Chapter 3: 303 Family Affection

It had been over ten days since Li Menglan arrived in this strange world, and the illness in this body had completely recovered; today, she finally had the chance to step out of this room and see the world outside.

Tsk tsk... this family is truly quite poor. Li Menglan surveyed her surroundings; she couldn't help but frown and shake her head slightly.

It was a dilapidated courtyard, and more than half of the surrounding walls had already collapsed. There was a water well in the middle of the courtyard. Aside from the rotten room where Li Menglan had slept for over ten days, there were five equally dilapidated thatched houses clustered right next to it. According to her chatterbox second brother, this broken courtyard had cost more than one or two taels of silver to buy. Their original home had been a blue-tiled house that had only been newly built for two years; it had been sold back then to pay for her grandfather's medical treatment.

"Achoo!" A gust of wind blew past, and Li Menglan couldn't help but sneeze. "Ugh... so cold." Having lived in the south in her previous life, Li Menglan was truly unaccustomed to such low temperatures.

Over these past few days, Li Menglan had learned from her second brother, Li Zhihao, that she was in a place called the Kingdom of Yunliang, and the Emperor's surname was Long.

Li Menglan racked her brain but couldn't recall any "Kingdom of Yunliang" in Chinese history, so she was very certain that she had traveled to a fictional world. Looking at the clothing and style of the people around her, it seemed similar to China's Song Dynasty.

The place where Li Dazhu's family lived was called Shangliang Village, located in a province called Yunjing in the northern part of the Kingdom of Yunliang. However, Shangliang Village was quite remote; aside from two towns, one large and one small, nearby, it took a full day of riding to reach the county seat, and one couldn't even rest along the way.

As the saying goes, "live off the mountains if you live near them, live off the water if you live near it." Fortunately, the produce of Shangliang Village was relatively abundant, so overall, life was passable. Li Menglan's family was only struggling because of Li Fujin's illness; otherwise, they wouldn't be so impoverished.

At night, the family gathered to eat dinner. Dinner was very simple: coarse rice porridge that was thin enough to see through, and black, hard steamed buns. A small bowl of pickles sat on the table, so dark it was impossible to tell what they were pickled with. One look from Li Menglan, and forget eating—she lost her appetite entirely.

Fortunately, Zhang Yuniang felt bad for her daughter who had just recovered from a major illness, and she had saved a little bit of the wild chicken that Li Dazhu and his son had caught over ten days ago. Although it had developed a bit of a smell because it had been kept for too long, one couldn't help but eat when hungry! Li Menglan still ate with gusto, but as for those buns and pickles... Li Menglan turned her face away in polite refusal.

Seeing Li Menglan eating so heartily, Zhang Yuniang revealed a faint smile and said tenderly, "Lan-ya-tou, eat slowly, be careful not to choke."

"Mother, I'm fine." Li Menglan gave her mother a sweet smile. Due to the recent major illness, Li Menglan's originally thin body had become even more frail, as if a gust of wind could blow her away.

Looking at her daughter's thin body, Zhang Yuniang's face was full of heartache. "Husband, Lan-ya-tou has only just recovered from her illness, yet there is nothing in the house. What are we to do?"

Lin Sanniang and the elderly couple, Li Fujin and his wife, also sighed along. "What a sin... my dear granddaughter, it's all because this old man's bones are dragging down my dear granddaughter and grandson." Whenever Li Fujin thought of this, he couldn't help but shed old tears.

"Grandpa, don't be sad. When I grow up, I will earn a lot of silver and let Grandpa, Grandma, Daddy, and Mommy live a good life." Li Menglan picked up a relatively large piece of wild chicken from her bowl and placed it into Li Fujin's bowl. "Grandpa, eat. The wild chicken Mother made is very fragrant."

Li Fujin affectionately patted Li Menglan's head. "Dear granddaughter, Grandpa won't eat, you eat it yourself." What a sensible girl.

"No, we are one family." Li Menglan then proceeded to place a small piece into the bowls of her grandmother, father, mother, eldest brother, and second brother one after another. "Everyone eat."

There were originally only a few pieces of meat in the bowls, and after Li Menglan distributed them like this, her own bowl only had some soup left.

"Lan-ya-tou, Daddy has a strong body and is big, so you eat this piece yourself!" Li Dazhu, an honest and simple man, felt his eyes redden, feeling so bitter he wanted to cry.

"No, Daddy, you have to eat so you have the strength to work and earn money." Li Menglan deliberately put on a sulky, spoiled expression. "Tomorrow, Daddy, you go up the mountain again to catch wild chicken for Lan-ya-tou, okay?" It was rare for Li Menglan to act spoiled with such thick skin.

"Then Mother will give her piece of chicken to Lan-ya-tou, alright?" Zhang Yuniang said tenderly to Li Menglan.

"That's right, Second Brother's body is very healthy; he doesn't need to eat meat to be great." Li Zhihao also picked up a small piece of wild chicken from his own bowl.

Li Zhiming was even more direct; he reached out to grab Li Menglan's rice bowl, but was firmly held back by her. "Big Brother, you aren't allowed to snatch someone's bowl!" Li Menglan said with a pout, looking as if she would cry if Li Zhiming didn't let go.

Startled, Li Zhiming quickly let go, feeling flustered and smiling sheepishly.

Lin Sanniang, however, said something very practical: "Lan-ya-tou, Grandma's teeth aren't good, I can't chew this bone. How about you do Grandma a favor and eat it?"

"No, Grandpa, Grandma, Daddy, Mommy, Big Brother, Second Brother, you all eat." Li Menglan quickly shielded her bowl with her hands, her eyes shimmering with water as she spoke pitifully.

Seeing his granddaughter's pitiful appearance, Li Fujin spoke up: "Alright, it's her good intention after all. Everyone, stop arguing. Eat... everyone eat."

Even though it was wild chicken, everyone's heart felt heavy; the meat tasted like wax in their mouths. Only Li Menglan reached out, took half a black bun, tore it apart, soaked it in the soup, and began to eat happily.

"Husband, after the field work is finished in a couple of days, you and the eldest go up the mountain again!" After a long silence, Zhang Yuniang spoke.

"Okay." Li Dazhu didn't say much, merely giving a brief affirmation.

"Daddy, I want to go too." Hearing this, Li Menglan realized it was a good opportunity and spoke up quickly. She had long wanted to find a chance to go into the mountains to see if there was any way to earn money.

"Oh... Lan-ya-tou wants to go to the mountain too?" Li Dazhu thought for a moment and asked, "Can you tell Daddy what you want to do on the mountain?" His daughter had never been to the mountain before; this was her first time asking, and she had brought it up herself, so it wasn't surprising that Li Dazhu found it strange.

"Yeah!" Li Zhihao also nodded. "Sister, before, when Second Brother said he would take you to the mountain to play, you weren't willing." Every child in the village knew how to climb trees on the mountain, but his little sister was the exception. Aside from occasionally following her grandfather to the small river to fish, she had never been to the mountain once. No matter how much he and his eldest brother talked her into it, Li Menglan simply wouldn't take the bait.

Looking at her family members' suspicious faces, Li Menglan sheepishly stuck out her tongue and said, "Daddy... Daddy! I just want to go to the mountain to take a look, okay? Just take me with you!"

Very well, they say the first time is a stranger, but the second time is a friend; it seemed acting spoiled was the same. Li Menglan realized she was becoming more and more "alive" again.

"Alright, Daddy will take our Lan-ya-tou along." Since his daughter had made a request for the first time and was acting spoiled with him, Li Dazhu's heart softened completely, and he agreed without a second thought.

"Yay! Daddy, you're the best!" Li Menglan couldn't help but cheer.

"Old man, do you feel like Lan-ya-tou seems different ever since this illness?" Lin Sanniang said to Li Fujin with some doubt.

"What's different?" Li Fujin gave his old wife a look and said angrily, "I think Lan-ya-tou is quite good like this now; she's much more lively than before. It's better for children to be a bit lively."

In truth, Li Fujin had also noticed that Li Menglan was somewhat different from before, but in his heart, he simply thought that this major illness had changed her temperament; he never once thought that his granddaughter had actually swapped her very soul.