Liu Juhua and Lin Mei carried the rice sack, their faces beaming with unstoppable smiles. Even the wind and snow slapping their cheeks didn’t bother them much—though their pants were a bit damp from the snow.  

Once home, Liu Juhua mixed the premium rice with the older rice, scooped out a ladleful, washed it, added water to the pot, then stuffed firewood into the stove to start cooking porridge.  

“Mom, I’m going to the village chief’s house.”  

Lin Mei was still young and could manage walking a stretch on an empty stomach.  

Liu Juhua held Wang Baozhu close as they sat by the stove, warming their frozen legs by the fire.  

“Baozhu, we’ll have food to eat now.”  

Wang Baozhu warmed her hands, grinning. “Grandma, I’ll go dig for ginseng again tomorrow. We can sell it and buy more food.”  

Liu Juhua’s smile deepened, the wrinkles on her face bunching up around her cheekbones as she pressed her forehead against Wang Baozhu’s. “Yes, we’ll go dig for ginseng again tomorrow.”  

Meanwhile, Lin Mei ignored her damp pants and hurried to the village chief’s house, knocking loudly on the gate.  

Cao Guihua peeked out and, seeing it was Lin Mei, quickly opened the door to let her in.  

“Little sister, why are you here at this hour? My father-in-law and my husband went up the mountain—I think yours did too, right?”  

Lin Mei leaned against the wall, weak with exhaustion.  

“Sister Guihua, there’s a small shop open at the fork in the road at the foot of the mountain. They’re selling rice and flour. My mother-in-law sent me to let everyone know.”  

Cao Guihua froze for a moment. The past few days of hunger had left her dizzy and confused. “Little sister, are you feeling unwell? I still have a bit of sugar left—”  

“Sister Guihua, it’s true. My family already bought some. My mother-in-law is cooking porridge right now,” Lin Mei insisted.  

Cao Guihua’s eyes widened instantly. She turned and shouted, “Wang Chengcai! Wang Chengdong! Go, gather everyone—tell them there’s a place to buy rice… Little sister, thank you! My mother-in-law has been vomiting stomach acid from hunger. Now everyone can be saved.”  

Lin Mei carefully gave directions before heading back.  

When she returned home, she found the whole family huddled in the small kitchen. Zhao Xing held her child close to the stove, warming themselves by the fire.  

Wang Guoqing moved aside when he saw Lin Mei return.  

“Sister-in-law, come warm yourself. Why didn’t you call me to help carry things? I could’ve gone.”  

Lin Mei sat down, and Zhao Xing grabbed her hand. “Xiao Mei, thank you… thank you.”  

“Sister-in-law, we’re family. No need for thanks. Besides, selling it wasn’t a loss—your husband tends the fields better than mine. You’ll pay it back without trouble.”  

Lin Mei’s lighthearted tone made Zhao Xing laugh too.  

Then Lin Mei turned to Wang Guoqing. “We’ll need you soon. Once you’ve eaten something, go call your father and your two older brothers back from the mountain. I’m worried.”  

At her words, the whole family, feeling the chill of the damp wind, grew anxious.  

“Dad and brothers didn’t eat much this morning either.”  

Wang Guoqing suddenly stood up, urgency in his voice. “Then I’ll go now.”  

Liu Juhua stopped him. “No! If you go on an empty stomach, you might collapse halfway. Eat something first, then go. They’re experienced—they’ll be fine.”  

Reluctantly, Wang Guoqing sat back down.  

……  

Meanwhile, Cao Guihua had gathered quite a few people.  

But some didn’t believe it and refused to move, only asking neighbors to confirm the news later.  

Cao Guihua couldn’t worry about them anymore. She took her two sons, carrying bamboo baskets, and headed out.  

Ding ling—

Su Ling watched as a stream of people filed in. A quick headcount—good, she’d definitely have enough for underfloor heating now.  

“Welcome! What would you like to buy? We have rice, flour, and aged rice here. Premium rice and white flour are fifty cents per pound, aged rice is twenty cents. For the first three days of our grand opening, everything’s at an 12% discount.”  

Cao Guihua stepped forward, and when she saw the actual rice, joy flooded her expression.  

“Miss, I’ll take…”  

She paused, thinking carefully about how many people were in the village. Watching the excited villagers who’d come with her, she pondered how to distribute the purchases fairly to avoid conflicts.  

Su Ling understood the hesitation and smiled. “My surname is Su. You can call me Boss Su. The rice and flour here aren’t limited—new stock will arrive tomorrow.”

Cao Guihua finally felt at ease. After confirming that the premium rice could be sold by weight, she bought five pounds each of premium and aged rice. After paying, she even pinched herself to make sure it was real.  

“Miss, you’re truly a lifesaver. You have no idea—if this hunger had gone on much longer, people might’ve started dying.”  

Cao Guihua’s eyes reddened. Everyone had stored food before winter, but who could’ve expected the endless snow? They couldn’t even make it to town.  

Su Ling comforted her, “Then I came at just the right time. There’ll be new supplies tomorrow—I hope you all come back to check them out.”  

A customer waiting in line chimed in, “Of course we’ll be back! Without food at home, we’re all anxious. If there’s more, we’ll stock up.”  

Su Ling smiled and continued serving the remaining customers, carefully weighing each portion to ensure fairness.  

Mission: Serve 3 customers and complete transactions (3/3). Success! Reward: 5 boxes each of three flavors of instant noodles.

Su Ling let out a sigh of relief—at least she’d have food to eat now.  

But she also noticed something: those who mixed premium and aged rice were families with a bit of money left, while those with little only bought aged rice. No one bought white flour at all.  

By the time she finished serving the first wave, the second mission was complete.  

Mission: Serve 20 customers and complete transactions (20/20). Success! Reward: Frozen meat section—choose three types of frozen meat.

“Tomorrow, we’ll have meat! Remember to come by,” Su Ling announced before turning back to scooping rice.  

Then, someone suddenly noticed the dignified but chubby calico cat sitting to the side—so plump that its legs couldn’t close properly.  

“Why is it so fat?”  

Huahua: ???  

Excuse me?

Su Ling answered casually, “The fatter it is, the more wealth it attracts.”  

The customer made an “ah” sound of understanding before finally stepping forward.  

“I’ll take one bag of white flour and one bag of premium rice.”  

Su Ling, who had been scooping rice all day, nearly reflexively reached to open the bags before catching herself at the last second.  

“One bag of flour is five yuan, one bag of premium rice is also five yuan. After the discount, that’s eight yuan and eight mao.”  

“Fine.”  

The customer handed over the exact amount. Su Ling accepted it and passed over the rice and flour.  

After he left, someone behind muttered, “The educated youth still have some savings—they can afford such good white flour.”  

“They all live together, probably pooled their money. And since they came from the provincial capital, they must’ve brought some cash… Anyway, it’s none of our business. I just want to buy rice and go home to cook porridge. I’m so hungry I could eat it raw.”  

“Eating it raw is such a waste. Better to add more water—you can stretch it for a few more meals. It’s not like it’ll spoil in winter.”  

“You’re right.”  

When it was finally their turn, each bought some aged rice, carefully cradling their bags as they hurried home.  

By the time the last customer left, Su Ling had served over thirty people—completing the underfloor heating mission.  

As warmth slowly rose from the floor, Su Ling let out a contented sigh.  

“Ah, winter really calls for something cozy.”  

“Huahua, for the instant noodles, let’s go with old hen soup, braised beef, and pickled vegetable beef flavors.”  

She didn’t plan to discount the instant noodles—rice and flour were necessities, but instant noodles were more of a novelty.  

Huahua waved a paw, and three stacks of boxes (five each) appeared behind the glass counter.  

Su Ling opened one box—inside were thirty unbroken packets of noodles. The packaging was plain, with only text and none of the usual misleading pictures.  

She arranged one box of each flavor on the empty display shelf at the back.  

By the time she finished, Huahua had already burrowed into one of the boxes, happily wriggling around.  

With the underfloor heating, even the boxes were warm and cozy.