Chapter 34 Drought Years (Part 5)

Chen Huihong’s group’s journey was very monotonous.

At least, that was what Qin Huai thought.

They traveled during the day and rested at night, drank water when they encountered streams, asked for directions when they met people, and begged for food when they came across the wealthy. Perhaps because they were getting closer and closer to Beiping, Madam Zhang no longer sold people when she encountered obviously affluent merchant caravans—she simply begged.

If luck was good, they would get one or two cakes. If not, they would be whipped.

When they were only about a day and a half away from Beiping, the weakest child in the group collapsed.

Madam Zhang tried to pry open his mouth and feed him a bite of bean cake. Seeing that he didn’t even have the strength to chew, she took the cake back out of his mouth and ate it herself. While eating, she remarked with a slightly regretful tone, “He can’t even eat something this good—looks like he’s really going to die.”

“He was never meant to have good fortune. We’re almost there, and he’s wasted my food all the way.”

The other children said nothing. They only dared to secretly glance at the bean cake Madam Zhang was chewing; no one paid attention to the person lying on the ground.

After swallowing the bean cake, Madam Zhang took a sip of water, cleared her throat, and loudly said, “Hurry up and move, stop slacking. At most two more days and we’ll arrive. Once we get there, you’ll have bean meals until you’re full. Don’t be like that unlucky one.”

After speaking, Madam Zhang walked over to Huiniang again with a smile and asked gently, “Hui girl, have you thought it through? When your young mistress abandons you, come to me. I’ll give you black flour buns until you’re full—unlike them.”

Huiniang shrank her neck and hid behind Chen Huihong while hugging her jar.

Madam Zhang smacked her lips, glanced at Chen Huihong, and said nothing further, continuing on.

The group moved on, now one person fewer.

Huiniang walked on Chen Huihong’s left side and whispered, “Sister, yesterday I shared a bite of the sweet potato you gave me with him, but he still died.”

“If I had given him one more bite, could he have survived to Beiping?”

Chen Huihong glanced at her and said calmly, “If you hadn’t given him any, he would have died yesterday. Even if you gave him more, he would still die tonight. People are bound to die—you can’t save them.”

Huiniang froze, then said softly, “But… I don’t want to die.”

After saying that, she looked up and forced a smile at Chen Huihong. “Sister, is your family really in Beiping?”

“They’re not,” Chen Huihong replied honestly. “I already said, I’m accompanying you to Beiping. You go find your parents, I’ll handle my own matters. Once we arrive, we’ll part ways and not interfere with each other.”

Huiniang fell silent, slowed her pace, and quietly followed behind.

Qin Huai, who had been moving around in the group trying to pick up useful information, said to himself: He’d bet a basket of buckwheat buns that this pair would definitely not separate upon reaching Beiping.

A day and a half later, the scattered group finally arrived at Beiping.

Madam Zhang lived in the outskirts of the city, in a low house with a shallow well, so she didn’t need to enter the city. Although she still wanted to trick Huiniang into selling her for profit, her joy at returning home after surviving death outweighed her greed.

After one final unsuccessful attempt to persuade her, Madam Zhang decisively gave up. She pointed the way to the inner city for Chen Huihong and the others, and they parted ways.

After separating from Madam Zhang’s group, Chen Huihong slowly took out a strip of tree bark and ate it while walking.

Being part of the group these past days had suffocated her. She could only secretly eat tree bark at night while everyone else slept. Now that only Huiniang remained, she could finally chew tree bark openly.

Huiniang followed her calmly.

“Madam Zhang said there are wealthy households distributing porridge on the way to the inner city. Most of the famine refugees gather there—your parents should be there. You can go check,” Chen Huihong told her.

Huiniang looked uneasy. “Sister… you’re not going?”

“I’m not interested,” Chen Huihong replied. “Madam Zhang said the inner city is lively—storytelling, opera, street performances, Eight Banners people, bird walking, cricket fighting. Since we’re here, I’ll go take a look.”

Huiniang could only say quietly, “Then… then please take care of yourself.”

Chen Huihong nodded, feeling the temporary partnership had come to a satisfactory end. She turned and walked forward, then paused, hesitated, and reluctantly took out her beloved half wooden horse from her waist. After a moment’s hesitation, she put it back, then instead took out the seven or eight copper coins she had picked up along the way.

“Take these,” Chen Huihong said, stuffing the coins into Huiniang’s hands. “Didn’t you say you don’t want to die? Don’t eat spoiled food.”

Huiniang carefully tucked the coins into her clothes, then held out her jar. “Sister… Chen sister, I don’t have money. I only have this jar I found. You can take it to use for water.”

“I don’t like drinking water,” Chen Huihong shook her head and walked away.

Qin Huai walked thirty or forty steps forward, then looked back and saw Huiniang had no intention of following. She couldn’t help but draw a question mark in her mind.

?

They really split up?

The plot was already getting boring, and now one of the main characters was gone—what was there left for the audience to watch?

Very quickly, Chen Huihong’s actions told him what there was to watch.

Shopping.

Dressed like a standard famine refugee, Chen Huihong wandered the streets, looking around at everything—beggars, commoners, nobles, scholars with glasses, people with canes—everything was new and interesting.

She would stop at teahouses to listen to boasting, and squeeze into crowds outside martial halls to watch fights.

Normally, someone dressed like a beggar would be frowned upon, but people were surprisingly tolerant.

Not because they were used to refugees in the city, but because most people didn’t see Chen Huihong as a refugee—they assumed she was a mad young lady from a wealthy family.

Some even pitied her.

“Whose family is this from? This is too improper. Even if she’s mentally impaired, she shouldn’t be treated like this. If any servant in my household dared treat a master like this, they’d be beaten to death,” a young noble watching cricket fighting remarked.

Another older man sighed, “Times have changed. If the old times were still here…”

Someone quickly covered his mouth.

The man simply shook his head, and, moved by pity, took out five copper coins and tossed them toward Chen Huihong.

“Take it.”

Chen Huihong: ?

She glanced at him, expression clearly saying, “Are you sick?”

After all that buildup, he only gave five coins—less than what she had just given Huiniang.

She didn’t pick them up, instead clutching her wooden horse and happily moved on to watch a fight.

Onlookers shook their heads. “As expected, she’s mad.”

Unaware of her growing reputation, Chen Huihong simply found everything novel and exciting. Beiping truly lived up to being the imperial capital—the roads were much smoother than elsewhere.

She wandered happily through the afternoon.

Qin Huai followed along happily as well.

Honestly… wandering around really was fun.

Especially the fights outside martial halls—each bout determined victory and defeat, sometimes life and death. Aside from the bloodiness, there were no flaws. Punches landed solidly, more intense than typical martial dramas.

When dinner time came, restaurants began opening.

Beggars hiding in corners went to work, while restaurant staff shooed them away. Those too gentle to act harshly were swarmed by beggars, forcing managers to come out and drive them off while scolding their staff.

Chen Huihong wasn’t interested in eating, but simply walked past restaurants, sniffing the aroma of food to judge their quality.

Thanks to her growing “madwoman” reputation, many shopkeepers assumed she was a runaway noble lady and didn’t dare drive her away. Instead, they offered cheap food to politely send her off.

Of course, Chen Huihong didn’t accept and quietly moved on whenever she was asked to leave, reinforcing their assumptions.

Eventually, she stopped in front of a pastry shop.

The shop was newly opened. Though the sign was old, the furniture inside was new. Business was slow, with only two workers inside.

Inside, the selection of pastries was limited—mostly coarse, dark, and yellow flour goods that resembled ordinary steamed buns. Only a few items, like walnut pastries, stood out as premium.

However, the craftsmanship seemed decent. The shapes were neat and the appearance acceptable, though the dark flour items looked rough and unappetizing.

If rated, Qin Huai would give the craftsmanship 80+ points.

Seeing no one chase her away, Chen Huihong simply sat down nearby to rest.

Meanwhile, Qin Huai wandered inside.

The shop was quite large: the first floor had a counter and small dining tables, while the second floor had tables, private rooms, and an open area—possibly for performances or storytelling. The menu suggested they also sold tea.

The reason the staff were idle was because the owner was upstairs in a private room discussing something.

Inside the room, a square-faced young man in his twenties—likely the owner—was speaking with a woman who had her hair tied up and appeared five to six months pregnant.

A food box sat on the table between them.

“Second sister, I know only you learned father’s true craft. I also know you still resent him, but the Qin family brand cannot be lost. Please help me this once—just this once. After this, I won’t ask you again!” the man pleaded earnestly.

The woman remained silent, gently stroking her belly.

“Second sister, if you don’t want to help, then please ask brother-in-law. He surely will.”

The woman sighed. “Back then I advised you not to move our shop from the frontier to Beiping with Boss Lu, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“You insisted, and I couldn’t persuade you. I then advised you not to close the original shop and keep the brand there, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“When choosing the location, I told you to handle it personally instead of leaving everything to Boss Lu, but you ignored me.”

“I warned you not to fire Manager Liu, but you thought he was arrogant and chose Boss Lu’s recommendation instead because he was reliable and cheaper.”

“Now the frontier shop and family estate are sold, Zhang Cai stole the recipe and ran off with the money, and you think of me.”

“Qin Yanxing, at this point, what can a woman like me possibly do?”

Qin Yanxing begged, “Sister, I truly didn’t expect Zhang Cai to be such a scoundrel—stealing the recipe and selling it to six shops. Now all those pastry shops are selling our fermented wine buns at lower prices, and our business is declining daily. We’re about to pay rent again.”

“We already sold everything to raise funds. Even if we wanted to go back home, we can’t now.”

The woman replied angrily, “And you know things have come to this—why come to me now?”

“If your skills weren’t lacking, others couldn’t replicate our product just by stealing a recipe. A recipe is dead, but people are alive. Father taught you personally for years, yet you failed to master our true craft. Do you really think a stolen recipe alone could destroy us?”

“If you hadn’t overestimated yourself, fired Manager Liu, insisted on coming to Beiping for profit, cared about appearances by renting this large two-story shop, and sold off everything to afford it—would things have come to this?”

“And now you still want to shirk responsibility, blaming Boss Lu, Zhang Cai, and Manager Liu. Could they make decisions for you? Weren’t these all your own choices?”

Her eyes reddened as she spoke.

Qin Yanxing had no response. He knelt down and said, “Sister, it’s all my fault. I admit I was arrogant, incompetent, and unable to accept guidance.”

“But sister, our century-old family brand cannot end with me. If Qin Ji closes under my watch, I won’t even have the face to meet father in the afterlife. Please help me. You once secretly watched father teach me; you never told him. I know you must still have the true recipe.”

“I also know your husband has developed a new hawthorn-flower bun recipe. Please ask him to teach me. Please save Qin Ji!”

The woman stood up in anger, pointing at him with trembling fingers: “You—”

“Bang!”

A loud crash came from downstairs, followed by the staff’s shouting.

“Where did this little beggar come from? This isn’t a place you can enter! Get out!”

The sudden noise interrupted the conversation. The woman sniffed, regained her composure, picked up the food box, and said, “I still have to deliver food to Uncle He.”

“You… take care of yourself.”