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

The sun was too strong; even with a hat, it was still hot! She couldn't stand the heat any longer and reluctantly went home.

They'll eat these sea snails for lunch today.

The saying "those who live near the mountains live off the mountains" is absolutely true.

With mountains and sea, you'll never starve.

"Jiang Yi, what are you doing?"

"Building the kitchen." The man was busy, sweating profusely. He thought building the kitchen would be easy, but it turned out to be not easy at all, and it was easy for it to collapse.

Xia Ning was speechless. This was the first time he had ever seen a house built like this. It was so tall, and the fact that it didn't collapse showed the builder's skill.

"To build a house, you need to plaster it with mud. Didn't you notice that their houses have mud between each brick? That's how they stick the bricks together."

Jiang Yi looked at her blankly, not understanding what she was saying.

Xia Ning looked up at the sky and sighed deeply.

She miscalculated; she didn't just build a portable kitchen back then.

"Don't do it yet, let's do it together this afternoon. Let's take those bricks down first."

"Ah."

Jiang Yi was very frustrated; he really couldn't do anything right.

Water, lime, and sand are mixed together to form a lime mortar that can be used to bond bricks.

Xia Ning didn't really understand proportions either; as long as the mixture was thick enough to hold the bricks together, that was fine. They didn't require it to be of high quality; as long as it didn't collapse, that was enough.

"I come."

He understood after seeing it just once.

"Go inside and rest."

"I'll work with you for a while, since I have nothing else to do anyway."

I just woke up from my afternoon nap, and now the tide is coming in. I might as well finish building the house sooner and start cooking myself sooner.

"Xia Ning, do you think I'm useless?"

Jiang Yi was afraid that she would find someone else, since she ate so much every day and couldn't do anything right.

There are also two burdens.

"How could I dislike you? I don't even know if I could have gotten this far without you."

Jiang Yi's face darkened even more. Without him, she wouldn't have needed to come all the way here; she would have found the sea long ago!

Xia Ning didn't know why her words of comfort only made him more unhappy. Indeed, with him by her side, she had suffered much less along the way.

He was the one who always rushed to catch the carriages, and because of his good eyesight, he saved them a lot of trouble when traveling at night.

He was always the one who stepped forward in times of danger, and he was also very obedient.

Three days later, Xia Ning looked at her oddly shaped kitchen and thought, "Well, as long as it works, it's fine. I can't be picky."

"Jiang Yi, it seems we forgot to build a chimney."

Jiang Yi: ...

Forget it, forget it. It works even without a chimney, and they can't see the smoke, so they might be safer.

"Tomorrow, let's go beachcombing together. I found a great spot where you can slowly dig around; it's full of food."

"it is good."

Actually, he doesn't like seafood. It's all hard shells, and you can't eat much meat. A whole pot of seafood doesn't feel as good as eating a pig's trotter.

"When shall we go outside and take a look?"

She said she wanted to go outside and check out the situation.

"Let's go the day after tomorrow."

If only they had boats, they could row along the sea, which would be much faster than walking.

"This is it. Look, like this, pry it open and put the meat inside into the bucket."

"You don't need to separate the meat inside this barnacle; just pry it off like this."

"understood."

Knowing that this person worked quickly, she took two more large wooden buckets, "so that when the small buckets are full, we can put them into the large wooden buckets."

A small wooden bucket is enough for oysters, but definitely not enough for barnacles.

Xia Ning was very happy to see him swiftly and skillfully slicing each one. She decided to make barnacle soup for dinner.

She carried the wooden bucket and continued strolling along the beach.

The large snails on the rocks nearby are all in her spatial storage. She only comes here to pick up a few leftovers during low tide each day.

She saw that there seemed to be several islands in the distance, and she needed to get a boat to return this time.

After strolling along the beach for an hour, it got hot, so they took Jiang Yi back.

"This time when we go out, we need to get some big fishing nets, and it would be best if we could get a boat."

The fishing nets were ruined by Jiang Yi after the cold snap. He cast fish everywhere, and several nets were riddled with holes, which she couldn't repair.

"Okay, I've bought the net, now I'll catch fish."

"Can you swim? And if you were in the water, would you drown?"

"I won't drown. I used to jump into the water to catch fish all the time."

That's good. She can swim too. Who knows how safe boats are these days? At least she won't drown if she can swim. Give her some time to grab something and save herself.

"Let's go."

The new house has nothing but a kitchen that looks like it was made of inferior materials.

"Where did you see a village last time?"

"On the right, cross two mountains."

Oh my god!

Another day of travel.

Hopefully, it won't be a deserted village.

"Xiao Ning, look, there's someone!"

After crossing a mountain, Jiang Yi saw figures moving around in the village.

"Are there many people?"

"Quite a bit."

That's just a normal village!

Xia Ning quickened her pace, wondering if this meant the place was safe.

The villagers became more alert when they saw the two strangers who had suddenly appeared.

"Who are you, and where did you come from?"

"Uncle, hello. We're from Mingzhou Prefecture. We fled here due to the drought. May I ask where this place is?"

Refugees from famine?

Is the famine outside really that severe?

Where is Ningzhou Prefecture located?

“This is Haicheng, which is also the border of the Great Xia Dynasty. Come with us to see the village chief.”

The village chief is knowledgeable and experienced; he would surely be able to detect if the person is a spy from another country.

Xia Ning gestured to Jiang Yi not to cause trouble and to obediently follow them.

The village chief's home.

"Gentlemen, do you have your household registration documents?"

"Yes, yes."

Xia Ning quickly took out her household registration book, along with the one from Old Xia's family. As for the travel permit, she indeed didn't have one.

“He doesn’t have it. I met him on the road. We encountered bad guys and barely escaped. Our families were separated. I still have his household registration certificate in the bag I’m carrying, but his doesn’t.”

Xia Ning was lying through her teeth.

The village chief nodded. If they were truly fleeing famine, the journey would certainly not be peaceful.

"Tell me about the situation in Ningzhou Prefecture and the various prefectures and cities along your route."

He knew about the drought; although it wasn't as severe in their area, they still experienced a poor harvest.

Despite the poor harvest, the government's tax revenue continued to increase. He went to the town to inquire and learned that other places were suffering from severe famine, and half of the Great Xia Dynasty's land had yielded no harvest.

Countless ordinary people starved to death.

However, few disaster victims come to them, probably because it's too far. After all, this place is already on the border.

"Are you aware of the plague outbreak in Zhao Prefecture?"

They had no drought, but a sudden flood struck. When the floodwaters receded, the dead poultry and human corpses were not burned in time. Hearing of the impending plague, their capital city, fearing its spread, had already closed and temporarily refused entry to outsiders.

Life is just too hard!