Chapter 7: This Lady is Frustrated

The two-mile journey was truly short; in less than half an hour, everyone had returned. After drinking some more water, Qin Wangshu, whose stomach was full of nothing but liquid, finally lay down.

Waking up from her nap, Qin Wangshu felt a bit disoriented. She sat up in a daze, taking quite a while to collect herself.

The tent made of tree branches was not large, but the grass mats draped around it blocked out the sun and prying eyes. Rubbing her legs and tidying herself up, she crawled out of the low shelter.

"The fourth one's wife is awake." Seeing Qin Wangshu crawl out, Mother Li hurriedly poured out the wheat porridge from a small iron pot to the side. "Here, your ration."

The porridge was so thin that its color hadn't even changed, and the wheat grains settled at the bottom were clearly visible. It left Qin Wangshu dumbfounded.

Although the porridge was thin, there was nearly half a bowl of solids in it.

"Mother, I don't need to eat this much." It wasn't that she wasn't hungry, but: "Who knows how much relief grain they'll give out, or for how long? It's better to save what we can."

Seeing Qin Wangshu so sensible, Mother Li felt comforted. "Drink it without worry. The current relief grain is a bit more than before."

"Oh!" That was truly a surprise. "How much more?"

"Two *liang*." Mother Li wore a rare smile, happily holding up two fingers.

"Three *liang* would barely be enough to keep someone half-full." Three *liang* of grain for a whole day—in the past, she wouldn't have even dared to imagine such a thing.

However.

"What three *liang*? It's two *liang*. Everyone gets two *liang* now, and we can collect it before noon every day."

"Ah!"

"It's much better than a while ago. At least there's water. With water, we can cook something thin. Like today, everyone can have a bowl per meal, and there's still a little left over."

Speaking of water, Qin Wangshu looked up at the sun, which was already tilting westward, and felt parched. She drank the porridge right from the bowl, and when she finished, the bowl was clean.

"Give it to me."

Seeing Qin Wangshu staring blankly at the bowl, Mother Li hurriedly took it, poured a little water from the gourd, and washed it.

Fed and watered, Qin Wangshu finally noticed something was wrong.

"Where is everyone?"

The low shelters were built in two rows, facing each other. Mother Li had been sitting opposite her, and as soon as she came out, she was face-to-face with her. She hadn't had time to comment on how quickly the shelters were built before Mother Li uncovered the pot to pour the porridge, and she had been so distracted by the thin gruel that she only now realized something was amiss.

Aside from the two of them, there was no one else here.

Putting the bowl away, Mother Li casually washed the pot as well.

"The men went off to find a way to catch fish, and the women took the children to wash up."

Having slept until the afternoon and even having her mother-in-law save food for her, Qin Wangshu felt incredibly embarrassed, no matter how thick-skinned she was. Her face flushed with awkwardness.

"You don't need to feel embarrassed. You've never suffered like this before. Everyone else just left, too."

Well, since her convenient mother-in-law was so understanding, why should she struggle?

"Mother, did the village chief say anything?" Her convenient father-in-law seemed to have a good relationship with the village chief, and the old man was a wise person who cared deeply about their situation and had his own insights.

Since they had received grain upon arrival—and half as much again as they had in the county town—the two of them must have discussed it.

"What did Father say?"

"The village chief came to find your father earlier. He said the prefectural government must have been prepared for a long time. The reason they reduced the grain in the county was likely to force people toward the prefectural city. There is water here; at the very least, the refugees won't lack water, and it's easier to manage everyone when they're together."

Sitting there doing nothing was boring, so Mother Li recounted the conversation between the village chief and Old Man Li while Qin Wangshu had been asleep.

Regardless of anything else, in Mother Li's heart, Qin Wangshu was different from the Jiang and Zhang women; Qin Wangshu was a literate lady from a wealthy family.

"Your father went to the neighbors early this morning to ask about the situation. They arrived earlier and know more. Later, he told me that this disaster is likely worse than what we know. It's feared that the south is also in trouble. That's why all the boats on the river have been confiscated. Without boats, the refugees here can't continue south..."

Managing refugees from various places in their respective areas was the best approach. In a situation where grain was scarce and even water was a major problem, gathering them in a place with water was the best strategy.

But if it wasn't just the three northeastern prefectures suffering, the relief grain would eventually run out. The prefectural government seizing the boats on the river was perhaps the best proof that the south was also in trouble.

"Don't overthink it. We're all fleeing together; there's no reason why others can survive and our family can't."

"I'm afraid we're all going to die."

"..." What a blunt truth.

"Mother, the south is definitely in trouble. If our family doesn't want to die with everyone else, we have to leave when the prefectural government starts cutting the rations."

"..." If the south is really in trouble, we won't have a way out even if we cross the Qingwa River."

"Crossing it might just make us die faster." At least there's water here.

"..." Then dying slowly seemed to be the only choice.

Resting her chin on her hand, Qin Wangshu's mind raced. "...We'd better not."

"..." Is waiting to die without struggling a form of comfort?

"The water volume of the Qingwa River is not small. We could follow it upstream or downstream, but without grain, even if we could hide, we'd starve to death." In other words, the idea of living in seclusion was useless.

Having finally transmigrated, Qin Wangshu was unwilling to just wait for death. With no other options, her gaze fell upon the mountains in the distance.

If there were many people, perhaps the animals would be afraid too.

Seeking advantages and avoiding harm—animals should be the same, right?

Mother Li, who had thought they could somehow muddle through this year, was left unsettled by Qin Wangshu's words. This was the rhythm of all three northeastern prefectures starving to death.

Thus, when the Li family returned, disappointed, along with the other families in the village, she grabbed Old Man Li and started shedding tears.

They were real tears.

Bean-sized droplets just kept falling.

"What's the matter?" Never having seen Mother Li cry like this, Old Man Li was panicked, his eyes instinctively darting toward Qin Wangshu.

"Mother, please speak clearly." With a grim expression, Li Jiang silently stood in front of Qin Wangshu.

He even used the formal "you" (*nin*). This son was truly hopeless; he could be thrown into a mountain ravine.

While she inwardly criticized Li Jiang for being a blockhead, his act of standing there directly set the stage for a battle between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, yet she felt a small flutter in her heart.

Li Jiang was not an unfilial person—the fact that he could work as an apprentice for the sake of the family proved that. He wasn't an ignorant or foolish man either; that he could accept her opinions was the best proof of that. Yet, such a filial and sensible man stood on her side without knowing anything.

How much trust must he have to speak with such firm conviction!

"You don't need to stare at the fourth one's wife like that. It's not her problem." With the family at daggers drawn, she hadn't missed the way the fourth one protected his own. It wasn't that she wasn't sad, but there wasn't much time left, so why bother with such things? "Old man, you have to think of a way..."

She had originally wanted to say that she was old and it wouldn't matter if she died, but the children were still young, so he had to find a way for them to survive. But as soon as she opened her mouth, she remembered that even at her age, she was still afraid, and the children would likely be even more terrified if they heard her.