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

As the sun set in the evening, Zhao Lian appeared in a small village outside the eastern suburbs.

Standing under the big banyan tree at the entrance of the village, the nearest mud-brick houses are all more than 100 meters away.

The village is small, with only about twenty or thirty households, all living in mud-brick houses built against the mountainside.

She remembered that Aunt Qing'e had said that her home was not far from the big banyan tree. Zhao Lian looked around and saw several thatched huts about ten meters away from the banyan tree, which looked like cowsheds.

Suddenly, she seemed to hear Liu Yao's voice.

Zhao Lianxin's heart skipped a beat. Could this thatched hut be Aunt Qing'e's house? Just as she was about to move over, several elderly women walked towards her, carrying hoes, seemingly having just come from the fields.

The two older women looked Zhao Lian up and down: "Young lady, you don't look like you're from this village. Are you just passing by?"

Another old woman chimed in, "No doubt about it, I bet they're refugees. We've seen a lot of people like that in our village lately."

Zhao Lian bowed and asked, "Auntie, where does Aunt Qing'e live?"

"Qing'e~"

One of the older women had a strange expression on her face as she looked Zhao Lian up and down.

"Girl, that thatched hut in front of you is it!"

After the two women finished speaking, they walked past her into the village. She could vaguely hear them lowering their voices, their tone full of complaints.

"If you ask me, that stinky old woman Qing'e always brings shady characters into the village. If anything happens in our village, it'll probably be her fault."

"That's right. We just saw off a group of people yesterday, and another group came today. This cowshed is really useful. Don't blame them, they know how to make money. These days, their wallets are still bulging!"

"Tch, isn't it just because her son and nephew are yamen runners in Suizhou Prefecture that the village chief is on her side!"

"Shh~ You two keep your voices down, don't let her hear you. Let's go, let's not meddle in other people's business..."

It seems that Aunt Qing'e has offended many people in the village.

Zhao Lian looked at the straw shed next to her; she had just heard them say that it was a cowshed.

Hehe...

Before Zhao Lian even got close, she heard laughter and rhythmic jumping sounds.

Just as they were wondering, they heard Zheng Xiuzhen's voice again: "Look at all the sweat you're wearing. You've just recovered from being sick. Go and rest for a while."

Zhao Lian quickened her pace and went around to the front of the thatched shed. There, several children were jumping rope and having a great time.

Several hemp ropes were tied between the thatched huts, and a lot of freshly washed clothes were drying on them, all of which were clothes that everyone had just changed out of.

"Cousin, third cousin is back!"

Liu Yao, with her sharp eyes, spotted Zhao Lian immediately and quickly stopped.

Hearing that Zhaolian had returned, everyone came out. Seeing that Zhaolian was alright, Yan Guihua was immediately relieved.

"It'll be good to come back, it'll be good to come back."

"Grandmother, look what good things I brought you! These were all given to me by my godfather!" Zhao Lian said proudly, waving the oil paper bag in her hand and handing it to Yan Guihua. She then took off the rice and flour from her back.

"My God, this...this is meat!" Yan Guihua couldn't contain her excitement and her words became incoherent.

“Mother, there’s still rice and flour here! This was all given to us by the Prefect.” Zheng Xiuzhen and Sun Shangxiang each took a bag.

"We're all thanks to Zhaolian! We actually got to eat the food given by the Prefect!" Yan Guihua grinned from ear to ear.

Liu Yao jumped up excitedly: "Great! We'll have meat for dinner tonight!"

There are three cowsheds here. They are called cowsheds, but they are actually just straw sheds. They are quite clean inside, covered with a thick layer of straw, and surrounded by thick straw mats. There are wooden boards nailed inside so they won't get wet when it rains.

"Grandmother, did Aunt Qing'e give you any food?" Zhao Lian asked quickly, worried that they might be hungry.

Yan Guihua smiled and said, "We've eaten, we've had millet porridge. Otherwise, how would they have the energy to jump rope?"

After looking around, they couldn't find Liu Jinzhu and the others. Upon asking, they learned that they had gone out to pick wild vegetables. They were worried that it wouldn't be safe for Zheng Xiuzhen and the other women to go out, so the brothers went out on their own.

Just then, Liu Yinzhu returned, his voice preceding him: "Wife, look how many wild vegetables we picked today. This is so much better than our hometown, we have everything here."

"Oh~ Zhaolian, you're back!" Liu Tongzhu said happily.

The brothers had a good harvest. Liu Tongzhu and Liu Yinzhu each carried a bundle of wild vegetables, while Liu Jinzhu carried several large frogs.

Sun Shangxiang rushed forward, her face full of excitement: "Dad, you're really amazing! You even caught a frog! We're in for a treat tonight! Zhaolian also brought back two pieces of meat, and there's rice and noodles too!"

Liu Jinzhu breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that Zhaolian had returned.

Sun Shangxiang and her three sisters-in-law took the items and quickly prepared dinner.

Between the three thatched huts, there is another thatched hut. This hut is well-ventilated on all sides, and there is a mud stove underneath. This is the kitchen.

Sun Shangxiang has not eaten rice for a long time, so she plans to cook rice for this meal.

The frogs were still alive. Sun Shangxiang took a hemp rope, tied one of the frog's legs, and tied it to the side of the table, intending to save it for tomorrow to eat.

The pork was marbled with fat and lean meat, and the two pieces together weighed a full four pounds.

Sun Shangxiang chopped it all up, put it in the pan and stir-fried it until the oil was released, then scooped up the oil and the remaining pork cracklings, which could be saved to stir-fry wild vegetables later.

It had been so long since anyone had eaten pork. The aroma of simmering meat filling the air made everyone's mouths water.

Liu Yao and Liu Yan stood around the stove, looking on pitifully.

"Yaoyao, Liu Yan, look at you two, you're practically drooling. Wipe your drool."

Seeing the two of them staring intently at the meat in the pot, their mouths practically watering, Sun Shangxiang couldn't help but tease them.

Liu Yan believed it to be true and raised his sleeve to wipe his chin, which made everyone burst into laughter.

Sun Shangxiang put a piece of meat on each of their plates. The two of them smiled broadly as they received the meat and happily skipped away.

Although Da Ni and Jia Ye were a few years older, they were still like big kids. Watching Liu Yao and the other two eat meat, they swallowed hard.

"Da Ni, Jia Ye, come and get the meat too." Zheng Xiuzhen beckoned them over.

Da Ni pursed her lips, blinked her big eyes, and shook her head: "Second Aunt, we'll eat it when we have dinner later."

"Second Auntie doesn't know if there's enough salt. You try it. Here, Jia Ye, try a piece too." With that, Zheng Xiuzhen put a piece of meat on each of their plates.

Da Ni and Jia Ye's eyes lit up as they grabbed the meat and stuffed it into their mouths.

"Mmm, it smells so good!"

Jia Ye sucked on his fingers, looking like he wanted more.

"Wow, it smells so good! What are you cooking?"

Aunt Qing'e was holding a cloth bag. She sniffed it, and her eyes lit up as she walked over.

"Wow, you're actually cooking meat!" Aunt Qing'e's eyes widened in surprise.

"Auntie, is something the matter?"

Zhao Lian suddenly appeared behind Aunt Qing'e, startling her.