Chapter 6 – Exchanging for Fertile Land

After the meal, the family continued exploring ahead.

After circling around a jutting rock, they were suddenly greeted by a lush stretch of greenery. A fresh, plant-like scent unique to green vegetation hit them in the face.

The three of them instinctively rubbed their eyes, afraid it was an illusion.

Once they confirmed it wasn’t a hallucination, they dashed toward it.

As they got closer, they could immediately confirm that the flowering stalks belonged to corn! There was nearly half an acre of it!

Beneath the corn, densely packed soybeans grew. Although the pods were still flat, just by looking, each plant would likely yield at least two handfuls of beans!

The three of them stood there with their mouths agape.

None of them knew that An’an had already turned pale and fallen into a deep sleep.

Indeed, this two-acre plot of land had been exchanged by her for 3 energy points—at the cost of falling into a complete state of dormancy for three days.

The Zhao family’s life was just too difficult! If these three continued to struggle on the brink of starvation, how much attention could they spare for her?

These grains—though not abundant enough to boast about—were more than enough to last until next autumn’s harvest. If they could even spare some for the other villagers, she could earn another round of merit.

It was a great deal!

As for those three, they slowly moved back to inspect carefully. Behind the corn was half an acre of potatoes, and further behind, a full acre of millet.

The potatoes were in full bloom, and the millet had already started forming kernels.

Wild vegetables thrived at the edges of the field—goosefoot, bitter greens, shepherd’s purse, purslane… everything one could need.

The three looked at each other and saw glistening tears in one another’s eyes.

Qin Ying asked in a trembling voice, “Auntie, what should we do?”

“This… this…” Aunt Zhao’s voice was trembling too. “It’s not easy to find a place like this. Let’s mark it well and come by every few days to check on it.”

Zhao Hu said, “Let’s dig around. Who knows, maybe we’ll even find a spring.”

Aunt Zhao took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. “We need to think about what we’ll say to others…

“If no one ever finds this place, then fine—it’s just our good luck, and this food is ours.

“But if our luck runs out and someone does find it, we’ll swear it was land we cleared ourselves!

“Don’t go thinking about being some kind of saint. The harvest here might look promising, but who knows when the natural disasters will end? How could we dare eat openly?

“If times were peaceful, that’d be another matter. But when the world falls into chaos, we must first look after ourselves.

“At most… when the potatoes are harvested, we’ll keep about a hundred jin, and give the rest to Uncle Chen Jiu to distribute to the village.”

Qin Ying also calmed down and said, “Let’s search in the opposite direction a bit.

“Deep in the mountains, there’s bound to be good things. If we can find a whole grove of chestnut or hazelnut trees and guide the villagers there, this place will stay safe.

“If that doesn’t work, we’ll just hole up in the mountains. Anyway, there aren’t any wild animals around now.”

Zhao Hu also became more alert. “We also need to find a safer place to dig a cellar and hide the grain, only taking a bit back at a time.”

“Mm.” Aunt Zhao nodded with a smile. “Once the crops are harvested, we’ll level the land properly, leaving only the potatoes we intend to share.

“Once the potatoes are dug out, that’ll count as us being open about it in front of the villagers.”

“We’ll dig the well then too! This land is a treasure—we must manage it well!”

Having made their plan, the three of them gathered some wild vegetables and left the area to search for a safe place to dig a cellar.

By the time they had chosen a spot and made plans, the sun was already slanting westward, so they returned home tired but happy.

Smoke was already curling up from chimneys in the village.

They gathered the firewood, sorted through the wild vegetables they brought back, and boiled them for dinner. A small bowl of mashed wild fruit paste was specially cooked for An’an.

Now that they knew An’an could eat mashed food, all the nuts and seeds they had were ground into powder to serve as her rations.

But once the paste was ready, no matter what they did, the little girl wouldn’t wake up.

Qin Ying, face full of panic, hurriedly called Aunt Zhao over.

Aunt Zhao tried all sorts of methods, but nothing worked. She murmured, “Maybe she’s just sleeping deeply? We don’t have a doctor in the village now… let’s wait and see. If it doesn’t get better, we’ll ask the elderly in the village to have a look?

“This child really is pitiful, so small and always coming into the mountains with us.

“There used to be wolves and tigers and all kinds of dangerous beasts out there—maybe she bumped into something unclean…”

Qin Ying frowned slightly and lost her appetite.

After barely putting down her chopsticks, she went to check on An’an again, still seeing no signs of her waking up. Qin Ying decided to go find one of the elders in the village who knew how to ward off evil spirits.

But Aunt Zhao stopped her. “Come here and listen.”

Qin Ying leaned her ear toward An’an’s face—and heard… faint snoring?

She was stunned.

Aunt Zhao laughed cheerfully. “We scared ourselves for nothing. Isn’t An’an just sleeping soundly?”

Qin Ying finally let out a sigh of relief.

Still, she didn’t sleep well that night, getting up from time to time to check if An’an was still breathing.

By noon the next day, An’an still hadn’t woken up. Qin Ying was so anxious she couldn’t sit still. “An’an is usually a heavy sleeper, but she’s never slept this long before!”

Zhao Hu jumped up and ran out, yelling, “I’m going to get Granny Wang!”

Old Granny Wang, who lived at the head of the village, was nearly seventy now. She used to be a spiritual healer. A lifelong widow, yet no one dared offend her.

Qin Ying paced in place with An’an in her arms, so worried her lips were developing sores.

Aunt Zhao handed her a cup of water. “The more you worry about An’an, the more you need to take care of yourself. If you fall ill, that’s one less person to care for her.”

Qin Ying drank a bowl of water with her help. “Yes, Auntie, I know…”

While they were speaking, Granny Wang had already arrived at the gate, complaining all the while, “Huzi, I’m not as young as you! Slow down, I’m going to fall apart!”

“Please be patient with me, Granny Wang!” Though Huzi was apologetic, he didn’t slow down one bit as he dragged her along. “We’re in a hurry at home!”

Aunt Zhao quickly went out to greet them, first scolding Zhao Hu a bit before personally helping Granny Wang inside, explaining An’an’s situation as they walked.

Granny Wang furrowed her brows and said slowly, “It sounds like she may have encountered something unclean…”

Qin Ying handed An’an over for her to examine.

Granny Wang first took An’an’s hand to feel her pulse, then lifted her eyelids, touched her feet and chest. Suddenly, she chuckled. “You’re all just panicking too much. This child is fine!”

“Really?” Qin Ying still couldn’t relax. “But she’s never slept this long before!”

“She’s just sleeping,” Granny Wang said confidently. “Children’s souls aren’t stable like adults’. That’s why they sleep more.

“This child… raise her well, and you’ll receive blessings in the future.”

Aunt Zhao carefully asked, “Granny Wang, tell us honestly—can we wake her up?”

“She’s sleeping fine—why would you wake her?” Granny Wang rolled her eyes. “Once she’s slept enough, she’ll wake up on her own.

“Just let her sleep!”

After a pause, she rolled her eyes again at Aunt Zhao. “Yingzi’s never raised a child, so it’s understandable. But your kid’s already half-grown—how can you not know this?

“It’s normal for little kids to sleep a lot. She’s not feverish, not twitching, not sweating—what are you so anxious about?

“With a child this young, messing with her randomly could cost her life!”

Aunt Zhao looked completely ashamed.