I survived the famine by scavenging and supported my family.

The next day.

Ning's father got up full of energy. Thinking that if they were to flee the famine, they would need a vehicle for transportation. He searched the house and found that they only had fifty taels of silver left for emergencies.

Fifty taels of silver was enough to buy an oxcart. Taking advantage of the early morning when the sun was not too strong, Ning's father took Ning's mother to the county town to buy an ox and a cart.

It was hot, so the couple wouldn't let the children go with them. Zhao Ningning could only stay at home with Zhao Qi and stay there to guard the house.

When the two adults returned in the evening, they weren't leading an ox, but a...

"A donkey?" Zhao Ningning curiously circled around it, and no matter how she looked at it, it looked like a donkey.

It couldn't be a horse, could it? Although Zhao Ningning hadn't seen many donkeys, she had occasionally seen horses on TV.

"What?!" Ning's mother exclaimed, "It's a mule!"

They led the mules and mule carts into the yard.

"A mule?" Zhao Ningning stood to one side, reaching out her hand, eager to touch it.

"Be careful it doesn't kick you." Ning's father stopped his daughter. "Wait a few days until you get used to it before you touch it. This thing can kick someone and send them flying."

Zhao Ningning awkwardly withdrew her hand, watching as her father unloaded the mule from the cart and led it to the small shed in the yard where firewood had been piled up.

Ning's father nailed a wooden stake into the shed, which he then used to tie the mule to.

The car was parked next to the shed, and it actually looked quite decent.

Ning's mother found a somewhat worn wooden bucket, poured in a bucket of clean water, and placed it next to the mule. The four members of the family gathered around the mule, looking at it from all angles.

That evening, in an effort to bond with the mule, Zhao Ningning personally placed some straw near its mouth. The mule raised its head and snorted at Zhao Ningning.

Zhao Ningning froze on the spot, while her mother, who was standing next to her, burst out laughing when she saw the scene.

"Ningning, it doesn't like to eat straw. The straw is too dry. Let it eat some of this." Ning's mother took out the hay she bought while buying the mule from her spatial storage.

Zhao Ningning took it and handed it over, but the mule turned its head to the side.

Ning's mother was puzzled. The mule was perfectly fine when they were driving back, so why did it become stubborn when they got home?

When Ning's mother went to feed the mule, it ate; when Ning's father went, the mule also ate.

It only eats when Zhao Ningning goes. It doesn't want to eat. Zhao Ningning feeds it a few times, but it just takes a few blades of grass with its lips and puts them in its mouth to eat perfunctorily.

Zhao Ningning was so angry that she stuffed the grass into her brother's arms. Zhao Qi went to feed it, only to find out that the mule didn't like children.

After realizing it wasn't her fault, Zhao Ningning immediately stopped being angry, her expression changing as quickly as a drizzle clearing up.

She wouldn't give up and tried every day, while the mule fooled the child every day.

Half a month later, only a few families in the neighborhood knew that Zhao Ningning's family had bought a cart. Later, when they saw Ningning's father leading a mule out to graze, the villagers realized that Zhao Lao Er's family had actually bought a mule cart!

These days, only wealthy families can afford a cart frame, let alone one that also owns a mule!

For a time, some villagers were envious, some made sarcastic remarks, and others inquired about how Ning's father earned his money.

In response, Ning's father performed a story on the spot about rescuing a benefactor on the road, who then gave him twenty taels of silver.

The villagers thought, "What's the difference between this and silver falling from the sky?" So a few people who wanted to make a fortune started to follow Ning's example and loiter by the roadside every day with water bags in their hands.

Old Zhao's family.

"Wen Yuan, how come their family can afford a mule cart! Weren't they relocated?!" Cao Rou comforted her pregnant belly, sitting slumped in a chair: "Never mind, my stomach hurts and I can't walk. Go borrow the cart, and we'll go to town again."

Zhao Wenyuan held her small hand and coaxed her gently, "Rou'an, our eldest branch of the family doesn't get along with them. How could I possibly bring it up?"

"Just pretend you asked for me," Cao Rouan said. "What? Before I married into the family, you clearly promised to pamper me! But when I entered the household, you just gave me a whole banquet to fob me off! I haven't even told my father about this yet, and you're not going to borrow the money? Fine, I'm going home today!"

As she spoke, Cao Rouan pulled her hand away from Zhao Wenyuan's and lifted her skirt to walk out.

How could Zhao Wenyuan dare to let her go?

When Cao Rouan married into the family, all she knew was that they had separated the second branch of the family, but she didn't know the specific reason why.

If she knew that the reason the second branch of the family separated was because her own mother and grandmother had repeatedly tried to kidnap the second branch's daughter to sell, Cao Rou'an might cause a scene.

Feeling extremely guilty, Zhao Wenyuan stopped Cao Rouan and walked into the village alone.

He didn't go to Zhao Ningning's house. Before, after his grandmother and mother came out of prison, they came looking for them, but Ningning's mother swept them out with a big broom. This marriage was indeed severed cleanly, just as written in the marriage severance document!

After driving around the village, Zhao Wenyuan returned home and told Cao Rouan that Zhao Ningning's family disagreed, saying that after the family division, the car belonged to their family and had nothing to do with the Zhao family, so they were unwilling to lend it.

Upon hearing this, Cao Rouan stood up, flicking her handkerchief, "They just say they won't lend it, and that's it?"

"So, you're the brother of those three boys and five girls? They have to call me 'sister-in-law'!"

Cao Rouan didn't believe that the second wife's family could be so heartless; such behavior would be criticized in the village.

After thinking it over, I realized that Wen Yuan must be bad at talking and offended the second wife's family. If I go over and talk to them properly, they will definitely give me face as their sister-in-law.

Thinking of this, Cao Rouan, supporting her back and showing her increasingly pregnant belly, pushed past Zhao Wenyuan, who was blocking the door, and slowly walked towards Zhao Ningning's house.

Zhao Wenyuan couldn't stop them, so he could only stand by and try to persuade them.

But Cao Rouan was determined to take a mule cart to town.

Although there were oxcarts in the village, they belonged to someone else, and she would have to return them once she got to the town. She wanted to go somewhere else.

If we could borrow the mule cart, wouldn't we be able to go wherever we want?

Shaking off Zhao Wenyuan's hand, Cao Rouan swayed and walked to Zhao Ningning's door.

In the hot summer, many people are too lazy to close their gates, but Zhao Ningning's gate is always bolted.

Cao Rouan pushed the gate, but couldn't open it. After shaking the copper ring a couple of times, she found that the gate was locked. Cao Rouan then picked up the copper ring and knocked on the gate.

After a long while, someone from inside the house came to open the door.

Zhao Ningning opened the door and saw a woman she didn't recognize. She asked in surprise, "Who are you?"

"You must be Wu Ya? I'm your brother Wen Yuan's sister-in-law." Cao Rou'an smiled and was about to say the next sentence when the door suddenly closed, and she almost bumped her nose.

"You! You!"

Cao Rouan took a deep breath, clutched her chest, and pounded on Zhao Ningning's door. "Open the door! Wuya, how dare you lock your elders out! You've really gone too far!"

The door creaked open, and Zhao Ningning stood by the door with her hands on her hips, shouting, "What kind of relative are you? You didn't even invite our second branch of the family to your wedding! Besides, our second branch has long since severed ties with the Zhao family!"

"Hurry up and leave, especially you! If it weren't for you, your mother wouldn't have repeatedly tried to kidnap me and sell me to you to get money for your marriage!"

Zhao Ningning spoke a long string of words, clearly articulated. Cao Rouan heard this and wanted to grab her arm to ask what "selling to get money to get married" meant.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Ningning closed the door again, and she almost got her hand caught!

"Zhao Wenyuan!" Cao Rouan grabbed his arm. "What do you mean by selling him to get money for marriage?!"

"Rou'an, Rou'an..." Zhao Wenyuan awkwardly grabbed Cao Rou'an's hand, "No, let me explain."

"What explanation? You need to explain yourself clearly today!" Cao Rouan was pulled away, and their voices gradually faded into the distance.

Under Zhao Wenyuan's rambling explanations, Cao Rouan temporarily believed what he said: Zhao Ningning was timid, and because Sun Shi treated her well, she thought Sun Shi wanted to harm her.

Cao Rouan from Shiqiao Town still managed to get on the oxcart and didn't want Zhao Wenyuan to come along.

She didn't return until dark. When Granny Qian saw her carrying a small bag, she only glanced at her sideways and ignored her.

When the rat infestation occurred, Cao Rouan was frightened and kept complaining of stomach pain. After the infestation subsided, she went to town and came back saying that she was pregnant.

Granny Qian originally intended to set rules for her granddaughter-in-law, who was lazing around in the house during the rat infestation, but she didn't say anything because the granddaughter was pregnant.

Cao Rou'an, taking advantage of her pregnancy, wanted to eat chicken and meat. The Zhao family had just suffered a disaster and it would be an exaggeration to say that they were destitute. Where would they get chicken, duck, fish and meat for her to eat?

Even while pregnant, she couldn't get any benefits. Cao Rouan thought it was the Zhao family's fault. But when things got heated, she discovered that the Zhao family was not the same as before. Now, they had no food reserves, no money, a sickly and difficult grandmother, and a stingy mother-in-law!

Now, Cao Rouan has also discovered that the reason why the second wife's family wants to sever ties is not as simple as Zhao Wenyuan said, "Zhao Ningning is timid," there must be some inside story.

As the weather grew hotter and Cao Rou'an's belly grew bigger, she overheard two old women from the village talking about the Zhao family while taking a walk in the village. They said that on the day she married into the family, the Zhao family only set up one table of food at home, and that food was extremely meager.

Hearing this from behind, she blushed with embarrassment, ran home, cried for a long time, and wanted to divorce Zhao Wenyuan.

Zhao Wenyuan had gone to great lengths to marry a woman he loved, so how could he easily agree to marry her? The couple argued with Sun Shi, which made her sick with anger.

After the second wife's family left, Sun Shi took care of the kitchen work. When she fell ill, there was no one to cook for the Zhao family.

Granny Qian stepped in and asked the third son's wife to temporarily replace the eldest son's wife. The third son's wife made an excuse that she had never cooked before and never even set foot in the kitchen, which infuriated Granny Qian.

Cao Rouan was still pregnant, so Granny Qian could only grumble and curse as she cooked. She was very stingy these days; when she cooked, she would only scoop out half a ladle of coarse grains, rinse the ladle and grains into the pot, and once the water boiled, it would be a pot of porridge.

She also controlled the household's main ladle, and only gave her daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law a little bit of thin porridge from the top layer.

Before, the family could eat a whole pancake, but now they only get half a pancake, and it's made of coarse flour. Only the men in the family can eat it; the women don't get any at all.

Even Granny Qian herself doesn't eat it, saving it for the family.

The family was so hungry that they became emaciated.

Old Zhao didn't know what to say, so he could only silently eat his half-eaten coarse bread.

Old Zhao felt sorry for his wife, so he secretly saved the pancakes at the dinner table and took them back to the room for Sun to eat.

After being hungry for a while, coupled with the heat, Zhao Laoda fainted in the field while weeding. Zhao Laosan found him and carried him home with Zhao Laotou. Fortunately, it was just heatstroke and hunger, and he woke up after resting at home for a while.

Old Zhao went back into the house and ordered Granny Qian to take out her money bag so she could buy some grain for the family.

Granny Qian was still clinging to the dream of buying more white rice and white flour with the money as grain prices dropped. Old Man Zhao angrily pointed to the main house and said, "The children have fainted from hunger in the fields. It's outrageous!"

Granny Qian then grumbled and took out ten taels of silver, asking the third son to buy some grain.

It was July, and the land was parched. In Shiqiao Town, the price of grain was 31 wen per jin of white rice and 25 wen per jin of coarse grain.

With the day of their planned escape from famine drawing ever closer, Zhao Ningning's family secretly bolted their door and began preparing food, drink, and other necessities for the journey.

Zhao Ningning was rummaging through the food in her space. Ning's mother categorized and stored the food in her own space. For items with a milder flavor, she cooked them directly.

Ning's father and Zhao used the carpentry tools they bought in the prefectural city and the items Zhao Ningning collected through her junk-collecting system to make a major overhaul of their family's cart.

First, a carriage was added to the cart, and a hinge was added to the door in front of the carriage. The hinge was a piece of trash that Zhao Ningning picked up. It was a piece of material that someone had left over from making cabinet doors and just threw it out. When she picked it up, it was brand new, so Zhao Qi didn't have to waste any more repair attempts.

Returning to the topic of the carriage, the front door can be opened 360 degrees. After opening, there is an iron bolt that can be pushed to firmly fix the two doors in place, so that the two doors will not swing around when the mule cart is moving.

Zhao used thin slices of wood to cover the metal hinges, making the wooden doors of the carriage appear ordinary whether they were open or closed.

Looking at the carriage, it's noticeably taller than a regular handcart. This was custom-made by a carpenter, which Ning's father had specially commissioned, making it easier for the two adults to move around inside.

There was a space reserved at the back of the carriage to store some non-essential items. Four wooden sticks were inserted behind the space to hold the items together with the carriage, and some hemp rope was tied in the middle to make it secure and prevent it from loosening.

On the roof, Zhao Qi added small guardrails and a place to tie ropes, so that not too heavy things could be placed on the roof and could be tied and secured with ropes.

Inside the carriage, Zhao Qi installed a small, foldable table that could be easily assembled and disassembled. At the rear of the carriage, there was also a storage box with two recessed areas. By placing cushions on the box, two seats could be created.

This storage box is just for show; at night, when it's time to sleep, Ning's mother can put it away so that there's room for someone to lie down in the carriage.

There are windows on both sides of the car, which improves ventilation. Originally, the windows were only covered by curtains, but Zhao used templates to make two pull-out devices so that the car can be completely locked at night, blocking the view of outsiders.

At the front of the carriage, Ning's father helped his son install a "sunshade" on the roof. The sunshade was made by sewing together two pieces of tarpaulin and a plastic sheet contributed by Zhao Ningning.

Zhao Qi worked on this part last. He spent half a month figuring it out and made it foldable so that it could be unfolded when needed and folded up when not needed, thus reducing wind resistance.

Ning's father didn't understand anything about wind resistance; he only knew that his son had turned the car into a treasure chest, setting up many small functions.

At the end of July, Ning's father made the last batch of coarse flour into two-in-one flatbreads. The family had prepared five large vats of fried rice and fried noodles, and the flatbreads and steamed buns were packed into baskets, filling twenty baskets.

The rest were all refined rice and flour. Since the kitchen was too hot, Zhao Ningning steamed them one pot at a time in the space using a rice cooker and then gave them to her mother.

When Ningning's family was almost ready.

August has finally arrived!