Aunt Ke’s cooking skills were quite good, and dinner consisted of porridge with flatbread and pickled vegetables. Everyone ate satisfyingly.

Later, when they returned to their room, Yang Shi and the others quickly fell asleep. Gu Yundong, however, lay awake, staring at the bed curtains without a trace of drowsiness.

She had developed a habit of staying up late at night, but now, when she finally settled down, she couldn’t fall asleep.

Holding Gu Yunko in her arms, the little girl fell asleep and even snuggled closer to her side, looking very dependent.

Watching her with her little mouth moving slightly, Gu Yundong suddenly felt warm inside.

It was really nice, finally no longer wandering, no encountering inexplicable dangers, being able to eat hot meals, and sleep on a soft bed.

And even better, she had family.

Gu Yundong gradually relaxed and slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, she set out with two taels of silver in her pocket.

Aunt Ke had said she had to cook for herself today. Now that she had settled down, she had a lot of things to buy, at least vegetables, rice, oil, salt, and so on. She couldn’t rely on the landlord for everything.

But she only had two taels of silver, and there were quite a few things she needed to buy, and prices in the city weren’t cheap.

It seemed she had to go collect some debts.

Gu Yundong went straight to the prefectural yamen, but the guard at the door said that Nie Cheng wasn’t there, as he seemed to have gone to catch someone.

Gu Yundong could only wander around with two taels of silver, looking for nearby places where she could earn money.

After walking around in circles, she gave up. There were quite a few beggars in the city, and she quickly learned that these people would work for food and lodging, without asking for money.

Wasn’t this ruining the market? How could you work without pay?

Gu Yundong sighed heavily and decided to go to the marketplace Aunt Ke had told her about.

The market was bustling, and Gu Yundong bought some vegetables, as well as scallions, ginger, and garlic. She also went to buy two catties of meat and suddenly noticed a stall selling apples in the corner.

Seeing her stop, the vendor immediately greeted her enthusiastically, “Miss, come take a look at these sand fruits. They’re really good, sweet and sour, refreshing, and thirst-quenching. The doctor says they can aid digestion and treat illnesses. I brought them specially from Yan District; we don’t have them here. They’re not expensive, only ten wen each. How many would you like?”

Ten wen each? Were the people in your city all robbers? Forget it, she had her space.

Gu Yundong turned and left, and the vendor hurriedly called out to her, “Hey, miss, don’t go, we can negotiate the price. I can make it cheaper for you.”

Gu Yundong walked faster, carrying her basket, and left the market.

Then she turned into a rice and grain shop, bought a dou of rice and two catties of flour, and then went to the grocery store to buy oil, salt, bowls, chopsticks, and so on.

She began to miss the large supermarkets of modern times.

Originally, she wanted to go to the cloth shop to buy some cloth, but she thought better of it. The two sets of clothes had been washed and could still be worn. She would buy some when she had money. Now… she was broke.

After buying this and that, Gu Yundong couldn’t hold any more. When no one was looking in the corner, she stuffed some of it into her space.

Then, holding only a few taels of silver left, she slowly made her way back home.

Money really didn’t go far.

Aunt Ke wasn’t at home, and when Gu Yundong entered the courtyard, Gu Yunko ran over, hugging her leg and asking, “Big sister, what did you buy?”

“Big sister will cook braised pork for you later.” Gu Yundong lowered the basket for her to see.

The little girl licked her lips. “What’s braised pork?”

Gu Yundong remembered. In the Gu family, they almost never had meat. Gu Yunko was so young, and even less so.

Moreover, Zhao Shi didn’t know how to cook braised pork.