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

It was lunchtime, and the restaurant was quite crowded, with most people dressed in fine silks and satins. Zhao Lian and her companions, in their worn-out clothes, looked somewhat out of place.

Hearing the waiter's voice urging them to leave, many people looked over and saw several poorly dressed people walk in. Many people frowned and looked disgusted.

Seeing the disgusted looks on those people's faces, Sun Shangxiang felt uncomfortable all over and tugged at Zhaolian's sleeve: "Zhaolian, let's go out and eat some pancakes!"

"Haha~"

Sensing the malice of many around her, Zhao Lian sneered and unconsciously raised her voice: "Waiter, what kind of shop do you run?"

The waiter said impatiently, "Nonsense, anyone with eyes can see that we run a restaurant."

Zhao Lian raised an eyebrow and asked again, "Then what's the restaurant's purpose in keeping its doors open?"

The waiter rolled his eyes: "Is that even a question? Of course, it's for the guests to eat!"

Zhao Lian's lips curled up: "That's right, I came here to eat, why are you turning me away! Where's your manager? Quickly call your manager out!"

A middle-aged man who looked to be around 50 years old jogged over with a smile on his face: "Young lady, I am the restaurant owner. Are you here for a meal? Please come in."

"You're the manager? Perfect timing. I was hoping to come in for a meal, but your waiter seems to be turning us away. Never mind, let's go somewhere else." With that, Zhao Lian turned to leave.

The shopkeeper's eyes lit up: "Miss, miss, please wait."

The waiter muttered, "Boss, look at them, they're dressed in rags, where would they get the money to pay for their meal?"

The innkeeper glared at the waiter and shouted, "Shut up! If you try to kick us out again, pack your bags and get out of here. Now hurry up and serve some tea."

The waiter was terrified. He had worked there for so long and had never seen Manager Niu so angry. He quickly retreated without saying a word.

"Girl, please come this way."

Manager Niu gestured for them to proceed.

Zhao Lian raised an eyebrow: "Shopkeeper, aren't you afraid I won't have the money to pay the bill and will eat for free?"

"Hahaha~"

The shopkeeper laughed heartily: "Girl, you're definitely not that kind of person."

"What if I am?" Zhao Lian asked seriously.

Manager Niu readily agreed, "It's nothing, just consider it making friends. This meal is on me, young lady, this way please~"

Zhao Lian nodded to herself, realizing that the shopkeeper was quite straightforward.

Manager Niu led Zhao Lian and her group to an empty table in the corner and pointed to the menu on the wall: "Girls, see if there's anything suitable for you~"

There were more than 20 menus hanging on the wall, with the price marked after each dish, the cheapest being 50 coins per dish.

Zhao Lian took out five taels of silver and placed it on the table: "Shopkeeper, here are five taels of silver. Quickly bring us some of your shop's signature dishes."

The shopkeeper was overjoyed: "Miss, please wait a moment, it will be ready soon."

In less than half an hour, all the dishes were served. There were five dishes in total: sweet and sour pork ribs, stir-fried chicken with mushrooms, stewed pig's trotters with soybeans, braised lion's head meatballs, spicy cabbage, and a bowl of rice.

When the fragrant dishes were served, everyone was immediately stunned. They couldn't believe how long it had been since they had eaten such delicious food.

"Girl, take your time eating!"

After finishing his sentence, the shopkeeper smiled and stepped back, then grabbed the waiter and started scolding him. The waiter was so scared that he didn't dare to breathe.

"Such delicious food must have cost a lot of money, right?" Yan Guihua looked distressed again. This meal probably cost them several months' worth of food.

"Grandma, just eat what I'm told to eat. Don't worry about the money. Come on! Everyone, stop standing there and start eating!"

Hearing Zhao Lian say this, everyone stopped being polite and picked up their chopsticks to eat heartily.

"Mom, this chicken is so delicious!"

"Hmm, this pig's trotter is also good, it's stewed until very tender."

"Mom, I want to eat chicken stew with mushrooms."

Everyone enjoyed the meal; they hadn't been this happy in a long time. Towards the end, Liu Yan even drank the gravy, smacking his lips and saying, "It was so delicious!"

"Is it delicious? As long as it's delicious!" Zhao Lian picked her teeth with a bamboo skewer in her mouth while calling for the shopkeeper to come and settle the bill.

This meal cost a total of one tael and five mace of silver, which made Yan Guihua very distressed.

I was just saying that this meal would be enough to feed me for several months, but I never expected it to be so much more.

This tael and five mace of silver was enough to feed their large family of ten or so people for a year.

"Oh dear, everyone says that eating pancakes is enough, but this one meal cost nearly two taels of silver!" Yan Guihua grumbled.

It's true that you can't judge a book by its cover. This girl looks unremarkable, but she's surprisingly generous. This meal cost nearly two taels of silver, leaving the waiter speechless with astonishment.

"Squat down to the side, squat down to the side, we need to check your household registration!"

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves rang out outside, accompanied by shouts. A dozen or so officials rode up on horseback, brandishing whips, causing a commotion.

"Girls, you all should sit down quickly." Manager Niu looked flustered and hurriedly asked Zhao Lian and the others to sit down.

"Manager, what's going on with these people?" Zhao Lian asked, puzzled.

"Young lady, you may not know this, but many disaster victims have been coming in every day recently. The government has issued a notice that disaster victims passing through are not allowed to linger here."

"If I'm not mistaken, you're probably disaster victims passing through on your way to Hengnan Prefecture, right?"

Zhao Lian nodded: "That's right!"

The shopkeeper continued, "It's probably another four or five hundred li to Hengnan Prefecture. Take my advice: since you have money for food, why not buy a few carriages? They'll provide shelter from the wind and rain and get you to your destination faster, so you can get a better place then."

"Thank you for the reminder, shopkeeper."

"Girls, you should wait until the soldiers outside have left before you go out."

Seeing Zhao Lian's puzzled expression, the shopkeeper quickly explained.

It turned out that these officials were responsible for driving away the disaster victims and preventing them from staying in the county town for too long.

If Zhaolian were to go out now, she would definitely be driven away by them.

About half an hour later, the officials outside finally left, and Zhao Lian and her party came out.

The shopkeeper's suggestion was good, and Zhao Lian was also planning to do so.

Zhao Lian took out a hundred taels of silver notes and handed them to Liu Jinzhu: "Uncle, Second Uncle, Third Uncle, let's split up. You guys go buy three carriages, and my aunt and I will go buy a few sets of clothes."

“Grandma and grandpa are staying here with the children. We’ll meet up here later.”

Holding that light one-hundred-tael silver note in his hand, Liu Jinzhu felt as if he were holding a thousand-pound weight.

Good heavens! This is a hundred taels of silver note! He has never seen such a large amount of money in his life!

Liu Jinzhu mumbled, "Zhaolian, we've already walked all this way, why don't we just walk? It'll save us a lot of money."

Zhao Lian retorted without further ado, "How can that be the same? Before, we walked because we had no other choice, but now it's different. Now we have everything. Money is earned to be spent."

The shopkeeper is right. If we arrive early, we might be able to get a better village, so we can't skimp on this money.

In the end, everyone split up. The brothers went to buy a carriage, while Zhao Lian and Sister Sun Shangxiang went to buy clothes. The elderly and children stayed behind to wait for them.