Transmigrated into a seven-year-old child, my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens.

After the woman's frantic persuasion, it wasn't long before it seemed that an agreement had been reached, and the woman came over.

"Girl, come with me." The woman wanted to take Zhaolian with her.

Zhao Lian pointed to Yan Guihua not far away: "By the way, Auntie, I have another request for you. Could you help me find a place for my family to settle down first?"

To everyone's surprise, the woman readily agreed and spread her hands, saying, "Okay, no problem! Add another 500 coins!"

As she spoke, she pointed in a direction: "When the time comes, just turn from here and you'll see a small village. Our home is under that big banyan tree. My name is Qing'e."

"Okay! I'll tell them!"

Zhao Lian turned around and greeted Yan Guihua and the others, telling them to settle down with Aunt Qing'e first, and that she would come back to pick them up later.

Hearing that Zhao Lian was going to the city, Yan Guihua was extremely worried: "Zhao Lian, I heard that there is a plague outbreak in the city. You can't go in. What will happen if something happens to you!"

"Grandma, don't worry, what could possibly happen to me?"

"Sister, you must not let your guard down. You have to be careful in everything you do," Zhao Di added, still concerned.

"Alright, second sister, you go with your maternal grandmother and the others. Only you have the time, so be careful in everything you do."

Zhao Di is rather carefree, and although she has some martial arts skills, Zhao Lian is still a little worried about her.

After speaking, Zhao Lian took out a few taels of silver from her bosom and handed it to Zhao Di when no one was looking.

After exchanging a few words with them, Zhao Lian followed Aunt Qing'e back: "Auntie, if you have any food, please get some for my grandmother and the others. Don't worry, the bill will be settled later."

"Okay, don't worry, I've got it covered." Aunt Qing'e patted her chest and assured her.

Although there has been drought in the past two years, the situation in Suizhou City is still much better than in other places, and some things can still be grown, although the harvest is indeed much less than in previous years.

Moreover, despite her young age, she could tell that this girl had some money.

These past few days she's been wandering around the city gate, hoping to make some extra money.

Aunt Qing'e led Zhao Lian to her nephew Ling Feng, then turned around and took Yan Guihua and the others home.

While Zhao Lian was talking to Yan Guihua and the others, Ling Feng had already spoken with the guards.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Ling Feng whispered a warning: "Miss, let me make this clear from the start: I'm only letting you in. Everything else is up to you. Don't blame me if you can't get out."

Zhao Lian's lips curled up: "Don't worry, if I want to come out, no one can stop me."

Ling Feng was completely baffled: "Miss, there's a plague outbreak inside, and everyone here wants to get out. Why do you still want to go in?"

In his view, going in was tantamount to suicide. He thought, "This girl is pretty and healthy, why would she be so foolish?"

Zhao Lian said coldly, "Don't meddle in things you shouldn't know. Just mind your own business."

Ling Feng was speechless after being rebuffed, and returned the household registration to Zhao Lian, letting her go in.

Suizhou City is quite large, and the streets are quite wide. The shops along the streets are dazzling, with all sorts of signs hanging up.

Normally, the city would be bustling with activity, but today Suizhou City looked rather deserted. Despite the sweltering heat, many people wore masks, covering their mouths and noses, and avoided anyone they saw.

Many shops were closed, and a number of people were sitting in front of them, looking listless and as if they were sick.

After looking around, Zhao Lian discovered that the pharmacy was the most popular shop, followed by the grain and oil shop.

Several restaurants have closed down, but a few small shops remain open in the alley.

As soon as the grain and oil shop opened, Zhao Lian went inside.

The shopkeeper of the grain and oil store was a middle-aged man, short and stout. When he saw Zhao Lian come in, he quickly put on a mask and asked through the counter, "Young lady, what would you like to order?"

Zhao Lian looked around. The grain and oil shop wasn't very big, and there wasn't much stock inside. There were no other customers in the shop besides herself.

Zhao Lian asked casually, "Shopkeeper, I wanted to ask when you close your shop? I have some errands to run and I was thinking of coming back later to buy some rice and flour."

The shopkeeper looked worried: "Miss, you'd better buy it soon, because I'll probably have to close soon. I probably won't be open tomorrow either, and I probably won't be able to open the day after tomorrow either."

Zhao Lian looked at the shopkeeper in astonishment: "Why isn't the shop open?"

“Young lady, you may not know this, but a plague has broken out in Suizhou City, and four out of the six members of my family have fallen ill.”

"Right now, it's just my wife and me holding on. I'm not feeling well today either, I guess I've caught it too."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lian quickly took two steps back. It seemed the plague was indeed true.

"Young lady, do you still want to buy grain? If not, I'm closing down. I need to go to the Jiming Pharmacy to the west to get medicine! There's a long line there, and the medicine will be sold out if I'm late."

Judging from the shopkeeper's weak and listless manner, he must be extremely uncomfortable.

"Okay, how much is your flour per pound? Give me 10 pounds of flour."

"50 coins per jin!"

At this time of year, it's about 50 coins per jin (1g), which is roughly the same price. Hearing this price, which is within Zhaolian's acceptable range, Zhaolian didn't haggle with him and directly let him weigh 10 jin of flour.

When paying the money, in order to avoid contact with Zhao Lian, the shopkeeper asked Zhao Lian to put the money on the counter.

Even through the counter, Zhao Lian could feel a wave of heat hitting her face, so she quickly took two steps back.

Zhao Lian couldn't help but ask subconsciously, "Shopkeeper, do you feel like your breath is hot right now?"

The shopkeeper blurted out, "How did you know?"

"You'd better see a doctor right away. It seems you're quite ill; you have a high fever right now." Zhao Lian, fearing she couldn't avoid the situation, quickly picked up the flour and turned to leave after saying this.

If I'm not mistaken, the shopkeeper has probably been infected too; it seems this plague is really raging.

Zhao Lian tried to avoid the cloth bag that the shopkeeper had touched earlier, picked up a rope, tied the flour together, and carried it on her back.

After leaving the grain and oil shop, Zhao Lian realized that she had forgotten to ask where the government office was. She walked along the road and asked an old lady for directions, but to her surprise, the old lady ran faster and faster when she spoke to her.

"Hey~ Auntie, Auntie~"

Zhao Lian was helpless. There were many people lying haphazardly on the street, and many shops were closed.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out ahead, and many people ran around telling each other: "Hurry up, everyone! There's free medicine at the Kangjian Pharmacy on the east side. Let's hurry, or it will be gone!"

Hearing this man's shout, the sick people who had just been treated suddenly perked up, and many of them started running eastward.