CHAPTER 236: CHAPTER 236: EATING LIKE ENEMIES

The next morning, Yu Xiaolian pretended to wander around outside, then came back with a bundle of candies and pastries.

This time on the carriage, Yu Xiaolian could openly eat waffles, bread, and fruit-flavored candies.

Of course, she also shared some with the children on the carriage, giving each of them a portion.

She put on a straw hat, leaned leisurely against the carriage wall, sucking on a peach-flavored candy.

Su Jingchen, who was driving the carriage, chatted casually with Yu Xiaolian, "The further northwest we go, the warmer it gets."

Yu Xiaolian mumbled in agreement and asked Su Jingchen what flavor candy he wanted.

"The same one you’re having!"

Yu Xiaolian took out a peach-flavored candy, removed the wrapper, and popped it into Su Jingchen’s mouth, then leaned back against the carriage, closing her eyes.

Noticing Yu Xiaolian seemed sleepy, Su Jingchen reminded her, "Sit tight, this isn’t inside a carriage, you might fall off."

Yu Xiaolian mumbled vaguely in response, then reached out to grab the curtain on the carriage door.

Su Jingchen sighed helplessly; with this drowsy look, she would probably fall off sooner or later.

Su Jingchen asked, "Did you not sleep well last night?"

Yu Xiaolian nodded, "Don’t talk to me, I want to take a nap."

"I’m only talking to you because I’m afraid you’ll fall asleep."

Yu Xiaolian grumbled, "You’re so mean!"

Su Jingchen suggested, "We should reach Zicheng tonight, and maybe we can buy another carriage there?"

Yu Xiaolian murmured sleepily in agreement. Last night, she hadn’t slept well because Sun Manbo’s wife cried half the night. Though she kept her voice down, sharing the same room made it impossible for Yu Xiaolian not to hear.

Being disturbed by Sun Manbo’s wife’s crying, Yu Xiaolian became restless. By the time Sun Manbo’s wife got tired of crying and fell asleep, Yu Xiaolian became even more awake.

To keep Yu Xiaolian from falling asleep, Su Jingchen started chatting endlessly, from discussing the academy to the county school, from Su Jingyue to Yao’s family, and then from Zheng Yuanfeng to Prince Jin.

The effect was apparent; Yu Xiaolian leaned against the carriage, tilted her head, and successfully fell asleep.

With no other choice, Su Jingchen drove the carriage with one hand while supporting Yu Xiaolian’s head with the other.

Fortunately, Yu Xiaolian woke up after only a short nap.

When Su Jingchen saw Yu Xiaolian waking up, he withdrew his now slightly numb hand, "Don’t sleep again. Rest inside the carriage during the lunch break if you need to."

Yu Xiaolian nodded groggily, rubbed her dry eyes, "Did you hold me up the whole time? Thank you."

Since leaving home, Yu Xiaolian had not had a good night’s sleep. These days, truly tired and exhausted, she felt her eyelids becoming so heavy that she couldn’t keep them open.

After napping for a while, she felt much better.

After a short break at noon, they continued their journey.

However, Sun Manbo’s wife refused to sit in the carriage again, willingly giving up her spot for her mother-in-law to sit.

Yu Xiaolian quietly asked Sun Manbo’s wife what was going on, whether her mother-in-law was causing her trouble again. Sun Manbo’s wife assured her not, saying she was just being considerate of her mother-in-law’s age and trading places with her.

Since Sun Manbo’s wife was willing, Yu Xiaolian didn’t interfere and let her walk instead.

Upon reaching Zicheng that evening, Yu Xiaolian, as usual, found an inn and arranged for the Sun Family to stay in a common room.

Now, even Sun Fourth Master and Sun Fifth Master had stopped suggesting sleeping outside to save money, having realized that Yu Xiaolian wouldn’t listen to such suggestions.

Yu Xiaolian decided to sleep alone in a room that night. Just as she opened the door, Sun Daji’s wife came running towards her.

Sun Daji’s wife, grinning ear to ear, asked Yu Xiaolian, "Dear nephew, the white flour buns from last night have run out, and there isn’t much rice left in the sack. What shall we eat tonight?"

Yu Xiaolian replied, "I’ll go buy you some steamed buns shortly."

Sun Daji’s wife suggested, "Child, don’t buy white flour buns, get some black flour ones instead.

With so many people, just the eating alone costs quite a bit of silver coin each day.

If it really doesn’t work out, just buy some broken rice. It’s cheaper, and we can use the inn’s kitchen to cook porridge ourselves."

Sun Daji’s wife genuinely wanted to save Yu Xiaolian some money; that fifty-pound sack of rice they took out the day before had been consumed in two days. And that was just with porridge; if they were eating cooked rice, it would be gone in a day.

Some people do eat a lot, enough to not feel hungry, but they eat as if there won’t be another meal after this one, almost as if they were wasting it.

She secretly counted; Sun Manbo alone ate six white flour buns in one sitting—he truly had a big appetite.

Sun Daji’s wife often looked down on the people from Sun Fourth Master’s family; if it weren’t for helping them, her family’s grain wouldn’t have run out so quickly.

Yu Xiaolian, knowing that Sun Daji’s wife meant well, laughed and said, "Aunt, how about this? Aren’t we forty-nine people? Two buns per person, distributed evenly by headcount.

That way, no one will be hungry, and no one will overeat."

Sun Daji’s wife clapped her hands, "That’s a good idea. Let’s go with that.

As for the little kids, giving each one would be enough."

Just enough to keep them from starving. Plus, having three meals a day is already a treat for them; in recent days, they only had one bowl of thin porridge with nothing else, even the grass roots outside of Bohai City were dug up and eaten.

She particularly looked down on the bunch of big men from Sun Fourth Master’s family; receiving kindness from the Yu Family for help doesn’t mean they can take advantage and waste resources.

Other men would stop eating after just two buns, but why do Sun Manbo and his brothers have such large appetites?

They eat not just a little, but a lot!

Yu Xiaolian laughed, "I’ll handle buying, you handle distributing—your call."

Sun Daji’s wife agreed quickly and turned away to head out.

Yu Xiaolian placed her bundle in the room and headed out with Su Jingchen.

Su Jingchen noted, "The ox and horse market is already closed now, so if we’re buying a carriage, we might have to wait for tomorrow morning."

Seeing a wonton stall on the roadside, Yu Xiaolian pulled Su Jingchen over to eat.

After two large bowls of meat wontons, Yu Xiaolian felt revitalized. Eating such plain food for days had sucked the joy out of life.

"After thinking about it, let’s not buy a carriage. Let’s buy two ox carts so everyone can fit, and we can hurry along our journey more quickly."

Plus, her father and uncle would be farming in Taohua Village; an ox could be used for plowing later.

Su Jingchen said, "Though ox carts are slower, they are still faster than walking. And two ox carts cost less than one horse; you really thought this through."

Yu Xiaolian chuckled, "Then I’ll give you the silver, and tomorrow morning you can handle buying the ox—I’ll get some extra sleep."

Su Jingchen nodded, indicating he had no issue with that.

Catching sight of a steamed bun shop nearby, Yu Xiaolian approached and asked, "How much are the buns?"

"Three coins for a mixed flour bun, five for a white flour one, which would you like?"

Yu Xiaolian clicked her tongue; mixed flour buns used to be one coin each, white ones three. Prices really had gone up.

Even so, Su Jingchen had said they were cheap and not expensive.

Indeed, compared to prices in Bohai City, this was cheap.

It’s half the price compared to inside Bohai City.