked out of the courtyard, Sun turned and went back into her room.

"Mother...Mother...how is she?" Zhao Wenyuan asked, "It's been two days already. They can't possibly stay with that girl day and night, can they?"

"That's for sure." Madam Sun was getting annoyed. If she couldn't catch that girl, she would have to keep squatting there in fear. She hadn't seen Zhao Lao Er at home for the past two days, which was a good opportunity to make her move. If all else failed, she would find someone to lure the girl out alone and then take advantage of the situation.

Sun's eyes lit up, and a plan came to mind.

county seat.

Zhao Ningning moved all the items from her family's stall out in a secluded spot and had her brother and mother carry them together.

As she walked to the side, she exclaimed, "Is the system telling us to get rich through hard work? I found a whole bunch of books while picking up trash yesterday."

Among that pile of books, which were about 70% new, most were children's picture books. Only two were somewhat useful: one was a children's encyclopedia of plants, and the other was a children's wisdom story.

"You should be secretly happy. You're the only one in our family who can 'come home.' In front of this radish, everything you find is practically free." Ning's mother teased her.

Zhao Ningning said happily, "Yours is pretty good too! Didn't we discover last night that as long as you stuff things into the space, it will 'grow'? If we do this a few more times, we won't have to worry about where to put any of our purchases."

Half of Zhao Ningning's elevator lobby is now filled with the grain she bought yesterday, while the other half is used to temporarily store the baskets she uses for her stall.

When she entered the space, there was almost no room to stand.

As they walked, talking, the group emerged from the alley. Zhao Qi said, "Sister, didn't you say yesterday that there were plants that looked like ice jelly seeds on the trees? Should we go up the mountain to look for them?"

The encyclopedia describes the growth cycle and geographical environment of the ice jelly seed plant. Zhao Ningning compared it yesterday and found that the geographical environment of Wangli Village is quite similar to that described in the book.

Therefore, it is possible that ice jelly seeds exist in this era. If you can find them, you can sell the recipe and the method for identifying ice jelly seed plants together.

It doesn't matter if we can't find them. Zhao Ningning can keep a batch of ice jelly seeds as seed stock. However, Ningning's father will need to put on an act to explain the origin of these ice jelly seeds.

"Okay!" Zhao Ningning said, "After Dad's leg is treated today, I'll go to the mountain to look for him."

"Otherwise, setting up a stall all the time is quite tiring. If we can sell this recipe, we can save ourselves some trouble!"

They traveled back and forth to the county town every day, and the three of them didn't have time to rest properly.

Ning's mother agreed, "Then let's pack up early today and go visit your father."

The group arrived a little later than yesterday. Madam Cao inquired about their well-being, and Ning Ma explained that there was no business coming early anyway, and that these kinds of cold dishes only sold well when the weather got warmer. She said they would come later from now on.

Knowing that they were alright, Madam Cao was relieved. Ning Ma set up the stall first, and while waiting for customers to come, she bought a square table and two stools from a carpenter's shop in the East Market.

With the foundation laid by the previous two days, business was even better today. As Zhao Ningning added toppings to her bowl, she thought: Who knows, in a couple of days someone might be inquiring about my ice jelly business!

After finishing business early, Ning's mother asked Zhao Ningning to put away and carry the table, while she and Zhao Qi carried the baskets.

After storing the items in her spatial storage on the way, Zhao Ningning followed her mother to find the middleman in Fengning County.

A few days ago, he was able to hop around and go to the street to buy food by himself. But for the next few days, Ning's father could only lie in bed and couldn't move. While waiting for his broken leg bone to be set, Ning's mother planned to find him an ancient-style small dining table.

The middleman took Ning's mother to talk to a nearby woman in detail. After agreeing on the price and delivery time, Ning's mother paid the deposit and then took the woman to the clinic to meet the person.

After seeing the woman off, Ning's father was summoned to the clinic by the doctor.

"Drink this bowl of medicine first, then lie down on the bed in the back room," Doctor Cheng instructed. "The swelling has subsided. After you fall asleep, I will re-treat it for you. It will take a few days to heal. If there are no other major problems, you can go home to recuperate."

"Yes, yes, doctor." Ning's father nodded in agreement, took the medicine bowl handed to him by the apprentice, and drank the bitter yet fragrant medicine in one go. He then obediently went to sit on the small bed in the back room and held Ning's mother's hand, bidding her a reluctant farewell for a while.

As they were talking, Ning's father, as if drunk, swayed to one side. Dr. Cheng, who was nearby, immediately stepped forward to help Ning's father lie down on the bed.

Ning's mother promptly took off his cloth shoes and helped Dr. Cheng straighten Ning's father's position.

"You guys go outside and wait, it'll be ready in a bit," Doctor Cheng waved to the group.

Zhao Ningning could only follow her mother out of the room to wait outside. The medicine was too effective; her father hadn't woken up at all. Half an hour later, Doctor Chen came out of the room, nodded to them, and said, "It went smoothly. He'll need to wait a while before he wakes up."

After receiving permission, Zhao Ningning and the others went inside to visit. They saw that Ning's father's injured leg had no visible changes. The parts that were originally misaligned had straightened out, and at least to the naked eye, both sides were symmetrical.

The effects of the medicine hadn't worn off yet, and Ning's father was still fast asleep. Ning's mother noticed that his head was covered in sweat from the awful weather, so she gently took out a newly cut handkerchief to wipe it away. She then asked Zhao Qi to fetch a palm-leaf fan from Ning's father's old room, and she personally fanned him.

When Ning's father woke up, this was the scene he saw: his wife and children were all by his side, and his beloved daughter was standing to the side fanning him.

Zhao Ningning met his gaze and exclaimed with delight, "Dad! You're awake!"

Before he could even feel moved, a sharp pain shot through his leg from his toes to his heart. Ning's father couldn't help but gasp, "My leg hurts so much!"

"How are you?" Ning's mother asked with concern.

"It's alright..." Ning's father gritted his teeth and hissed, "Although it hurts a bit more than before, it's still within a tolerable range."

"That's good! That's good..." Ning's mother was relieved: "The doctor said that you shouldn't move around too much after you wake up. You should rest here for now."

Ning's father had originally intended to get up, but upon hearing this, he could only obediently lie down.

After he woke up, Doctor Cheng came in to take a look. He sat by the bed, took his pulse, adjusted the wooden board on his legs, and finally, Doctor Cheng lifted the bed sheet and used silver needles to insert them into various acupoints on Ning's father's legs and feet.

That wasn't enough; he then reached out and twisted each one in turn, causing Ning's father to wince in pain.

The pain from the needles almost overwhelmed the pain in his leg. Fifteen minutes later, Dr. Cheng removed the needles one by one, and Ning's father was amazed to find that the pain in his leg was now slightly less than before.

Thinking about how the traditional Chinese medicine he had been drinking these past few days had directly reduced the inflammation on his leg, Ning's father couldn't help but exclaim: "Traditional Chinese medicine is truly amazing!"

The group stayed with him for a while longer, but seeing that it was getting late, they had to go home first. Before leaving, Ning's mother said that she would come to visit him again the next day.

Before leaving, Ning's mother bought two more bags of pastries on the street. Zhao Ningning couldn't help but ask curiously, "Mom, why did you buy so many? We haven't finished the ones we bought yesterday."

"We're going to visit relatives tonight." Ning's mother told Zhao Ningning to put away the snacks, and only after dinner did she let Zhao Ningning take out the snacks she bought on the street.

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Ningning was ordered by her mother to go back to the elevator lobby, where she separated five jin of refined grains and five jin of coarse grains from the grains she had bought yesterday and put them into a small cloth bag.

Under the cover of night, Ning's mother took her two children to the original owner's home.

The Zhou family lived on the westernmost side of Wangli Village. The pillar of their family was killed by bandits a year before Zhou Lanxiang got married. At that time, Zhou Lanxiang was fifteen years old and her younger brother was only one year old.

After losing her husband, He could only grit her teeth and support the family. She and her daughter worked day and night to save the family's land. In less than two years, her daughter got married, fortunately to a family in the same village.

Although Granny Qian was a bad person, Zhao Tieniu was like a good bamboo shoot in the Zhao family's bad bamboo, working diligently in the fields to support his family. In addition to his own work, he also helped the Zhou family with most of the work.

They endured hardship like this for many years. After He Shi raised her children and her youngest son was able to get out of bed, the Zhou family's life gradually became smoother.

In recent years, however, the Zhao family has become increasingly outrageous. Before the three Zhao sons got married, their family members would tend to the fields. But ever since the second son of the Zhao family got married, they have put most of the heavy work on his wife.

The second wife was treated like a long-term servant in the Zhao family, and their children were also bullied in that household.

……

When Ning's mother arrived, He was wringing a handkerchief for her son in the yard. A thin, dark-skinned boy of about fifteen or sixteen stood still, letting his mother wipe his face with a clean handkerchief.

"Mother? Brother?" Ning's mother called softly, somewhat unaccustomed to this.

After all, her own parents were still alive and well in modern times. She adjusted to her new identity and called out at the top of her lungs, "Mother! Younger brother!"

"Sister? It's sister!" the boy cheered, broke free from his mother's hand, and jumped up to rush out of the courtyard.

Hearing the commotion outside the courtyard, the old woman in the courtyard quickly put down her handkerchief. Without even standing on tiptoe, she could see the smiling person standing outside the earthen wall. Wasn't that her daughter?!

Having not seen each other for almost half a month, Mrs. He threw her handkerchief into the basin of water to stop her running son and hurriedly went to open the courtyard gate.

"Why have you come at this hour?" Madam He welcomed them into the house and poured each of them a bowl of cool boiled water.

Before Ning's mother could answer, she asked in quick succession, "I heard people in the village say a few days ago... that you've separated your family? Sigh—you're living at Old Zhao's house, and it wasn't convenient for me to go see you. I walked around the door a few times, but when I didn't see you, I came back."

"What happened when you split up the family?"

"I was busy a few days ago after we separated the family property, so I brought the children here today because I had a little more free time." Ning's mother sat down and let Zhou touch her hair and face, checking her over thoroughly.

Mrs. He didn't notice anything wrong with her daughter, so she felt relieved. She took her daughter's hand and asked, "What happened with the division of the family property?"

"It's a long story... They wanted to sell Ningning to the mentally challenged son of the Sun family in town as a child bride! Zhao Lao Er and I disagreed, so we thought that was the end of it. Who knew that just a few days later they would so viciously try to kidnap her when we weren't with her!"

They almost succeeded! The huge bump on Zhao Ningning's head still hasn't completely subsided.

"Now that the family has separated, you should live a good life together." When Madam He heard the news that the Zhao family had separated the second branch of the family, she was very happy for her daughter. The old Zhao family was like leeches, sucking the blood from the second branch of the family every day.

When Zhao Lao Er was young, things were alright; he still had the means to help his own family. But in recent years, the Zhao family has become increasingly outrageous. On the contrary, his own children, after growing up, can occasionally help their brother-in-law with some chores.

At this point, Mrs. He couldn't help but wonder, "Why didn't I see Tie Niu come today? Is he resting at home?"

A few days ago, when Zhao Lao Er injured his leg, He Shi secretly gathered a basket of eggs she had saved and sent them to him. However, as soon as Zhou Shi received them, Granny Qian intercepted and snatched them away. Zhao Lao Er only managed to eat one egg from that basket.

"We sent him to the county town to get treatment for his leg," Ning's mother explained. "These past few days we've been busy running a small business in the county town, earning about four or five hundred coins a day."

"What kind of business makes so much money... I don't care, just make sure you're doing well." Madam He smiled with satisfaction. "Your brother and I were just talking about your family yesterday. We haven't seen Tie Niu go out these past few days. I was worried you wouldn't be able to carry all the water, so I had Xiao Jian water the fields for you this morning."

No wonder the rice seemed so vibrant when I went to water the fields last night; it turns out my ancient uncle helped with the watering. Zhao Ningning glanced over and saw the boy who had been sitting upright in the yard with his clothes open, his face tense, looking serious and composed.

Adults talking is the most boring thing, and Zhao Ningning's mind quickly drifted back to her own world.

—Huh!?

Several delivery boxes have appeared in the room... The packages have arrived!

Zhao Ningning was overjoyed, but soon began to worry again: the six square meters of space in the elevator lobby was really not enough!

Ning's mother brought snacks and food to the door. He refused for a long time before finally accepting them. If she didn't accept them, Ning's mother said she wouldn't ask Zhou Jian to help with the work the day after tomorrow.

Knowing that her daughter's family was also struggling financially, she decided to store the eggs for them. Before her daughter left, Mrs. He rummaged through the house and found a full basket of eggs, which she insisted on giving to her daughter.

After leaving the Zhou family, Ning's mother told the two children to go home first, while she took the snacks and cloth to find the original owner's friend in the village.

Luo Shi is skilled at tailoring, and Ningning's family needs her to make clothes for them.

"Let's go! The package has arrived, I need to go back and open it!" Zhao Ningning urged her brother, and the two of them ran quickly towards home in the setting sun.

As soon as she entered the house and bolted the door, Zhao Ningning couldn't wait to slip into the space.

Five large boxes were placed tightly against the basket. Zhao Ningning took a kitchen knife and unceremoniously opened all the packages.

Besides two 50-pound bags of rice and flour, there was also a box of mixed grains, which Ning's mother used to make multigrain porridge.

Holding the tissue, Zhao Ningning couldn't help but rub her face with it. Finally! Finally, it arrived!

God knows what primitive methods she's been using to wipe her bottom these past few days!

Oh right, there are also sanitary napkins—Zhao Ningning opened the last cardboard box, which contained some daily necessities, half of which were sanitary napkins of the Little Wings brand that Ning's mother often sold.

"Okay, I won't need these for the next few years anyway. These are enough for Mom to last for about six months. After that, we'll have to figure out something else. Hopefully, we can bring them into the house then. We still have some at home..."

Zhao Ningning appeared in her spatial dimension and placed five large cardboard boxes in a row in the room, sharing this joy with Zhao Qi.