Zhen Fugui chuckled twice and said flatteringly, "Our father is very knowledgeable; my little sister's lemonade tastes better than tea!"

Although he'd never drunk tea, he'd heard of it.

You can't go wrong by blindly praising your sister's lemonade!

"What should we do with the remaining lemonade, Zhen Niangzi?"

Qu Huaiyuan, carrying a glass of lemonade, asked with a troubled expression.

Zhen Wanwan looked at the two or three cups of lemonade left, and thought it would be a waste to throw it away.

Before she could even speak, Grandpa Zhen, who was standing beside her, said dryly.

"This water is so precious! We can't use it to water the soil anymore. You can save this for me to drink, Wanwan. It won't be a waste."

That's what he said, but Grandpa Zhen's eyes never left the lemon water in the wooden bucket.

Zhen Wanwan didn't miss Grandpa Zhen's little tricks. She didn't expect that her father was also addicted to drinking lemon water, just like her older brother.

She said with a laugh, "Then I'll trouble Dad to help me finish the rest of the lemonade."

Grandpa Zhen gave an awkward "hmm" and happily poured himself another cup.

Seeing his eldest son staring longingly at him, he kindly poured him another cup.

"Thank you, Dad!"

After everyone had rested enough, Zhen Wanwan and the others continued their journey to Songjiang Prefecture.

There's a big difference between traveling by carriage and walking. Now they only need to walk for another three days to reach Songjiang Prefecture.

Perhaps because they were close to Songjiang Prefecture, they noticed that they encountered more and more small streams and ditches in the past few days.

You can even see fishermen rowing their boats to the middle of the lake to catch fish.

The villagers here suffered very little from the disaster; apart from grain being sold at a slightly higher price than in previous years, everything else remained the same.

They were dressed much more presentably than Zhen Wanwan; the villagers on the road rarely saw a piece of clothing with two patches on it.

Zhen Wanwan felt like she and her friends were country bumpkins visiting the city, curious about everything.

Especially for children like Gou Dan and Er Niu who are still young and don't understand things, they will shout and yell whenever they see something they don't recognize.

This attracted the attention of passing villagers, who would occasionally look at them with strange eyes.

Wow! What a big fish! It's even bigger than my baby!

"Look at that pirate ship over there! Is there a One Piece on board, brother?"

"This big red flower is so beautiful!"

"..."

Aside from the children's excited chatter, the other adults, though outwardly calm, were still drawn to many novel things.

For example, Zhenwanwan.

Holding her "homemade" milk tea, she leaned against the car window and saw a large ship staring into the distance.

In her past life, she had only seen mountains and lakes, but never the sea.

Even the boats I've been on were only the six-seater kind.

Now that she has seen the massive ship, which is as tall as a five-story building, how could she not be shocked!

Faced with such a large ship, her mouth remained in an "O" shape.

I really want to own a ship like that!!!

"Ahhh..." Sweetie wants to see this too!

Sweetie was so excited that she called out to her mother, because she wanted to see what the ocean looked like!

And there are ships this big, this big!!

Zhen Wanwan tactfully picked up Tianbao and carried her to the car window.

"Oh my, my precious daughter, let me show you the world!"

She pointed to the large ship in the distance and excitedly explained to Tianbao.

"Look how cool that big ship is! When your mother has money in the future, she'll buy one for you as your dowry!"

Zhen Wanwan didn't think there was anything wrong with her making empty promises. She thought that once she had money, she would even think this boat was too small!

Sweetie followed her mother's finger and saw the big ship. When she heard that her mother would give it to her in the future, she clapped her hands happily.

"Ahhh..." Mommy is so good!! She loves Mommy the most~

The little boy sat in Grandma Li's lap like a little old man, showing little interest in anything outside.

What's so interesting about this ship?

If Mother and Sister want them, when he grows up, I'll build two big boats for each of them!

Old Mrs. Li, listening to her daughter making empty promises again, said with amusement, "It's good to have some fun."

"You've really blown your own horn. If Tianbao doesn't have a big ship as her dowry when she grows up, I'll teach you a lesson on her behalf."

Zhen Wanwan looked bitter and aggrieved as she complained to Old Lady Li.

“Mom, you’ve changed! You’re completely biased to the core. How could you undermine your own daughter like this…”

Grandma Li knew she wasn't really angry, so she glared at her irritably.

"Am I not good enough to you? Our sweet little darling is so young, and you've never stopped spouting such big talk."

"Don't underestimate these kids just because they're young. They're not stupid, especially our precious little sweetheart, who's a celestial child reincarnated from under the Bodhisattva..."

Seeing that Old Lady Li was about to start nagging again, Zhen Wanwan smiled bitterly to herself.

I don't know when her mother learned to praise one person while belittling another, but now she uses it to the fullest extent.

Of course, the praise goes to the two children, while the criticism is directed at her.

Zhen Fuyu's voice came from outside the carriage curtain.

"Mom, let's stay at an inn tonight, take a good bath, and have a good meal! This body stench is unbearable..."

Zhen Wanwan hurriedly nodded in agreement. She could occasionally sneak into the space to wash up under the cover of darkness, but she couldn't stand the scorching sun.

Within just one day, he started to smell of sweat.

"Yes, Mother, we're not in a hurry to get going. Why don't we find an inn and get some rest for the night?"

Fearing that Old Lady Li would be unhappy, Zhen Wanwan pointed to the neatly dressed locals outside.

"We're about to enter Songjiang Prefecture. We're covered in dirt, and we're afraid we'll be disliked."

After thinking about it, Grandma Li agreed to the two siblings' request.

Saltpeter was scarce, so each carriage could only use one basin of ice per day, and the rest of the time they had to travel in the sweltering heat.

Everyone has an unpleasant body odor to some extent.

"Second brother, when you're rushing to catch the train, check if there are any places to rest by the roadside. It's fine if there are few people and it's a little remote, but the main thing is that the accommodation fee can't be too high."

"We know."

Since she needed money for lodging that night, Old Lady Li took out her small box and pulled out a dozen or so coins.

This is the budget for tonight's accommodation. If the accommodation fee is too high, they might have to personally use her bargaining skills.

Zhen Wanwan secretly took out her own money, preparing to add a special meal for everyone that evening.

During this period of fleeing famine, my mouth has been so bland it's practically tasteless!

No matter what, we can still afford fish tonight!

I don't know if this money is enough.

Before long, they finally found an inn to rest.

There weren't many people around, and the building was a bit dilapidated, but it was still quite clean and tidy compared to its surroundings.

"Manager, what rooms do you have left?"

Zhen Fu walked with practiced ease to the cashier.

Opposite him was the innkeeper, who was constantly calculating with his abacus. He was a very thin man, but his eyes were sharp.

From the moment Zhen Wanwan and the others entered, she looked them all over and recommended suitable accommodations for them.

"There are three more shared rooms available. That should be enough for you if you want to stay there!"