Blessed Girl From a Farm Family: Surviving the Famine With Space - Chapter 15

But what he said also made sense. When the older sister had sold the younger sister, he was very, very angry. He even secretly decided never to speak to his older sister again. But then his older sister said she did it for the younger sister’s good, to give her a better life.

Besides, she was his sister—how could he hate his own sister?

The two of them shouted and searched through the woods as they went.

Fu Manman was hungry and tired, and, most importantly, the baby had woken up and needed to be fed.

After drinking his fill of milk in the space last night, the baby was now crying loudly.

She was really afraid—afraid that his crying would attract wolves.

So, she hurriedly found a spot surrounded by trees, poured hot water from her thermos, and prepared formula milk.

“Brother, listen! This is the sound of a child crying. Is that our little brother?” Fu An exclaimed excitedly.

Fu Qiang listened too, somewhat incredulous. Had that awful woman survived? And was Little Maodan still alive?

He immediately ran toward the sound of the crying.

Fu An followed closely behind.

After feeding the little one, Fu Manman breathed a sigh of relief. Books said babies at this age were easy to care for—they would sleep as long as they were fed. It seemed absolutely true.

This little one, once full, slept peacefully. With his tiny nose and eyes, he looked like a little angel at that moment—so adorable.

Though he was thin and dark, she didn’t mind at all. She was determined to raise this baby to be plump and fair.

Just as she packed her things, picked up the baby, and prepared to continue forward, she heard calls from behind.

“Sis!”

Fu Manman turned around and was surprised to see her two younger brothers running toward her.

Her two younger brothers had found her!

She had thought… they might have been carried off by wolves. Unexpectedly, they were still alive.

“Sis… we finally found you!” Fu An exclaimed happily, staring at his ugly sister. But his happiness lasted only three seconds before he took a step back, pouting angrily.

“It’s great that you’re both okay!” Fu Manman greeted her two brothers cheerfully.

Fu An was a bit surprised. His sister seemed to care about them.

Because his sister wasn’t usually like this—she didn’t smile, was cold, had a strange personality, and was very mean. She often hit him and his younger sister, and Second Brother got beaten the most.

But no matter how mean she was, she was still his sister. Now that their parents were gone, their older sister was the head of the family. An older sister was like a mother, so he had to follow her at all times.

While Fu An and Fu Manman were talking, Fu Qiang stared intently at the luggage Fu Manman was pulling.

What was this?

It was so strange—as if fine silk was wrapped around something soft.

Where did she get this thing?
Fu Qiang was very curious. He crouched down and touched it. It was incredibly soft. The fabric wasn’t smooth silk, but it was very fine, with tightly woven gaps between the threads.

From what he knew, the weavers of Tiancheng couldn’t produce fabric this fine nowadays.

And what was stuffed inside?
“What is this?” Fu Qiang asked.

“Hey, what is this?” Fu An also curiously came over to touch it, then exclaimed in surprise, “So soft! What’s inside? How is this fabric so soft?”

Fu An was a farm boy who had never worn nice clothes. His family was poor, so the clothes he wore were all woven and sewn by his mother. When they tore, they were patched up and worn again.

In the village, all the children wore homespun cloth, which was thick, coarse, and scratched the skin.

He had heard that the city gentlemen wore clothes made of silk—this must be silk!
“Sis, is this made of silk?” Fu An asked Fu Manman excitedly.

Fu Manman smiled but didn’t answer. How should she explain this?

This was a comforter she had taken from her space. Unlike cotton-padded quilts, this one was filled with silk floss—soft and warm. She had slept very comfortably under it last night.

This thing definitely couldn’t exist in this era.

She couldn’t tell the two children the truth, or they would think she was a monster.

Tricking these kids was a bit difficult!

She looked at the two half-grown children before her. Due to long-term malnutrition, they were both short, appearing around seven or eight years old, with large heads and small bodies. Their bellies, in particular, looked quite distended from chronic hunger.

That was because they had eaten too much tree bark, Guanyin soil, and similar indigestible things.

These two kids were so young—they should be easy to fool, right?
Especially since they were country children who hadn’t seen much of the world—they should be even easier to trick!
“I found this. Maybe someone fleeing the famine came into the woods, got eaten by wild animals, and dropped their things. I was lucky enough to find it,” Fu Manman said with a smile.

“Really! Sis, you’re so lucky!” Fu An’s eyes shone with excitement.

This thing looked like it was of really good quality.

Although Fu Qiang had his doubts, he couldn’t think of any other possibility besides her having found it.

This wild forest was full of beasts—it was entirely possible someone had wandered in and been eaten by animals.

Now that the world was in chaos, with constant disasters and wars raging everywhere, it wasn’t just poor commoners fleeing—gentry and wealthy folks were on the run too. These were people with money, so it made sense they’d bring valuable belongings with them.

This awful woman really had luck on her side.

“The rain is getting heavier. Let’s find shelter quickly!” Fu Manman was dressed warmly and didn’t feel cold, but she could see that her two brothers were soaked through, and the rain was indeed coming down harder.

“Sis, we know the location of a cave,” Fu An said happily.

…

Before long, Fu Manman, carrying the baby, entered the cave with her two brothers.

There was a fire pit inside the cave, clearly indicating someone had been there before.

“Sis, yesterday we searched the woods for you but couldn’t find you. Then we found this cave and hid here overnight,” Fu An explained, staying close to Fu Manman.

Fu Qiang was busy striking flint nearby and soon got a fire going.

“Fu An, go get some leaves and wood from over there,” Fu Qiang instructed.

Fu An hurried to fetch wood and leaves, and the two carefully nurtured the small flame into a larger fire, then began stacking branches.

These branches were ones they had gathered from the forest yesterday.

The cave also contained some leftover belongings from other refugees: a dented iron pot, a few chipped bowls, and a bundle wrapped in black cloth.

“Where’s Little Maodan? Give me my brother!” Fu Qiang stretched out his hand, eyeing Fu Manman warily.

Yesterday, Fu Manman had taken Little Maodan alone. The baby had gone all night without food and was probably starving. Knowing Fu Manman as he did, she hated it when children cried—would she have gotten so angry that she hurt Little Maodan?

The thought made Fu Qiang’s face tense with anxiety.

Seeing Fu Qiang’s nervous expression and unfriendly tone, Fu Manman thought to herself, This little brother is interesting—he seems to really dislike and distrust me!

In her previous life, Fu Manman also had a younger brother, born to her stepmother. He was a spoiled brat. When she first returned to the city from the countryside, he was about eleven or twelve years old and would glare at her with the same kind of look.

“Here, but do you even know how to hold him?” Fu Manman’s expression was half-smiling. In the past, it was her stepbrother who had resented her.

But this one was her full biological brother.

No matter what, they were blood relatives. She decided she would work on building a good relationship with her brothers.

Only by sticking together as a family could they survive

(End of Chapter)