In her past life, she clearly remembered being sold to the Li family at the age of fifteen.
The Li family was, after all, in a big business. Thus, during this turbulent era of war and chaos, their household managed to enjoy three more years of peace by bribing officials.
It wasn't until three years later, when the authorities oppressed them with excessive grain levies, that the Li family was forced to flee overnight to the south.
However, in all of Chengtang Town, including several surrounding villages, no one was wealthier than the Li family.
This meant that her memory of time in her past life was muddled. That horse-drawn convoy was definitely from Old Master Li's household.
Fortunately, they didn't take the main road and chose to cross the mountains. If they had run into the Li family, she wouldn't have known how she died this time.
"It's so dark, and so far away, yet you could still see a carriage?" Little Yan Yan's eyes widened as he looked down at Ah Jiu.
"Mhm, it's natural," Ah Jiu replied vaguely.
"Wow, Boss, you're the most amazing female knight-errant I've ever met. You have divine strength naturally."
Tuoba Yan, gesticulating wildly, spun in circles around Ah Jiu, who was more than two or three heads shorter than him.
"Pfft, female knight-errant?" Ah Jiu covered her mouth, her laughter clear and crisp.
Her parents had already opened the bundle and spread it on the ground, using those tattered clothes to add an extra layer for Ah Jiu, preventing the stones from digging into her.
Fortunately, it was midsummer, so there was no fear of freezing.
"Ah Jiu, sleep next to Mother." Cai Lihua had no intention of saying more. She would have a heart-to-heart talk with her daughter when she was older. For now, she had to guard against that clever boy, look how he was coaxing her daughter. This was not good.
Ah Jiu responded with a sound and obediently lay down beside her mother.
Perhaps because she hadn't slept well in the cave the night before, Cai Lihua soon fell asleep.
Meng Shaode was also feeling sleepy. He yawned and walked a few steps away to find something to do. Soon, the sound of wood being whittled—chua chua chua—could be heard.
He had to make a bow and arrow. Back in the day, he had traversed the world with a bow and arrow. Now, he had to protect his family to the best of his ability.
"Sister? Are you asleep? Look how bright the stars are." Little Yan Yan sat beside Ah Jiu like a three-year-old child, pointing at the sky.
Meng Shaode's pupils contracted: "Kid, if you're not sleeping, come over and give me a hand."
Ah Jiu completely ignored Tuoba Yan. Her heart was set on seeing the wheat she had planted.
"Alright."
As Tuoba Yan left, Ah Jiu, holding onto her waistband, sleepily walked towards the darkness.
From behind, Meng Shaode's instructions came: "Girl, don't wander too far."
"Got it, Daddy. I'm just here, not far."
Ah Jiu wasn't actually in urgent need to relieve herself. As soon as she ducked under a tree, she saw clumps of wheat seedlings as high as her waist.
The wheat ears… Huh?
Ah Jiu reached out to touch them, but where were the wheat ears? She quickly parted the stalks to check. Many had fallen to the ground. She confirmed they had grown.
As she searched, she suddenly discovered a person crouched in the wheat stalks.
Ah Jiu was so startled she covered her mouth, afraid to cry out, and her entire body turned to stone.
"Granddaughter, you've stepped on my hand."
Ah Jiu instantly felt something soft beneath her foot and quickly retracted it.
A-Nai, lying on the ground, grimaced and sat up, shaking her head vigorously several times, her face contorted in pain:
"Oh, it hurts so much. Indeed, flesh and blood are mortal. The sensation is so intense."
"A-Nai, you've eaten all my wheat. What will our family eat?"
Ah Jiu understood. With this scene laid out before her, even a fool could figure it out.
Wang Shi cleared her throat, sat cross-legged in the middle of the wheat sprouts, and made a gesture of stroking her beard (she had no beard), saying earnestly:
"Not at all, not at all. It's not all eaten. There's still some left, isn't there? Some also fell to the ground."
Ah Jiu looked with heartache and annoyance at the trail scattered in the cracks of the rocks. Indeed, these had not been ravaged by Wang Shi.
"You're not allowed to steal and eat them anymore." Ah Jiu, heartbroken, squatted down and collected the wheat bit by bit.
She put them into the front of her tunic. Even the ones Wang Shi had knocked to the ground, she hadn't been willing to leave a single one behind. At worst, she could blow off the dust and still have something to fill her stomach.
"Girl, where did this spiritual spring of yours come from? It can grow such spirited wheat. If you could reclaim wasteland and farm, wouldn't that be wonderful? Why would you still go to Nanming City?"