Traveling through time and space to become a lady of a noble family, but she only wants to escape

Today is a rare sunny day in late winter. Wanjia Street is busy with traffic and pedestrians. Bai Zhi plans to take her two children to Yuanyang Tower, the good place that Aunt Zhao once took her to, for a meal.

Suddenly, there was a cry from not far away.

"Master, please! I have two children and haven't eaten all day. Please give me some food!"

Bai Zhi looked in the direction where the voice came from and saw a ragged woman holding a baby who looked to be two or three years old in her arms, kneeling on the ground and begging at the clothes of a wealthy young man. Behind her stood a little girl who was about ten years old. She was not sure if she was stunned by hunger or fear, but just stared at her mother in a daze.

The rich young man didn't even glance at the woman, he pulled his skirt back and walked away without stopping. The woman fell to the ground and had to give up, holding the baby in her arms tightly, kneeling down again, and begging for food from passers-by again.

Bai Zhi sighed and planned to continue moving forward with Qiaoqiao and Lin Chuqi. However, when she put her hands together, she found that there was no one on her left and Qiaoqiao had disappeared.

"On the seventh day, where's Qiaoqiao?"

Lin Chuqi pointed in the direction of the beggar woman: "Over there."

Bai Zhi turned around and saw Qiaoqiao had walked up to the woman and stuffed a silver coin into their hands. The woman took the money, kowtowed in gratitude, and Qiaoqiao reached out to support her.

"Girl, pay once and leave quickly," a lady in luxurious clothes next to her said to Bai Zhi, "Don't let these refugees target you. They treat your sister like a bank that doesn't want banknotes. They ask for money once and come back for the second and third time."

Lin Chuqi frowned when she heard this and turned back to ask her: "What does this mean?"

The woman sighed, "What does it mean? It means that a little bit of rice is a favor, and a big bit of rice is a grudge. My young master, you don't know that my family opened a storehouse to give out porridge on the street two months ago, but the war has not stopped recently, and my business has been getting worse and worse. A few days ago, the shop was really in a state of financial difficulty and had no extra money, so we stopped giving out porridge. Who knew that the refugees would run to my shop one by one, shouting and cursing, and forced the shop to close down. Alas - girl, I will stop here, you have to pay more attention to it."

The woman walked away, shaking her head. Lin Chuqi looked at Bai Zhi with a confused expression: "Miss, why are these people like this? Isn't this repaying kindness with enmity?"

Bai Zhi patted Lin Chuqi's shoulder and said, "Chuqi, I have taught you that when the granaries are full, people will know etiquette, and when they have enough food and clothing, they will know honor and disgrace. If the people can't even eat, why would they care about being decent or not."

"Then how can we ensure that all people in the world have enough food and clothing?"

"I have taken you to read so many classics and history books. Have you ever seen any dynasty without poor people?" Bai Zhi said, "Everyone wants to be a superior person, but there will always be people who are inferior to others. As long as there are different social classes in the world, the people will spend their entire lives trying to climb up. Maybe it is not necessarily to step on others, but they definitely do not want to be stepped on by others. That's why I want you to read books. Books contain the knowledge accumulated by our predecessors for thousands of years. The more you read, the less detours you will take. Even if you cannot understand the truth, this is still a golden rice bowl. In today's world, paper is more expensive than rice, and scholars are still scarce. If you can read and write, at least you will have a meal wherever you go."

Lin Chuqi murmured, "The people can be made to follow it, but they cannot be made to know it."

Bai Zhi nodded: "Sitting in a high place, it is inevitable that you cannot see the common people. You can only see a group of ants that you cannot tell who is who. A ruler like King Jing who is willing to let poor people learn to read and write is truly unique and has never been seen before or since."

"Miss, if...if everyone in this world can read, will everyone be able to have food to eat one day?"

"Maybe, but," Bai Zhi touched Lin Chuqi's head, "I can't take care of so many people. I can only take care of you two. It's enough for me if you two can have food to eat."

Qiaoqiao rushed back with a red face and said happily, "Miss! I heard that there is a kind-hearted family in the suburbs who is willing to take in the common people who fled from the north. Let's go to the front and hire a carriage to send this sister and her child there!"

Bai Zhi smiled and said, "Qiaoqiao, since it's what you want to do, you don't need to ask me, just do it."

"Okay! Miss, you come with me. I... I haven't hired a carriage yet." Qiaoqiao took Baizhi's arm and pulled her forward, muttering all the way, "The officials in the capital are so mean. So many people are freezing here and have no food to eat, but they don't care. I heard that there are a few yamen runners standing at the gate of the yamen to drive away the people from the north. How can they do this?"

"If the top beam is crooked, the bottom beam will be crooked too." Bai Zhi added casually, "Let alone those who eat public food, even if the restaurant owner asked the waiter to drive away the beggars at the door, do you think the waiter would dare to disobey?"

Qiaoqiao said angrily: "Miss! How can you speak to them!"

Although Bai Zhi didn't feel like she was speaking for them, she immediately comforted them without any principles: "Let me repeat, those yamen runners are really too mean."

Lin Chuqi interrupted and said, "Miss, what you said makes sense. Above the yamen runners is the county magistrate, and above the county magistrate is the governor. If the roots are not clean, the leaves will rot."

Qiaoqiao: "How can that be a reason? No matter how difficult it is, they are supported by the people. Shouldn't they be loyal to their duties and consider the people?"

Lin Chuqi: "It's easier said than done to be loyal to one's duty. In today's world, officials and their families are all protecting themselves. How can we expect them to ignore the people and think about them?"

"Who else can we rely on? Can we rely on the illiterate people to take care of themselves?"

"What else? Look at the people from the north now. They don't have food or clothes to eat. They can take care of themselves."

"If the people can manage themselves, that's because they are capable. What does the government have to do with it? If the people and good people do what they should do for them, can they rest easy?"

"Now they really can rest easy, otherwise they wouldn't let so many people live on the streets."

Seeing that the two children were about to quarrel in the street, Bai Zhi quickly stepped in between them and acted as a peacemaker: "Stop, stop, stop, go back and talk about this. If you keep arguing, the mother and her three children will freeze to death on the street."

The two stopped talking and angrily moved a dozen feet apart. Bai Zhi reached out and pulled them back together, saying with a headache, "Okay, ancestors, we can't even agree on an argument. Chuqi was talking about the helpless present, and Qiaoqiao was talking about the within reach future. The past cannot be changed, but the future can still be pursued. You two, shake hands and make peace right now."