Chapter 3: Heaven Helps Me

Starving.

Plus, after seeing someone die, the shock was too much—Lin Yue fainted from fever and exhaustion.

She hurriedly helped her younger sister up and fed her a little sugar water.

“Sister-in-law, this sugar…” Dog Egg’s eyes were full of concern.

After taking a few sips, the little sister turned her head and refused to drink more.

Lin Yue handed it to Dog Egg instead. “You drink some.”

Dog Egg’s eyes lit up as he exaggeratedly swallowed sip after sip.

But he shook his head. “I’m a man. I don’t need it. Give it to Sister-in-law and my little sister.”

Lin Yue noticed he was only six or seven, skinny and frail.

So thin that his eyes seemed enormous, his ribs clearly visible and countable.

A man? Hardly. He was just a little bean sprout of a boy.

“We’re going to run soon. You need some strength,” Lin Yue casually pulled out two meat buns from behind her back. “One for you, one for your sister.”

“Buns?”

Dog Egg’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Sister-in-law… where did you get these?”

“I’m an adult, of course I have many ways,” Lin Yue said, patting his head. “Eat quickly.”

Dog Egg was suspicious.

Ever since Lin Yue had been brought home by his older brother, she had hidden in her room every day, even taking her meals there.

After his brother left, she had to rely on the siblings to sell stored goods and forage wild vegetables just to get meals, often going hungry.

Starving to the point of barely standing, she still refused to come out.

And now she suddenly pulled out a giant meat bun… could it really be real?

Dog Egg immediately ran to his room, crawled under the bed, and dug out a patch of earth to retrieve his money pouch.

He poured out all the copper coins in his hands, counting again and again.

A thousand coins, every single one intact.

Even the knot he had tied on the pouch hadn’t changed.

These coins were given by his brother.

His brother had said, if Sister-in-law wanted to leave, let her go.

With this money, the siblings could escape to relatives in Shitai.

Life-saving money!

Seeing that not a single coin was missing, Dog Egg finally relaxed.

He stuffed the pouch back under his clothes and climbed out, careful not to let Lin Yue know about the stash.

If she knew, he feared the money would be spent before they even reached their relatives—and they’d starve to death.

Hiding the money had been stressful for Dog Egg, leaving him tense and awkward, explaining, “I… I was just checking under the bed for something.”

Lin Yue didn’t care what a six-year-old could dig up.

She went out and scooped a bucket of water. “Wash your hands and eat the buns. We need to pack and leave quickly.”

“Okay!”

Dog Egg stuffed a bun into his mouth, hardly able to believe it was real.

The bun’s white, fluffy wrapper, and the rich aroma of meat—how could it taste so good?

His mouth flooded with saliva, yet he only took small bites, treating it like a treasure.

So happy!

For some time now, the best meals had been wild vegetable porridge; most days, it was just wheat bran.

He couldn’t even go to the toilet properly.

When his brother was still around, conditions had been slightly better.

They would at least get some offal or leftover meat after hunting.

But he had never eaten a meat bun before!

Dog Egg felt that this moment alone made his life worthwhile.

Even so, he only ate half, saving the rest in his clothes.

Lin Yue watched him.

He gave a shy smile. “I can’t finish it now… I’ll eat the rest during the day.”

Lin Yue felt heartbroken.

He was starving—how could he not finish it?

Perhaps he just didn’t want it to end.

At six or seven, in the modern world, kids his age are usually spoiled, throwing tantrums in stores to get what they want.

Yet here he was, already so thoughtful.

Lin Yue respected his choice and, thinking of the fridge full of food, reassured him, “Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty to eat later.”

Dog Egg stared at her but didn’t reply.

In his mind, Sister-in-law didn’t know how to work, he hadn’t learned hunting yet—how could there be plenty of food?

This meat bun might be the best thing he’d ever eat in his life.

Though young, he still remembered when the family had been split—the unkind faces of those uncles.

They had taken advantage of their mother’s early death, giving them no land or property.

It was only with his brother’s guidance that they had managed to find a way to survive elsewhere.

If Sister-in-law hadn’t killed someone, he would never return there.

Dog Egg felt a wave of gloom sweep over him.

But when he touched the meat bun in his arms, he thought,

If this is the best meat bun I’ll ever eat in my life, it’s still worth it!

Lin Yue was busy packing their belongings, and the more she packed, the more heartbroken she felt.

Her bedroom had only one spare set of ordinary clothes, not even a cotton jacket—let alone any gold, silver, or fine items.

Only a single quilt had any value.

Then she touched herself…

Wait!

The jade pendant the original owner had hidden was missing.

It had belonged to the original owner’s mother—not valuable in monetary terms, but still a keepsake.

The original owner had hidden it carefully.

How could it be gone?

Lin Yue searched everywhere, but it was indeed gone.

Ah well, perhaps this was fate.

Lin Yue gave up and turned her attention to the money pouch.

Gu Cai had given the original owner 500 copper coins.

One copper coin was equivalent to one modern yuan.

Hardly enough to get by.

She shook the pouch, and only four copper coins fell out.

Lin Yue weighed it in her hand—so light.

She then checked the living room and kitchen.

No wonder the maid had given her a hard, stale bun—there was virtually no ready-to-eat food in the house.

That bun was probably something the maid had treasured for a long time, unwilling to eat.

After a long while of packing, Lin Yue only managed to gather a small bundle.

She looked down at the unconscious Big Yellow Teeth and felt she couldn’t just leave like this.

Dig a hole to bury him?

She considered it.

But the soil was rocky.

With their sizes and strength, they couldn’t dig it out.

Throw him into the back mountain?

Plenty of people went up the mountain to gather goods—too easy to be discovered.

And if she wanted to throw him into a secluded area, it would require a long trek.

Hide him under the bed?

If someone noticed Big Yellow Teeth or the children missing, they would find him immediately.

Burn him?

Not enough wood in the house, and with heavy rain, it wouldn’t catch easily.

Lin Yue looked out at the endless rain.

“Dog Egg, help me move him outside.”

The river was now flooding—just throw him in.

By the time the body surfaced, it would be ten days to half a month.

And given Big Yellow Teeth’s reputation, no official would bother investigating.

Lin Yue dragged him downstream, tied a large stone to his leg, and tossed him in.

By the time these tasks were done, dawn was approaching.

Her heart raced; despite not having slept all night, her nerves were on high alert.

She had always been law-abiding in the modern world—even stopping at red lights.

Who knew that on her first day in the ancient world, she’d do something so “bad”?

But she had to stay calm—showing panic would only scare the two children more.

Feigning composure, she said to Dog Egg, “Let’s go to your relatives’ place.”

Lin Yue carried the still-unconscious little sister, wrapped in a quilt.

Dog Egg carried the bundle.

They stepped out.

To avoid being seen, Lin Yue had Dog Egg choose paths with fewer people.

From the back of the house, a small path led straight into the mountains.

“Cross this mountain, and there will be a village called Zi Mountain. There are more people there, and on the first and fifteenth of the month, they hold fairs,” Dog Egg said.

He was agile, clearly accustomed to running around the mountains since childhood.

He would occasionally stop and wait for Lin Yue.

Lin Yue had only eaten one meat bun and half a bowl of sugar water—far from enough to make up for months of nutritional deficit.

The rain made the ground slippery, forcing her to grit her teeth and climb.

By the time she reached the mountain top, her legs gave out, and she collapsed onto the ground.

“Sister-in-law, look at that!”

Dog Egg exclaimed.

Lin Yue followed the direction of his pointing finger.

The dam, which had previously stored water for the surrounding mountains, had broken.

The raging river swept along massive amounts of mud and debris, barreling toward Huangshi Village with unstoppable force.

In the blink of an eye, the houses collapsed, as if a colony of ants had been crushed underfoot.