Chapter 2: How It All Began

The station master hadn't found Jin Yue'e in the kitchen and was feeling quite troubled. When he heard the voices of Li Wuya and Li Qilang, his face lit up with joy, and he hurriedly beckoned them over.

"Wuya, come here quickly. Grandpa Station Master needs your help with something."

Hearing this, Li Wuya felt a surge of joy in her heart: "What is it, Grandpa Station Master?" There was no such thing as asking for help without a reward; her next meal was secured!

The station master said in an extremely amiable tone, "Your Brother Erniu is hurt. Your mother went back to the settlement at noon and hasn't returned yet. You know how to dress wounds, don't you? Could you go and treat your Brother Erniu?"

The Jin family were mountain hunters who spent their lives roaming the Tianshan Mountains. Not only were they skilled at hunting, but they also gathered herbs. Over several generations, the Jins had all acquired some knowledge of pharmacology.

Usually, if the people in the military settlement had a headache, a fever, or a bruise, they would go to Wuya’s mother first. Only if she couldn't handle it would they consider seeing a doctor.

Little Wuya had likely watched her mother treat wounds and learned a few tricks. The last time a station hand was beaten, it was she who helped dress his wounds.

The hand hadn't had any issues afterward and recovered in a few days, which had saved him the cost of hiring a doctor.

Li Wuya glanced at the station master. This old man was stingy enough to save a few coins on medicine, letting a little girl like her handle wounds without worrying about making them worse.

"Brother Erniu was beaten?"

This sort of thing happened often at the station. Some messengers had terrible tempers and would resort to violence at the slightest dissatisfaction.

Speaking of this, the station master’s expression darkened. Perhaps it was because of the sweltering heat lately; the messengers were short-tempered, and as soon as they entered the station, they had lashed out at Li Erniu with their whips.

Thinking of the bloody welts on Li Erniu, the station master sighed inwardly. He couldn't afford to offend any of those people, so he could only blame Li Erniu for his own bad luck.

"Your Brother Erniu is in a lot of pain. Let's go quickly and treat him."

Li Wuya stood still, holding up her right hand with a calm, composed expression, and held up four fingers.

Seeing this, the station master’s mouth twitched violently.

This crafty little girl, she was too sharp!

Every time he asked her to do something, she would demand a reward first; if there was no reward, she wouldn't budge.

In this station, he was the one who called the shots on everything, big or small. Everyone else scrambled to curry favor with him, and whenever he wanted someone to help with a task, they were always eager and diligent.

Only this girl dared to ask him for a reward without a hint of embarrassment.

"Fine, four dry buns. I'll give them to you in a moment." Thinking of the medical fees he would save, the station master nodded in agreement.

Li Wuya and Li Qilang both smiled until their eyes turned into crescents.

"Grandpa Station Master, can you give them to us now? I'm starving. Don't worry, I won't delay treating Brother Erniu."

Seeing Li Wuya clutching her stomach and hunching over as if she couldn't stand straight from hunger, Li Qilang quickly followed suit, looking at the station master with a pitiful expression.

The station master glared at them helplessly. These two little brats, were they afraid he wouldn't keep his word?

Li Wuya blinked, signaling that she would only feel at ease once the items were in her hands.

The station master huffed twice, but still hurried to the kitchen. He soon returned with four dry buns and shoved them into Li Wuya's hands.

"Alright, can you come with me now?"

Once she had the buns, Li Wuya didn't dawdle. She took Li Qilang by the hand and followed the station master to see Li Erniu.

In the dim room, Li Erniu was lying prone on the kang, having already fainted from the pain.

"Ah~"

Seeing Li Erniu’s back stained red with blood, Li Qilang let out a startled cry.

Li Wuya’s expression remained unchanged. In her eyes, this kind of injury was nothing. She told Li Qilang to sit and wait, then calmly stepped forward to treat the wounds.

The wounds covered a large area and were still caked with sand and dirt in many places, making them difficult to clean. Before long, the water in the basin was dyed red.

The station master stood to the side, watching silently, clicking his tongue in wonder.

The Li family’s little girl was remarkable. Even he felt his scalp tingle looking at such wounds, yet this girl hadn't even batted an eye. She was far too mature for a child.

A quarter of an hour later, Li Wuya finished cleaning the wounds and began applying medicine.

The station master watched with a pained expression as Li Wuya kept sprinkling the golden sore powder onto Li Erniu’s back. He had spent a fortune to buy this medicine for emergencies; he hadn't even been willing to use it on himself when he had bumps and bruises.

"Wuya, use the medicine sparingly. Once it's gone, it's gone." What a wasteful little girl.

"Grandpa Station Master, I'm already being very sparing." What a stingy old man.

Soon, Li Wuya finished applying the medicine. Before she could even put the cap back on the bottle, the station master snatched it away.

Li Wuya said quickly, "Grandpa Station Master, Brother Erniu’s injuries are quite severe; he’ll need more medicine later. Why don't you let me hold onto it?"

The station master huffed, "What more medicine? Your Brother Erniu has a sturdy body; one application is enough. Alright, that’s it. I have things to do, I’m leaving." With that, he turned and walked away.

Watching the station master hurry off, Li Wuya shifted her gaze to Li Erniu. Looking at the wounds on his back that were still oozing blood, she sighed inwardly.

If her healing ability were still here, she could have healed wounds like these in a minute.

Thinking of her abilities, Li Wuya sighed again.

In her past life, she was a top-tier survivor in the apocalypse with dual level-nine mental and healing abilities. Unfortunately, she had a run of bad luck and was struck dead by a bolt of lightning.

In this life, she was reborn as a baby. Although her mental and healing abilities had followed her, they had been reset to zero.

The silver lining was that although there were no crystals to boost her abilities in this world, her mental power could be improved through meditation.

Though the progress was slow, after five years of effort, her mental power could now detect everything within a ten-meter radius.

As for her healing ability, it could also be improved by absorbing medicinal herbs.

Medicinal herbs...

Sorry, she had been here for five years and hadn't absorbed a single one, leaving her healing ability in a dormant state to this day.

Li Wuya fed Li Erniu some water, and seeing his breathing had steadied, she took Li Qilang and left.

"Mmm, delicious!"

At the back door of the station, Li Wuya and Li Qilang squatted side by side against the wall. Holding chipped porcelain bowls, they took a sip of water and a bite of the dry bun, eating with great relish and satisfaction.

"Hiccup~"

"I'm full!"

The dry buns at the station were much more substantial than the ones made at home. After finishing one, Li Qilang raised a satisfied smile and patted his little belly: "Fifth Sister, I want to work in the station kitchen in the future, too. That way, I can eat my fill every day."

Li Wuya found it hard to respond: "Could your ambitions be just a little bit higher?"

Li Qilang looked confused: "Isn't this enough? I can eat my fill." He added with a look of longing, "If I could eat a few dry buns every meal in the future, I’d wake up laughing in my dreams."

Looking at the hard, choking dry bun in her hand, Li Wuya thought about the prospect of eating this at every meal and suddenly felt it wasn't so tasty anymore.

Li Wuya looked at her younger brother and said earnestly, "Qilang, don't always talk about dry buns. Think about meat! Isn't meat delicious? Do you really want to eat dry buns every meal?"

Li Qilang was stunned: "...We can eat meat?" As he spoke, he couldn't help but lick his lips and swallow his saliva.

Li Wuya placed her hand on Li Qilang’s shoulder and said seriously, "Qilang, we must have ambition. In the future, we will eat meat at every meal." She paused, "Not only meat, but we will eat every other delicious thing in the world."

Li Qilang’s eyes lit up, his mouth watering: "There are things even better than meat?"

Hearing this, Li Wuya looked at Li Qilang with pity.

Poor child, he had grown up without eating a single decent meal, to the point where he thought meat was the best thing in the world.

Meat...

She had been sick of eating it in her past life!

Roast meat, braised pork, stewed meat, steamed meat, pan-fried meat...

Images of various delicious meat dishes filled Li Wuya’s mind, and her own mouth began to water.

Forget it, she shouldn't pity her brother. In this life, the number of times she had eaten meat could be counted on one hand, and all the meat she had eaten combined wasn't even the size of a fist.

This life was... bitter!

Li Wuya wept internally, biting into her dry bun as if venting, and finished it in a few gulps: "I'll take the remaining two home for Third Brother and Second Sister." She carefully tucked the two buns into her pocket.

With something in her stomach, Li Wuya felt energized. She planned to take Li Qilang to the front yard to try their luck and see if they could get any leftovers.

Just as they reached the front yard entrance, the sound of galloping hooves reached their ears.

"Wow, so many people are coming!"

Li Qilang widened his eyes, pointing in amazement at the billowing dust a hundred meters away.

Li Wuya looked over and estimated that there were at least fifty or sixty people, all riding tall horses and wearing the uniforms of the Great Chu army.

Although it was a bit strange for so many cavalrymen to appear at once, she didn't think much of it. Die Ling Pass was only thirty miles away; troop rotations and deployments were perfectly normal.

"Qilang, let's go back to the backyard."

With so many soldiers arriving, they should stay out of the way.

Li Wuya led Li Qilang toward the backyard, watching the group of cavalrymen getting closer. As they neared the backyard gate, her brow suddenly furrowed.

It didn't look like one group, but two.

From a distance earlier, she hadn't seen clearly, but the dozen or so people in the lead weren't wearing military uniforms. It looked like they were being chased by the cavalry behind them.

Oh no, something bad was about to happen!