Chapter 36: I Have an Idea

Daya untied one leg of her chicken, tethering the other end of the string to the cart. The four hens flapped and jumped down, but restricted by the rope, could only circle around the spot.

She threw them some freshly gathered, still-green grass, but the hens were unappreciative and didn’t touch it.

Li Xuemei, who was cooking porridge, saw this and pulled a handful of wheat straw, chopping it finely. Then she fetched some coarse flour, sifted it quickly, and gathered the bran that fell through into a pile, mixing it with the chopped straw and dumping it on the ground.

The hens were delighted and started pecking away.

The aroma of cooking brown rice slowly filled the air.

Yan Yu smelled it, and her stomach started growling, demanding food.

She climbed down from the top bunk, nimble as a little monkey.

“Daya-jie, come help me,” Yan Yu said, trying to lift the small table down from the cart.

She herself carried the matching small bench.

Once everything was set up, Yan Yu sat upright, waiting to eat.

Table, bench, and a proper meal setup.

The surrounding villagers looked over with envy.

Every family in the village grew wheat and mostly ate noodles. Rice had to be bought from the Grain Store and was a rare treat throughout the year.

And cooking porridge? That used a lot of water—they couldn’t bear the waste.

Not to mention the ceramic pot—so refined.

Still, none felt resentful. In the honest hearts of these villagers, a scholar’s family should naturally live and eat better.

The hot porridge went down, and Yan Yu closed her eyes in bliss.

Li Xuemei had prepared a small dish of pickled vegetables. Yan Yu picked a strip, eating a mouthful of porridge and a bite of pickle, savoring every bite.

Yan Lao’er let Eldest Nephew eat first while he went to call Old Yan.

Yan Huaiwen was busy talking to the villagers about taking turns riding in the carts.

Village Chief Luo was the first to respond, “We’re not so old we can’t move. We can keep up.”

“We’re strong, no need to rest. Walking three shichen a day (6hr), and not even all at once, that’s totally doable.”

“Yeah, Scholar, we’re fine. Let the old folks, kids, and women ride more.”

Yan Lao’er arrived just in time to hear the villagers all chiming in, insisting they could walk and didn’t need to sit.

“You folks don’t know what’s good for you. My brother’s worried you’ll wear yourselves out, and here you are refusing to ride.” Yan Lao’er squeezed into the circle, pointing randomly at people. “You, you, and you—look at you, all skin and bones. Under this blazing sun, what if you faint? Then what?”

“Brother, you go eat. I’ll talk to them,” Yan Lao’er pushed his brother away and started some plain-spoken persuasion.

“Why three meals a day? If you don’t eat and only walk, how’s your body gonna hold up? One day, two days might be fine, but long-term? Same old story—when you collapse, who’s responsible? When you go down, who’s gonna look after your wives, mothers, and kids?

Without good health, when our food runs out, who’s going to forage? Got the energy? And later, if some bad people come to rob us, and you’re all as weak as sticks, what then? Just sit and watch them take our stuff?”

Village Chief Luo nodded repeatedly, “That’s true. Those people are heartless. Can’t find food, so they’ll rob others.”

Yan Lao’er continued, “You’re all worried about saving a bit of grain, but how much can you save from your mouths? Even if you starve yourselves, that little bit won’t feed your families all the way to Guanzhou. Better to build your strength, then we can all head into the woods or mountains, hunt wild chickens, catch rabbits, fish in the rivers—have some backbone, stop just looking at what’s right in front of you.”

“What? Yan Lao’er, where are these wild chickens, rabbits, and rivers? Where exactly?”

“Just follow me. Once we’re out of this dry area, there’ll be plenty.”

“Alright, we’ll listen to you—three meals a day, build strength.”

Yan Lao’er: “Same logic for the cart rotations. Sure, we’re men, but we’re not made of iron. Why can’t we rest too?

Old folks, kids, and women are weaker, but they should still walk a bit every day. Sitting all day isn’t good either. No movement invites sickness.”

“Heh, well, we’ll ride just a little then, just a bit. But if we’re on the cart, who’s pushing our family’s handcart?”

“I’ll make arrangements for that later,” Yan Lao’er realized he hadn’t thought of this. “All your families brought handcarts?”

“Pretty much. Even though the village has six carts, there’s not much room for both people and stuff. Our household goods and newly milled flour all had to be pushed.”

Yan Huaiwen heard his brother’s words but wasn’t concerned.

“We’ve only just left the village, so every family has a lot. After some time on the road, there’ll be less. The useless and heavy handcarts will naturally get abandoned.”

Yan Yu exchanged a secret look with her parents.

After breakfast, Daya-jie tidied up.

Yan Yu pulled her mother and dragged her father aside, saying they needed to handle something big.

The three found a secluded spot and spoke in hushed voices.

“Dad, Mom, it’s not just those handcarts—I’ve noticed every family’s cooking stuff is also heavily duplicated. This morning they only used one pot, taking turns to cook.

If what Uncle said is true, and later they find these things useless and toss them, why don’t we sell them on the Platform in exchange for food?”

Li Xuemei said, “Nice idea, but if things vanish after coming to us, the villagers will definitely get suspicious.”

“To legitimize trading on the Platform, I’ve thought of a method—not sure if it’ll work,” Yan Yu said, her idea still vague.

“What method?” Yan Lao’er trusted his daughter more. She read a lot and had a quick mind, becoming more and more resourceful.

“Dad, have you shown Sanbao the route map? Did it memorize it? Can it lead us?”

Yan Yu suddenly changed the subject.

Yan Lao’er was confused. How did the topic jump to Sanbao now?

“It should’ve memorized it. I asked it several times, and it kept nodding.” He didn’t just ask if Sanbao remembered—he asked if Sanbao could lead them along the shortest route. Sanbao didn’t hesitate, nodding repeatedly.

“So that means, not only can we rely on Sanbao for directions, we can also use it to find nearby villages.”

Yan Yu spoke faster and faster: “We’re carrying items every household uses. If we pull up right at their doorstep, it’s like being traveling peddlers, swapping stuff for food and supplies.

The point isn’t what we trade or whether it’s a fair deal—the goal is to keep these items circulating…

Best if Dad handles the transactions. We’ll act normal on the surface, and just mix a bit in every two weeks or so. The villagers won’t notice. They can’t even count clearly.”

Yan Lao’er: You’re just taking advantage of their bad math.

Still, though this plan was a bit convoluted, if they were careful, it did seem pretty safe.

“How can we control the timing, trading with a village every half month?” Li Xuemei pointed out a flaw.

“That depends on the situation. This is just a preliminary idea.” Yan Yu shrugged—she wasn’t all-knowing, couldn’t calculate everything.

(End of Chapter)