Really, Thanks to the Nie Family

Zhou Wanwan quickly waved her hand and said:

"Isn't it Lord Shen who came to see me? He insisted that I wasn't eating well here and had to bring me food."

"I'm so embarrassed. Look at all this seafood, we can't possibly finish it all, it's such a waste."

Lord Nie looked at the seafood and said, "Since we can't finish it all, why don't we..."

Zhou Wanwan thought for a moment and said, "Lord Shen, why don't we take this seafood back with us? Yunshu will definitely like it."

Shen Congrong quickly nodded and said, "Yes, yes, my Yunshu loves seafood the most, and so does my wife, she especially loves... seafood."

Zhou Wanwan nodded and said:

"Brother, you guys should pack all this seafood and take it home!"

Also, please take this seafood back with you, and please send this wine back to Lord Shen as well!

Let's take these fruits back with us!

There was just too much fruit and seafood on Zhou Wanwan's side. She's just a child; how could she possibly eat so much?

Nie Shi'an looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "Good, very good. I've seen it for myself."

Zhou Wanwan didn't understand what Nie Shi'an was talking about; she wasn't familiar with him!

Nie Shi'an put down his dinner and said:

It seems you don't need to eat dinner.

From now on, we will no longer provide you with three meals a day. You'll have to figure out how to take care of your own meals!

You seem pretty impressive!

After Nie Shi'an left, Zhou Wanwan opened the food box and was speechless. "They gave me a few steamed buns and a bowl of porridge. I thought it would be a fancy dinner! Thank you so much, Nie Family."

We'll continue moving tonight. I don't know how many houses the Nie Family owns, or when we'll finish moving them all.

This is all the hobbies Zhou Wanwan has left.

Nie Shi'an returned to his room, angrily saying, "That Zhou Wanwan is really our nemesis! She actually had a barbecue in the backyard. I'm getting angrier and angrier the more I think about it."

Madam Nie looked at him and said, "Shi'an, why don't we let her go? I always feel there's something strange about this child."

Nie Shi'an sneered:

"We haven't even figured out what happened with the sweet potatoes yet! How can we let her leave?"

Actually, I deliberately detained her so that if things didn't go well with the sweet potato, I could pin the blame on her.

But if the sweet potato project succeeds, it will be a great achievement, and I'll be promoted and ennobled in no time."

Madam Nie looked at him and said:

"You're quite the schemer, but that's true."

If these sweet potatoes could really yield several thousand kilograms per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.165 acres), our family would be rich!

Nie Shi'an looked at her and said:

"You know what I'm planning now, right? This is a two-pronged approach."

So don't make things difficult for Zhou Wanwan lately; instead, show her some care and concern.

When that time comes, she'll be one of us. If the sweet potatoes really can yield several thousand kilograms per mu, then you can take her in as your goddaughter.

"How come all the credit has fallen to our Nie Family?"

Madam Nie quickly nodded and said, "Husband, you're really good at planning! Let's do it that way!"

"Then there's no need to send her three meals a day. That little rascal is very clever; she'll have to go hungry."

"I've also sent several hundred men to patrol the area. There will definitely be no more bandits tonight." Nie Shi'an also began to follow Shen Congrong's old path.

He was really desperate and anxious. His house was frequently going missing, which wasn't a solution either.

The Nie Family is indeed wealthy, but even they can't stand having a house emptied out in a single day.

Just as Zhou Wanwan was about to go to sleep, she heard the Old Scholar Tree outside say, "There are more and more disaster victims outside now, and the price of food has skyrocketed. I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for long."

It hasn't rained lately, Zhou Wanwan got up and said, "We're not afraid of our mountain stronghold, but what about the people?"

The Old Scholar Tree sighed and said:

"Many ordinary people outside are now struggling to make ends meet."

Many people are going into the mountains to dig for wild vegetables, grass roots, and tree bark to eat; this is just the beginning.

This is only the first year of the famine. What will happen to the people if it lasts until the third year, or even longer?

Zhou Wanwan closed her eyes. She remembered that the longest drought in history lasted for seven years.

Great Chongzhen Drought, a severe drought struck, with crops withering and no grass growing. Locust plagues Shrouding the Heavens the sky, leaving nothing but barren land in their wake.

Tree bark, grass roots, and clay were all consumed; cannibalism became commonplace.

In a normal year, a dou (a unit of dry measure) of rice cost ten qian (a unit of currency), while in a year of famine, a dou of rice cost a thousand qian (a unit of currency) and a shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice cost five liang (a unit of weight). The price could rise to 60 times the normal amount, and a person's life savings could not buy more than a few dou of grain.

First came the drought, then the locust plague, and finally the plague broke out in succession.

A major plague swept North China, killing more than 30% of the population in Beijing, leaving nine out of ten houses empty, and even the imperial palace was infected.

How similar is the current situation to the Great Chongzhen Drought?

Zhou Wanwan really couldn't sleep. She got up, went into the yard, looked up at the starry sky, and said, "What should we do if it really comes to that?"

The Old Scholar Tree looked at her and said, "Wanwan, why think so much? Just take it one step at a time."

Zhou Wanwan thought for a moment and said:

"Uncle Scholar Tree, will you take me outside the city to have a look?"

I'm quite curious, what has become of the area outside the city?

The Old Scholar Tree looked at her and said, "Then let's go take a look now!"

The Old Scholar Tree placed Zhou Wanwan on its trunk, and the two quickly left the city.

The city is relatively safe now; there's absolutely no sign of any problem.

All the disaster victims were driven out of the city.

The Old Scholar Tree led her to the outskirts of the city, where they saw a huge camp filled with refugees. The vast camp stretched as far as the eye could see.

Numbness and despair were all that remained on everyone's face; their eyes were sunken, their cheekbones were high and prominent, and they even walked unsteadily.

Just then, a chaotic tearing sound suddenly rang out.

There was a woman in tattered clothes, tightly holding a baby in her arms.

Five starving people surrounded her, their eyes gleaming with near-madness, and reached out to snatch the child.

The woman trembled with fear, desperately protecting the baby in her arms as she pleaded, "Don't take it... please don't take it! This is my child, only two months old..."

But those people were starving. "Hand over the child you're holding, and we'll spare your life."

"You can have many more children in the future, so what's one child? Hand it over now!"

The woman shook her head desperately, her eyes filled with despair.

"He's so young, he's practically skin and bones... Big brother, second brother, please let him go!"

I've kowtowed to you, please, please spare my child! Husband, say something! This is your child too!

The man looked at her and said:

"Give the child to them! You can exchange it for a piece of meat later. If you can't bear to eat your own child, then exchange it."

We haven't eaten for days! If this continues, we'll all starve to death!

The woman held the child and laughed heartily, tears streaming down her face.

"Hahahaha... This was born from my belly, it's my child."

Why did you take him away? What right do you have?

The man roared, "Because I'm his father, elder brothers, I'll hold her down, and you can take the child away!"