Rebirth, end of the world, time travel, escape famine, make money!

He bumped into him because he was distracted. He didn't know what was going on in his mind at that moment, but it just suddenly occurred to him that he bumped into him and his little hand touched the man's waist.

His little head couldn't think of such a good interface, so he said it was just an accidental bump or touch.

The little boy, who had never stolen anything before, was scared and sad because he had no harvest today and his grandmother and sister were going to starve, so he started crying and admitted his mistake directly.

Seeing the person crying so sadly, Liu Caixia said intermittently: "I am moving goods at the dock... I don't have any work today, and my sister and grandma... have nothing to eat today. They are counting on... this meal every day..."

"how old are you?"

"ten years old"

Liu Caixia looked at Liu Xiaolu who was standing beside her, then looked at the little boy who looked pale and thin. Seeing him crying so miserably and what he said didn't sound false, she felt pity for him.

"Where is your home?"

"We live in a shack outside the city!"

"Did you come here to escape?"

"Yes."

"Let's go, we have to leave the city too!"

"what……"

The little boy didn't know what Liu Caixia was going to do. After hearing her say that, he just stared at her blankly.

Come to think of it, is she going to sue her family?

No, I can't let grandma know, so I started to struggle against her wrist again: "No, I can't let grandma worry, and I can't let my sister know that I want to be a thief. I will change, I won't dare to do it again, just let me go!"

Seeing his age and the sincerity of his words, Liu Caixia never thought of sending him to the government.

Now this person was obviously afraid that he would report to the authorities, and he couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that this child's family was not poor before, and it could only be blamed on this famine year.

"I just want to verify the truth of what you said. I won't tell your grandma. If what you said is true, I will let it go, but if you are a liar and a habitual offender, I will not forgive you. Do you understand?"

Liu Caixia thought that the child was not an orphan without anyone to educate him, and his character had not yet developed astray. If he continued like this, he would be forced to develop astray even if he did not want to.

If what he said was true, she might consider helping him, just as a way to cultivate talent.

"If you want to steal something, why don't you sell yourself?"

Liu Caixia was just testing the little boy, as boys are not cheap.

The little boy looked up at her, then lowered his head again: "Grandma is in poor health, and my sister is only four years old. If I don't take care of them, they won't be able to survive even if they have money."

Liu Caixia was indeed thinking, you are only ten years old, and you have to bear the burden of the family.

"Where's the rest of your family?"

"After my father and grandfather were beaten to death by bandits, my aunt stole a lot of money from our home and ran away, and then my mother ran away too. So there was no money left at home, and my grandmother hid some money, and that's how we ended up here.

My grandmother said that she had an auntie at the government office and wanted to go there to seek shelter, but when she saw our family's situation, she gave us some silver and sent us away, and threatened my grandmother to take us as far away as possible and never show up in front of her again, otherwise she would sell me and my sister.

My grandmother was also afraid, so she took us to Shanqing County, where there was free porridge at first. Later, we thought that we had some money and could buy a piece of land to settle down.

Later, grandma got sick, and the money that was supposed to buy the land was used for her medical treatment. She didn’t want to see a doctor, and my sister and I didn’t want her to die.”

"Aunt, I really know I was wrong. I won't dare to do it again. I'll try in the mountains. I'll always be able to find something to eat.

My grandma and sister are really starving to death. Grandma’s illness hasn’t fully recovered yet, and I’m afraid she’s going to die too. I was just hot-headed today and wanted to steal things. I regretted it the moment I reached out. I really don’t want to disappoint grandma, and I’m even more afraid that we’ll starve to death!”

"Well, I didn't say anything about what I was going to do to you."

Liu Caixia saw that he was getting more and more sad as he cried. Her head was buzzing with pain. She loosened her grip and looked at her wrist, which had turned red from being pinched. "Okay, okay, I won't hold you anymore. Lead the way. If you are telling the truth, I might be able to help your grandma out of kindness. I still have a lot of herbs here."

The little one's clear eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at Liu Caixia and asked, "Really? Thank you, Auntie! I'll take you there. I promise I'm not lying. Everything I say is true."

When the group arrived at the city gate, they saw Liu's father waiting there, with a stranger beside him, who was probably the person from the government office who had gone there to measure the land and set up boundary markers.

"Dad! Everything is done!"

"Yes, we have also done it. This is Zhang, the yamen runner who went with us to measure the dimensions and erect the boundary markers."

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Zhang."

"It's not hard, this is what I should do."

After saying hello, Liu Caixia stopped Liu's father and whispered about the little one's situation. After listening, Liu's father looked at the little one, nodded and said, "Since you have decided, go and have a look. You have to hire people anyway. If the person is trustworthy, it would be more reassuring to hire the whole family together. People hired at this time have family ties and are easily threatened."

"Well, I just thought that the child is still young and doesn't look like a repeat offender. He has a younger sister at home, and we need more people here. If his grandmother is really sick, we can be considered a favor to them if we save her."

"Then let's go back to the village first. You can make your own arrangements after you finish your work here. If that doesn't work, you can stay in an inn in the city. I asked about the blue bricks. It's unlikely to buy them at the moment. We can only build a mud house first.

Sleeping on a kang is not popular here in winter. The most we do is light a brazier in the house to keep warm. I wanted to build a kang before, but since there are no blue bricks, I can only wait until later.

So you still need to prepare beds, and you can find a carpenter to make a few larger beds. There are many people in the back, so it is inevitable that several people will sleep in one room.

It can be made into a large bunk bed. When we no longer live here, if there are servants or hired workers who can’t come home conveniently, we can use it as a dormitory.”

"Okay, Dad. But the winter here is not as cold as other places. I don't know if it's because it's near the river, but it feels similar to modern Sichuan and Chongqing. There's a lot of moisture in the air, and it feels damp and cold.

It should be enough to light a brazier at home and roast some food. Just put some straw mats and cotton wool underneath. There is no need to make a kang. It is not a small matter to heat the kang every day.

If we live separately in the future and the family wants to build their own kang, they can do so. The kang in the room will be connected to the kitchen stove, which will make it much more convenient to heat it. If we build a kang for each room, we will have to heat it separately, which is too troublesome.”

"Okay, then go do your thing. I'll take them to eat something and then go back to the village."

"Auntie Tian, ​​please go back to the village with my father and the others. Stay here tonight and chat with the aunties and wives in the village."

"You should be more thoughtful. We are grown men and it's hard for us to talk nonsense with others."

Liu Caixia and her father separated at the city gate. It was almost noon and the city was already very busy.