Chapter 36: I Have an Idea

Da Ya untied one of the chickens' legs, tying one end of the rope to the cart. The four old hens fluttered and jumped down, but restricted by the rope, they could only circle around in place.

She threw them some grass she had found early in the morning that still held a bit of green, but unfortunately, the old hens were ungrateful and wouldn't even touch it.

Li Xuemei was busy cooking porridge. Seeing this, she grabbed some wheat straw and chopped it finely, then found some freshly ground coarse flour. After a simple sifting, she gathered the fallen bran into a pile and poured it onto the ground along with the chopped straw.

The old hens grew triumphant and began to peck at it bit by bit.

The aroma of the brown rice bubbled and drifted outward.

Yan Yu smelled it, and her stomach began to raise its hand, saying it wanted to eat.

She climbed down from above, as agile as a little monkey.

"Sister Da Ya, come help me." Yan Yu wanted to move the small table from the cart down.

She, in turn, transported a matching small long bench.

Once everything was set out, Yan Yu sat down primly and waited.

With a table and a bench, she prepared to eat properly.

The surrounding villagers cast envious glances.

Every household in the village grew wheat and relied mainly on flour-based foods; rice had to be bought from grain shops and was eaten only a few times a year.

Moreover, cooking porridge used so much water—they couldn't afford such luxury.

And those ceramic buckets and pots were truly exquisite.

There was no resentment, however; in the hearts of the simple villagers, the Scholar's family was meant to eat and live better than they did.

As the warm, light porridge entered her stomach, Yan Yu squinted her eyes in happiness.

Li Xuemei sliced a small dish of pickled vegetables. Yan Yu picked up a piece, taking a mouthful of porridge followed by a bite of pickles, feeling blissful.

Yan Er (the second Yan brother) let his eldest nephew eat first while he went to call Old Yan.

Yan Huaiven was currently speaking to the villagers about the matter of taking turns using the cart.

Village Chief Luo was the first to respond: "We aren't too old to move yet; we can keep up."

"Our bodies are healthy, no need to rest. Walking three *shichen* (six hours) a day is fine; we don't have to do it all at once, we can handle it."

"That's right, Scholar. We're fine. Let the elderly, the children, and the women of the families sit in the cart more often."

Yan Er arrived just as the villagers were chattering away, each claiming they were fine and could manage, scrambling to insist they wouldn't ride in the cart.

"You people don't know good from bad! My brother is worried you'll get exhausted; you're ungrateful for the chance to ride." Yan Er squeezed into the circle, pointing his finger casually. "You, you, and you—look at how thin you are, like a handful of bones. Under this scorching sun, whose fault will it be if you faint?"

"Brother, go eat first. I'll talk to them." Yan Er pushed his brother away and began a blunt style of persuasion and education.

"Why eat three meals a day? If you only walk without eating, can your bodies take it? A day or two is fine, but over a long period—like I said—whose fault will it be if you collapse? If you fall, who will look after your mothers, wives, and children at home?

Without a healthy body, once the grain we carry runs out, will you even have the strength to go find more? And if we encounter those bad-hearted people who come to rob us later, and you fall over like bamboo sticks at the slightest touch, what are we to do? Just watch them rob us?"

Village Chief Luo kept nodding. "That makes sense. Those people are wicked; if they can't find food themselves, they rob others."

Yan Er continued, "Just worrying about saving a little bit of rations—how much can you actually save with your mouths? Even if you don't eat or drink, that little bit of grain won't be enough to feed your families until we reach Guanzhou. If you build up your strength, we can go into the forests and mountains together to catch wild chickens, rabbits, and fish in the rivers. Have some ambition; don't just look at the tiny bit in front of you."

"What? Yan Er, where are there wild chickens and rabbits? And a river? Where?"

"Just follow us. Once we leave this drought-stricken place, everything will be there."

"Alright, we'll listen to you. Three meals a day to build up strength."

Yan Er added, "Taking turns in the cart follows the same logic. Even though we are men, we aren't made of iron; why can't we rest our feet?

The elderly, children, and women are physically weaker and should walk appropriately every day. But sitting in the cart all the time isn't good either; if a person doesn't move, they'll fall ill."

"Hehe, then we'll just sit for a little while, just a little. But if we sit in the cart, who will push our family's cart?"

"I'll arrange a schedule for you in a moment." Yan Er hadn't actually thought of that. "Every family is pushing a cart?"

"Pretty much. Although there are six carts in the village, once people get in, they can't carry much else. Our family belongings and the newly ground flour all have to be pushed along."

Hearing his brother's words, Yan Huaiven was unconcerned.

"When we first leave the village, everyone has many things. After walking for a while, there will be less. Useless and heavy carts will naturally be abandoned."

Yan Yu and her parents exchanged a secret glance.

After eating, Sister Da Ya began packing.

Yan Yu pulled her mother and tugged her father, saying they needed to solve a major matter.

The three of them found a deserted spot and spoke in low voices.

"Father, Mother, it's not just those carts. I've noticed that many families' cooking supplies are repetitive. They only bring one pot in the morning and take turns cooking.

If it's truly like Big Uncle said—that they will discard these things once they realize they are useless—it would be better if we sold them to the platform in exchange for food."

Li Xuemei said, "That sounds good in theory, but if things suddenly disappear from people's hands, everyone will surely become suspicious."

"To make the platform transactions look legitimate, I've thought of a way, though I don't know if it will work." Yan Yu had a vague idea.

"What way?" Yan Er trusted his daughter more; she had read many books, was quick-witted, and grew more resourceful with age.

"Father, did you show San Bao the mileage map? Did it memorize it? Can it lead us?" Yan Yu suddenly asked.

Yan Er was bewildered; how did the conversation jump to San Bao halfway through?

"It seems to have learned it. I asked it several times, and it kept nodding." He hadn't just asked if San Bao remembered; he had asked if San Bao could lead them directly via the shortest route, and San Bao had nodded repeatedly without hesitation.

"That means we can not only rely on San Bao to lead the way, but also use it to find certain villages."

Yan Yu's speech grew faster: "The things we carry are all common household items. We can pull them right to the doorsteps, just like a peddler traveling through villages, and exchange them for food and supplies.

The key isn't what we exchange or whether the exchange is perfectly suited, but rather letting these goods circulate...

It would be best if Father acted as the face of this. We would go about our daily lives as usual, only mixing some in every half month. The villagers won't notice; they won't be able to keep count."

Yan Er thought: *So you're just taking advantage of the fact that they're bad at math.*

However, although this method was a bit troublesome, if they were careful, it would be quite safe.

"How can we control the timing so that we find a village to trade with every half month?" Li Xuemei felt there was a large loophole.

"That depends on the specific situation. This is just a preliminary idea." Yan Yu shrugged; she wasn't omnipotent, nor could she predict the future or calculate everything perfectly.