Li Menglan had been in this unfamiliar world for over ten days now, and the illness afflicting this body had completely faded; today, she finally had the chance to step out of this room and see the outside world.
Tsk, tsk... this family really was impossibly poor. Li Menglan sized up everything around her; she couldn’t help but frown and shake her head slightly.
This was a dilapidated courtyard, with more than half of the enclosing wall already collapsed; in the middle of the courtyard was a well. Apart from this rotting room where Li Menglan had slept for over ten days, pressed right up beside it were five similarly tattered thatched huts. According to her chatty second brother, this broken-down courtyard had cost over one tael of silver to purchase. Their original home had been a blue-brick house with green tiles that had only been built less than two years prior; they had sold it back then to pay for Grandfather’s treatment.
“Ah-choo!” A gust of wind blew past, and Li Menglan couldn’t help but sneeze. “Ugh... so cold.” Li Menglan, who had always lived in the south in her previous life, truly wasn’t used to this kind of low-temperature weather.
These past few days, Li Menglan had already learned from her second brother Li Zhihao that she was in a place called the Yunliang Kingdom; the emperor’s surname was Long.
Li Menglan racked her brains but couldn’t recall any Yunliang Kingdom in Chinese history, so she was absolutely certain: she had transmigrated to an alternate world. Looking at the clothing of the people around her, it should be roughly equivalent to China’s Song Dynasty.
The place where Li Dazhu’s family lived was called Shangliang Village, belonging to a province called Yunjing in the northern reaches of the Yunliang Kingdom; only, Shangliang Village was rather remote. Apart from one large and one small town nearby, traveling from here to the county town by horse took a full day, and that was without resting along the way.
As the saying goes, those who live by the mountain eat from the mountain, those who live by the water eat from the water; fortunately, Shangliang Village’s yields were still quite abundant, so overall life was passable. It was only Li Fujin’s illness dragging down the Li family; otherwise, they wouldn’t be so destitute.
In the evening, the family gathered together for dinner. The meal was very simple—brown rice porridge thin enough to reflect a person’s shadow; dark and hard steamed buns. On the table was also a small bowl of pickled vegetables, black and murky, and no one knew what they were pickled with. At one glance, Li Menglan lost all appetite, let alone wanting to eat.
Fortunately, Zhang Yuniang doted on her daughter who had just recovered from a serious illness, and they had kept a little of the pheasant that Li Dazhu and his sons had caught over ten days ago. Although because it had been kept too long it had developed a bit of a smell, she couldn’t withstand the hunger! Li Menglan still ate with great relish. It was just that those buns and pickled vegetables... Li Menglan simply wanted nothing to do with them.
Watching Li Menglan eat so sweetly, a faint smile appeared on Zhang Yuniang’s face as she said gently, “Lan girl, eat slowly, be careful not to choke.”
“Mother, I’m fine.” Li Menglan gave her mother a sweet smile. Because of the serious illness, Li Menglan’s originally thin body had become even more frail; as if a single gust of wind could blow her away.
Looking at her daughter’s frail body, Zhang Yuniang’s face was full of heartache. “Husband, Lan girl has just recovered, but there’s nothing in the house. What are we to do?”
The old couple Lin Sanniang and Li Fujin also sighed deeply. “What sin... good granddaughter, it’s all because of this old bag of bones that I’ve dragged down my good granddaughter and grandsons.” Whenever Li Fujin thought of this, he couldn’t hold back his tears.
“Grandfather, don’t be sad; when I grow up, I’ll earn lots of silver, and I’ll make sure Grandfather, Grandmother, Father, and Mother live good lives.” Li Menglan picked up a relatively large piece of pheasant meat from her own bowl and placed it in Li Fujin’s bowl. “Grandfather, you eat it. The pheasant meat Mother made is so fragrant.”
Li Fujin lovingly stroked Li Menglan’s head. “Good granddaughter, Grandfather won’t eat it; you eat it yourself.” What a sensible girl.
“No, we are a family.” Li Menglan then successively placed a small piece into the bowls of her grandmother, father, mother, eldest brother, and second brother. “Everyone eat.”
There hadn’t been many pieces of meat in the bowl to begin with, and now with Li Menglan dividing it like this, Li Menglan’s own bowl only had some soup left.
“Lan girl, Father is healthy and big-built, so you eat this piece yourself!” Li Dazhu, this honest and simple man, his eyes reddening, his heart so sour he wanted to shed tears.
“No, Father needs to eat it to have the strength to work and earn money.” Li Menglan deliberately put on a stern little face and said coquettishly, “Tomorrow, Father, you go to the mountain again to catch pheasants for Lan girl to eat, okay?” It was rare for Li Menglan to swallow her pride and act spoiled for once.
“Then how about Mother gives this piece of chicken to Lan girl to eat, okay?” Zhang Yuniang said gently to Li Menglan.
“Exactly, little sister, second brother is perfectly healthy; I’m great even without eating meat.” Li Zhihao also picked up the small piece of pheasant meat from his bowl.
Li Zhiming was even more direct, stretching out his hand to grab Li Menglan’s rice bowl; but Li Menglan held onto it for dear life and wouldn’t let go. “Big Brother, you’re not allowed to snatch my bowl.” Li Menglan pouted unhappily, looking as though if Li Zhiming didn’t let go, she would cry for him to see.
Frightened, Li Zhiming panicked inside and quickly withdrew his hand with an embarrassed smile.
Lin Sanniang, however, said something very reasonable: “Lan girl, Grandmother’s teeth aren’t good, I can’t chew this bone; how about Lan girl help Grandmother out and eat it for me.”
“No, Grandfather, Grandmother, Father, Mother, Big Brother, Second Brother, you all eat it.” Li Menglan quickly used her hand to protect her bowl, her eyes glistening with tears as she said pitifully.
Looking at his granddaughter’s pitiful appearance, Li Fujin spoke up: “Alright, no matter what, it’s our good granddaughter’s kind intention; everyone stop arguing, eat... everyone eat.”
It was clearly pheasant meat, yet everyone’s heart felt heavy; eating it was like chewing wax. Only Li Menglan reached out to pick up half a dark bun, tearing it apart to soak in the soup, and ate happily.
“Husband, after the field work is done in a couple of days, you and the eldest go to the mountain again!” After being silent for a long while, Zhang Yuniang spoke.
“Okay.” Li Dazhu didn’t say much, only responding briefly with a single word.
“Father, I want to go too.” Li Menglan thought this was a good opportunity upon hearing this, and quickly spoke up; Li Menglan had long wanted to find a chance to go to the mountain to take a look, to see if there was any way to earn money.
“Oh... Lan girl wants to go up the mountain too?” Li Dazhu thought for a moment and asked, “Can you tell Father why you want to go up the mountain?” This daughter of his had never been up the mountain; this was the first time she had proposed going up the mountain. And she had even brought it up herself, so it was no wonder Li Dazhu found it strange.
“That’s right!” Li Zhihao also nodded and said, “Little sister, before when second brother said I’d take you to play on the mountain, you weren’t willing.” Which child in the village couldn’t climb trees on the mountain? Only their own little sister was the exception. Apart from occasionally following her grandfather to fish by the small river, she had never been to the mountain even once. No matter how he and big brother described it in dazzling terms, Li Menglan simply wouldn’t appreciate it.
Looking at her family members’ faces full of doubt, Li Menglan stuck out her tongue embarrassedly and said, “Father... Father! I just want to go to the mountain to see, okay? Just take me with you, okay?”
Very good; they say the first time is unfamiliar and the second time is familiar. So it was the same with acting spoiled. Li Menglan realized she was becoming more and more childish.
“Alright, Father will take our Lan girl along.” It was the first time his daughter had made a request, and she was acting spoiled toward him; Li Dazhu’s heart completely softened, and he agreed without a second thought.
“Yay! Father, you’re the best.” Li Menglan couldn’t help but cheer.
“Old man, don’t you feel that Lan girl seems completely different since she got sick this time?” Lin Sanniang said somewhat doubtfully to Li Fujin.
“What’s different?” Li Fujin gave his old wife a glare, saying angrily, “I think Lan girl is quite fine now, much more lively than before; it’s better for children to be a bit more lively.”
Actually, Li Fujin had also noticed that Li Menglan was different from before, but in his heart he always thought it was just this serious illness that had changed Li Menglan’s temperament. He had never imagined that his granddaughter was a completely different person on the inside.