In a chaotic world of infrastructure development, a woman's path to survival after being reborn

Seeing that no one was paying attention, Su Li quietly pulled the person aside and asked in a low voice, "Besides the two conditions mentioned above, did Madam say anything else?"

Having just received a pastry from Su Li, Cui Lü's attitude was relatively gentle, but her words were not pleasant. "Su Li, if you don't fight for yourself, it's difficult to even show your face in front of the master these days. Look at this time, it's probably going to be very difficult for you to stay."

"You saw everyone's expressions in the kitchen just now. They all don't want to be released. They'll probably try to find someone they know to pull strings, and then it'll be you helpless kitchen maids who get released."

What they said made sense. If it were any other maid standing here, she would probably be terrified and at a loss for what to do. But Su Li wasn't. She wanted to leave the manor as a free person. She was certain that she would be chosen, but being chosen would also mean that her marriage would be arranged arbitrarily by others.

Su Li didn't want to get married in this era, because marriage meant trouble, and it meant she would have to deal with that person's fickleness and having multiple partners.

Su Li may not care about those troubles, but that doesn't mean she will create trouble for herself. So now that she has learned about leaving the manor, she only feels troubled.

Knowing that Cui Lü was still watching her, Su Li appeared very embarrassed and fearful.

Seeing the fear on Su Li's face, Cui Lü felt a great sense of superiority. She casually offered a few words of comfort and then left leisurely.

After everyone left, Su Li calmly returned to her original post and continued with her work, though her heart was far from at peace.

Of course, everyone in the kitchen was uneasy, but the difference was that the others were anxious and uneasy, while Su Li was simply troubled.

……

The day's work quickly came to an end. Su Li silently returned to the maids' quarters as usual. Today was no different from usual, except that the quarters were quieter than usual. Usually at this time, the maids would gather together to discuss the embroidery patterns on the clothes, but today it was unusually quiet.

Su Li knew why there was such silence, and it was precisely because she knew that she chose to remain silent. Rather than speculating too much, she should think carefully about how to proceed in the future.

Leaving the Zhang residence is inevitable, but must she really marry just any man according to the conditions given by the residence? And where will she go after she leaves...?

Su Li had been in bed for a long time, but she couldn't fall asleep. She was waiting until everyone was asleep before she could start her operation.

The Zhang family was very wealthy, that much was certain. Su Li had been transferred to the kitchen for some time and had also helped out in the storeroom with the head nanny, so she knew very well the Zhang family's grain reserves.

Knowing the Zhang family's grain reserves, Su Li chose to act tonight. Although she had already stockpiled some, it was far from enough to reach her goal...

The news that people were to be released from the manor had already spread, and Su Li knew that she didn't have much time left, so she took advantage of the cover of night to quietly go to the storeroom alone.

With the famine raging outside, even a fool would know the importance of food, so the warehouses were guarded by special personnel.

With someone watching, Su Li naturally dared not make any rash moves. However, she noticed something: Zhang Mama's son, Zhang Da, was on guard duty for the latter half of the night. Zhang Da was lazy and careless, and he was usually quite lax when it was his turn to be on duty. Moreover, the most important point was that he would always arrive a quarter of an hour late for each shift change, and that quarter of an hour was the loophole that Su Li wanted to exploit.

Time passed quietly, and soon it was time for the handover. The servant guarding the warehouse was yawning as he walked out. He seemed to be used to Zhang Da's lateness and would leave as soon as the time came, without delaying at all.

Although she was certain that Zhang Dahui had this habit, Su Li did not relax at all. Taking advantage of the fact that the person had just walked away, she immediately rushed forward, skillfully took something out of her sleeve and inserted it into the lock. In less than a second, the lock was opened.

Seeing that the lock was open, Su Li didn't dare to waste any time and immediately pushed the door open and walked towards her target.

The warehouse was large and piled with a lot of grain, but Su Li was very cautious. She chose to store only inconspicuous grains that would not attract attention, and she dared not store too much in one place, only one or two bags at a time, trying her best not to let anyone see the secret.

Su Li collected the grain very quickly and selectively, so she filled the remaining space in less than fifteen minutes.

With no room left in the space and enough food collected, Su Li prepared to leave. However, before she could make a move, several footsteps came from the doorway.

The sudden noise startled Su Li, and she immediately used her familiarity with the warehouse to find a secluded corner to hide.

Hiding in a secluded corner, Su Li carefully observed everything around her. As the footsteps grew closer, she nervously held her breath.

For some reason, the visitor paid no attention to his surroundings and focused solely on counting the grain in the warehouse. Of course, Su Li did not dare to be careless and remained quietly in the warehouse without moving.

After an unknown amount of time, Su Li, hiding in the corner, began to feel uneasy. Time quietly passed, and she realized it must be Zhang Da's shift time by now. She wondered what was happening outside.

Speak of the devil, and he appears. The very next second that Su Li had that guess, she heard a series of hurried footsteps. The person from before was also hiding in the warehouse.

This action terrified Su Li, who was afraid that this person would implicate her and cause her to be discovered.

Fortunately, things weren't too bad. Zhang Da, who was on duty, was careless and didn't pay attention to his surroundings. The first thing he did when he arrived at the warehouse was to lie down and sleep, and soon he started snoring.

Hearing the snoring, Su Li quietly relaxed, but before she could calm down, she noticed a pair of eyes watching her from the side.

Following the source of her gaze, a handsome face with sharp features appeared in front of Su Li. If it were in the past, Su Li might have stopped to admire him, but now she didn't have that intention. It was already a good thing that she could control herself from screaming.

Trying to suppress her nervousness, Su Li stared at the man in front of her, unsure how to react, and just stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.

In an instant, a thousand possibilities flashed through Su Li's mind, but in the end she remained silent, wanting to know what the man would do next, whether he would kill her to silence her!

After a while, the man moved, but his purpose was not to kill her to silence her; rather, he gestured for her to come out and talk.

Su Li understood the gesture to leave, but because of the knife in the man's hand, she silently followed behind him and headed out of the warehouse through the other exit.