These past few days they've been working non-stop planting seeds on the farm. When they ran out of the seeds the system rewarded them with, they spent money to buy more. They've basically finished planting all the seeds on the acre of land in front of the farmhouse.
Lin Jinyue opened the system panel to check the current situation.
Farm Level: 2 (1350/5000)
Wealth: 978 articles
Warehouse: Eggs*12, Bok choy*10 jin, Rice*50 jin, Flour*20 jin
The copper coins inside can be exchanged 1:1 for the common currency of their world.
Lin Jinyue exchanged 500 coins, but she didn't know the prices here, so just to be on the safe side, she brought some eggs and cabbage with her.
The family of four arrived at the city gate of Nan'an County, paid the entrance fee, and were able to enter smoothly.
The farm level is too low, and the system shop only has the most basic food and cabbage seeds. Clothing and bedding haven't been unlocked yet, so Lin Jinyue plans to buy some daily necessities in the city.
What appeared to be a peaceful scene outside was actually chaos within the city. It was said that Prince Jing's army was about to capture Lincheng, and there were hardly any people left in the city. Those who received the news early had left a couple of days ago, leaving only a few scattered shops. The shopkeepers were still hurriedly taking stock of what they could carry, and they refused to sell anything they wanted.
Especially grain, there was no grain for sale at all. Occasionally a merchant would be willing to sell a few kilograms, and a kilogram of rice would sell for several taels of silver. Normally, one tael of silver would be enough for a family of five to eat for a year.
Lin Jinyue was helpless; it seemed that she wouldn't be able to buy clothes and bedding for the time being and would have to wait for the system store to refresh.
Lin Jinyue, however, was still unwilling to give up.
We finally found a town where there hasn't been a fight yet, and we don't know when we'll be able to enter another town.
She planned to bring a few eggs and a basket of cabbages, hoping to try her luck. Clothes and fabrics were just material possessions; how could they compare to food?
When some people saw what was inside, they immediately pounced on it, frightening them into thinking the man was about to rob them in the street.
The man jumped off the carriage, nearly falling in his haste. He grabbed Lin Shucheng's arm and hurriedly asked, "Weren't you asking about bedding and cloth? I have those. How much grain do you have? I have everything except grain. I'll trade you any grain you can."
Originally, they only wanted to exchange some coarse cloth for a clean set of clothes. But when they received the goods, the whole family was a little dazed. Seven eggs, a basket of cabbage, and ten pounds of brown rice had been exchanged for a box of fine brocade.
Feeling a little guilty, Lin Jinyue gave him a few more eggs and some of the multigrain pancakes they had with them.
In return, I received a box of coarse cloth, some miscellaneous items, and a few pieces of silver, which were forced upon me.
The man said, "What good is a fortune? In this day and age, just being alive is the greatest luxury. You can't take any of this with you anyway, so I'm giving it to you."
The family carried the boxes to the open space. Seeing that no one was around, Lin Jinyue stuffed everything into the farm's warehouse and left the city gate with only some coarse cloth in her hands.
"You're still alive!"
The Lin family looked at them in disbelief.
The third son's wife, Jiang, and his son were clearly half-dead, but now they are standing here full of energy. The Lin family is in good spirits, with rosy complexions and even money to buy cloth in the city. They don't look like people who have fled famine at all.
Lin Jinyue was in a good mood, but who knew that she would hear such unlucky words as soon as she went out.
Looking at Lin Youliang's family, they were in a terrible state. Lin Lao Er was lying on the ground, unconscious and about to die.
The original group of about a hundred people from Linjia Village was reduced by a third in just three days.
Lin Jinyue ignored Lin Youliang's family, but thought about how the other people in Linjia Village had given them a mouthful of food during that critical moment. Otherwise, even if they had a farm, the first day would have been very difficult.
Lin Shucheng was also pondering how to bring this up.
With such a long journey ahead and running out of ammunition and food, it would be difficult to make it to the north alive.
Even if they reach the north, they will likely not have a good ending; the capital will soon be captured.
At this moment, a steward dressed in fine clothes came over.
The Lin family members rushed forward and knelt on the ground, pleading, "Honorable ones, my son is tough and can do any kind of hard labor. Please have mercy and give our child a way out. All we need is some coarse grain cakes."
As he spoke, he pulled out Daya as well, as if she were a product on display.
Lin said urgently, "Sir, look, my daughter is pretty, but she's a bit dirty now. If we take her back and she recovers, she can serve people. Please, sir, have mercy on her."
The manager kicked him aside: "Get out of the way, don't get in my way."
The other villagers, seeing what the Lin family was doing, all hesitated.
This steward is different from the cannibalistic Master Xu. By selling his children, he can still survive. But if he keeps them at home, the whole family will probably die.
Three years of severe drought, coupled with war, made survival impossible.
Lin Jinyue's family felt somewhat sorry for them.
She led her family to a secluded alley and asked, "Shall we get them some food and remind them of the war in the north?"
Jiang Yun frowned as well: "Those children are so pitiful. We have a farm, so why don't we take them with us and grow our own food to exchange for grain? At least we won't let them starve to death."
The family of four all came from a time of peace and couldn't bear to see their children being sold off.
Lin Jinyue could tell that she had taken pity on her and wanted to bring those people along, and she somewhat disagreed with it.
“In this chaotic world, our family can’t do much. It’s already a miracle that we’ve survived. Now everyone’s running north, but our family of four is running south. We can barely take care of ourselves.”
Lin Jinyue felt sorry for him, but having read so many historical materials about famine and war, she had already witnessed the evil of human nature through written words.
She recalled the original owner's memories and gently reminded her, "Mother, we can repay the kindness in the forest by giving this person some coarse grain cakes. However, before we transmigrated, Jiang was just too kind. People in the village would come to her if they had a headache or fever. At first, she said she would treat them as she pleased, as long as they could survive. But later, several families complained that she couldn't cure them."
"Besides, in these chaotic times, our family can't manage too much."
Jiang Yun was just being soft-hearted for a moment, but she didn't really do anything wrong.
Lin Jinyue then prepared to deliver some food to the people of Linjia Village and, at the same time, inform them of the danger.
On the way back, I saw the people of Linjia Village sitting at the city gate of Nan'an County, their faces all looking somewhat numb.
Only the Lin family members were cursing and swearing:
"Damn it, they won't even give us a basket of brown rice. Do they think we didn't check the market price? We already found out. A boy can be exchanged for ten pounds of brown rice, and a girl can be exchanged for fifteen pounds."
"That heartless bastard, he wants to trade eight pounds of brown rice for Daya."
Lin Jinyue felt uncomfortable listening to this; she had almost been sold off last time.
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