There was no fence in front of the wooden house.

As soon as Da Huang saw her, he rushed over and jumped on her, followed by a group of little puppies.

Though only a month old, the puppies had grown strong.

Every time they saw Shen Qingwan, they got particularly excited, running around her joyfully.

“Mother!”

Xiao Chen saw Shen Qingwan and excitedly threw himself into her arms, clinging to her like an octopus. Shen Qingwan scooped him up in one motion, holding him close.

“Good boy, you’ve gotten heavier again. Look what I brought you!”

Like a magician, Shen Qingwan pulled out a Qi Tian Dasheng (Great Sage, Equal to Heaven) figurine from behind her back.

Xiao Chen’s eyes lit up when he saw the lifelike figurine.

“Wow! Mother, what is this? Let me see!” Xiao Chen eagerly reached out for the toy.

Shen Qingwan brought the figurine closer for him to see.

“This is Sun Wukong, the Great Sage, Equal to Heaven. It’s the same character from the story I told you before—the Monkey King who can transform 72 times, cause havoc in the heavens, and leap 108,000 miles in a single somersault.”

Shen Qingwan had told him the story of Sun Wukong many times before, and the little one loved it, pestering her to retell it over and over.

This figurine was something she had collected in a supermarket in her past life.

She had stored an entire supermarket in her personal space, which contained plenty of toys.

Thinking of Xiaoyu, Shen Qingwan took out two fluffy pink teddy bears from her space.

They weren’t very big—one wore a pink lace dress, and the other a white dress, both looking adorable.

They were just the right size for Xiaoyu to cuddle.

She hadn’t forgotten Xiao Juan either and got one for her too.

“Mother, I love this Sun Wukong so much! Thank you!” Xiao Chen excitedly gave Shen Qingwan a big kiss on the cheek.

Shen Qingwan pinched his chubby little face and carried him home.

As soon as they arrived, Xiaoyu ran out to greet them, and the elderly couple, Grandpa Lu and Grandma Lu, also came out upon hearing the commotion.

“You’re finally back, daughter-in-law!”

“Sister-in-law, come inside. Lunch is almost ready!”

Grandma Lu welcomed Shen Qingwan into the house, while Zhou Huiniang went to the temporary kitchen to fetch the food.

Shen Qingwan handed the two teddy bears to Xiaoyu and Xiao Juan.

The two little girls were so happy they almost jumped with joy.

“Wow! What is this? It’s so pretty! And it even has clothes!”

Zhou Huiniang was also curious, staring at the pink teddy bear in Xiao Juan’s hands.

“This is a toy for little girls. I bought it from a traveling merchant. I thought it looked nice, so I brought them back for the girls,” Shen Qingwan said, patting Xiaoyu’s head.

Xiaoyu snuggled into Shen Qingwan’s arms obediently.

Meanwhile, Xiao Chen was proudly showing off his Sun Wukong figurine to everyone.

The exquisite craftsmanship and fine materials left everyone unable to take their eyes off it.

“This must have cost quite a bit, right? Sister-in-law, you’ve really gone out of your way! Xiao Juan, hurry up and thank your Aunt Qingwan,” Zhou Huiniang urged.

Xiao Juan quickly stepped forward and shyly said, “Thank you, Aunt Qingwan.”

Xiaoyu also followed, saying, “Thank you, Mother.”

After lunch, Shen Qingwan sent the children off to play and finally sat down with Lu Wenguang to discuss the farmland.

But before they could say much, Lu Dahe’s anxious voice suddenly came from outside.

“Wenguang, bad news! Some refugees are pulling up our vegetable seedlings!”

Lu Wenguang immediately stood up and rushed out to ask, “Dahe, what happened?”

Lu Dahe spoke anxiously, “I don’t know where they came from. They stormed into the field and started pulling up seedlings, including the sweet potato vines! They’ve already taken a lot!”

Shen Qingwan’s expression darkened when she heard this. Without hesitation, she strode toward the fields, with Lu Wenguang and Grandpa Lu following closely behind.

From a distance, Shen Qingwan could already see the refugees pulling up sweet potato vines. Her face turned cold. “Second Brother, go call the villagers!”

Lu Wenguang saw that the number of refugees was quite large and knew that they wouldn’t be able to stop them alone. He quickly turned around to call for help.

“Stop right now, or don’t blame me for being rude!”

Shen Qingwan’s voice rang out loud and clear, startling the refugees.

But when they looked up and saw that it was just a young woman, they continued pulling up the plants as if nothing had happened.

“Stop! What do you think you’re doing? This is outright robbery!” Grandpa Lu was furious, pushing an elderly man who was pulling up sweet potato vines.

The refugees looked at Shen Qingwan and the others with dull expressions, their bodies gaunt and frail. “We have no choice. The government won’t give us food. We are starving!”

“We are desperate to survive. Please, just let us take some leaves to eat!”

A woman spoke as she plucked a handful of sweet potato leaves and stuffed them into her mouth.

They didn’t care whether it was raw or cooked—at this point, they would eat even tree bark to stay alive.

Nearby, an old woman was feeding some sweet potato leaves to her six or seven-year-old grandson.

The child was nothing but skin and bones, his eyes sunken deep into his face, making them appear unnaturally large.

His mouth was smeared with green juice as he ate.

“You people eat your fill while we starve! You don’t know the suffering of us refugees!”

“That’s right! If we’re going to die, we might as well die with full stomachs!”

A few younger men spoke angrily, as if their suffering was caused by Shen Qingwan and her group.

Shen Qingwan was furious that they had pulled up so many sweet potato vines.

But seeing them in such a pitiful state, struggling just to survive, she found it hard to be completely heartless.

Just then, Lu Wenguang arrived with the villagers, along with the refugees who had helped them clear the fields.

Realizing the situation was turning against them, the ones who had stolen sweet potato vines grabbed what they could and fled.

Some weren’t fast enough and were surrounded by the villagers.

“What do you want to do with us?”

A middle-aged man in his forties stepped forward, looking at them warily.

Seeing that they were outnumbered, the refugees who had stolen the sweet potato vines huddled together, looking fearful.

“Please, have mercy! We were just too hungry and wanted a bite to eat. Please, let us go!”

A seventy-year-old man suddenly knelt down, pleading for their forgiveness.

Seeing him, more and more people followed suit, dropping to their knees.

“Please, spare us!”

“We truly have nowhere else to go!”

Most of those who knelt were the elderly, women, and children—people who had no means to fend for themselves.

Meanwhile, the younger men remained standing, their faces tense, as if ready to resist till the end.

There were about a hundred refugees, but most of them were weak and frail.

It was clear they had no ability to earn a living.

Although the Jin family had been providing porridge outside the city gates, the amount was limited, and they only distributed it once a day. A single bowl was just enough to keep someone from starving to death.

Those who couldn’t get any porridge had no choice but to search for food elsewhere—some begged in villages, while others scavenged for roots and tree bark in the forests.

Since their village was near the woods, it was only a matter of time before they were discovered.