Lu Qiqi didn't dare linger in the space for too long before coming out. Suppressing her inner elation, she signed the contract and discussed with the shopkeeper, "Of course, the sooner the better. I wonder if the shopkeeper can make arrangements today?"
"This..." the shopkeeper said with a troubled expression. The shop assistant leaned over and whispered a few words in his ear, and the shopkeeper's expression gradually brightened.
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Miss Lu, there are still some things in my storeroom that haven't been moved out yet. Why don't you go and see if there's anything suitable?"
Lu Qiqi knew what the shopkeeper was up to, and having no other choice at the moment, she nodded: "Please lead the way."
Behind the pawnshop lay a vast and complex space, with an unknown number of courtyards. Lu Qiqi followed the shopkeeper as they wandered through the winding courtyards into the storeroom.
The warehouse is about 500 square meters, and about a third of the items are still there.
"Miss Lu, here is grain, food, clothing, and other necessities. It's more than enough for what you bought with your hundred taels. You can have all of these." The shopkeeper saw that Lu Qiqi didn't say anything, so he knew that the deal was done. The famine was severe, and food was becoming a rare commodity with limited availability. He couldn't find so much grain in such a short time.
Lu Qiqi walked over and looked through them. A dozen or so bags of grain were piled up in a corner, including rice, flour, salt, corn, peanuts, and millet.
Three bolts each of coarse cloth and brocade, quilts, cotton, and various tables, chairs, and ornaments.
Lu Qiqi curled the corners of her lips. Just because the shopkeeper couldn't take these things with him didn't mean she couldn't.
She said, "Then I'll trouble you to put it in the nearby empty storeroom so I can pick it up myself in a few days."
With everything arranged, Lu Qiqi took the silver and left the pawnshop.
After leaving Tongfu Pawnshop, Lu Qiqi made sure she wasn't being watched. She turned into a small alley, took out ten taels of silver, and put the rest into the small wooden house in her spatial dimension. This was much more useful than a safe.
After the shop assistants moved all the items to the empty warehouse and made sure they had left, Lu Qiqi moved everything into her spatial storage.
···
Lu Qiqi returned to the small pawnshop next to the clothing shop, took out a deed from her sleeve, and redeemed the jade bead tassel she had previously pawned for six taels of silver.
Lu Qiqi carefully put away the jade bead tassel. This was the only item left by the original owner's mother. It would be good to leave it to Lu Yao as a keepsake.
However, she always felt that the original owner's mother, Chen, had an unusual identity. How could such an exquisite embroiderer be allowed to live in a small town?
Afterwards, Lu Qiqi went to the clothing shop next door to pick up Lu Yao and bought two sets of coarse cloth clothes for her to change into. Although fine clothes were nice, Lu Qiqi was afraid that she might not be able to protect Lu Yao if she was not careful. In the chaotic world, it was better to be safe.
Lu Yao, now dressed in coarse cloth, asked with a grin, "Sister, is everything settled?"
Lu Qiqi rubbed Lu Yao's head and nodded, saying, "Alright, let's go home."
When the two returned to Maoshan Village, it was already dark, and the pancake they had eaten earlier had long been digested.
Lu Qiqi took out five catties of rice from the tattered basket, scooped out two bowls of rice to wash, and asked Lu Yao to start a fire.
She took out another piece of cured pork, cut it in half, sliced it thinly, and put it on top of the rice to cook together. The cured pork was a gift from the shopkeeper. In these days, it was not easy to have meat to eat, so Lu Qiqi could not refuse it and accepted it.
Since her parents died, Lu Yao had never eaten rice, let alone meat. She immediately ran happily to the kitchen, took out a small iron pot, and cooked rice.
Lu Qiqi took some water from her spatial storage and secretly put it into the rice.
It's all thanks to this spiritual spring; otherwise, with the original owner's thin arms and legs, carrying five pounds of rice and several sets of clothes such a long distance would have been quite a struggle.
The cooked rice is plump and fragrant. With the blessing of the spiritual spring, the white rice is especially sweet and soft.
The cured pork is perfectly marbled with fat and lean meat; just the aroma alone is enough to make your mouth water.
After finishing the last bite of cured meat, Lu Yao looked at Lu Qiqi with bright eyes and asked, "Sister, can we eat meat and rice from now on?"
"Yes!" Lu Qiqi assured.
After a long day, Lu Qiqi and Lu Yao washed up and went back to bed, or rather, their bed.
Lu Yao had already laid the scattered straw back on. It was midsummer, so there was no need to cover herself with a quilt; a small, thin blanket was placed under her.
Hearing Lu Yao's steady breathing, Lu Qiqi entered the space. There was a large open space in the small wooden house, which she had to make good use of.
Without hesitation, she found a hoe in the wooden house, picked it up, and went to work in the fields.
As the senior disciple of Mount Emei, Lu Qiqi led her junior brothers and sisters to plant a lot of fruits and vegetables at the foot of the mountain. She had a lot of experience in farming. Moreover, with the spiritual spring in her hands, how could she be afraid of not being able to grow them well?
We not only exchanged grain with the pawnshop owner, but also seeds brought by the foreigners.
She looked through them and found seeds of lettuce, peppers, eggplants, radishes, cabbage, sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and peanuts.
These were all good things that could fill their stomachs. Lu Qiqi spent the whole night digging, planting, and watering.
As the sky outside began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, Lu Qiqi put down her hoe, took a sip of spiritual spring water, and left the space.
After drinking the spiritual spring water, Lu Qiqi didn't feel tired from planting all night; she felt like she could work on another plot of land.
Lu Qiqi lay on her side on the bed. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Lu Yao holding a tattered basket, preparing to go out.
Lu Qiqi called out to her, "Ayao, where are you going?"
Lu Yao turned around and gave Lu Qiqi a sweet smile: "Sister, I've cooked some porridge and put it on the table. Get up and drink it. I'll go outside and see if I can find any more bitter herbs."
"Don't go," Lu Qiqi got up. "Rest well today, pack your things, conserve your energy, and we'll escape the famine with the village chief tomorrow."
Lu Yao was somewhat surprised and asked, puzzled, "Weren't you not going to run away?"
Lu Qiqi sighed. She didn't want to escape either, but the situation didn't allow them not to: "The Tartars are coming, we have no choice but to escape."
"Tartars?" Lu Yao tightened her grip on the basket. Her father had been killed by the Tartars.
Seeing Lu Yao's eyes gradually reddening, Lu Qiqi got out of bed and hugged her, comforting her, "Don't be afraid, your sister is here."
After calming her down, Lu Qiqi sat on the bed drinking porridge, watching Lu Yao put a large bag of things wrapped in cloth into a basket.
She asked, "What is this?"
Lu Yao continued working, saying, "I'll dry the bitter herbs so we can eat them on the way."
Lu Qiqi thought of the taste of bitter herbs, and a sour feeling welled up in her heart, making the soft and sticky white porridge in her bowl seem less sweet.
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