Chapter 5: Escape

Could she actually take them out?

“Meat buns, come out!” With Lin Yue’s thought, four meat buns appeared in her hands again.

She stared at the fridge and finally noticed a small detail she had missed in the early morning.

Beneath the buns was a line of faint, nearly transparent white text, almost unnoticeable:

Refresh time: 05:59:40

Could it be?

Did this mean the meat buns refreshed every few hours?

If so, she could get four meat buns each day.

That’s sixteen meat buns a day!

Her heart pounded with excitement. She checked again and again, feeling both thrilled and relieved.

The fridge ingredients could actually refresh!

She would definitely not starve!

Lin Yue took out two buns and stored the remaining two, along with the plastic bag, back in the space.

She stuffed one into her mouth, the meat juice exploding in her mouth, leaving her utterly satisfied.

No need to be cautious—just eat it all.

It felt incredible!

After quickly finishing two meat buns, she was no longer hungry; her stomach full of fat and meat, the fatigue of the day hit her double. Lin Yue immediately fell into a deep sleep.

“Wake up, sister-in-law!”

Dog Egg was shaking her awake. She opened her eyes to pitch-black darkness outside.

But the roosters were already crowing.

Aunt Li stood outside. “Young miss, we’re leaving now.”

Dog Egg and Da Ya were both awake and standing.

Lin Yue immediately got up.

“Da Ya, are you okay?”

She waved to Da Ya, intending to check her forehead temperature.

But Da Ya stepped back a few steps, hiding behind Aunt Li, clutching her clothes.

She refused to look at Lin Yue.

“Come here.”

Lin Yue smiled and called again.

Yet Da Ya did not approach; her body trembled.

Something was wrong!

She must have remembered that Lin Yue had killed Da Huangya; Da Ya was afraid.

“What’s wrong with this child?”

Aunt Li patted Da Ya’s head, but the girl immediately ran away again.

Like a frightened sparrow.

Aunt Li sighed and did not press further. “The Zhou family is loading the ox cart. We must go, or we’ll be late.”

“Quickly gather your things. We’re leaving immediately.”

Lin Yue nodded. Their belongings were just one small bundle.

Da Ya was awake and could walk on her own.

Lin Yue folded the quilt wrapping Da Ya and put it in the bundle, then slung it over her shoulder.

“Let’s go.”

The ox cart was large and packed with goods.

The Zhou family collected hunting products and medicinal herbs, then sold them in Shitai.

They made the trip roughly every half month.

Lin Yue and the children happened to catch the right day.

By the time they left, the cart was already full with seven or eight people.

“Ten wen,” shouted Zhou’s eldest son, the driver.

Most people were only going to the next village and didn’t need to pay, or just a symbolic fee of one or two wen.

But Lin Yue’s group was heading further, so the cost was higher.

“Ah, how can it be so expensive? We’re all villagers,” Aunt Li scolded Zhou’s eldest son.

“Little Guo’s wife? You know Little Guo too, right? The mountain goods you got from him before were the best—you earned plenty from him.”

“Now you’re taking the cart for a short ride, with one adult and two children—how is that taking up much space? Why charge?”

Aunt Li nagged, “I brought them here myself. How can you make me lose face?”

Zhou’s daughter-in-law was loading the cart, expression cold. “Aunt, the road to Shitai isn’t near. This fee isn’t much at all.”

Aunt Li ignored her, turning to Zhou’s eldest son, face stern.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Zhou’s eldest son laughed…

“This is Little Guo’s wife! Little Guo is like your own son. Aunt Li, don’t worry, I definitely won’t charge you and will make sure they get there safely.”

“How come…”

Zhou’s daughter-in-law was unhappy, but Zhou’s eldest son quickly interrupted her. “I’m speaking! Why are you interrupting? Go back inside!”

Aunt Li finally broke into a bright smile and walked over to Lin Yue, taking a cloth bag from her bosom.

Inside were three flatbreads, which she handed to Lin Yue. “There’s nothing much to give you on the road, so take these.”

Lin Yue tried to refuse, but Aunt Li patted her hand with a serious expression. “If you don’t eat, the children might starve.”

Lin Yue realized Aunt Li was blocking her with words—she couldn’t refuse.

“Thank you!”

Lin Yue took them, feeling a warm surge of gratitude.

She had originally planned to eat meat buns along the way, but realized it might be too conspicuous and attract unwanted attention.

With these flatbreads, at least they could stave off hunger.

Aunt Li was truly a kind person.

Back at Aunt Li’s home, she saw her grandchildren waking up, each holding a white steamed bun.

“White buns? Where did these come from?”

She hurried over and found three white buns in a bowl.

Seeing the snow-white buns, her heart warmed.

The grandchildren were sharing one among them.

“So fragrant!”

They tore it open, and the meat filling mixed with juices, even dripping onto one child’s fingers. The child quickly licked it.

“Oh my, oh my, these are meat buns,” Aunt Li sighed.

She immediately realized they were gifts left by Lin Yue.

“This little girl really doesn’t know how to keep things for herself.”

Such fine meat buns would cost at least three wen each. Four of them would total twelve wen—a huge gift for the village at that time!

Though she felt a little exasperated, Aunt Li was also secretly pleased. “Little Guo is a good man, and this girl is good too.”

She also regretted not insisting last night that they eat the eggs, and should have given more flatbreads this morning.

Lin Yue, however, didn’t know these details.

When she woke that morning, she saw the fridge’s meat buns showing a refresh time of 00:00:00.

But after a few seconds, the timer didn’t move.

Only when she took a bun did the countdown resume, showing 05:59:59.

Once taken out, the buns couldn’t be put back into the fridge.

Luckily, there was still her virtual space outside the fridge where she could store the buns.

She had also tested this: the two buns placed in the virtual space last night were still cold when she retrieved them in the morning.

This meant the virtual space could freeze food.

No!

Lin Yue realized the space could probably freeze items exactly as they were.

Whatever state an item was in when placed in the space, it stayed that way when retrieved.

Now she no longer had to worry about food spoiling!

Joy filled her heart.

Her fridge contained far more than just meat buns—so many good things.

If she could unlock all of them and they all refreshed, she would never be hungry again!

She could even live comfortably in the ancient era.

Still, she felt a bit uneasy.

Yesterday, the system suddenly appeared at midnight and unlocked the fridge, allowing her to claim one item.

Today, however, it showed no response.

No matter how she clicked or called, the system didn’t react.

She had no choice but to give up… for now.

But she felt confident: with the fridge here and the meat buns in her space, the system would not disappear.

The ox cart trundled along, slow but steady.

Passengers got on and off along the way.

By nightfall, only four other people remained besides them.

“Tonight we’ll stay here,” Zhou’s eldest son said, stopping the ox cart in the backyard of a house. “Do you want to sleep in the cart or stay inside the house?”