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

While clearing the dishes from the table, he said to Xia Ning, "I'll go wash the dishes. You rest for a while before collecting the water. I'll go net the fish later. I already netted two buckets this morning. I'll clean them up in a bit, and then you can collect the water in your storage space. Don't worry, I'll clean it downstream, so the water won't smell fishy."

He killed and cleaned all the fish because there would be a water shortage later, so it had to be dealt with now.

He's really obsessed with hoarding supplies!

After giving his instructions, he picked up the basin and went downstream to wash the dishes.

"Jiang Yi, how about I take out some vegetables and you wash them?"

Since he was so eager to work, she granted his request.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yi's eyes lit up. "Leave everything downstream, I'll wash it slowly."

Well, what a hardworking old ox!

With such a capable partner, she couldn't afford to be useless. After resting for a while, Xia Ning went to stock up on water.

Jiang Yi, while waiting for the fish to be caught in the net, washed vegetables, washed meat, and killed the fish.

Life is busy but fulfilling.

The fish dwindled with each net they cast, and the water level dropped lower and lower. Three days later, they decided to move to another location and start over. Jiang Yi had to lead the way; when she had been here before, all she saw was snow, and she had no idea where the water source was.

"Should we collect the hot spring water again? We're almost there," Jiang Yi asked, looking at her questioningly.

Since we're already here, we should definitely collect the food! Collecting anything is the same as collecting anything else. The only regret is that we didn't buy enough wooden buckets. The cleaned vegetables are still piled up in the space; even if we used all the buckets, we still wouldn't have enough.

The two arrived at the cave, and the wolf saw the pool and prepared to jump in for a bath. Jiang Yi stopped him, so the three of them could only soak in the smallest pool.

Xia Ning watched the continuous flow of hot spring water into the space, feeling extremely satisfied. Who could understand the blissful feeling of bathing without having to heat water!

After collecting the hot spring water, they headed to their next destination...

With the snow disaster over, the prefect and county magistrates thought the natural disaster was over and were urging all farmers to hurry up with planting. They believed that if they planted rice this season, they could still harvest a crop.

Everyone is short of food; some families have even run out of wheat seeds and have no money to buy more. Seeds in grain stores are now incredibly expensive.

After the prefect convened a meeting with the county magistrate, it was decided that for households without rice seeds, they would be allowed to purchase them on credit. After the harvest was used to pay taxes, they would have to pay an additional 10% to offset the cost of the seeds.

When food is scarce, fields must never be left idle.

The people who wanted the grain had to sign a contract, and the government would send people to collect the grain after the harvest.

People with no grain or silver naturally agreed, and every government office was filled with people coming to collect seeds.

Xiajia Village.

As people gradually went out, the village returned to its usual bustling state. Almost every household in the village had surplus food, and by eating sparingly, they all survived the natural disaster. Apart from some people losing weight, no one starved to death.

Only the Xia family was missing two people: Xia Fuxi and her mother, Zheng.

"Old Xia, where are your daughter and daughter-in-law?" The villagers looked at the old man, who was leaning on a cane and was so thin that he was just a skeleton, and couldn't help but sigh. He used to be one of the wealthiest families in the village, but now he's fallen on hard times.

People shouldn't do evil. The Xia family is getting their comeuppance now, aren't they?

If they hadn't been so inhumane, their house hadn't been completely robbed, and they could have survived the cold wave, instead of becoming so thin they looked like humans.

Those two, could they have starved to death?

Old Xia looked at his neighbors with his cloudy old eyes, his face expressionless, and without saying a word, he continued to move towards the field ridge with his cane.

What could he say? His granddaughter had been sold and her fate unknown. His daughter-in-law? Alas, she too had been sold, exchanged for ten pounds of coarse rice. They ate sparingly and managed to survive for a while longer. Otherwise, the whole family would have starved to death in this snowstorm.

Fortunately, they've finally made it through. They're all still alive!

As long as the land remains and there is a harvest, they will not starve. Their lives will improve, and their hardships will eventually be over.

Once they've earned some money, they'll find another wife for the eldest son. This is a family secret in the Xia family; everyone has agreed that they mustn't utter a word about it, no matter what. The official story is that the two women have starved to death.

It's perfectly normal for two people to starve to death during a natural disaster.

He couldn't understand how he could have ended up selling himself when he was doing so well. How could his life have turned out like this?

If the second brother were still alive, he would definitely find a way to keep everyone alive!

For the first time, the old man missed his son who had been dead for many years.

"Fuxi, I'm going out to collect the grain seeds. Don't come out of the house!" the old bachelor instructed worriedly.

"I know, go and come back quickly."

Xia Fuxi urged, "It's getting late. She definitely won't go out. If she gets caught, she'll be in serious trouble, if not dead."

She'd heard from her husband that her mother was missing, so she knew exactly where she'd gone—someone filling her vacancy. If she were discovered, would her father let her off? It was because of her that her mother had died.

Sigh, living in the same village, they'll be found out sooner or later. We need to talk to the man; maybe they should move away. Stay far away from them, and never see them again.

"Old Liu, why did you come out by yourself? Where's your wife?"

"Exactly, the snow disaster is over, but they still can't bear to let people out for some fresh air."

"Is it because you're too capable that I can't get out of bed?"

"You should also know how to be gentle with women. With your bull-like way of doing things, no one can stand it."

"When are you going to bring her out so we can meet her? We'll be from the same village, we should get to know each other!"

"What does your wife look like? Let us see her, don't be so stingy!"

"........."

"........."

Old Liu ignored them. Seeing this, he also wanted to release the people, but did he dare?

He didn't want to cause trouble for himself unless absolutely necessary, especially with the most difficult family in the village. What a tragedy, why didn't the entire Xia family starve to death?

They call him a bull, but they're just jealous of him. They ask who else is as capable as him. And yet, his wife is so enamored with him that she clings to him even if he doesn't give in to her for one night.

Thinking about it, he couldn't help but feel a surge of heat. At this time in the past, they would have been enjoying themselves! He wondered if his wife was missing him at home.

Thinking about it, I quickened my pace. I had just stepped out the door when I wanted to go home!

Looking back now, the cold snap wasn't so bad. Everyone stayed home, which was much more comfortable. In cold weather, people can huddle closer together, which is better than being sticky and sweaty in the sweltering heat.

Xia Fuxi was home alone, terrified of anyone coming to her door. If even one person saw her, her good days would be over. She waited anxiously until nightfall, finally welcoming back the old bachelor.

"You rascal, why are you only coming back now? I was terrified to be home alone." With that, she rushed into the man's arms.

The old bachelor was smug. See? He really can't live without him for even a moment.

"What are you afraid of? It's your own home, who would dare to bully you? You have no idea how many people went to the government office to ask for grain seeds. As soon as I got the seeds, I rushed back. Have you cooked yet?"

"It's ready. Go wash your hands and come eat."

"Ai!"

Having a wife makes all the difference; coming home is no longer like coming to a cold house. The old bachelor is increasingly satisfied with his life now.