I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

Before the autumn harvest, with Dr. Cheng's permission, Ning's father was finally able to move back to Wangli Village from the county town.

After listening to his wife and children talk about their new home for half a month, he was itching to come back and see what it was like.

When he got bored, he asked the apprentices at the clinic for some medical books, compared them with his memories, and studied them to solidify his knowledge and learn some ancient characters.

Later, I used my skills to fish for things at the clinic fishing spot a few more times. Apart from some scattered medicinal herbs, I only fished up Dr. Cheng's medical knowledge twice.

Sitting in the village's oxcart, Ning's father happily carried the luggage he had painstakingly collected from bits and pieces in the county town, and was taken directly to his doorstep.

He was gone for half a month, and everyone in the village assumed he was going to do odd jobs. They never expected to see him come back in a car, not only with a fuller face but also with much fairer skin.

The neighbor, carrying stalks of rice, carefully unloaded them by the roadside, wiped the sweat from his brow with the towel around his neck, and struck up a conversation: "Old Zhao, you didn't go to do odd jobs?"

"Sigh—" Ning's father sighed deeply, then said, "I want to go too, but the family doesn't want someone like me with a limp."

That's true. When buying chicks, you have to pick the ones that are healthy and live well. How much more so when hiring people to work? Who wouldn't want someone with all four limbs intact?

"So my wife—my wife gritted her teeth and borrowed money to take me to the clinic to get my leg checked." Ning's father acted half-truthfully: "At first, the clinics wouldn't let us in. We went to several clinics before we finally found one. They said we could pay and get treatment at the same time. Now, all the money is gone, and I can only stay at home and recover on my own."

The villagers were deeply saddened to hear this. When they had a headache or fever, they would usually go up the mountain and pick some herbs to treat it themselves. If it made them feel better, they would just tough it out. Only if it didn't work would they consider going to a clinic.

That clinic was like a money-eating mythical creature; once you went in, it would leave you with a layer of skin scraped off. Now, the villagers looked at Ning's father with much more sympathy.

After fooling the villagers, Ning's father, leaning on his cane, trudged into the house.

This treatment was extremely painful; half of his leg is still strapped with a wooden board. In ancient times, there were no plaster casts, so he dared not move around or disobey the doctor's orders.

After Zhao Ningning had finished moving all the items from her stall into the house, she saw her father return and quickly moved the bench from the main room to the yard, helping him sit at the kitchen doorway.

The door was ajar. Ning's mother came out of the kitchen and handed each of the three a bowl of cold boiled water.

I boiled this in the pot before leaving home this morning, and it's just the right time to drink it.

After finishing their water, Ning's mother said, "We have about six taels of silver saved up at home, which is enough for emergencies for now. We also have enough food. Do you think there's anything else we need to buy?"

Zhao Ningning was the first to raise her hand: "Shelves! I need shelves!"

Her tiny 6-square-meter elevator lobby is almost overflowing!

"Okay." Ning's mother nodded, then looked at the other two people in the house.

"I want a table," Zhao Qi said. "To put in my room, so I can tinker with the things my sister has found."

Zhao Ningning has collected a lot of junk in the past two weeks. She even found a pair of rusty scissors wrapped in tape, which Zhao Qi took and repaired into ordinary scissors.

Besides everyday items, she mostly collected construction waste. She kept the usable wires and iron wires, and sorted the rest into categories, piling them up in the elevator lobby.

Ning's mother granted her son's request and then asked Ning's father.

Ning's father shook his head, then thought for a moment and said, "How about I get you one of those scooters that you can use to glide around even if you have a limp?"

"We live in a village where the ground is uneven. You might as well use a cane instead of this," Ning's mother retorted. She added, "I'll get you two high stools so you can sit higher and your legs won't be bent over."

After taking stock, Ning's mother adjourned the meeting.

Ning's father is home, but the ice jelly business still needs to be run.

Zhao Ningning spent most of her time going to the county town with them. With her there, they could use their spatial abilities to cheat and save their family some effort.

As usual, Ning's mother set up her stall, but she couldn't see the pancake stall next to her.

Madam Cao runs a hot food business, and she usually arrives early to catch the morning market.

It was almost 10 o'clock today when she hurriedly pushed her stroller over.

Ning Ma had saved her a spot, and when she saw her arrive, she moved the table to the side, so the two stalls were squeezed together. Cao Niangzi smiled at Ning Ma.

After the pancake stall was set up and the fire was lit, Ning Ma asked, "Madam Cao, why are you only arriving now, well past 11 am?"

Madam Cao wiped her sweat with her free hand, then covered her face with her sleeve and looked around. There were few customers at the stalls around, so she lowered her voice and said, "Something came up at home."

Before Ning's mother could ask any further questions, Cao's wife lowered her voice even further: "The south has suffered a disaster, and grain prices have gone up. Zhou's wife, why don't you have the two children watch the stall and go buy some grain?"

—Disaster strikes the south? Grain prices are about to rise again?!

There were too many people around, so Madam Cao didn't say much. She pointed to the water bucket and nodded to Ning Ma.

The South is flooded?!

It's such a tragedy. Fengning County is suffering from such a drought, while the south is experiencing floods... Ning's mother sighed. If only we could divert water from the south to the north.

After listening to what Madam Cao said, Ning Ma told Zhao Qi to keep an eye on the stall while she took Zhao Ningning to the grain shop in the county town.

When she rushed there, a crowd had already gathered at the entrance of the grain shop. Taking advantage of her small stature, Zhao Ningning nimbly squeezed in and snapped up a batch of grain.

On average, the price of each type of grain had increased by two or three coins. Ning's mother dared not be careless and directly told Ningning to exchange all five taels of silver for coarse grains.

The idle man at the door was hired to deliver the grain to the alley. Zhao Ningning put the grain into her spatial storage and then took out half a bag of grain from it.

The two carried it back to their stall.

Zhao Qi greeted a few groups of diners, and when he saw the two return, he made room for them to sit behind a small table and rest.

Using the stall's cover, Madam Cao approached with a worried expression and asked, "Madam Zhou, are you short of money?"

She only saw that Ning's mother brought back half a bag of grain, and she was worried about her. She knew that Ning's father had been staying at the county clinic for half a month.

"It's alright, we still have some grain at home, which I bought in town earlier. It's enough to eat." Ning's mother smiled kindly at Cao Niangzi and then asked her, "Do you have enough grain at home?"

Madam Cao nodded. Last night, after her husband finished his shift, he told his family about it. The whole family went out early this morning and bought a lot of grain as soon as the grain store opened. That's why they arrived later than usual this morning.

With grain prices rising and news of the floods in the south not kept secret for more than two days, the people in the county knew almost everything.

The town was in turmoil, which affected even the food stalls. Business was bad, and with the rice harvest coming up, Ning's mother simply told Cao Niangzi that they would stop business for two days.

Back in the village, Ning's mother took her two children to the fields to harvest grain.

Even with Zhou Jian's help with watering for the past two weeks, Zhao Ningning's rice seedlings are still as thin and weak as cattails. Ningning's mother can easily snap the seedlings in half with a sickle.

Zhao Ningning was too young, so her mother wouldn't let her hold the sickle; she only let her follow behind and help carry the grain.

The two acres of land weren't large, and taking advantage of the cooler mornings and evenings, the four of them finished harvesting it in three days.

Next came the threshing and drying. Zhou Jian was sent by He Shi to work at Ningning's house, and he would disappear at mealtimes. When the new grain was dried and stored, Zhao Ningning, at the request of Ning's mother, blocked her uncle at the gate.

"Here you go." Ning's mother handed over a piece of pork belly along with a bag of new rice.

"Sister—" Zhou Jian was startled and quickly waved his hands in refusal, "I can't take it, Mother will beat me!"

"Just say you were kicked out," Ning's mother said with a smile. "They said if you didn't bring it, they wouldn't let you come."

She stuffed the meat and rice into the boy's hands and instructed him, "Hide the grain I asked you to buy a few days ago, and don't rush to sell it after the new rice comes in."

Zhou Jian nodded.

A few days ago, Ning's mother rushed back from the county town and took her mother to buy grain without stopping. They brought it home at night, only to find out that it was due to the floods in the south, and grain prices were rising everywhere.

But the south is so vast and so far away, and Fengning County has been suffering from drought, so it seems like it won't affect this area at all.

Zhou Jian didn't understand, but he trusted his mother and sister's choices; they would never betray their own people.

Seeing that her uncle was willing to take her family's grain, Zhao Ningning loosened her grip on the door and pulled it open.

"Uncle, you've worked so hard these past few days! Go back and get some rest, and eat lots of meat!" Zhao Ningning said. "It's hot, it'll spoil if we don't eat it soon!"

Nodding, Zhou Jian carried the things Ningning's family had given him and hurried home under the cover of night.

The people of Wangli Village were well aware of the rumors about rising grain prices.

After receiving the news, Ning's mother immediately informed He's family, and then immediately spoke with the village head.

The village headman specifically told the villagers about this, instructing each household head that even if they didn't go to buy grain, they shouldn't sell all the newly harvested grain at once.

Some people listened, while others chose to wait and see. Only a very few families were unsettled.

Old Zhao's family.

"I don't care!" Zhao Wenyuan stomped his feet in anger. "Rou'an said that if we don't raise the money soon, she'll be sold to the Ma family in the county town as a concubine!"

The thought that Lady Cao had told him her maiden name and even allowed him to call her by her name filled Zhao Wenyuan with a surge of emotion.

"We've harvested so much grain, what's wrong with selling some!" Zhao Wenyuan turned to his mother. "Mom... I'm eighteen already. People my age have kids who can already run errands, but I... I don't even have a wife!"

When Sun heard him say that, she felt heartbroken. For the past two years, she had been thinking that if the harvest was good next year, she would send her child back to the private school to take the imperial examination. Once the child passed the examination, he would be able to choose any rich girl or scholar.

But now it's the third year, and Wen Yuan hasn't gone to school for two years. As he gets older, even the number of matchmakers who want to arrange marriages has decreased by more than half.

Seeing this, Mrs. Sun was anxious. Zhao Wenyuan had been urging her for the past few days, and she was so anxious that she developed a large blister on her lip.

"It's all that wretched girl's fault for causing trouble... otherwise my son would have already raised the dowry..." Madam Sun muttered under her breath.

Zhao Wenyuan urged her again, and Sun could only grit her teeth, lower her head, and go to her mother-in-law to plead for her. After all, Wenyuan was her eldest grandson, and the marriage could not be delayed any longer; if it was, he would only be able to marry a girl from the village.

Since the new grain has just been harvested and the family still has some resources, it's best to get this done as soon as possible.

The Zhao family has a lot of land, and this year, without the second son to do the hard labor, the whole family had to work together. Even Er Ya, who usually doesn't go out, was called out by Sun Shi to cook for several days.

Perhaps due to neglecting to water the crops for the past half month, the Zhao family's grain harvest was much less than that of other families in the village. After deducting the two mu of land that were distributed to them, they only harvested a total of sixty shi of grain this year.

After deducting the grain tax for eight people, only forty-four shi (a unit of dry measure) remained.

Thinking of the recent soaring grain prices, Sun's heart pounded like a drum on her way to the main room.

It's not impossible...

The Zhao family took the lead, selling 35 shi of grain at 16 wen per jin when grain prices were at their peak, earning 135 taels of silver. They then exchanged the remaining shi for coarse grains and took them home.

Granny Qian clutched the cold silver ingots, but her heart was warm. She told everyone she met: "What does the flood in the south have to do with Fengning County? Sell the grain while the price is high, and buy back the coarse grain when the price drops."

By reselling them like this, the coarse grains we get are enough to feed a family for two years!

Seeing her like this, many people in the village were tempted and secretly went to sell some as well.

The village head and the village chief were furious when they found out about this.

Having gathered the silver, Zhao Wenyuan eagerly presented it to Cao Rouan.

Cao Rouan never expected that a peasant from the village could raise money so quickly. She made an excuse that her family couldn't bear to part with her and that she should wait a few more months to get married.

Zhao Wenyuan had never seen anything like this before, and in a daze, he agreed and went home to urge Sun to ask a matchmaker to propose marriage.

The two families quickly went through the procedures and set a date. Only then did Zhao Wenyuan feel relieved and spend his days happily wandering around the village and town.

Ningning's home.

After the grain harvest, Zhao Ningning still had half of her ice jelly left unsold!

She risked going up the mountain to collect false physalis and planted it in flowerpots. Later, she cultivated several more pots of physalis seeds. Zhao Ningning wasn't worried about running out of raw materials in the future.

After selling these two weeks' worth of products, the rest will depend on our own efforts to collect ice jelly seeds from the mountains, buy brown sugar to make our own syrup, and prepare our own toppings.

After the autumn harvest, the newly flooded grain market caused the price of grain to drop by two coins. With the impact of the floods in the south over, Zhao Ningning's family resumed running their small stall.

Granny Qian boasted to everyone she met that she had good judgment and was decisive, thinking that once the grain price dropped completely in a few days, she could use the remaining money to buy more grain and make those who talked sour in the village furious.

Because the grain collection times varied from place to place, it took five or six days for Zhao Ningning's family to dry and bag their grain before the tax collectors arrived at Wangli Village.

The grain tax was collected by the yamen runners from village to village. The village head and village chief had been alarmed these past few days. When they heard from the villagers that the grain tax collectors and yamen runners had arrived, they hurriedly invited them into their houses, served them good tea, and ordered their families to quickly inform the villagers.

They arrived at dawn, and He Shi and Zhou Jian carried the grain to the village head's door.

Thinking that Ningning's family had gone to set up their stall early in the morning and probably didn't know about this, and that her son-in-law was not feeling well, He asked Zhou Jian to go and give them a heads-up. The two of them took turns carrying over the grain from Zhao Ningning's family as well.

Ning's father, leaning on his cane, hopped along, slowly making his way to the village head's door with the household registration certificate in hand.

The villagers lined up one by one. After drinking tea, the yamen runners came over with measuring cups and called out names from the list. When their names were called, the runners handed over their household registration documents. One runner checked the documents against the registration, another checked the grain to make sure it was in good condition, and two others weighed the grain.

With four people working and a grain inspector supervising, the pace wasn't slow.

After collecting their share, the bailiffs would cross the list off and call out the next person.

Zhou Jian, understanding his brother-in-law's physical limitations, brought out a bench for him to sit on, while he himself stood guard beside his own grain, waiting for his name to be called.

"Ha, even if you go to the county town to get your leg treated, you'll still end up crippled."

Ning's father paused in his fanning motion, and without even turning around, he knew that the voice belonged to Zhao Wenyuan.