Chapter 37: A Starving Person Really Will Eat Anything

Ren Bang remained silent, and Little Deng beside him couldn’t help but urge, “Chief, Sister Jiang is right. We can’t just starve to death.”

Their food supplies were nearly gone now, and they couldn’t go on like this. Even the wild grass beside the abandoned temple had been plucked clean.

“How about this—if you’re worried we’ll try to escape, then allow only one person per household to go out. The rest of the family will be held here in the abandoned temple. If anyone runs, their family will suffer double the punishment. How about that?”

Jiang Wan spoke seriously. Just as Ren Bang was about to respond, a delighted voice rang out.

“Hahaha! Caught you, didn’t I? Still trying to run? I’m starving to death!”

Jiang Wan and Ren Bang turned at the same time and saw a crazed middle-aged man laughing maniacally, holding a small rat in his hand.

He actually threw the rat straight onto the fire to roast, and before long, impatiently stuffed it into his mouth.

Gag…

Jiang Wan nearly vomited. She quickly turned her face away, unable to watch. This was a sin. A starving person really would eat anything.

That rat was crawling with parasites—she couldn’t even imagine how he managed to eat it.

Ren Bang was a bit calmer than she was, but he agreed with her, “You’re right. We can’t starve to death.”

So he loudly declared that people would go out to find food—one per household—and anyone who ran would cause their family to be punished.

The crowd all looked at Jiang Wan with gratitude and began to discuss who should go search for food.

The heavy rain outside hadn’t stopped. Song Jiuchi volunteered, “Mother, Big Brother, Sister-in-law, I’ll go find food.”

“I… I’ll go too!”

Song Jiuli was also excited. Even though the rain outside was terrifying, she wanted to do something for her family.

“No need to argue. I’ll go.”

Jiang Wan cut everyone off. Even though Song Jiuyuan’s eyes were filled with disapproval, she still said,

“I’m more capable than you. I can protect myself better.”

“No way!”

Song Jiuyuan immediately objected, “You’re a woman, your body isn’t as strong as Jiuchi’s. Let him go.”

Inside his sleeve, Song Jiuyuan’s hand curled into a fist, full of frustration at his own helplessness.

If his body were in good shape, these things should have been his to do.

Madam Song also held Jiang Wan’s hand with concern. “Wanwan, you’re still young and don’t understand—girls shouldn’t be exposed to the rain. It’s bad for your health, and later on…”

She trailed off mid-sentence. They were in exile now—what was the point of thinking about the future? Anyway, it wasn’t good for her health.

While Jiang Wan’s family was all competing to go, the other side of the Song family was busy shirking responsibility.

“Third Brother, my body hasn’t recovered yet. I can’t go. I’ll have to trouble you to work harder.”

“Second Brother, it’s not that I don’t want to go, but I don’t know anything about the mountain. What if I pick poisonous mushrooms like Qianqian did? That’d be worse.”

“…”

Shen Qian was so furious at the sarcasm that she nearly coughed up blood, but she had no way to argue back.

In the end, the Song family sent out two weak women—Shen Qian and Song San’s wife. The old matriarch cherished her own grandchildren, and the daughters-in-law who had married in were treated like outsiders. It was truly ironic.

Jiang Wan also had to use all her strength to convince everyone.

The Chen family sent Chen Ce, while the constables were led by Little Deng, who took a few men to search for food.

Once everyone was assigned, they headed into the rain. Little Deng and Chen Ce both moved toward Jiang Wan almost simultaneously.

“Sister Jiang, come with us. We can look out for each other.”

“No need. I can go alone.”

Jiang Wan thought to herself, If I go with you, how can I access the space? She had to act alone.

Chen Ce actually wanted to take care of her, but since Jiang Wan even refused the constables, he felt too embarrassed to insist.

Behind them, Song San’s wife and Shen Qian saw them eagerly inviting Jiang Wan and immediately started cursing:

“Little vixen, always seducing men!”

“Let’s follow Jiang Wan.”

Song San’s wife had a feeling Jiang Wan would find something good to eat, but Shen Qian disagreed, saying angrily:

“If you want to pick poison again, go ahead and follow her. Don’t blame me if you die!”

Knowing Jiang Wan would never let her off easy, she wisely ran off alone in a different direction.

Gritting her teeth, Song San’s wife followed.

Meanwhile, Jiang Wan had already shaken off the others and slipped into her space.

First, she enjoyed a nice, hot bath, then had a big meal.

Braised pork and rice with ribs—Jiang Wan was completely satisfied before she hurriedly gathered supplies. She couldn’t take anything fully prepared.

Luckily, she had raided a few kitchens and royal pantries, so there were raw ingredients.

Jiang Wan took some filling ingredients and got ready to bring them out later. When she exited the space, she brought nothing with her except a rain cloak, so she wouldn’t get soaked. She had planned to casually deal with it and return.

But then she keenly spotted wild yams in the distance. Excited, she pulled a small hoe from her space and dug for quite a while.

She tossed the extras into her space and kept about ten jin (roughly 5 kg), then headed straight for the temple without taking anything else.

As she neared the temple, she tossed the rain cloak into her space and ran inside, fast as the wind.

“Big Sister-in-law, you’re back so soon?!”

Song Jiuli was pacing anxiously by the temple entrance. Seeing Jiang Wan, she was full of joy.

No one else had returned yet. Jiang Wan let out a breath of relief and handed her the wild yams she had dug up.

“Go wash a few. We’ll eat them tonight.”

“What are these?”

Not only Song Jiuli, but everyone in the temple was curious. Jiang Wan handed about two jin to Ren Bang, who was nearby.

“Big Brother Ren, this is a kind of food. You can steam or boil it. Try some.”

This answered Song Jiuli’s question and informed Ren Bang at the same time.

Ren Bang was very surprised. He hadn’t expected that a pampered lady like Jiang Wan could actually find so much food on her own. He accepted it without hesitation.

“Thank you!”

When Jiang Wan and Song Jiuli returned to their spot with the food, everyone looked at them with complicated expressions.

There was envy, jealousy, even some schadenfreude. Few people recognized the food—some even hoped Jiang Wan would be poisoned and die.

Like Song Er’s wife, who couldn’t stand seeing Jiang Wan so pleased with herself and deliberately said:

“No one’s ever seen this stuff before. Who knows if it’s edible? Be careful—you might get poisoned and die.”

She was clearly trying to get under Jiang Wan’s skin, but Jiang Wan didn’t mind. Madam Song took a rough piece of cloth and lovingly dried Jiang Wan’s hair.

“Quick, go change your clothes. I’ll dry the wet ones for you.”

“Thank you, Mom!”

Jiang Wan smiled sweetly. In her past life, she had been a lonely, powerful person—her family background pitiful, her kinship shallow.

So this warmth from Madam Song touched her deeply. She was ushered into a corner of the temple, where Madam Song used clothing to shield her from view as she obediently changed.

When she came back out, she saw Shen Qian returning in a sorry state, drenched like a drowned rat—but with a smug smile on her face.

Because she had brought someone back with her—someone holding wild game that made everyone’s eyes light up.