What If I Told You They Had a Reason for Buying So Much Grain?

Only after they had left did Lin Shouyi finally mock them:

"A bunch of ignorant fools, listening to that spirit medium's mystical nonsense all day long.

People in our village don't believe that stuff. Let's head back early!"

Listening to those words, Zhou Wanwan couldn't help wanting to laugh. The old woman thought that because she had been reborn, everything was under her control.

Unfortunately, for all her calculations, she had failed to account for Zhou Wanwan being a transmigrator.

In fact, the old woman wasn't a spirit medium at all. She relied on her rebirth to foresee the future, so she could often learn about things that would happen in her village in advance.

Then she found ways to use those events to make money and won the villagers' approval. Now the entire Zhou Family Village treated her with the utmost respect.

But she turned away everyone from other places who came to have their fortunes told.

In her previous life, the old woman had spent her whole life holed up in the village and knew only what happened there. If she were asked to predict events elsewhere, she wouldn't be able to say a thing.

Even so, the whole of Zhou Family Village now worshipped her.

Zhou Wanwan couldn't be bothered with the people of Zhou Family Village, much less waste her breath on them.

All she wanted now was to work hard and make money, so her family could survive the years of disaster in safety.

They soon returned to Wild Field Village. Its village chief, Lin Fugui, was waiting at the entrance with a group of villagers. He said:

"Oh! Brother, welcome to Wild Field Village! Do you still remember me?

If it hadn't been for you back then, my whole family would have been wiped out."

Zhou Fusheng hurriedly waved a hand. "I just lent a hand back then. It was nothing. You don't need to keep it on your mind."

Lin Fugui laughed heartily.

"Anyway, having you come to Wild Field Village is a blessing for us. We're not as superstitious as Zhou Family Village.

Make yourself at home here. If anything comes up, come find me. I'll help with anything I can."

Zhou Fusheng nodded at once. Even after returning to the courtyard, he still felt as if he were dreaming.

"Wife, do we really have a house of our own now? Quick, pinch me."

Liu Su'e gave him a hard pinch. He cried out, "Ow! I told you to pinch me, and you really did it! It hurts, it hurts..."

Liu Su'e burst out laughing.

"I feel like I'm dreaming too. We had nothing left.

But today we got a house, food, and even bought new clothes. Oh, it's all thanks to our daughter."

Liu Su'e pulled Zhou Wanwan into her arms. "Who says our Wanwan is a disaster star? She's clearly our family's great lucky star."

Wrapped in her arms, Zhou Wanwan felt especially warm. She smiled. "Mother, we'll have good days ahead."

Liu Su'e kissed her. "Mother will go make you something to eat. We're having flatbread today."

Liu Su'e was quite a good cook. She made some rice porridge and cooked eight flatbreads.

Zhou Wanwan ate one. It was a little salty and quite good.

Liu Su'e smiled.

"We still have four eggs. Each of you four can have one.

We finally get to eat eggs too. Before, our family never got a share of the eggs at home."

Zhou Wanwan looked at Liu Su'e. "Mother, is Grandma really our grandmother?"

Everyone in the family fell silent. Then Zhou Fusheng sighed and said:

"When I was little, I heard the village elders say I wasn't born into their family.

My father and mother fled here to escape disaster and entrusted me to them."

Zhou Wanwan looked at him. "What happened after that?"

"After that, my birth parents were hunted down and jumped off a cliff, so I stayed with the Zhou family." Zhou Fusheng sighed softly.

Liu Su'e sighed.

"That's why they treated your father like a slave all these years. So it's good that we've separated from them.

Things might be hard at first, but as long as we're willing to work hard, we'll manage to survive."

Meanwhile, when Zhou Fu'an's wife, Zhang Guilan, returned home, she began giving a vivid account of what had happened that day:

"They've gone to Wild Field Village next door now.

I saw them buy clothes, quilts, and lots of food."

Old Madam Zhou narrowed her eyes.

"Hmph! I knew Zhou Fusheng wasn't loyal to us. He's not really one of our family, after all.

We were right to drive them out. I never thought they'd been secretly hiding money."

Zhang Guilan said loudly, "That whole family is a bunch of disaster stars. I'd like to see what kind of good life they can have."

Old Madam Zhou looked at her. "Enough. Just mind yourself. Did you buy what I told you to this time?"

"Mother, I bought it. I got twenty jin of cornmeal and thirty jin of rice, but why does our family need to buy so much grain?" Zhang Guilan asked in a low voice.

"What the hell do you know? I already told you there'll be a locust plague and a drought. We need to store more water at home too.

Oh, and tell the people of Zhou Family Village to stock up on more grain and water as well," Old Madam Zhou said loudly.

Old Madam Zhou's word was now law in Zhou Family Village. As soon as she spoke, every household in the village began buying grain the next day, causing a great stir.

People in the surrounding villages all watched and laughed. "The people of Zhou Family Village are ridiculous! They're buying so much grain-how could they ever eat it all?"

"Exactly! I'm not buying any. Buy too much grain, and whatever you can't eat will go bad."

"Right, let's just wait and see them make fools of themselves!"

Zhou Wanwan had just reached the village entrance when she heard them gossiping. She turned straight around and went to find Lin Shouyi.

Lin Shouyi was eating breakfast. When he saw her, he handed her an egg. "Wanwan, what brings you here? You haven't had breakfast, have you? Have an egg first."

Zhou Wanwan took the egg and looked at him. "Uncle Shouyi, I heard the people of Zhou Family Village have started buying grain in large amounts. Did you know about that?"

Lin Shouyi laughed heartily. "It's all anyone outside is talking about. They say everyone in Zhou Family Village has lost their minds. I reckon all that grain will end up rotting in their homes."

Zhou Wanwan looked at him with the hint of a smile. "What if I told you they had a reason for buying grain like that?"

Lin Shouyi coughed and looked at her. "A reason? What reason could there be?"

Zhou Wanwan looked at him seriously.

"I'll only say this once. If you believe me, do as I say. If you don't, just pretend I never said it.

I heard my grandmother say there'll be a drought after a while, and it'll be very serious. That's why they've started stocking up on grain.

So it's up to you whether you stock up or not. I'm telling you this to thank you for helping our family so much yesterday."

Lin Shouyi froze. "You're saying there'll be a drought? How could that be? The rice is about to ripen. It's absolutely impossible."

Zhou Wanwan ate her egg as she said:

"If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do. If you want to gamble with the lives of so many people in Wild Field Village, there's even less I can do about it.

Oh, right. If you do buy grain, make sure you do it in secret!"