In a good year, it would be manageable, but now there are thousands of people starving, and the refugees have dug up all the wild vegetables. These people don't even know much about wild vegetables, and even if they did, they wouldn't be able to find any.

Sure enough, the women went out and searched, but they didn't bring back even two bunches of vegetables.

The old lady was also helpless, and fixed her gaze on the group of refugees. Before long, she walked steadily toward Qin San Niang's family.

Perhaps it was because they were a bit far from the others and happened to be in a corner that the constables could see, and also because this family didn't seem to be without food, judging from the child's expression alone, although he was wearing coarse clothes, his complexion was still good.

The matriarch came from a family of physicians and was the eldest daughter of a renowned physician from the previous dynasty. Having experienced the rise and fall of two dynasties, she possessed a keen eye for talent.

Following closely behind was a middle-aged woman in her forties. The woman's beautiful eyes were slightly furrowed, as if she didn't quite understand her mother-in-law's actions.

Even if the elderly person was a convicted official's relative, Qin San Niang dared not underestimate her.

Her mind raced. The world was in chaos; who knew who would rise to power and sit on the throne? Ups and downs were commonplace, and a family like theirs might still rise again. Besides, even a weakened camel is bigger than a horse; these families were deeply entrenched, and who knew what dramatic turn of events might occur? Qin San Niang didn't expect to rise to the top herself, but forging good relationships would certainly be beneficial.

"Grandpa, is something the matter?"

Seeing her eldest daughter suddenly stand up, and then seeing the old woman walking over, Liu, a peasant woman, always felt that the officials who were exiled nowadays were probably good officials, and only those high-ranking, indifferent officials who didn't care about the lives of ordinary people deserved to die!

Seeing the expressions on Liu Shi and Qin San Niang's faces, the old lady smiled slightly. Over the past month, they had grown accustomed to being looked down upon, but they never expected these refugees to be so kind and honest.

"Gentlemen, as you probably know, we are the families of convicted officials. We originally had some food with us, but something happened before, and we've run out of it. I wonder if we could exchange some food with you? Oh, I have a jade pendant here, which is worth a few silver coins."

The old lady thought for a moment, then took out a jade pendant from her neck and handed it to Qin San Niang.

The old matriarch had a keen eye and knew that this young woman was the one in charge of the household.

Without even looking closely, Qin San Niang knew that this jade was of exceptional quality, not just valuable, but extremely valuable!

The middle-aged woman beside her called out anxiously, "Mother!" It seemed that she did not approve of the old lady exchanging the jade pendant for grain, and that the jade pendant probably had a different meaning.

He gently waved to the woman as a gesture of reassurance. Then he smiled at Qin San Niang. This woman was savvy and clearly already tempted. Material possessions were unimportant; what mattered was being able to exchange them for food for her great-grandson. Otherwise, the three-year-old child probably wouldn't be able to survive.

"Ran Niang, this thing is inanimate, but people are alive!"

It turned out that the woman's name was Ran Niang, a very beautiful name! Tears welled up in Ran Niang's eyes; she never imagined that her family had fallen into such a state.

"Madam, your jade pendant is very valuable. Are you sure you want to exchange it?"

"Of course, but if you ask for some food, this jade pendant is yours."

If it weren't for the hint of reluctance in her eyes, Qin San Niang would have really thought so too. Presumably, the old woman was able to keep something from these cannibalistic yamen runners not only because of the deeply entrenched external forces, but also because of her own wisdom.

Qin San Niang nodded and carefully put away the jade pendant under the watchful eyes of the yamen runners, indicating that the deal was done.

The old lady breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried that the woman wouldn't dare agree, and the jade pendant would fall into the hands of the constables. It was better to exchange it for some food. Holding such a jade pendant, she didn't know whether it was a blessing or a curse. She felt a little guilty, as if there was some calculation involved in doing this. But for the sake of continuing her family's bloodline, she had no choice but to do it.

Turning her head, Qin San Niang handed a bag of grain to the middle-aged woman next to the old lady and said loudly, "This grain is the food my family saved up, so it's worth it for your jade pendant. I'll also give you these dried vegetables as a bonus."

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were surprised to receive a bag of grain and dried vegetables, and they were truly grateful to the Qin family.

The constables saw nothing interesting; the old woman's jade pendant, which she had so painstakingly preserved, had been exchanged for grain? But were they really going to go and rob it? This group of refugees was numerous and powerful; they had been traveling for a month and were quite exhausted, not to mention the power behind the old woman…

The squad leader decided to turn a blind eye; who knows when the world would change, and it wouldn't be good to offend too much—it was just a jade pendant…

The young woman and child, who were standing still, saw the Japanese lady and mother-in-law coming over and quickly went over to take the bag.

"Mother, look!" It was Ran Niang's daughter-in-law, Xiao Sun, who was looking at her mother-in-law with surprise. Xiao Sun had a simple hairstyle, with her long hair tied up with a strip of cloth, which looked quite neat.

Qin San Niang could tell that this young Sun Shi had some martial arts skills, and she estimated that they were not low.

Ran Niang, who was called the mother-in-law, also looked surprised, but she quickly calmed down and ordered her daughter-in-law to put the pot on to boil water and put the millet that had been stored in the pot into the pot. As for the wild vegetables, they also put them into the pot. There were still more than 20 people left, and each of them could still have a sip of water.

In fact, their meals were provided by the constables, consisting of a coarse grain cake per meal. The old lady intended to give this meal to her young grandson, who was of weak constitution. He had been nourished with medicinal soups throughout the journey, but the food was definitely not enough, and coupled with the busy travel these past few days, his health had begun to deteriorate again.

They didn't have many medicinal herbs left, but luckily they weren't food, so they wouldn't be stolen.

Ran Niang hesitated for a moment, and when she saw that no one was paying attention, she took the rice bag and gave it to her mother-in-law.

The old lady looked closely and saw a bag of sugar cubes inside. Normally, this wouldn't have caught her eye, but it was perfect for replenishing her energy. Besides, the rice inside was a mixture of paddy and millet; if they ate sparingly, this bag of grain would be enough for her grandson for a month. Furthermore, there was a small bag of white powder under the sugar cubes—salt?! Fine salt!

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law both saw shock in each other's eyes. The king had banned the private sale of salt, and they had wanted to buy some fine salt along the way, but the price was so exorbitant that they had to give up. However, not eating salt would eventually ruin their health, so the old lady had no choice but to pawn the silk clothes she had brought with her to buy some fine salt and some coarse salt. These days, they were almost out of fine salt.

"Ran Niang, you must keep this safe. Our children's survival depends on this!"

He grasped his mother-in-law's hand in return, indicating that she would take good care of these things.

At night, Qin San Niang heard the patter of rain, wondering if it would ever stop.