As they approached the county town, Han Mingxiang asked Li Lanzhen in the car, "Mother, are we still going to the county town?"
"Are you stupid? If you go and tell everyone we have silver, they'll come and rob us! Let's go!"
After passing the county town, Li Lanzhen told Han Mingxiang to stop and rest for a while, and to slow down and not urge the mule.
After getting off the car, Han Mingxiang needed to relieve herself, so Li Lanzhen fed the big blue mule soybeans. She herself was also very thirsty, and then she remembered that food alone was not enough; they also needed water, salt, and sugar.
Tsk tsk, how could I have forgotten something so important?
She quickly entered the online store to browse, arguing with the system as she went.
"You, System, must be an intern in the System Bureau. Look at this lousy system! It's so passive. Can't it let us, the hosts, choose what we want and have it?"
"Serious warning. Serious warning. The host is not allowed to curse the system. Otherwise, the system will be revoked."
"Hmph, don't give me that. You've deployed countless systems across the board, set all sorts of rules, and then searched for us transmigrators to use as test subjects, haven't you?"
See what kind of system content is more beneficial to your system bureau and the interstellar system store in what kind of small world.
Heh, you'd better hurry up and report to your superiors that this host is extremely difficult to manage. They're got a rebellious streak, so make them upgrade this broken system you're given, not this broken one.
Open and free trade; exchange whatever you want.
"Cannot be exchanged for silver!"
"Okay, you can't exchange silver, but you can make it like a real shopping mall, with all the goods neatly categorized and arranged so the host can exchange them freely. I strongly request that."
After waiting for a while without hearing the system's beeping sound, Li Lanzhen shouted at him, "Stop pretending to be dead, hurry up and report it."
Time flew by as the two bickered. Li Lanzhen found water in various sizes and then noticed the bizarre request to exchange water for stones.
Looking around, there were indeed stones, but they were all ordinary stones. With a try-it-out attitude, Li Lanzhen went behind the rocks next to Han Mingxiang when she saw him coming.
Looking at Han Mingxiang walking back, he said, "Xiang'er, watch over the mule cart. I'll be right back."
She found three stones that looked pretty and had unique shapes and threw them in. After thinking for a moment, she held a large stone that was taller than a person, with a blue base and several irregular white and red patterns, and threw it in as well. Unexpectedly, the stone disappeared immediately after being thrown in. Could this thing be a monster that swallows stones?
Who cares? Li Lanzhen felt a great sense of accomplishment after exchanging her water for two large 10-jin wooden buckets of spring water and five small 2-jin wooden buckets of water.
Back at the mule cart, he poured half a bowl of water for the big blue mule, and the mule drank it all up, then tilted its head back and brayed loudly.
Seeing the big blue mule drinking water so heartily, Han Mingxiang, whose mouth was dry, also wanted a bowl of water. "Xiang'er, come on, have a bowl of water too, to quench your thirst, and then we'll hurry home."
Han Mingxiang looked at the bowl of clear water, lost in thought. "Want some or not? If not, then hurry up and leave!" Li Lanzhen's impatient attempt to cover up his frustration made him instinctively grab the bowl with both hands and drink it all in one gulp.
Once on the mule cart, Li Lanzhen instructed Han Mingxiang, who was sitting on the shaft, "Xiang'er, concentrate on driving. I'm going to take a nap. Don't turn your head to look at me; keep your eyes on the road ahead."
Han Mingxiang sat obediently in the front, concentrating on driving, while Li Lanzhen started causing trouble in the back.
She first drank some anti-inflammatory medicine, then applied some anti-inflammatory powder to the wound on her forehead.
Then, take out two large wooden buckets that can hold ten catties of water, and take out all the wheat flour, rice, cornmeal, soybeans, black beans, rye bran, and eggs that were exchanged earlier, and put everything that could be put into the new basket that Jin Fulai gave them.
The large knife, wrapped in cloth, was also taken out and placed inside the carriage.
She had just exchanged one pound of spring water for two pounds of salt. She wondered how the merchant had so much salt; the grains were fine and white, unlike the large, yellowish salt grains found here. It seemed there was a severe water shortage. She remembered the stall and would come back to exchange salt next time.
I didn't get any brown sugar because it requires gold to exchange for. I don't want anything else. Fine, I still want gold.
Clop clop clop, the big blue mule ate soybeans and drank spring water, full of energy, and ran very fast, and at a steady and uniform speed.
Han Mingxiang kept praising the big blue mule, and Li Lanzhen felt like she had struck gold. She was even more confident about taking her family to escape the famine.
Upon reaching the village entrance, Li Lanzhen saw the enormous stone mill under the big tree. An idea struck her. She had been searching for resources to exchange in the shop, but hadn't actively put anything in to exchange for the resources she needed. So she put the stone mill in the shop and hung it up. What should she exchange it for?
It all boils down to food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. These are necessities for fleeing famine. So let's exchange for homespun cloth, cotton, cotton clothes, cotton quilts, single-layered shoes with multiple layers of soles, cotton shoes, as well as oilcloth, brown sugar, and dried ginger slices. Let's exchange for these first and see if that's enough.
"Xiang'er, you drive the mule cart home first, and put everything in my house. I'm going to check on the village."
"Okay, Mother, come back and rest early. We have to travel tomorrow. You're injured and bleeding, so you need to rest more."
Han Mingxiang looked at Li Lanzhen with some concern as she got out of the car and headed towards the village without looking back.
Li Lanzhen arrived in front of the large stone mill and looked at the massive machine, which was about 70% new. Every household in the village had contributed money to have an old stonemason from the town come and build it.
Stone millstone. (Image from the internet, please contact us for removal if it infringes on your rights.)
Every household in the village brings their new harvest of grain here in the fall to be ground into powder or small granules. This year, the most ground items are dried tree bark and grass roots. Grinding these into powder makes it palatable for both children and the elderly.
Li Lanzhen stroked the large stone mill in her hand, thinking about the supplies she wanted to exchange for. Then, the large stone mill disappeared from the spot.
She clapped her hands, ready to go home. Just as she was about to reach her house, she heard the sound of footsteps running behind her. She turned around and froze.
"Dog Egg? Why didn't you go with the village chief and the others? Where's your grandma? Are you the only family left in the village?"
Gou Dan looked at Li Lanzhen, wanting to say something but not daring to speak, his face turning red.
"What do you want to say, or what do you want me to help you with? Just say it."
Gou Dan rubbed his bare feet together before raising his head and asking, "Grandma Li, can my grandma and I go with your family to escape the famine?"
Then, as if gathering her courage, she said, "Grandma and I thought that since your family wasn't going to flee the famine, we could stay in the village and have someone to look after us. Just now, Yinan came and told me that you're also going to flee the famine tomorrow. So, I was just thinking of asking you. I will take good care of Grandma and won't cause you any trouble. If, if, we can't keep up with you, then you, you can just leave us behind and go on your own."
Looking at the six-year-old child with hopeful eyes, Li Lanzhen felt a pang of heartache and nodded, "Okay, we'll be leaving before dawn tomorrow. You and your grandma shouldn't bring anything heavy, just take what you need from home."
When Gou Dan heard Li Lanzhen agree, he grinned and nodded vigorously, "Yes! Grandma Li, thank you, I understand."
After saying that, he turned around and ran away quickly.
Before Li Lanzhen even reached her home, she could see from the waist-high mud wall that the yard was a mess, filled with adults, children, carts, and baskets.
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