Chapter 5: So Poor They Can’t Even Afford Salt

They both moved very slowly—one had a concussion and couldn’t rush, the other had poor eyesight and simply couldn’t hurry. At their snail’s pace, Wang Man thought by the time they got back, it would already be dark. Luckily, it was morning, so they had plenty of time to dawdle.

Their odd little duo attracted a lot of attention wherever they went.

“Hey, Aunt Ma Liu, watch your step with those eyes of yours. Be careful not to fall into a ditch. Where’s your Wang San? Ran off again, has he?”

Though the tone was laced with mockery, the woman’s concern was genuine enough beneath the teasing.

She grabbed a handful of wild vegetables from her own basket and dropped them into Aunt Ma Liu’s worn-out basket.

“Better head back quickly. Falling and getting hurt would be no good.”

Aunt Ma Liu didn’t refuse—she was in no position to.

Noticing Wang Man nearby, the woman looked surprised.

“Man, what happened to your head? Did your stepmother hit you? Ah, and your Father too—how can he just listen to your stepmother like that? Even a tiger won’t eat its own cubs, but your Father is hardly acting like a real parent.”

The woman’s anger grew with each word. She loved her own children deeply and couldn’t bear to see others treat their kids like that.

Another woman tugged at her sleeve:

“You probably don’t know—her Father and Mother sold her to Wang San for five taels of silver. Wang San even sold the only one acre of land their family had.”

Jiang Sanniang, the woman who had just been startled by the wild vegetables, raised her voice in disbelief:

“What did you say? When did this happen? How come I never heard about it?”

The woman, Liu Cuiqin, glanced at Wang Man and lowered her voice:

“It happened two days ago. That injury on her head might have been from her Stepmother hitting her because she didn’t obey. You weren’t home, so how would you know?”

Jiang Sanniang’s eyes went wide:

“Wang Chang’an didn’t stop it?”

She had gone back to her parents’ home a few days ago and only returned late last night. She hadn’t heard about this matter yet.

“Stop it? He probably didn’t mind at all—might have even wanted it,” Liu said with a sneer, clearly full of disdain. Meeting a man like that is truly one of life’s misfortunes.

“Manya, is this really true? You’re only twelve, still so young—how could they be so heartless? What about your grandparents and Big Brother? Didn’t any of them step in to stop this?” Jiang Sanniang asked.

She thought that if even one person had stood up to say something, that rogue wouldn’t dare be so blatant. Wang Man is only twelve, still just a child. Wang San is already in his twenties, a reckless troublemaker who couldn’t care less about how old Manya is.

That injury on her head was most likely because Manya didn’t obey and Wang San hit her. If Wang San knew people were talking like this, he’d definitely freak out.

Even though he’s a troublemaker, he still has a conscience, you know?

Wang Man shook her head expressionlessly:
“No.”

“That’s just too cold-hearted!”

Jiang Sanniang’s face flushed with anger.
How could there be people like that in the world? It was truly shocking.

Wang Man forced a faint smile:
“Well, maybe it’s for the best. From now on, I have nothing to do with them. They won’t be able to bother me anymore.”

Liu Shi nodded:
“That’s right, from now on you have nothing to do with them.
Your stepmother is so cold-hearted—if you were still at home, who knows what kind of wicked schemes she might come up with.”

“Sigh, Manya, you just focus on living your life well from now on.
Wang San may not be a good man, but at least your mother-in-law can still manage things.”

The matter was already settled, and aside from saying a few words of comfort, there was nothing more they could do.

Jiang Sanniang emptied all the wild vegetables from her basket into Aunt Ma Liu’s basket, shook her head, and walked away.

Liushi looked around, grabbed a large handful as well, and added it to Aunt Ma Liu’s basket before hurrying off to catch up with Jiang Sanniang.

Aunt Ma Liu wiped the corners of her eyes, turned to Wang Man—who was still watching the two women—and said softly:
“Manya, let’s go back.
Those two Sister-in-laws may be sharp-tongued, but they have good hearts.
Given our situation, we won’t be able to repay their kindness in the future—we can only carry it in our hearts.”

Seeing Aunt Ma Liu stumble slightly, Wang Man quickly reached out her left hand to support her as they walked home together.

After returning, Wang Man didn’t lie down. Instead, she sat to the side and started cleaning the wild vegetables.

Though her head was spinning and she felt nauseous, it was still bearable.

The two of them had another meal of wild vegetable soup, then sat dazed under the eaves.

Wang Man’s eyes were fixed on a single spot. She looked like she was spacing out, but in truth, her thoughts were slowly churning.

There was no helping it—her brain was still in a semi-shutdown state. She had to take things slow.

First and foremost, she needed to get her hands on some grain.

As long as she could fill her stomach, her injuries would heal much faster.

Grain… where could she get grain?

Given the state of this household, silver was out of the question.

Even if there had been any, Wang San would’ve gambled it all away. Otherwise, things wouldn’t be in such a sorry state now.

The moment she thought of Wang San, Wang Man pushed aside any ideas of getting silver.

That little thug—since he was now her husband, he needed to fulfill the duties of one.
Otherwise, she’d have to put on a full martial arts performance and teach him a lesson.

How should she deal with him? She had to think it through carefully—ideally, she wanted to break all his bad habits without wasting too much effort.

But that… might be a bit difficult. Wang San had been messing around out on the streets for years and, on top of that, he was fond of gambling.

Breaking the gambling habit wouldn’t be easy.

But laziness and poor hygiene—those might still be fixable.

Right, had that guy ever been to a brothel?

If he had, then she absolutely couldn’t let him stay as her husband.

She had a cleanliness obsession—there was no way she would compromise on that.

“Manya, you’ve been sitting for so long—why don’t you go lie down and rest?”

Wang Man pulled her thoughts back and nodded.
“Mother, do we have any salt at home? We can’t keep eating bland wild vegetables. We still need salt—without it, we won’t have any strength.”

Somehow, that word “Mother” slipped out naturally.
Surprisingly, it didn’t feel difficult at all.

Aunt Ma Liu looked a bit troubled.
“There’s not even food in the house—where would we get something as precious as salt?”

She wasn’t wrong. In ancient times, salt was strictly controlled by the authorities, and no one dared to buy more than they were allowed.

Even if you wanted to buy more, it wasn’t just about having money—you needed the right connections too.
Without those, it was all meaningless.

Wang Man sighed. Back in the modern world, even though she was a martial artist, her net worth was still in the billions.
Whether it was food or daily necessities, she had never lacked a single thing.

But now? She was so poor she couldn’t even afford salt.
How miserable was that?

She couldn’t help but wonder—were other women who transmigrated also having such a hard time?

Seeing that Wang Man didn’t respond, Aunt Ma Liu spoke again:
“How about… I go ask your Eldest Aunt to lend us a little?”

Wang Man…
Lend—it sounded nice, but what would they pay it back with?

What they didn’t know was that their earlier conversation had been overheard by Wang Zhu, the grandson of Eldest Uncle Wang Yida.

As soon as he got home, he told his grandmother, Madam Lü, about it.

The very next day, Madam Lu brought over a small half-bowl of salt.

What they had was coarse salt—large, yellowish grains with a slightly bitter taste.

Even so, it cost over twenty copper coins a jin (about 500 grams), and wasn’t easy to come by.

Aunt Ma Liu seemed to have gotten used to accepting things from others.
But Wang Man was different.

Though she said nothing aloud, she was deeply grateful in her heart.

And that wasn’t all—Madam Lu glanced around cautiously, then secretly slipped a chicken egg into Wang Man’s hand.
“Manya, while it’s still warm, eat it quickly to help you recover.”

Her family wasn’t well-off either. They raised a few old hens, but the egg production was poor.
She’d been hoping to save up enough eggs to take to town and trade for other necessities.
Even her own family couldn’t bear to eat them—so for her to spare one for Wang Man was already an incredible act of generosity.