Feng Xiuer covered her mouth and chuckled, "What? I thought those oxcarts, iron pots, and stuff were really bought with money given by Wan Ya's good friends. I didn't expect it was just them putting on a show of wealth. Ah!"

She suddenly let out a strange cry, looking warily at Jiang Wanwan and her father. She gently tugged at Liu San Niang's sleeve and whispered in Liu San Niang's ear, "San Niang, let's hurry up, they'll be asking us for grain soon."

Although Feng Xiuer whispered these words in Liu San Niang's ear, she spoke quite loudly, deliberately making sure that Jiang Wanwan and her father could hear her.

Jiang Wanwan wasn't angry at all. Instead, she looked at Liu San Niang and the other woman with bright eyes. "Ah! Thanks to Aunt Xiu'er's reminder, my family is indeed so poor that we have to eat tree bark. I'll go to your two houses in a little while to borrow some grain to take home."

"Aunties, we're neighbors, you wouldn't abandon us in our time of need, would you?"

Upon hearing that they were going to borrow grain from their own home, Liu San Niang and Feng Xiu'er's expressions tightened.

"You, you mustn't come here. My family is so poor we can't even afford to eat." Liu San Niang looked at Jiang Wanwan warily.

"My family is out of food too, I can't lend it to you."

After saying that, the two men shouldered their hoes and hurriedly left as if they had wheels of fire on their feet.

After Liu San Niang and Feng Xiu'er left, Zhang Guilan looked at Jiang Wanwan and her father nervously and asked worriedly, "Wanwan, Jialin, is your family out of food? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Although our family doesn't have much grain, we can still spare about ten or eight pounds for your family to carry. In another month and a half, the paddy rice will be ready for harvest, so there won't be any need to gnaw on tree bark anymore.”

"Come on, Wanwan, come home with me. I'll get you some grain to take home." With that, Zhang Guilan reached out and grabbed Jiang Wanwan, heading towards her home.

Jiang Wanwan was deeply moved; the village chief's family were good people.

In this era of material scarcity, when even basic needs like food and clothing were not yet met, Aunt Guilan was still willing to lend them grain.

This is already quite remarkable.

Jiang Wanwan secretly remembered the kindness shown to her by the village chief's family.

"Auntie, listen to me. My family still has some surplus grain; we're not so desperate as to have to eat tree bark."

We cut tree bark and mugwort for other purposes.

Zhang Guilan looked at Jiang Wanwan suspiciously, "Really? You're not lying to your aunt?"

Jiang Wanwan nodded vigorously, "Absolutely true."

"If you really run out of food, be sure to tell your aunt. Your aunt doesn't have much, but she can at least spare ten or eight jin for you."

"Yes, Aunt Guilan, Wanwan understands."

After watching Zhang Guilan go home, Jiang Wanwan and Jiang Jialin headed up the mountain.

Following the floating template in front of her, Jiang Wanwan successfully found a large patch of mugwort.

The two men wielded their machetes and nimbly chopped the mugwort.

Jiang Wanwan began to look at her adoptive father with newfound respect.

There's a saying, "A scholar is useless in a hundred ways," but unexpectedly, her adoptive father was surprisingly adept at manual labor. He was even faster than her at chopping mugwort.

As the sun began to set, the sky was filled with the glow of the setting sun.

By this time, the father and daughter's baskets were already piled high with mugwort. Each carrying their basket, they descended the mountain.

The two had just returned home when Grandma Jiang and the others followed suit.

“Third Uncle, why did you and my sister go up the mountain to cut mugwort? Leave this kind of rough work to us,” Jiang Jiang said.

"Yes, my dear granddaughter, your task is to make mosquito coils. You can leave the rough work to your grandma and your uncle," Grandma Jiang said with a smile.

In the blink of an eye, she saw mosquito coils drying all over the yard.