Chapter 2: Living in Poverty

"How, how, how, how is anyone supposed to live here?" Yang Erdan asked, his question coming from the depths of his soul.

The village chief, who had come looking for them after hearing the news, shook his head repeatedly upon seeing the two shacks. He said to Yang Datou and his brothers with pity, "Sigh! I really don't know what to say about your second aunt! If you had come to me for help back then, no matter what, I wouldn't have let your family be kicked out like this!

Now that your grandfather and grandmother have already come to me and the separation agreement is already signed, there isn't much I can say! Take this bag of beans. People have to make a living somehow; I believe you brothers are all good lads, so you'll surely be fine. As for your mother..."

The village chief frowned as he looked at the woman lying on the stretcher. "It depends on her fate! It’s best if she survives, but if she doesn't, you don't need to be too sad. Life and death are determined by fate!"

Jiang Ning frowned, thinking to herself, "What's going on? This old man doesn't seem to want her to survive."

As she pondered, she felt a splitting headache. A flood of the original owner's memories surged into her mind. This eccentric woman almost made her pass out again from anger. The original owner’s personality was much like Qian’s—sharp-tongued, stingy, greedy, and unreasonable. She would stir up trouble even when she was in the wrong, and if she actually had a point, she would suck you dry like a leech.

She and Qian were the two thorns in the side of the Yang family, bickering from dawn till dusk every day. They would even come to blows over a single bean, turning the household upside down.

The original owner didn't just fight with Qian; she battled with all the women in the village. She would shamelessly snatch candy from children’s hands. She was so utterly shameless that it was appalling, and the villagers would take a detour just to avoid her.

As someone who had received a higher education, how could Jiang Ning accept that she had transmigrated into such a body? This was going to be the death of her!

Once she sorted through her thoughts and slowly opened her eyes, the sky had already turned completely dark.

Jiang Ning tried to sit up, and the wooden boards beneath her immediately creaked and groaned.

Hearing the movement, Liu Ye ran in from outside. "Mother, you're awake?"

Jiang Ning gave a soft hum. Her head still ached, but it was much better than before; she guessed the wound on her head had clotted.

"Datou, Mother is awake!"

Following Liu Ye’s call, Yang Datou came in holding a torch, followed by a string of siblings. Everyone stared at Jiang Ning with eager eyes. Jiang Ning felt her head swell with pressure. Just then, her stomach let out a loud growl, and she felt like she could die of embarrassment.

Liu Ye nimbly placed a bowl of unrecognizable food in front of Jiang Ning. "Mother, please eat while it's hot."

As soon as she spoke, the eyes around her seemed to brighten even more. If she had to describe it, it was like hungry wolves staring at a rabbit.

Jiang Ning could even hear some of them smacking their lips. Unfortunately, she was too hungry and her vision was swimming, so she couldn't see clearly. She took the bowl and took a sip, nearly vomiting it back up. "What is this?"

Liu Ye was terrified, thinking her mother-in-law would scold her as she used to. With a pale face, she explained, "Mother, we just separated from the family today. We have to wait until the autumn harvest to get our share of the grain, and there’s no money in the house. The village chief gave us some beans, so I boiled them into a porridge with some wild vegetables..."

Wild vegetables! No wonder it tasted astringent and bitter, like medicinal herbs. Boiled with beans, the flavor was so strange she couldn't even describe it. But once the food hit her stomach, she felt even hungrier. Jiang Ning didn't care about the taste anymore and downed it in a few gulps as if it were medicine.

Seeing her finish, Liu Ye felt relieved and quickly led the others outside.

The room fell into darkness again.

After lying down, Jiang Ning looked up to see a sky full of stars—a sight that had become hard to find in the 21st century.

Outside the house.

Liu Ye said to Yang Datou, "Mother seems much better. Let's see how she is when it's light out. If it's really not enough, we'll borrow some money and take Mother to town."

Before they separated from the family, they had no right to borrow money, nor could they have borrowed any. Now that they were separated, although they were penniless, at least they were the masters of their own lives.

Yang Datou nodded and sat on a rock, lost in thought. He was troubled—who could he borrow money from?

In the silence, everyone curled up around the campfire and drifted off to sleep one by one.

Jiang Ning didn't sleep at all. The buzzing mosquitoes nearly carried her away; even if she covered her face with her hands, she would get bitten. As soon as the sky turned slightly bright, she got up. By the dim light, she finally saw the state of the house: a mud-brick structure of about twenty square meters. The four walls were mottled and pitted, one side had collapsed by a third, and the other two or three sides had small holes—she couldn't tell if they were from rain erosion or man-made.

Half of the thatched roof was gone, and the other half was likely just a single layer; it served no purpose other than blocking the sun. If a heavy rain came, everything inside would get soaked.

The ground was overgrown with weeds, specifically stubborn crabgrass. In the corner sat a bed board—her sleeping place. Aside from that, there was nothing. Even the phrase "four bare walls" didn't do it justice!

Jiang Ning took a deep breath and consoled herself, "At least the air is fresh; it's not all bad!"

Thinking this, she turned and walked out of the courtyard. She saw the four boys and two girls sleeping sprawled out around the fire. Except for Liu Ye, they were all her "cheap" children. Every single one of them was malnourished. The eldest, Yang Datou, should have been fifteen, but he looked like he was only twelve or thirteen. She couldn't imagine that such a young child was already married. The youngest daughter, Xiaoya, was six but looked like a four-year-old.

What a tragedy!

Jiang Ning shook her head and turned into the room next door. This one was even worse—it didn't even have a roof; it was open-air! Inside was a half-broken stove, and the ground was equally overgrown with weeds. Fearing a snake might jump out, she quickly retreated.

After thinking for a moment, her gaze fell on the embers of the campfire. With some effort, she managed to reignite it, used some torches to throw fire onto the floor of the kitchen shack, and breathed a sigh of relief once the weeds began to burn. She then roughly looked over the items they had received from the family separation.

All they had were the clothes they were wearing, one ragged winter coat each, one quilt that looked like it had been used for years, and two straw mats—which were currently under the children. There was one wood-chopping knife and one sickle. They should have been given some grain, but perhaps it was too late yesterday for the main house to pack it for them.

Aside from these, there were a few baskets, a wooden bucket, a wooden basin, two sets of bowls and chopsticks, and the small bag of beans from the village chief.

Jiang Ning was so angry she laughed when she saw the two sets of bowls and chopsticks. Seven people sharing two sets? That was bullying! And without a pot, how were they supposed to cook?

Jiang Ning got up and checked carefully, only to find that Liu Ye was using an earthen jar. The meals for seven people depended on this one jar. She didn't know what to say anymore.

The top priority was finding food—at least enough to last a few days so the children wouldn't starve within three days. Then there was the housing issue. Rongshu Village was in the south; while the winters weren't as cold as in the north, it still snowed.

This house was as good as non-existent. It had to be torn down and rebuilt to be livable.

An ordinary farming family would have to exhaust their entire savings over ten or twenty years to renovate a house, but she had to get it done before winter, or the whole family wouldn't survive.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ning felt the burden on her shoulders grow even heavier.