A peasant girl with a special ability uses herself and two wolves to escape famine!

"Xiao Ning, the sweet potatoes and potatoes can be planted in the next few days."

Xia Ning held her son and said, "It's good that we planted them. If we can harvest them in time, even if there are natural disasters, the people can still get through it."

"Let me hold him, isn't our Charcoal Boy a good boy? The imperial decree arrived today, and the appointment of the new prefect has been announced."

As expected, Xia Ning wasn't surprised. "Is it Zhou Tong?"

"Hmm. But the one who was recuperating knew that the situation was hopeless, so he didn't struggle much and obediently handed over the seal."

"Struggling is useless. He's not stupid. What did the emperor compensate him for?" He sacrificed himself for the country, so he should at least be given some sinecure or some money as compensation.

"He was rewarded with five hundred taels of silver."

That's it?

Isn't the emperor incredibly stingy?

Jiang Yi could tell what she was thinking just by looking at her expression. "Don't complain about the small amount. This time, he's the one who gained the most. Think about it, has the imperial court paid me my salary yet? Not just me, but everyone in the government office hasn't received their salaries for several months."

"Working for free?"

Jiang Yi nodded, "The yamen runners' wages are all paid by everyone pooling their money. If this continues, the officials will be squeezed dry, and the yamen runners will definitely have trouble working without wages. How can Hangzhou remain stable?"

Xia Ning, holy crap! This emperor's move is brilliant! He's mastered the art of getting something for nothing. If it's like this in Hangzhou, it's bound to be the same everywhere else. So, is he tired of sitting on the throne? Does he want to stir up trouble and get someone to replace him? If he doesn't want to serve anymore, he should just say so!

"How about I go to the capital and give him a warning?"

"Let's wait and see, let's raise him for another two months. That damn emperor is such a worry! He has plenty of silver in the national treasury, and he never seemed to be short of money when he traded it for grain with us. Especially when he traded it for his own food."

He was utterly inhuman; as the ruler of a country, he showed no concern for the people or any compassion for his subordinates.

"Baby, shall Mommy take you out to collect the trash?"

The little guy giggled as she amused him. Right now, he'll let anyone hold him; he hasn't learned to recognize people yet.

Jiang Yi: ...Should she do a magic trick in front of her son?

"I heard that business at our restaurant has been slow lately."

"Yes, the plague is not really over yet, and people are still wary. There are very few people strolling around on the streets now."

"You all stay at home?" Can you even stand it?

“Those who have land cultivate it, and those who don’t have land reclaim it. The wealthy are also watching over the people below them as they cultivate and reclaim land. You don’t know, many families haven’t even spared their yards; except for a path for walking, they’ve planted vegetables and fruits all over the place.”

I'm terrified of being hungry!

"Our business is bad, and it's not just because of the plague. Rich people are unwilling to spend money. They feel insecure, there are constant natural disasters, they can't earn money, and their future is uncertain. So, the more money they have, the better."

Let's not even talk about wealthy families; look at those officials, which one of them is poor? Our baby's one-month celebration used to be nothing special—at most, a table full of chicken, duck, fish, and meat. Look at those people, how cleanly they ate! Even the women's table was impressively full. What does that tell you? It shows that they usually eat very poorly at home, their bellies are empty.

Today, Zhou Tong is the newly appointed prefect, and he's so stingy that he won't even let me treat him to a meal. "Although I don't know what got into him later, you could tell that when he talked about going to the restaurant, his face was contorted with heartache."

Xia Ning nodded. She really agreed. When the lady of a wealthy family was eating a watermelon or an apple, they would cut it up for her and let her eat it slowly, piece by piece.

The day of the full moon truly shattered her expectations.

"So, besides the restaurant and hot pot restaurant, our other businesses aren't doing well either?"

Jiang Yi was somewhat ashamed. "Well, grain sales are still pretty good. As for other high-priced goods, especially those sold in grocery stores, which were originally targeted at wealthy households, their purchasing behavior is indeed incomparable to that before the Lunar New Year. Even if they do buy, it's only occasionally to satisfy their cravings, and they only pick the cheapest items."

The grocery store was deserted, and the restaurant only had three or four tables a day, sometimes even none at all.

"Should we close the restaurant first?"

Xia Ning thought about it. If they closed down, the entire prefectural city would be too desolate if there wasn't even a single food stall left!

"Don't shut it down, just let it run its course. Prepare as little food as possible."

Baozi hadn't been in Jiang Yi's arms for long when she started squirming around; the embrace was too hard and uncomfortable.

"give it to me."

"You feed him, I'll take him to find the wet nurse, and we'll have dinner together."

He's so picky, so spoiled. Once he's older and recognizes people, he'll only want Xiao Ning to take care of him. Does he want to exhaust his mother?

"Honey, let's have barbecue tonight!"

"Okay!"

Her postpartum diet was extremely bland, with almost no salt. After the postpartum period, she thought she was finally free, but she ended up having to be a dairy cow, feeding her newborn, and still had to abstain from certain foods.

God knows how much she wanted to eat spicy food! But she couldn't, the child would get a sore throat!

Well, having some barbecue will do to satisfy my craving!