Chapter Seven – Planning a Way Out

Over on her end, Wen Lan could tell from Qingfeng’s expression that this man, who looked slightly younger than the hunter, was beginning to grow suspicious of her.

It seemed that people in Nan Dynasty were quite vigilant. She had only just followed the hunter home, and already he had brought in a relative—clearly to probe her background.

Could it be that the hunter was worried she might have ulterior motives toward him?

Ha, how amusing. But that was fine. Being cautious was better than being malicious.

So, she casually made up an excuse to answer Qingfeng’s question, then once again offered the meat strips to Xuan Yue.

“Big Brother, if you don’t mind, please make do with some of these. If it’s not enough, I can make more for you.”

Xuan Yue gave a cold nod to Qingfeng, signaling for him to take the plate, then turned and walked out of the woodshed.

Tie Jiangjun followed after him.

In the end, only Wen Lan was left alone in the woodshed.

She sat back down by the hearth, dejected, poking the fire beneath the stone slab with a stick as she sighed.

After working hard all afternoon, the cold-faced hunter had taken away the entire plate of meat, and the poor, weak, and helpless Wen Lan had only eaten one strip.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have eaten as I grilled,” she muttered, rubbing her still-empty stomach and tilting her head to look out of the woodshed toward the sky.

The night had fully fallen in the Nan Dynasty.

By now, in the world she came from, her family had probably already received the devastating news of her unfortunate death.

“If I hadn’t crossed over, Lin Furong might already be a cold corpse by now,” Wen Lan thought, wondering how Lin Furong’s family would react to her death.

Would they feel the world had quieted down with their disgrace of a daughter gone? Or would they be truly heartbroken?

Wen Lan searched through Lin Furong’s memories. From what she recalled, Lin’s mother was a village woman who loved to take advantage of small gains. As for Lin’s father, he did nothing but bury himself in work.

The Lin family had three children—Lin Furong was the eldest, with a younger sister and brother: Lin Hehua, fourteen, and Lin Mutou, nine.

Thinking about how the Lin family had raised Lin Furong to sixteen—just the right age to marry and fetch a bride price—her elopement with Meng Qiancheng had ruined her reputation. Not only was there no bride price, but it was now difficult even to find her a decent husband.

Wen Lan suddenly understood why Lin Furong had wanted to end her life. She didn’t just hate Meng Qiancheng for his betrayal, she also hated the rigid traditions that gave her no way out, and most of all, she hated her parents for trying to marry her off to an old man just for a bit of money.

“So pitiful…” Wen Lan murmured, thinking of Lin Furong’s past, as tears silently slid down her cheeks.

But it didn’t matter. Now that she had taken over Lin Furong’s body, she would live a good life in her place. She would let that heartless Meng Qiancheng see what a loss it was to abandon Lin Furong.

The Meng family had the audacity to slander her, just because they had some money, claiming she seduced their son. Once she made her own fortune, she’d smash down the Meng family’s front gate with her wealth!

Wen Lan jabbed the fire-poking stick deep into the hearth, gritting her teeth as she made her vow.

But as for how to make money—that required some serious thought. She was skilled in health maintenance and cooking, but in this remote place, even if she opened a restaurant, there might not be any customers.

Besides, she didn’t have any startup capital.

Maybe start with farming to raise some funds?

Sigh. She didn’t even dare return to Yushou Village right now—where would she get land to farm? Was she supposed to clear land up in the mountains and plant crops?

Forage for mountain goods, maybe?

But even if she found something, how would she sell it?

Lin Furong had never left the village, so she wasn’t familiar with the area either.

Wen Lan looked again toward the outside of the woodshed.

The hunter went into the mountains every day to hunt, and she guessed that once he got a catch, he’d go to town to sell it. If she could get on his good side, maybe he’d give her some advice on how to sell wild goods too.

Hmm, that might just work.

Wen Lan nodded to herself. Suddenly, she felt a bit more confident about her future.