After leaving the Sun residence, Jiang Yuwei drove her carriage to the grain shop. She bought a full cart of rice, flour, and cooking oil. After leaving the shop, she found an empty alley and stored all the items in her spatial storage.
After finishing all that, Jiang Yuwei thought for a moment and then bought a lot of firecrackers. She planned to research and make some signal flares herself. Although the three families lived close by, they could use signal flares to communicate in case of any emergencies, so that everyone could stick together and keep each other warm.
Jiang Yuwei thought she could buy more animal traps and have Tiezhu and Ningwu set them up along the mountain road, since the villagers usually wouldn't go to these places.
Only those unfamiliar with the village roads or those who want to sneak into the village would take such a small path. Setting these up can also deal with emergencies and help reduce the firepower of the villagers down the mountain. With this in mind, Jiang Yuwei went to buy some ropes and nets on the way, so that she could also set up some traps to tie people up on the mountain road.
After buying all of these, Jiang Yuwei went to buy several sets of autumn clothes and bedding for her family members, storing them all in her spatial storage. It was better to be prepared than not; it would be best if they didn't need them. She could just take them out and give them to everyone when it got cold.
Jiang Yuwei calculated that she had bought almost everything she needed before driving the oxcart back to the shop. The shop was no longer as bustling as it had been when it first opened.
Basically, most of the people around who wanted to buy paper books had already bought them during the promotional price, and they would last for a while. So there was no need to produce such a large amount of paper right now. All that was needed now was to maintain good daily customers and ensure daily revenue. This gave Jiang Yuwei time to prepare for the battle.
"Sister Yuwei, why did you buy so much stuff?"
Ning Qiu looked at the ropes, firecrackers, and animal traps on Jiang Yuwei's oxcart and couldn't help but ask questions out of curiosity.
Jiang Yuwei said worriedly:
"The situation is tense right now, so we have to be extra careful. These are all good things that can save our lives."
As the two were talking, a servant rushed into the shop in a panic. He quickly went to Jiang Yuwei, his eyes red, and bowed respectfully to her.
"Madam Jiang, I...I...our matriarch has passed away!"
Jiang Yuwei was bewildered by the young servant in front of her.
"Oh? Who is your matriarch?"
The servant looked up and met Jiang Yuwei's eyes, then cried and said:
"Madam Sun, your godmother..."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei stumbled and almost lost her balance. Fortunately, Ning Qiu, who was beside her, caught her in time and prevented her from falling.
Jiang Yuwei's eyes widened, and she said in disbelief:
"You, you, whose servant are you? I just came from the Sun residence. How could the old lady be gone in such a short time? You, you must be lying to me."
The servant, sobbing, pulled the obituary from his robes and handed it to Jiang Yuwei with both hands.
“Madam Jiang, how could I dare to joke about such a thing? Our master specifically asked me to deliver a message to you, hoping that you can go and see the old lady off tomorrow.”
Holding the obituary, Jiang Yuwei felt incredibly heavy-hearted. This person was perfectly fine this morning; how could they be gone so quickly? Jiang Yuwei felt a pang of regret. If she hadn't gone to the Sun residence this morning and said those things, the old lady wouldn't have argued with Madam Sun, wouldn't have coughed up blood in anger, and… wouldn't have passed away like this…
Jiang Yuwei felt more and more wrong as she thought about it. The old lady and Master Sun had treated her well, but she had never repaid them. The old lady's death was also related to her, so she definitely had to go to the funeral.
Thinking this through, Jiang Yuwei nodded heavily to the servant and said:
"I understand. Please tell Master Sun that I will definitely be there and take Wan'er with me to see my godmother off. Please also pass on a message for me, Master Sun, to take care of yourself during this difficult time."
After saying this, Jiang Yuwei saw off the weeping servant, and as if all her strength had left, she slumped into a chair. Ning Huaizhi, seeing Jiang Yuwei's pale face, helplessly offered some words of comfort:
"Yuwei, you should also accept this loss. Fate is hard to defy. Those who are alive should live well. This is probably what the old lady would have wanted to see."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuwei looked up at Ning Huaizhi with red eyes and said weakly:
"If I hadn't gone to the Sun residence to see the old lady today, perhaps, perhaps she wouldn't have died. She had already taken that century-old gastrodia elata; she could have been enjoying her old age in peace. But I, for my own selfish reasons, always troubled her. And then, and then... Waaah, it's all my fault, Huaizhi, it's all my fault, waaah..."
Jiang Yuwei became increasingly agitated as she spoke, so Ning Huaizhi quickly took out a handkerchief to wipe away her tears and comforted her:
"Yuwei, don't overthink it. Fate is hard to defy. This isn't your fault. Don't be like this..."
Jiang Yuwei shook her head and cried:
"No, no, it must be because of me. I'm so bad. I can't even do such a small thing right, and I always trouble the old lady and Master Sun, always making them worry about me. I, I deserve to die. I should be the one who dies. I should have been dead long ago. I should have died long ago. I really should have died long ago..."
This was the second time Ning Huaizhi had seen Jiang Yuwei in such a state of collapse. The last time was because she couldn't find Ning Zhao and Ning Wan. Ning Huaizhi naturally knew the old lady's position in Jiang Yuwei's heart.
Jiang Yuwei had never experienced maternal love since childhood. This old lady showed Jiang Yuwei her affection without reservation and even recognized her as her goddaughter, which could be considered to make up for the lack of maternal love in Jiang Yuwei. Ning Huaizhi thought that comforting her now would be useless, so it would be better to accompany her to have a good cry and vent all the pain in her heart.
Ning Huaizhi patted Jiang Yuwei's hand gently and said:
"Yuwei, push me to the backyard, there are still guests in the front."
Jiang Yuwei hastily wiped away her tears, then pushed Ning Huaizhi's wheelchair to the backyard, where she plopped down on a stone bench and began to sob.
Ning Huai patted Jiang Yuwei's back and gently comforted her:
"Honey, there's no one here. If you want to cry, just cry it out. You'll feel better after you've cried."
Hearing this, Jiang Yuwei cried even harder. Ning Huaizhi silently stayed by her side, wiping away her tears, patting her back to help her catch her breath, and occasionally handing her a sip of tea.
The two sat in the backyard for the entire afternoon until Jiang Yuwei cried until she was exhausted and her eyes were swollen like walnuts, at which point she finally stopped.
Jiang Yuwei, her eyes red, looked at Ning Huaizhi and said in a hoarse voice:
"Tomorrow I'm going to send off my godmother. I'm going to do my best to make a grand spectacle for her. Although I don't have as much money as my second brother, I have some skills. I'm going to make thirty-three wreaths for my godmother and send them over, filling the entrance to the Sun residence. My godmother loves flowers."
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