Shen Qingwan entered the mule cart and glanced at the three children.

The carriage was stiflingly hot, and the children lay inside, listless from the heat.

When they saw Shen Qingwan come in, Xiao Chen immediately clung to her and whined, “Mother, I’m thirsty. I want some water.”

Shen Qingwan took a water pouch from her waist and handed it to him. “We still have plenty of water. You three don’t need to save it—drink when you’re thirsty.”

The three little ones nodded, then each took a few sips.

Xiao Chen was sweating profusely and nestled against Shen Qingwan, unwilling to move away.

“Mother, I’m hungry,” he said, a little embarrassed, glancing at his growling stomach.

Xiao Yu and Xiao Juan were also hungry.

The dried meat in the carriage had long been eaten, and even the flatbreads were gone.

Shen Qingwan patted Xiao Chen’s head and pulled out three steaming meat buns from her arms, handing them to the children.

The moment they saw the buns, their eyes widened in astonishment.

Fortunately, Shen Qingwan quickly made a silencing gesture, and the children immediately covered their mouths to keep from exclaiming in surprise.

As they focused on eating, Shen Qingwan took out a bowl of wolf meat from behind her.

The children were shocked speechless.

“Wow, Mother, you’re amazing!”

To Xiao Chen, it was as if his mother had performed magic, producing so much delicious food out of nowhere.

His admiration for her deepened. Xiao Yu didn’t see where Shen Qingwan had taken out the wolf meat from, but having meat to eat was enough to make her happy.

“I bought these buns for you when we were in town,” Shen Qingwan explained. “There’s still a lot of wolf meat left—enough for you all to eat. But you must not let anyone see, understand? The food I give you must be kept secret. Otherwise, bad people will come and take it from us.”

She spoke seriously, trying to instill caution in the children.

Xiao Juan and Xiao Yu were only eight years old.

Although they were already capable of helping with chores, they were still just children and easily convinced.

Lately, she had been giving them more food, so she worried they might slip up and say something.

“Aunt, does that mean we can’t tell our parents either?” Xiao Juan asked as she chewed on her bun, tilting her head curiously.

Shen Qingwan nodded. “Yes, not even your parents. If they find out we’re secretly eating, they’ll get angry.”

She then took out three boxes of pure milk, handing them to each child.

She didn’t like drinking milk herself, so she had plenty stored away.

Xiao Chen and Xiao Yu had already had it a few times and were familiar with how to drink it.

Even Xiao Juan had learned how to poke the straw into the carton after trying it twice.

Once they finished, Shen Qingwan collected the empty cartons before stepping out of the mule cart.

Outside, Old Man Lu could smell the aroma of meat even through the curtain, so he knew Shen Qingwan had been inside giving the children extra food.

Seeing her take care of the children warmed his heart.

As they traveled, the villagers grew gaunt from hunger, their children reduced to skin and bones.

But Shen Qingwan’s three little ones had rosy cheeks and had even gained weight.

It was all thanks to Shen Qingwan.

Old Man Lu had no idea how much food she had stored in the cart, nor did he ask.

She hadn’t mistreated them, and for that, he was grateful.

When Shen Qingwan stepped out, Old Lady Lu tugged on her sleeve and whispered, “We don’t have much grain left. You shouldn’t spoil the children too much. The smell of meat carries far—if the wrong people catch wind of it, we’ll have trouble.”

“I understand, Mother,” Shen Qingwan reassured her. “That wolf meat is just leftovers from before. Most of the villagers still have some. Don’t worry, once we reach the next town, we can buy more grain.”

The other villagers had dried their wolf meat into jerky since the heat made it impossible to store fresh meat.

But Shen Qingwan had stored hers in a special space, so when she took it out, it was still steaming hot, which was why the scent was so strong.

She didn’t want the children—or herself—to go hungry.

But people had been following them along the way, so even though she had plenty of food in her storage, she could only let the children eat secretly in the mule cart.

She was aware of the village’s dire shortage of food and water, but she couldn’t reveal too much at once. Otherwise, suspicion would arise.

She was willing to help, but she wasn’t going to sacrifice herself for the village. Her priority was ensuring their safe arrival in Suzhou—not feeding them all along the way.

She wouldn’t watch them starve, but she would only step in when absolutely necessary.

After all, the saying goes: “Give a person a grain of rice, and they’ll be grateful. Give them a bucket, and they’ll resent you.”

She had no intention of making enemies.

By sundown, they stopped by the roadside to rest for the night.

Further up the road, another group of refugees had also settled down, but the villagers chose not to mingle with them.

No one knew if those people carried disease, so the village chief was extra cautious.

While everyone rested, Shen Qingwan approached the village chief and offered to sell water at ten coins per jug.

She wasn’t trying to make a profit—just ensuring that only those truly in need would buy it. If she gave it away for free, even those who still had water would come and take it.

Some people were grateful, but others accused her of being heartless and profiting from their misery. Shen Qingwan didn’t bother explaining, but the village chief couldn’t stand it.

“If you think ten coins per jug is too expensive, don’t buy it,” he said coldly. “If you have water, sell it for ten coins yourself. Many people would gladly pay for it. Compared to your life, what is ten coins? Water doesn’t fall from the sky—you should be thankful you can still buy it at all.”

He wasn’t stupid—he knew Shen Qingwan wasn’t in it for the money.

She likely didn’t have unlimited water herself and was only selling it to prevent waste.

If someone was truly dying of thirst, ten coins would be a small price to pay.

“I-I’ll take a jug,” Er Lengzi said, stepping forward with his money.

Soon, others followed, paying for water one by one.

Shen Qingwan let Old Man Lu collect the money while Lu Wenguang filled the jugs.

Old Lady Lu, though happy to make money, worried about their own supply.

“Daughter-in-law, we don’t have that much water left. If you sell it all, what will we drink?”

Shen Qingwan led her to the mule cart and showed her several large water jars beneath it. “Mother, these jars are still half full. We have enough to drink.”

Old Lady Lu shook one of the jars and found it surprisingly full.

That was strange—she could have sworn they had much less left.

Still, as long as there was water, she didn’t question it further.