Chapter 145: A Good Official If Not Corrupt

Yan Yu: “Mom, why are you so serious? Just praise Dad a little.”

“I feel nauseous just smelling it…” Li Xuemei said weakly.

“No more praising! Mom, let’s move farther away.” Yan Yu flipped over, propped herself up with both hands, and helped her mother move away from the ox cart loaded with horse meat.

Li Xuemei took deep breaths for a long time before she felt better. Looking up at the sky, she asked, “Still no movement?”

Yan Yu knew she was referring to the platform.

She shook her head, feeling down.

“Dad got so much meat. If the platform doesn’t open, what are we going to do?!”

Li Xuemei nodded. “Yeah, we don’t have much salt left.”

“Did your uncle say what time we’re leaving tomorrow?”

Yan Yu answered, “Second quarter of the Yin Hour, which is 4:30 AM. If there hadn’t been so much to do today, and if everyone weren’t exhausted, we probably would’ve left even earlier.”

“Mom, here, eat if you’re hungry.” Yan Yu took out two eggs and handed them to Li Xuemei.

Li Xuemei sniffed them and caught a strong medicinal scent.

Yan Yu chuckled. “I boiled them while making medicine. Don’t worry, Dad cleaned them before putting them in. No chicken poop in the medicine pot!”

Li Xuemei: …

She calmly cracked the eggshell and peeled it slowly.

“Even if there were, I’m not the one drinking it.”

Yan Yu: That makes so much sense.

“Where’s your uncle?” Li Xuemei asked.

“Uncle took Big Brother to check on the wounded. Uncle Song’s injuries were terrifying. Uncle Cui said if the bamboo crossbow hadn’t blocked the attack, a single elbow strike to the chin could’ve been fatal. As it is, he just dislocated his jaw, which is already lucky.”

“Grandpa An said even without water, they can still get the bloodstains out of the clothes. Sister Da Ya took Dad and Uncle’s dirty clothes to clean them. They just left not too long ago, so it’ll be a while before they’re back.”

Li Xuemei finished peeling the egg and ate it in small bites.

After she was done, Yan Yu handed her a small bamboo flask.

Li Xuemei drank two sips, then stuffed the remaining egg into her daughter’s hand.

“I’m full. You eat this one.”

Yan Yu shook her head like a drum and shoved it back.

“Mom, we ate on the way. You were asleep, so we didn’t wake you. I even had some of Sister Fairy’s dried snake meat.” She lowered her voice.

There weren’t many pieces, and they were precious rations. She wouldn’t have touched them under normal circumstances. But today was special—she was worried she wouldn’t last until midnight.

Looking at the main group, except for the night guards and those still working, most had already collapsed into deep sleep, snoring loudly.

Everyone was exhausted.

Li Xuemei said, “Go take a nap. I just woke up, so I’m not sleepy. I’ll wake you when it’s time.”

Yan Yu thought for a moment and didn’t insist.

Even after eating the dried snake meat, she still felt drowsy. Since they had to leave so early tomorrow, she knew her child-sized body wouldn’t last without enough rest.

—

The Yan family gradually returned to rest.

Yan Lao’er was still busy.

He took Sanbao outside for a walk—officially to let him graze, but in reality, to get him to spit some water so he could wash his head, face, and hands.

Pulling out arrows during the day had been messy business…

By the time he returned, cleaned up, everyone else had already fallen into deep sleep—except for his wife.

The couple sat by the fire. Yan Lao’er wiped down iron arrows with strands of grass, while Li Xuemei examined the notebook their daughter had written in.

It contained a newly planned route they had discussed.

“This route—are you sure there’s water?” Li Xuemei asked softly.

Yan Lao’er answered just as quietly, “This is the route we showed Old Yan. There will be deviations when we actually travel. Mao Mao, Sanbao, and I have all confirmed—these two places have water sources. We can avoid bandits and find water. It serves both purposes.”

Li Xuemei nodded, staying silent for a long while before saying softly, “Our daughter… killed someone today.”

The firelight flickered across her face, casting shadows in her sorrowful eyes.

Yan Lao’er tried to lighten the mood. “The three of us—our whole family—stood together and wiped out evil! We’re heroes!”

Seeing Li Xuemei remain silent, Yan Lao’er sighed. “You don’t know what Old Yan said today…”

He explained the harsh reality of this book world to his wife.

Li Xuemei’s expression shifted with his words.

“…So, we should be grateful that Xiao Yu isn’t actually a child. She’s mature and adapted quickly.” Yan Lao’er was genuinely proud of his daughter.

Li Xuemei murmured, “This kind of world… doesn’t allow children to stay innocent. Now that I think about it, her little ‘children’s army’ playtime almost seemed like foresight… Natural disasters, human catastrophes—we never expected to end up in such a world.”

“Honey, don’t dwell on it. This is nothing! Even back in our country, disasters happen every year—floods, typhoons, earthquakes… This place gets flooded, that place suffers drought. Before we came here, we wore masks for over two years! So what? We stood united and fought through!

“Hardships can’t defeat us!

“We push them down and trample over them!”

Yan Lao’er clenched his fists, as if seeing the word “HARDSHIP” written before him, ready to beat it to the ground and stomp on it.

“Helping fellow countrymen away from home, overcoming difficulties together…” Li Xuemei murmured. “Yes, that’s what they say…”

“But not every country is like Xia Country!” A light gathered in Li Xuemei’s eyes, growing brighter.

“If we endure for a few years, Old Yan will make a good official.” Yan Lao’er had confidence in his older brother.

Li Xuemei suddenly smiled as she looked at her husband, now young again.

She thought: You match this youthful appearance much better.

“After the scholar exam is the provincial exam. Only after passing that can he go to the capital for the imperial exam. If he passes that, he’ll become an official—but at a low rank, starting from the bottom…”

She briefly explained the process.

“You said Old Yan will be a good official. This dynasty seems poor—if an official doesn’t take bribes and only relies on salary, it’ll be hard to build a solid foundation.

“Our daughter keeps talking about clinging to a big thigh… lying flat… continuing to be a salted fish… That’s too unrealistic. We can listen, but we can’t take it seriously. We still need to make money to prepare for anything.

“Having food in hand means having peace of mind. We need to stockpile more grain.

“I was overthinking before—worried that buying too much from the platform would attract suspicion. But compared to the uncertainties of the future, this risk is worth taking.”

Yan Lao’er nodded repeatedly, but then shook his head.

“No, no, we really can’t buy more. Our cart is already full—grain, meat, everything. We have enough to reach Guanzhou.”

“Not now. I mean after we settle down. We should stock up on everything from the platform.”

Li Xuemei seemed to make a big decision.

“And… we have so much horse meat. If we trade it, no one will notice if some goes missing…”