Upon hearing this, both Han Wei and Han Xiao'e froze on the spot.

"Don't joke around. At a time like this, what use is there for a city that's practically a ghost town?"

Han Wei spoke first, his voice filled with undisguised fatigue, "Don't worry about us, we can afford the medical expenses, cough cough cough..."

Hearing this, Xu Nian smiled and said, "Who said I was joking?"

"So what are you after?"

Han Wei looked at her in surprise, voicing his inner question.

Seeing this, Gu Zhan seemed to have guessed what Xu Nian was thinking.

"As you said, this place is practically a ghost town."

Xu Nian stood up, her face calm, and said, "But some people are still left behind, and these are the talents I need."

Fleeing from famine is not just about running away; people will fall ill along the way, and a lot of consumption needs to be recorded. Xu Nian alone simply cannot handle all of this.

Before the famine, this was at least a prosperous city, where one could probably find a few literate young ladies from good families or talented people with other skills. That was what she wanted; she just wanted to be able to take these people with her when she left.

"Talent?"

Han Xiao'e scratched her head in confusion and asked, puzzled, "But they can't even get enough to eat right now. Even if you are the city lord, no one will listen to you."

Xu Nian smiled in response, a confident look flashing in her eyes.

"I'll figure out a way."

Finally, Han Wei agreed to Xu Nian's request and handed her the jade pendant that symbolized the city lord's status. "The rest is up to you. You can also freely move around the city lord's mansion."

Xu Nian naturally did not refuse, and wrote another prescription for conditioning the body. Before leaving, she left a small bag of grain, which moved the father and daughter deeply once again.

"You want to help them?"

As soon as he stepped out of the room, Gu Zhan spoke leisurely, his tone extremely confident.

Xu Nian turned around and met his knowing gaze, then immediately smiled and said, "Helping them is also helping ourselves, so why not?"

Wow, is the streamer really going to help the people of this city?

But just like the city lord said, they're all starving.

So, what should we do?

Xu Nian glanced briefly at the comments, raised an eyebrow mysteriously, and remained silent.

Immediately afterwards, she went to the place where the argument had taken place.

The refugees who had drunk the porridge looked much healthier and were now gathered in twos and threes, their earlier restlessness gone.

"grown ups!"

Upon seeing Xu Nian approach, they immediately knelt down in gratitude and began kowtowing repeatedly, saying, "If it weren't for you, we would have starved to death here today! Thank you so much!"

Seeing this, Xu Nian did not raise her hand to help, but said with a smile, "I can give you more porridge, but on the condition that you pay the corresponding price."

The refugees looked bewildered and at a loss. "What will the price be?"

Seeing their bewildered expressions, Xu Nian read out, word by word, "I need people who can read and do arithmetic, people who know a little about medicine, and people who know how to farm. If any of you have such people, come to the city lord's mansion before tonight."

After speaking, she pulled out several large, white steamed buns and stuffed them into their hands, saying, "Go tell everyone—"

"Their hope has arrived."

Without pausing for a moment, Xu Nian turned and strode away.

Her slightly frail figure disappeared from the refugees' sight, exuding confidence and charisma, yet inspiring trust in them.

Is the streamer trying to give this city a complete makeover?

But the famine has dragged on for so long, how can we quell it?

[Upstairs, have you forgotten what the streamer's job is? A fortune teller! He can summon rain or fire with ease.]

As dusk settled, the afterglow of the sunset shone through.

Inside the city lord's palace.

The vast crowd was packed together, their faces covered in dust and mud, yet no one dared to make a sound.

They all came to interview Xu Nian after hearing the news.

I heard that they needed people skilled in farming and arithmetic, so each household sent a few people, just to make a living.

However, in reality, these people still have doubts.

With famine raging, the land is uncultivable, and there has been no rain for months. What use are these people?

Despite their doubts, they came with the intention of giving it a try.

Hello.

Xu Nian stepped out the door and saw a huge crowd in front of her. She was very satisfied and got straight to the point, saying, "You've all heard about my purpose, so I won't beat around the bush."

As she spoke, Xu Nian placed the jade pendant that symbolized the city lord on the table.

"Now that the entire city is under my control, I need someone skilled in farming to help me."

Xu Nian looked around and saw the doubt on their faces. She chuckled softly, "You may have doubts, but I don't like to argue. I always let the facts speak for themselves."

"Bang!"

After saying that, Xu Nian threw a large bag of grain onto the ground next to her. Through the open bag, the shape of the rice could be vaguely seen.

[The streamer looks like a nouveau riche, hahaha.]

The cooler you look when you throw it away, the more pathetic you look when you try to haggle over it online.

When the group saw the grain, their eyes lit up, and they couldn't help but feel eager to get their hands on it.

"From now on, line up and answer my questions. Those who answer correctly can take the food and work for me. We don't pay wages, but we provide meals."

Seeing that the encouragement had a good effect, Xu Nian raised an eyebrow, sat upright in the chair, and spoke eloquently.

In this day and age, money is no longer a valuable thing; food is the most important thing.

So when they heard that meals were included, their enthusiasm was instantly ignited, and they quickly lined up to take the lead.

Xu Nian wasn't asking any difficult questions, just simple questions related to farming and arithmetic, with the aim of confirming whether they could help her.

The queue was long, but Xu Nian's review went exceptionally smoothly.

These people were mostly skilled in farming or arithmetic, and none of them were just pretending. Naturally, they took the grain with satisfaction.

It wasn't until nearly midnight that Xu Nian finally finished her work and couldn't help but breathe a heavy sigh of relief.

Governing a city is not something that can be done overnight, and she did not force it, thinking that she could get as much done as possible in a short period of time.

"Have you asked them all?"

Just as Xu Nian was immersed in a sense of satisfaction, a familiar male voice came from beside her, deep and magnetic.

Gu Zhan stood at the door, watching her comfortable and satisfied expression, and the corners of his lips unconsciously curled up.

"However, food is still of paramount importance."

Seeing the slight teasing on Gu Zhan's face, Xu Nian's smile faded, and a look of worry appeared between her brows.

The main problem is that her savings are running out!

Staring at the girl's suddenly furrowed brows, Gu Zhan felt his heart clench and blurted out.

"I'll take some men up the mountain to hunt."