Chapter 1 The porridge given was pure rice porridge without any impurities.

Yunhe County.

A group of bandits passing through the area had just looted the entire county town, leaving the already struggling people without enough food to eat.

Insects, birds, beasts, fish, trees, grass—everything edible had been plundered, and the starving people even resorted to eating clay.

If this continues...

Zhang Erniangzi hugged her son tightly, who was whispering, "Mother, I'm hungry," and hot tears streamed down her face.

If this continues, people who can't stand the hunger will resort to cannibalism.

They eat strangers, they eat people from other people's families, and they eat their own family members.

Can she keep her baby?

Can she... save herself?

Zhang Erniangzi couldn't stop crying.

She thought, why not persuade her husband to follow the example of the county magistrate and those wealthy families and head east?

Perhaps, perhaps we can find a suitable place to live.

Their family will be able to survive.

But there's war everywhere!

The rebel army and the imperial army were fighting, and the imperial army was also fighting against each other.

In various places, there are also bandits who occupy the mountains and rule as kings.

There were also rebel armies.

Along the way, there were countless refugees like them who were forced to migrate due to lack of food.

Otherwise, her husband would have taken the family and followed those wealthy families north two years ago.

Zhang Erniangzi unconsciously tightened her grip on her son's arm, her face filled with despair: Are we just supposed to wait to die?

Good heavens!

She looked up at the sky with a mixture of sorrow and anger.

Why can't you open your eyes!

Why should a child like my son be unable to live?

"Mother," the little boy cried pitifully, "I'm so hungry, Father, can you find anything to eat?"

Zhang Erniangzi buried her head in the crook of her son's neck and tried to soothe him in a soft voice, "Yes, your father will definitely find something to eat."

If not, then Mother will…

She looked at her arm, a resolute glint in her eyes.

"Auntie, Auntie Li!"

A male voice suddenly came from outside, a voice that was still somewhat childish but also carried a hint of madness.

Before Zhang Erniangzi could react, a boy ran into her courtyard, beaming with joy, and shouted, "Auntie! Someone just came to tell my grandpa that a goddess is going to give out porridge! She told us all to wait in the open space in front of the county government office!"

Zhang Erniangzi was momentarily stunned by his shrill voice, which had become shrill with excitement.

The boy continued, "Hurry up and take the bowl over there. My grandpa told me to inform everyone. I'm going to call the old lady and her family next door!"

Zhang Erniangzi opened her mouth, but before she could utter a sound, the boy had already turned and run away.

Soon, she heard the same shrill male voice from next door, "Auntie! A goddess is giving out porridge! Hurry up and take your bowl to the county government! The sooner you go, the sooner you get it!"

She didn't mishear!

Zhang Erniangzi stood up abruptly, holding her son.

She took a few steps outside, then hurriedly returned to the kitchen, picked up a broken bowl, and ran outside.

The road to the county government office was neither long nor short.

Zhang Erniangzi encountered people running quickly with bowls in their hands, just like her.

Some I knew, and some I didn't.

"Do goddesses really come to distribute porridge?"

"Probably."

“I heard it from Xu Jia Dalang, he wouldn’t lie to us.”

“How could he dare to lie about something like this? If it were fake, he would definitely…”

The people running towards the county government office were whispering amongst themselves.

They were full of hope.

They were afraid of being disappointed.

Fortunately, when they arrived at the open space in front of the county government office, they saw a long queue ahead.

It stretches as far as the eye can see.

Someone was shouting, "Line up! Everyone, line up!"

"Don't rush, line up!"

"Everyone will receive one! Everyone can get one!"

People who had received porridge would occasionally walk to the side with a bowl of steaming white porridge and drink it in big gulps.

Because they could see people receiving porridge, the people in line and those arriving later felt at ease and started queuing up obediently.

It wasn't that no one tried to cut in line, but they were all beaten up by a dozen or so men who were busy maintaining order, forcing them to obey.

Zhang Erniangzi stood in the line holding her son, looking up at the front.

Through the crowd of heads, all that could be seen was a woman standing on the platform where the county officials used to announce matters.

A young woman dressed in very strange clothes.

As the line at the front gradually shortens, the line at the back gradually lengthens.

The people in front of Zhang Erniangzi were talking about news they had heard from those further ahead.

"They say the goddess who's going to give us porridge is a real goddess!"

What is a true immortal?

"Her porridge wasn't kept in a bucket; it was conjured up."

"Change?" How will it change?

Zhang Erniangzi thought to herself, "I don't care how she got it, as long as my son can have some porridge."

The queue continued to shorten.

Zhang Erniangzi finally saw the face of the goddess who was distributing porridge.

Her skin was very fair, but she looked very healthy.

She wore no jewelry, simply tying her long hair into a ponytail.

She was wearing a light green printed dress, a style that Zhang Erniangzi had never seen before.

There was no porridge bucket in front of her.

But with a wave of her hand, the person standing in front of her suddenly had a full bowl of porridge!

Seeing this, Zhang Erniangzi and the people in front of her were stunned.

They were utterly astonished: it really was a deity!

I initially thought it was some rich girl distributing porridge here...

Finally, it was Zhang Erniangzi's turn. She looked at the goddess with barely suppressed excitement, her eyes filled with a longing she couldn't see herself.

The goddess had no expression on her face. With a calm wave of her hand, the broken bowl that Zhang Erniangzi was holding was filled with porridge!

Steaming hot.

There were also pickled vegetables on top of the porridge!

Zhang Erniangzi opened her mouth wide.

The people behind her urged her to move aside quickly.

Just as Zhang Erniangzi was about to leave, she heard the goddess in front of her speak.

"etc."

The goddess's voice was so beautiful that Zhang Erniangzi stopped in her tracks.

She watched as the goddess conjured a bowl of porridge out of thin air and handed it to her.

Her beautiful face remained expressionless, but her words sounded like heavenly music to Zhang Erniangzi: "One bowl isn't enough for you and your son. Get another bowl."

Zhang Erniangzi's heart pounded, and her face turned bright red with excitement.

She quickly put the child down, reached out her free hand to take the hot porridge, and subconsciously wanted to kneel down before the goddess.

The goddess calmly said, "Next."

Zhang Erniangzi: "..."

Her overwhelming gratitude caught in her throat.

The people queuing behind her were getting angry and urging her to move aside.

Zhang Erniangzi then carried a bowl of porridge in each hand and quickly walked to the side with her child.

The open spaces on both sides of the line were filled with people drinking porridge.

Some people opened their mouths wide and gulped down a bowl of porridge and pickled vegetables; some licked the bowl clean; some carefully pinched the pickled vegetables and ate them, slowly savoring the long-lost taste of oil, salt, and spiciness; some carefully carried the porridge, letting the elderly and children drink first...

The people who finished drinking the porridge did not leave immediately. They knelt respectfully on the ground, kowtowing to the goddess from afar, and kept saying something.

Zhang Erniangzi handed the bowl of porridge that the goddess had conjured to her son.

The little boy, who had been staring intently at the hot porridge and swallowing hard, immediately took it and eagerly took a big gulp.

Then he screamed in pain from the heat.

Zhang Erniangzi patted his head.

She held her bowl of porridge and carefully took a sip.

The delicate aroma of rice instantly filled the air on the tip of the tongue.

It's rice porridge!

Rice porridge with absolutely no impurities!

Zhang Erniangzi's eyes immediately filled with tears.

Large tears slid down her dry, brittle cheeks and fell to the ground.

Not far away, a group of people were gathered together, talking loudly.

Zhang Erniangzi subconsciously glanced at him.

Then a woman was surrounded by a crowd, proudly recounting how her husband had encountered a goddess and how the goddess had bestowed upon him porridge.

Those around them cast envious glances in agreement.

The woman was delighted. "The goddess immediately told my husband to go to the street and call out to everyone that she was going to distribute porridge. My husband asked the goddess how many people she could distribute porridge to, and the goddess said that she could give porridge to as many people as they wanted!"

Everyone: "Wow!"

The woman continued, "The goddess said that it doesn't matter how many people come! Do you understand what that means?"

The onlookers nodded repeatedly, saying, "The goddess is truly compassionate and merciful."

The woman rolled her eyes and said urgently, "I'm telling you to go and call everyone you know, from the surrounding towns and villages, call as many as you can! The goddess said she's been giving out porridge here these past few days, and she'll give it to whoever comes!"

Everyone was shocked.

Zhang Erniangzi also opened her mouth wide in disbelief.

Immediately, someone couldn't believe what they were hearing and hurriedly asked, "Really?"

The woman raised her chin, beaming with pride, "This is what the goddess herself told me, how could it be false?"

"Then can't I just go and call my aunt and the others?"

"My daughter's family lives in Xujiaping, which is right next to the county town!"

“My maternal grandmother’s house is quite far away. If I go and call them over, I’m afraid…”

"Idiot, if you miss this meal, there's still..." The person stopped speaking.

Upon hearing this, the woman's lips curled into a wide smile. "The goddess said that she will be here serving porridge all day, and from now on, there will be two meals a day, one at noon and one in the afternoon."

Even goddesses need rest.

Recalling the goddess's instructions, she called out loudly, "Go and call all your relatives and friends quickly."

Immediately, some people took off running outside.

When these people who went out of the county town met acquaintances and were asked what they were going to do, they said they were going to call relatives in the next village or township. Hearing this, those who heard about it were also tempted to do the same.

The news quickly spread throughout Yunhe County.

On the platform directly in front of the open space, He Qinglan, who was distributing porridge, asked the system, "How many bowls are there now?"

The system glanced at the data: [One hundred and thirteen.]

He Qinglan: [Just wait, those who have drunk the porridge will spread the word, and disaster victims will come from all directions.]

She calmly "said," "A mere ten thousand bowls."

system:【……】

It was curious, "Why do you insist on standing here, conjuring up bowl after bowl?"

They could easily conjure up several large basins and scoop them out with spoons.

He Qinglan: [That's more sophisticated.]

He Qinglan: [I'm portraying myself as a goddess.]

System: [Huh?]

The system was shocked: [What goddess? We're not a cafeteria system; aren't we aiming to become the world's greatest chef?]

He Qinglan glanced at the endless queue ahead, then looked again—still seemingly endless—and calmly replied, "When you're traveling, your persona is something you create for yourself; don't worry about it."

She reassured the system: "I'm doing this to survive and become the world's greatest chef, aren't I? Being a goddess is much safer than being a chef; otherwise, I'd be eaten by the disaster victims before I could even become a chef for those important figures."

system:【……】

He Qinglan sharply accused, "Don't forget, you dragged me here without a word. If I hadn't been smart, those men would have cooked and eaten me!"

system:【……】

A note from the author:

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He Qinglan's name is derived from the proverb, "Blue comes from indigo, yet it is bluer than indigo; ice is made from water, yet it is colder than water." (from "Exhortation to Learning").