Chapter 13: Secretly Shared

The two had been speaking in hushed voices, but they had now reached the main hall. Zhou Yu slowly approached and asked gently, “Uncle Chen Jiu, has something happened? Do you need our help?”

“No need!” Uncle Chen Jiu immediately refused stiffly. “This is a matter within our own village, and we can handle it ourselves!”

An’an’s eyes lit up. She twisted her little body and reached her arms out toward Zhou Yu. Wow! What a perfect opportunity to absorb some energy!

Such a fair and delicate little baby, showing a sweet smile—who could possibly say no?

Zhou Yu couldn’t help but smile as he walked toward An’an.

Qin Ying warily stepped back a few paces, holding An’an with her left arm and using her right hand to cover the girl’s eyes. She quickly said to Uncle Chen Jiu, “Then please take more people with you—too few won’t be enough. I’ll head back now.”

And with that, she quickly left the Chen household.

An’an was puffed up with frustration. Again?!

Why was it so hard just to soak up a little energy?

Could it be that Mama was afraid the handsome uncle would steal her away? That wouldn’t happen! This system is very reasonable!

Although she didn’t understand the complexity of human emotions, she did understand basic ethics and customs.

Just the fact that Qin Ying took her in and raised her even during a time of famine so dire people were eating one another, and that the Zhao family—even when they were so hungry they could only manage one watery meal every two days—still gave her delicious wild fruit porridge, made it impossible for her to betray them.

Eh? Was “betray” the right term to use here?

Doesn’t matter! That’s the general idea anyway!

But! Why shouldn’t she accept free energy when it was just there for the taking? She had already tested it: giving Zhou Yu a koi blessing had no leakage whatsoever!

Besides, he was the magistrate of Qin County. The people he could help included the entire county! The virtue she gained would count for everyone in Qin County!

Just the tiny Tongshu Village had already given her 0.5 virtue energy points. And there were over a hundred villages in the entire Qin County!

If each village gave her 0.5 points, a hundred villages would be 50! And if she collected energy twice, she could get to 100! Once she hit 100, she could level up! Then she wouldn’t be a pathetic little beginner koi system anymore!

And that’s not even the best part—if she could just complete one batch of 5 points, she could enhance the functions currently available to her. Once she passed the 20-point threshold, she could unlock a new function altogether!

But up to this point, she still hadn’t even broken through 5!

Qin Ying removed her hand from An’an’s eyes and gently bounced her in her arms, speaking softly:
“Does An’an like that lord?”

“My sweet girl, people like him are high-born. Folks like us, commoners, shouldn’t get involved.

“This famine is almost over, and our hard days are coming to an end!

“Mom, Grandma, and Uncle will all work hard to earn money so our An’an can live a good life!

“I’ll make you a pretty tiger-head hat, and your uncle will make you a little wooden horse, alright?

“Grandma’s not feeling well today. When we get back, keep her company for a while, and Mama will make porridge for you…”

An’an had originally planned to squeeze out a few tears to earn some sympathy—she was quite skilled at it. She knew she was pretty, with big round eyes starkly contrasted in black and white. If she teared up, she’d look even more pitiful—she had tested this many times on the Zhao family.

But after hearing what Qin Ying said, her pupils quivered slightly, and she couldn’t bring herself to use her trump card.

The Zhao family’s days were tough, but they had never been hard on her. Aunt Zhao was good at handicrafts. At first, she avoided giving An’an anything that might cut her hands. Later, once grass grew, she used tender grass stems to weave crickets, dragonflies, butterflies, grasshoppers, and so on to amuse her.

The rim of the large basket An’an usually played in was decorated with these woven grass insects.

Her clothes were all refashioned from Zhao Hu’s old clothes, but Qin Ying had excellent sewing skills—the stitches were neat and even. Even the patches were cut into cute shapes like flowers and butterflies.

Her shoes and socks were soft and comfortable…

As for Zhao Hu, though he only knew a bit of carpentry, he still went out of his way to ask villagers for help and made her a cradle. Every surface was smoothed down—there wasn’t a single splinter.

All these things…

An’an’s chest felt tight and sour. She tilted her little head—this brand-new feeling… this must be what humans called being “touched,” right?

When mother and daughter returned home, An’an had already fallen asleep. Qin Ying handed her over to Aunt Zhao and went to make dinner.

Before long, Uncle Chen Jiu brought a few strong men carrying baskets.

Zhao Hu put down his tools and led them up the mountain.

The food in the cellar moved Uncle Chen Jiu and the others to tears.

After they cried it out, Uncle Chen Jiu instructed them to carry the food down the mountain. He gave special orders:
“Take it to the Zhao family first. There are government officers staying at my place—this stuff can’t fall into their hands.

“I’ll stay here and keep watch. You all carry the goods back. Weigh them when you get home. I’ve already spoken to Yingzi—she’ll keep track.

“Once we’re done, we’ll divide it up right away—based on headcount. Everyone gets a share!”

By the time all the food had been carried down, it was already past midnight.

Uncle Chen Jiu returned to the Zhao home, ate the wild vegetable porridge Qin Ying had prepared, and listened to her accounting report, grinning from ear to ear.

There were 500 jin of corn, 1,000 jin of potatoes, 500 jin of unhusked millet, and 450 jin of soybeans in their pods.

The villagers who had rushed over were all brimming with excitement. None needed a reminder from Uncle Chen Jiu—they all held their breath, fearing that any noise might alert the government officers.

At present, Tongshu Village had a total of 39 households and 82 people.

Uncle Chen Jiu quickly did the math:
Each person would get 6 jin of corn and millet, 12 jin of potatoes, and 5 jin of soybeans.
The extra portions would be split—a smaller portion to the Zhao family and the larger portion to bribe Zhou Yu and the others.

The villagers raised no objections. After all, if it weren’t for the Zhao family, none of this food would have been found! Not to mention, Aunt Zhao had even gotten injured for it.

Wild beasts were now appearing on the mountain—it was dangerous and potentially deadly to go up there.

At that moment, joy overflowed in and around the Zhao courtyard. These heavy bags of grain were their hope and drive to survive!

Uncle Chen Jiu banged on a broken wooden basin from the Zhao family to quiet the crowd.

He cleared his throat and said,
“Fellow villagers, now that we all have our share, you can see—these grains are even better than the ones saved for planting during peaceful times.

“My suggestion is—don’t eat them. Let’s save them as seeds.

“Take corn for example—it takes about 6 jin of seeds for one mu of land. Every household can plant at least a mu. With the quality of these grains, can’t we expect a harvest of more than 500 jin?

“Five hundred jin! How long would that last us? And that’s not even counting the millet, potatoes, and soybeans!

“Of course, how much land each of you wants to plant next year, and how much seed you want to keep—that’s for you to decide yourselves. We’re not going to force anyone.

“I’m not saying no one can eat a bite just to satisfy a craving. I, this old man, wouldn’t do that!

“Also, you all know without me saying—we should stockpile as many vegetables as we can. Whether it’s homegrown or wild, dry them all. Come winter, we can mix them with grains to get through till spring!”

The villagers discussed it among themselves for a while, then finally said:
“Ninth Uncle, you’re wise with age. We’ll follow your lead! We’ll go home and shell the corn, millet, and soybeans and save them as seeds. If we eat any, it’ll be just a small bit at New Year to satisfy a craving!”