CH 5

Chapter 5: The Unusual Situation in Town.

Shen Yu’an carried a basket of loquats from not far away and followed Shen Ming and Shen Yun down the mountain.

Shen Ming glanced at the road and thought of going back up later to pick all the loquats, then take them to town to sell together with the wild game tomorrow.

As Shen Yu’an walked, she suddenly heard some noise coming from behind a grove of trees. She quickly stopped and signaled for Shen Ming and Shen Yun to do the same.

“Shh~”

She took a few steps towards a grove of trees on the left, but before she could reach it, two wild chickens behind the grove heard the noise and started flapping their wings to run away.

In a moment of panic, Shen Yu’an threw a few loquats in her hand, hitting the two wild chickens square on. The chickens wobbled for a moment before falling to the ground with a “bang”.

She happily ran over and picked up the wings of the two wild chickens, although she was secretly thrilled. The original owner’s physical strength was indeed impressive, as she was able to knock out these wild chickens with just a bit of force.

If the wild chickens could speak, they would definitely complain to Shen Yu’an: How dare you not take us for a check-up? You must have given us a concussion!!!

But now, they could only be held dazedly by the wings, with their fate left to Shen Yu’an.

The original body had unusual strength from a young age. When she was playing with the girls in the village, she accidentally hurt them a few times, after that, no one dared to play with her again. That’s why she cherished her friendship with Lin Chunyan, who treated her so sincerely.

Lin Chunyan had always conveyed to her the idea that “you are a strange child with such great strength. No one wants to play with you except for me, but I don’t mind …” If it weren’t for the fact that the people in the Shen family loved the original owner of the body so much, she would probably have become a person with low self-esteem.

In the end, Lin Chunyan caused the death of the original owner of the body, but she’s not exactly living a good life now.

Thinking of Lin Chunyan, Shen Yu’an also remembered that yesterday she was only able to maintain her mental attack on her for two sentences.

It’s like going back to the old days, she should come up to the mountain more often in the future to exercise her abilities.

After all, her ability is to launch sneak attacks that even ghosts and gods are unaware of.

The three of them returned along the original path and finally arrived back at the yard of the Shen family after walking for two quarters of an hour.

As soon as Shen Yun entered the yard, he mysteriously closed the door. The people who were busy in the yard looked puzzled and asked, “What’s going on? Why are you closing the door in broad daylight?”

Shen Yun explained in a low voice, “The girl found something good on the mountain. We can’t let anyone see it.”

As soon as the people in the Shen family heard that it was something good, they immediately crowded around. Shen Yu’an smiled helplessly and held out her hand to Shen Yun, saying, “Second Uncle can take it out now.”

Shen Yun then took out a large cloth-wrapped object from his pocket. When they opened it, everyone in the Shen family was stunned.

It was ginseng! Three whole pieces of ginseng!

exclaimed the people of the Shen family as Shen Yun explained that they were lucky to have found them while digging on the mountain. They praised her for her good fortune and contribution to their success.

“It’s all thanks to our little girl’s luck. Without her going up the mountain with you, you wouldn’t have been able to catch so much,” Shen’s grandmother said while laughing so hard that her eyes were almost closed, teasing Shen Ming and Shen Yun.

The two brothers did not show any dissatisfaction. Usually, Grandma Shen would favor Shen Yu’an and when she praised her, she would always make fun of the male members of the family. They had all gotten used to it.

When everyone was done being surprised, Grandma Shen gave the three ginsengs to Shen Yu’an to keep.

Shen Ming and Shen Yun also went up the mountain with their baskets to pick loquats.

Early the next morning, Shen Yu’an got up to help Song Shi prepare breakfast.

Although Shen Rong was a scholar in town and had a good income every month, it was still not enough for their large family. They often joked that the half-sized children ate their father into poverty.

Therefore, their meals were always just enough to fill their stomachs, and it was impossible to have many delicacies.

After breakfast, the Shen family and their companions left for the town.

Shen Rong, Shen Dalang, and Shen Erlang went to the school in town, while Shen Yu’an, Shen Ming, and Shen Yun went to sell the things they had harvested yesterday.

Each of the six people carried some items and hurried towards the town. They walked fast and arrived in Xing’an Town in less than half an hour.

Xing’an Town is located in the fief of the Changding Prince, who is the third son of the Emperor and is already thirty years old. He was born to a palace maid who was favored by the Emperor, and the third prince did not have the support of any maternal family, nor was he favored by the Emperor.

However, the Changding Prince has a good reputation in his fiefdom, and for the common people, whoever can bring them a good life, they will support. Therefore, the Changding Prince is still popular among the people.

Unfortunately, in the 28th year of the Shunde era, the most heavily affected area by disasters was the fief of the Changding Prince. There was a severe drought, locust plague, and earthquakes…

Shen Yu’an felt a bit emotional in her heart.

In Xing’an Town, it was already dawn and there were already people coming and going in the town.

Shen Yu’an took her half-filled basket of loquats and the three ginseng roots to the pharmacy to sell, while the rest of the group would bring their game and remaining loquats to the tavern to find a buyer.

Along the way, the cries of peddlers were never-ending, and Shen Yu’an noticed that there were many beggars in the corners. She furrowed her eyebrows and felt that this was not ordinary. Why were there so many beggars in this town?

Shen Yu’an found the pharmacy and because she had three well-preserved ginseng roots, the pharmacy’s apprentice quickly called the owner over.

The owner looked at the ginseng and thought of lowering the price, but Shen Yu’an did not let him have his way. After some bargaining, they settled on a price of 400 taels of silver for the larger ginseng root, and 250 taels of silver each for the two smaller ones.

The Medical Hall also bought the goods, and the shopkeeper was pleased with the three good-quality ginseng roots.

Even the Liubai Medical Hall bought the loquats, and the shopkeeper was pleased to have acquired three good quality ginseng roots. He gave a good price of 25 wen per carty for the loquat

While the apprentice was getting the money, Shen Yu’an took the opportunity to ask the shopkeeper for information: “Old sir, I can’t help but notice that there are so many beggars in our town. Has it always been like this before?”

Upon hearing Shen Yu’an’s question, the shopkeeper’s gaze turned sorrowful as he looked outside, “There weren’t so many beggars in the past. It’s all due to the natural disasters that have been occurring. It hasn’t rained for so long, and many people from other places have come here to seek refuge. But since there are no job opportunities in town, they can’t get any work to do and can only resort to begging to survive. Sigh.”

“Thank you for letting me know,” Shenyu’an replied with a furrowed brow.

After collecting the silver, Shen Yu’an quickly went to find Shen Ming and Shen Yun.

On the way to find them, Shen Yu’an gave three copper coins to a beggar on the roadside to inquire about the situation outside Xing’an Town. The more she heard, the more shocked she became. How could it be so serious already? According to the plot in the book, there should still be about two months left… Could there be a deviation in the story?

It seems that she needs to hurry and find a way to convince her family to stock up on food, otherwise if a famine strikes, there won’t be enough time for them to prepare.

Shen Yu’an found Shen Ming and Shen Yun, they had already sold everything they brought with them. Each of them was carrying an empty basket on their back.

They also noticed that Shen Yu’an seemed upset, but since she didn’t seem willing to talk about it, they didn’t ask any further.

After the three of them made some purchases, Shen Yu’an hurriedly led them towards home.