Chapter 14 Market Shopping We live in Luxi Village, Cangling County. ...

It was getting late, so the group booked two rooms at the cheapest inn and made do for the night.

Wen Yu counted the money in her hand and realized that she hadn't spent much, just a few odds and ends, which made her feel a little more at ease.

She figured that since she hadn't spent the original five taels of silver, she could use it to go to the market and do some shopping.

She should make good use of the new character panel feature she just unlocked.

But the next morning, when everyone was about to set off, Wen Yu frowned as she looked at the crowded donkey carts.

There are already six people. If we buy more things to take with us, there's no way we can fit them all in.

“Sister Huijun,” she turned to Lin Huijun, “how much does a horse cost?”

Lin Huijun was taken aback: "A horse? That's no small sum, at least eight taels of silver. Wen girl, why did you suddenly ask about that?"

She couldn't understand why Wen Yu wanted a horse; they weren't high-ranking officials or nobles who could afford a carriage.

Wen Yu naturally wouldn't say it was because she only knew how to ride a horse, but just smiled vaguely and said, "I was thinking we need to buy a new car. Otherwise, with so many of us, the journey back will be tough."

Uncle Li chimed in from the side, "Wen girl, why don't you buy an ox? Even a cheap one, four taels of silver would be enough. It'll be useful for pulling carts and plowing fields, very practical."

This idea is very practical.

Wen Yu stood up, patted the corner of her clothes, and said, "Okay, let's go to the market."

Everyone knew she was a woman of principle, so they went along without saying a word.

When they arrived at the market, Uncle Li and Wen Yue stayed behind to guard the donkey cart and luggage, while Wen Yu led Lin Huijun and her daughter, along with Wen Qingshi, inside.

Lin Huijun had just found her daughter and couldn't wait to be with her, so she naturally didn't want to leave Lin Lan. Wen Yu also felt that there were many things she needed to discuss with her, so she suggested that they go together.

As for Wen Qingshi, he quietly followed beside Wen Yu.

Wen Yu always felt that the way this girl looked at her was different from how she looked at others.

Before she transmigrated, she had been watched by countless people, but at that time she never felt that there was anything to care about.

It wasn't until that gaze became the only one directed at her that she realized how intense it was.

----

The group made their way through the bustling crowd, amidst shouts and haggling.

Finally, in a relatively quiet corner of the market, they found a few individual vendors selling livestock.

Wen Yu walked up to a farmer selling cattle.

The man was dozing against the earthen wall, a tattered straw hat covering his face. He ignored passersby and didn't call out to sell his wares.

"Excuse me," Wen Yu asked politely, "how much is your cow?"

Her straw hat was lifted a crack, revealing a pair of eyes. The man glanced at her lazily and said in a sleepy voice, "Five taels, fixed price."

Wen Yu said in a pleading tone, "Brother, can you make it any cheaper? We're just peasants, life is really tough..."

The man snorted heavily through his nose, then put his straw hat back on, the meaning clear: No way.

Wen Yu tried asking two or three more families, but they either insisted on the same price of five liang or simply waved him away impatiently.

She reluctantly opened the panel and quietly glanced at it.

Wang Qiang, 34 years old, male, farmer...

...

After looking around, I found they were all strong, hardworking farmers, completely unyielding and refusing to listen to reason.

“Sigh, these days, who doesn’t want to have a few more coins in their hand…” Lin Huijun sighed as she watched Wen Yu run into a wall. “Otherwise, how about we buy a donkey? It can pull a cart, and it’ll be cheaper.”

The comments section also started discussing:

[Buying a donkey is a good idea; it's essential for pulling a millstone. It feels like a classic start to a farming novel. Is this the beginning of a tofu shop?]

Wake up, upstairs! The beans haven't even been planted yet, you're dreaming...

[The person upstairs is really clueless. Can't they just dream about a better life? Life needs something to look forward to!]

Wen Yu was wavering when his gaze inadvertently swept across the shadowy corner at the very edge of the market and caught sight of a haggard-looking young man.

He sat alone on an old straw mat, head down and motionless, with a fairly spirited-looking ox tethered behind him.

People passing by glanced at the passersby, but no one stopped.

Wen Yu felt something was wrong.

She squinted and looked closely, only to discover that the man was holding a child tightly in his arms.

The child was already thin and small, wrapped in a wad of cloth, and from a distance he really looked like some kind of bundle he was carrying.

With a thought, the information on the man's panel popped up.

Ning Shengan, 27 years old, male, schoolteacher...

A brief biography is also attached below.

Having lost his wife at a young age, he raised his daughter alone. He used to work as a tutor in the Liang family mansion, but his livelihood was cut off after the Liang family's property was confiscated. His daughter fell seriously ill and he had no money for treatment, so he was forced to sell his family's assets...

Wen Yu's gaze then turned to the child in his arms.

Tao Ning, 5 years old, female, child. Condition: Acute gastroenteritis (mild), malnutrition (mild)...

?

Acute gastroenteritis?

Despite the scorching sun, Ning Shengan felt icy cold all over.

Everything around him became blurry, and Xiao Ning's faint breathing in his arms was the only sound in his world.

He always felt that God had treated him badly and would only be satisfied if He took everything away from him.

Having lost both his parents at a young age, he was considered a jinx by everyone. He barely learned to read thanks to the help of kind-hearted villagers and struggled to go to school in the city.

Later, he met Lanze, a girl as resilient as a cattail.

She cleared land for farming and set up a small vegetable stall on the street corner to make a living.

They lived close by and often bumped into each other on the streets. She would always smile at him and call out loudly, "Brother Ning, you're back!"

Ning Shengan studied desperately and finally passed the imperial examination, becoming a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the lowest level of the imperial examinations) and gaining a foothold in a private school in the city.

The first thing she did was to carry the wild goose she had saved up to buy and, mustering her courage, step into her clean little courtyard.

“Miss Tao, I, I’ve come to see you.”

"how is your day?"

The words of marriage proposal stuck in his throat and he couldn't say them.

Lan Ze looked at the wild goose in his hand, her eyes curving into crescents, and smiled gently: "Silly boy, I knew you would come."

These days, who would prepare wild geese unless it's for a wedding?

Two years into their marriage, their life was simple yet warm.

He and Lanze had just had Xiao Ning, and thought things were finally going to get better, but then she fell ill.

Just one high fever and she slowly weakened.

His neighbors advised him not to go near, fearing he might catch the illness.

He wouldn't listen, and entrusted Xiao Ning to a neighbor, staying by Lan Ze's side day and night.

When Tao Lanze woke up on the last morning, he was in surprisingly good spirits and even drank a bowl of hot porridge. He thought that they could spend the next few decades together.

Lan Ze gently hooked his finger.

"Take good care of Xiao Ning."

These were her last words. An hour later, she passed away.

Later, Ning Shengan left the private school and went to work as a tutor in the Liang family in order to earn a higher monthly salary.

When someone is raising a child alone and others advise him to remarry, his face always darkens.

Xiao Ning only has him left, and he only has Xiao Ning left.

Every day he teaches Xiao Ning to read and recognize characters at home, with the same dedication he shows to children from wealthy families.

A neighbor saw this and laughed, saying, "There's no need for a girl to know how to read."

He ignored it.

His daughter is no less than anyone else's.

The young master of the Liang family can't remember a sentence even if you teach him ten times, but Xiao Ning can memorize it after hearing it only once.

Over the years, he had just saved up some money and wanted to move to a new place with his children, but then he was suddenly struck by the terrible news.

The Liang family fell, and so did the Shen family.

The money that was owed to them and hadn't been settled is all gone.

At this critical juncture, Xiao Ning fell ill again.

He was suffering from a high fever, vomiting, and diarrhea; his condition was very similar to Lan Ze's final days.

The barefoot doctor who was summoned only glanced at him before covering his face in horror, uttering the words, "I'm afraid he's caught the plague," and fled as if his life depended on it.

At that moment, Ning Shengan felt dizzy and disoriented.

How unfair is Heaven! Is it going to take away even the only child he and Lanze have left?

All the valuables in the house had long been sold off, leaving only this cow that Lanze had personally raised.

He sat there blankly all night.

As dawn broke, he finally gritted his teeth and made a decision: he wrapped the child tightly in a cloth, and, holding onto this last hope, went to the market.

He didn't dare to hope to earn a lot; he only hoped to get some money to save his life.

"Hello, how much is this cow?" A clear female voice rang out in front of me.

Ning Shengan seemed to wake up from a nightmare, and looked up blankly to see a young woman looking at him with concern.

He opened his mouth: "...Four taels of silver."

This was the absolute minimum he had considered.

He observed the cattle sellers nearby for quite some time, and they all stuck to a fixed price of five taels of silver, and no one had sold their cattle for a long time.

But all he wanted was money, so he could get Xiao Ning treated quickly.

"I'll buy it!" Wen Yu had guessed that this person would sell it for a lower price, so she immediately made the decision, afraid that he might change his mind.

She took out four taels of silver from her bag and handed it to him. Then, she lowered her voice and looked at the child he was holding: "Brother, I think the child looks sick. Can I take a look at him?"

Ning Shengan's mind stirred slightly, but he hesitated: "This... I appreciate your kindness, but I'm afraid the illness might pass to you..."

“It’s alright,” Wen Yu said confidently. “I don’t think this disease is contagious.”

Who told her to have an all-seeing panel?

"It's a long story. My child has had a fever since yesterday, and has been vomiting and having diarrhea. He hasn't been able to eat anything since..." Ning Shengan sighed.

Lin Huijun leaned closer, carefully touched the child's forehead, and examined the child's complexion closely: "It looks like a stomach or intestinal problem to me."

Wen Yu immediately had an idea and said to Lin Lan, "Xiao Lan, go to that stall over there and buy a bowl of hot rice soup, make it thin."

Lin Lan responded and quickly ran away with the few copper coins Wen Yu had given her.

Soon, she returned to the stall with a bowl of slightly steaming rice porridge.

She quickly returned with rice porridge, and Ning Shengan hesitated: "I gave it to her yesterday, but she wouldn't eat or drink anything and vomited it all up."

It's true that you can't eat in the early stages of gastroenteritis, but if you become dehydrated and don't get rehydration, it can be really dangerous.

Wen Yu insisted, "We have to try no matter what."

Under everyone's gaze, Tao Ning actually drank the rice soup without spitting it out.

Her complexion had improved, and the gloomy, lifeless look from before was gone.

"Thank you so much for saving my life!" Ning Shengan said, tears welling up in his eyes. "Her mother died in the same way back then, and I was really afraid that she would suffer the same fate..."

He struggled to kowtow to them, but Wen Yu stopped him.

The group couldn't help but feel a little wistful.

“My benefactor,” Ning Shengan wiped his eyes hard with his sleeve, “we’ve lost our home, we can’t survive in this city. Seeing that you bought cattle, you must have land to cultivate, right?”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the group before finally settling on Wen Yu's face, his eyes full of expectation: "My name is Ning Shengan. May I ask your name, my benefactor? I would like to know which village you live in, so that I may move there with Xiao Ning."

What he didn't say was that the women in front of him all seemed intelligent, composed, confident, and reliable.

He longed for his Xiao Ning to be able to live with more confidence in this difficult world, just like them.

Wen Yu was stunned. She didn't seem to know the name of the place she had traveled to.

These days she has heard from others that this area belongs to Luzhou Prefecture.

As expected, it was an unfamiliar place name she had never heard of before, completely unrelated to her original world and the history she had learned.

Finally, Lin Huijun spoke first.

“We live in Luxi Village, Cangling County.”

A note from the author:

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