Chapter 8: Preparing

Time flew by, and Shuxin was now seven years old. She had grown at least twice her height since arriving. She was no longer as scrawny as when she first came; her body was chubby all over, and the whole family loved to hold and pinch her.

After all, her space wasn’t merely for show. Aside from her grandmother’s occasional feeding at home, Shuxin had secretly prepared countless small meals for herself, and with so much meat to consume, she must grow!

Over the past few months, Shuxin had won over her grandmother’s affection to the fullest, so much so that even Grandpa Liu had started to look at this granddaughter differently.

His two sons were honest and dull, barely uttering a kind word. Although he did care about his grandsons, everyone feared him. He was a stern family patriarch, rarely smiling, creating an imposing presence. Liu Jianjun and the others seldom approached him.

Now, getting such a lively and adorable granddaughter who was eloquent too? How could he not pay attention? Why hadn’t he noticed how well she could talk when she was younger? Watching her now was amusing to him.

Seeing her grandfather’s haughty yet serious demeanor, Shuxin understood him perfectly and knew how to approach him. She started with a sweet-talking package, followed by some sugary coaxing, and occasionally some feeding.

In the end, Grandpa Liu couldn’t resist and fell into Shuxin’s sweet trap, unable to maintain his stern demeanor around the adorable and sweet-talking chubby girl.

Shulan watched Shuxin replicate the tricks she used on their grandmother to win over grumpy Grandpa Liu. The complex feelings that stirred within her didn’t prevent her from jotting down notes in her little book, planning to try the same with her parents.

If it worked on their grandparents, then surely her parents could be swayed as well.

Shulan was quite pleased, not to mention the first time she tried her tricks on Uncle Liu’s family and her parents and older brother.

Uncle Liu even sighed, “See the difference? You brothers should learn from your sister. You don’t even say a peep, and you have to realize that ‘milk is a mother’s love,’ so it’s no wonder you’re neglected. If I were you, I’d pamper such a treasure!”

Aside from charming her family and becoming the center of attention, Shuxin discreetly collected a lot of things into her space, filling it to the brim.

Filling it to the brim might be an exaggeration—thanks to her hard work, her space had expanded a bit. Since it was a space that Shuxin had naturally possessed, as her strength increased, so did its capacity.

During these months, not only did Shuxin go wild in the mountains, sharpening her wood manipulation ability by three levels, she also practiced the soul cultivation technique from the Nine-Colored Lotus. Now, her spiritual power was comparable to that of an Esper.

Shuxin turned most of the grassland in her space into fertile fields, planting a multitude of grains. Of course, the seeds were taken secretly from home.

In the past few months, she had only planted rice and wheat, which she didn’t consume much, and had built several grain storage facilities beside the fields using her wood manipulation ability. When the crops matured, she could conveniently store everything.

Today marked the start of a famine, so she planned to avoid planting those precious wheat and rice crops, instead considering high-yield crops like corn, sorghum, and sweet potatoes. These crops wouldn’t attract as much attention, which made them a better choice for sustenance.

On the other side of the grassland, she fenced off a section as an orchard, leaving the rest empty for future plans.

Behind the house on the hillside, apart from the existing bamboo forest, she had also planted various saplings in her space, all to be rooted on the hillside.

Over these months, she didn’t neglect wild creatures in the mountains. Aside from occasionally taking wild chickens and rabbits, she kept everything else in her space’s mountain for later.

When she felt like it, she could capture one for a feast; the space even had a kitchen! She had also planned out a small vegetable garden to grow seasonings.

Speaking of the vegetable garden, she was preparing to clear another section for planting some vegetables, turning them into dried goods to survive the famine. While she might not starve, she still had her family to care for.

Early the next morning, Shuxin got up early. Today, Grandpa and Uncle Liu were going to the city.

It’s now the first half of 1959, and it’s been three months since the crops were sown, but not a single drop of rain has fallen from the sky.

Grandpa Liu, the elder of the village, noticed that the weather didn’t look promising and decided to prepare more supplies, planning to head to the city to purchase some materials—better to be safe than sorry.

Shuxin also supported this decision, fully aware of the uncertainties that grandpa was facing; she was well aware that the coming three years would be challenging.

Yesterday, she urged grandpa to take her along. Having been in this remote area for three or four years, she had never been to the city before—she had only roamed around the nearby villages, with the farthest place she had visited being the township commune.

Today, they were going to the county seat of Yuyang County, where their Liulin brigade was located. They would walk from home to the commune and then take a car from the commune to the county seat.

The one-way distance was approximately fifty to sixty kilometers, taking about two to three hours by car. It was nowhere near the speed of a few decades later, when traveling such distances could be done in less than an hour.

Not only was the current speed of cars slow, but the journey was also frequently interrupted by picking up passengers, which extended the travel time even further.

Before dawn, several men from the Liu family set off for the commune with the mountain goods and wild delicacies they had stocked up on over the years.

Shuxin had built up her physical strength over the years and was not a hindrance to her family on their journey.

The Liu family knew that Shuxin was much stronger than the average person. Even a few of the boys in the family couldn’t compete with her. Over the years, she had contributed all the wild delicacies they had, which was why the family was willing to let her accompany them to the county seat.

Once they boarded the bus to the county seat, there were not many people at this early hour heading to the county. Shuxin and her grandpa found seats together.

After getting on the bus, Shuxin quickly masked her sense of smell with her mental strength, as the odor in the current bus was overwhelming. The cramped space and the presence of various people carrying chickens, ducks, and assorted goods only added to the unpleasant smells.

Having been spoiled by the Liu family over the years, Shuxin had become somewhat delicate. She used to scavenge for food among the dead, and she had smelled all kinds of things.

But now, things were different. The transition from frugality to extravagance is easy, but from extravagance back to frugality is tough. Given the conditions now, Shuxin tried to let herself enjoy whatever comfort she could while she still could.

After getting off, they walked into the county seat of Yuyang. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed that most of the houses were made of green bricks, with some outer walls peeling.

There were buildings of varying heights, but none taller than about ten stories; most were six or seven stories high. People hurried through the streets, dressed mostly in dull blues and grays, with bright colors being rare.

Slogans plastered on the walls read, “Serve the people,” “Promote revolution and production,” and “Rush to repair, harvest, and plant; don’t wait or rely on others.”

Although the environment was not as bustling as she had imagined, looking even poorer than the materials from the past suggested, the faces of the people on the street were vibrant, showing no signs of the numbness that could be expected of the future—only a hope of living a better life.

Seeing those radiant faces on the street left Shuxin feeling both fortunate and saddened.

She was grateful that there was no war here and that China had walked away from the conflicts into peace. However, she was saddened that a great famine was soon to arrive, bringing yet another round of suffering.

It was possible that soon those smiling faces would vanish. Shuxin wanted to do something for them, but her power was too limited; all she could do was try to alert the country about the looming drought in the coming years.

Now wasn’t the time to act impulsively—this required careful planning, as a slip could be fatal. She had to be cautious and not reveal herself.

Holding his daughter’s hand, Dad Liu noticed her lost in thought but didn’t think much of it, assuming she was just too excited to see a place as big as the county seat for the first time.