A Cannon Fodder Who Became The Future Queen - Chapter 4

Not long after Ji Ping’an left the house, Shen Zhiyu and Ji Suisui woke up. Shen Zhiyu remembered the previous night when the Alpha had tried to hit her knee with a stick, only stopping when Suisui intervened. She lowered her gaze and tried moving her leg. It felt better than yesterday, and she was even able to get out of bed. If she had been hit in the knee, she would likely be unable to get out of bed at all.

Suisui climbed down from the inner side of the bed. The first thing she did was run to the door, cautiously sticking her head out to check the yard. Not seeing Ji Ping’an, she came back into the room and looked up at Shen Zhiyu, her voice a little childish. “Ah Jiu, I’ll go cook some wild vegetables. You should eat, too.” Usually, Ji Ping’an wasn’t home during the day, so she didn’t have to worry about being caught giving food to Ah Jiu.

Shen Zhiyu nodded. “I’ll go to the kitchen with you.”

It was morning, and the golden sunlight was starting to peek over the eastern mountains, chasing away the chill of the night. On the dead brown trees in front of the house, tender green leaves were starting to sprout. The cold winter would soon be over.

Shen Zhiyu had no memory when she woke up, and her body was covered in scrapes. Once she started to feel a little better, the Alpha had tried to forcibly mark her. Since she woke up, all her attention had been on how to defend herself. Today was the first time she had walked peacefully in the courtyard.

The three rooms were built with mud mixed with weeds and straw. New grass was growing on the ground in front of the house, which looked unkempt for a while. Besides that, there was nothing else in the courtyard.

Once inside the kitchen, Shen Zhiyu looked over the stove and the ashes. Then she pointed to the two rocks in Suisui’s hand. “What are those?”

“These are flints I picked up from the mountain. We use them to start fires.” Suisui even held the flints in front of her and struck them together, producing a faint spark.

Shen Zhiyu nodded. In her mind, she was slowly confirming her suspicion: she wasn’t from here. When it came to starting a fire, her first thought was a tinderbox. The mud-brick rooms and the chicken cooing next door all felt alien to her.

“Ah Jiu, I gathered these wild vegetables myself.” Suisui went to the corner of the kitchen and picked up a bunch of vegetables. As for the sweet potatoes and grain in the jar, she didn’t dare touch them.

Shen Zhiyu took the hint. “Okay, I’ll go get some water.” But when she picked up the clay pot, she felt that its weight seemed a little off. Shen Zhiyu opened the lid and saw the sweet potatoes inside. “Suisui, look at this.”

Suisui came over with her vegetables. When she saw what was in the pot, she first shrank her neck back. Realizing it was just her and Ah Jiu, she whispered, “Those are big sister’s. We shouldn’t touch them.” She then took another clay pot and put her vegetables in it. “We’ll use this one.”

Shen Zhiyu’s gaze remained on the sweet potatoes in the pot. If the other person was worried about them stealing food, she wouldn’t have cooked this many. It felt more like a test. Thinking this, Shen Zhiyu took a sweet potato out of the pot, peeled it, and took a bite.

“Ah Jiu!” Suisui had been debating whether to add more vegetables to the pot since Ah Jiu hadn’t eaten in a long time. When she looked up and saw Ah Jiu eating a sweet potato big sister had left, she was so anxious she was on the verge of tears. “Those are big sister’s! We can’t eat them! She’ll hit us!”

Suisui only came up to Shen Zhiyu’s waist. She stretched her arms out, trying to grab the sweet potato back from her, her eyes filled with fear.

Shen Zhiyu bent down and handed the sweet potato to Suisui. “Your big sister said these sweet potatoes were for us to eat while you were still sleeping this morning.”

Of course, this was a lie, but they had to eat. Without strength, they would be helpless if Ji Ping’an were to hit them again. Shen Zhiyu didn’t want to go through what happened last night. It was better to eat the food and gain some strength. That way, even if the Alpha wanted to hit them again, they wouldn’t be completely defenseless. And if she could give her a wound in return, it would make her a bit more cautious. Besides, even if they didn’t eat the sweet potatoes, the Alpha might still hit them, so there was no reason to leave the food for her.

Suisui still looked confused, her pigtails swaying as she spoke. “Really?”

“Really,” Shen Zhiyu said, her face calm, making it impossible to doubt her. “Do you remember last night? Your big sister said she wouldn’t hit people anymore and brought us medicine to take.”

Suisui was just a child. She mostly interacted with other kids, so she thought about things simply. With Shen Zhiyu’s guidance, her mind was filled with what happened last night. Big sister had seemed to say she wouldn’t hit people anymore, and she had even called Doctor Zhuang to the house. And before, big sister had always called her “little brat,” but last night she called her Suisui!

Watching Suisui’s emotions shift from happy to scared and back again, Shen Zhiyu took another sweet potato from the pot and broke off a piece for Suisui. The child opened her mouth, and the sweet potato went in, making her forget what she was about to say. Her mouth was filled with the sweet flavor of the sweet potato. Suisui usually ate boiled wild vegetables, which were either tasteless or bitter. Eating a sweet potato was a sudden treat, and she savored it for a long time before swallowing.

She no longer cared if Ah Jiu’s words were true or not. She just held up the sweet potato in her hand. “Ah Jiu, this sweet potato is so good. You should eat, too.”

Shen Zhiyu nodded, but broke off another piece for Suisui. They finished the three sweet potatoes between the two of them.

******

Meanwhile, Ji Ping’an stared at the black and green patterned snake in front of her. It was at least two fingers thick, and she didn’t dare make a move. Before she transmigrated, she had worked at an internet company where a 9-to-5 schedule was standard, and new work tasks often meant staying until 10 or 11 PM. Her boss was a perfectionist who would reject a proposal thirty times, only to end up using the first version.

So, after less than a year, Ji Ping’an had quit and moved back to her hometown to try her hand at being a vlogger. Her content was mainly about rural life: farming, cooking, raising chickens and ducks, and grafting cherry trees in her yard. She had encountered snakes in her vegetable garden before, but they were usually only as thick as her pinky and generally not poisonous. The one she was seeing now was three times bigger, and judging from its pattern, it was quite venomous. The snake must have been hiding in the grass, and she had startled it while picking wild vegetables. The black and green pattern on the snake was so well-camouflaged that she hadn’t noticed it at first.

Ji Ping’an’s fingers, hanging at her side, slowly tightened their grip on the bow. Looking at the snake’s flicking tongue, she chanted in her mind: Be calm, you have to be calm. A snake was different from a person. It didn’t rely on its eyes but its tongue to sense its surroundings. If she panicked, the snake would find her.

Ji Ping’an’s breathing became as light as possible. After a moment, seeing the snake still coiled tightly around the tree trunk, she cautiously took a small step back. At the same time, her arm holding the bow was tense, ready to raise it and defend herself at any moment.

After retreating outside the snake’s strike range, Ji Ping’an quickly ran back a few more steps before allowing herself to breathe normally. It was then that she felt her back was soaked with cold sweat.

She turned around and looked at where she had been standing, still able to see the snake coiled around the tree. After thinking for a few seconds, Ji Ping’an loosened her grip on the bow. Once the sweat in her palm was completely gone, she tightened her grip on the bow and arrow again.

[Tip: The prey has entered the scope’s firing range.]

The [Prey Aiming Scope] automatically locked onto the snake’s vital point, and Ji Ping’an released the arrow. The arrow shot out instantly. One moment, the snake was flicking its tongue, and the next, it slid down the thick tree trunk like a dead vine and fell to the ground.

Ji Ping’an didn’t approach it immediately. She first picked up a heavy rock from the ground. From about two or three meters away, she threw the rock at the snake’s head to make sure it was dead before she dared to approach and put it in her basket. A large snake like this one had a thicker skin. Her arrow wasn’t made of iron and had been used several times, making it dull. It was better not to take any chances.

After the encounter, Ji Ping’an didn’t hesitate and headed down the mountain with her game. When she had left the house, the sky was still a hazy gray, and the morning mist hadn’t yet dissipated, giving the scene a misty, ink-wash painting feel. By the time she walked out of the forest, the sun was high in the sky, and her shadow was much shorter, though there was still a hint of cold.

These days were the busiest for farmers. They had to till the land before spring so the seeds would grow well. The family’s food supply was dependent on the crops, so no one took it lightly. In Big Willow Village, only one family had a cow, and two had donkeys, which made tilling easier. The rest of the villagers had to use plows or rakes and rely on their own strength. Everyone in the family had to help, even the kids. During the day, people wouldn’t go home for lunch. One person would bring food from home, and they’d eat sitting on the edge of the field before getting back to work.

When Ji Ping’an came down from the mountain with her basket, everyone was eating. When they saw her, many people’s eyes landed on the basket on her back. Ms. Fugui was among them. She pretended to be casual but managed to see the wild vegetables covering the top of the basket in just a few quick glances. She then looked away.

See? she thought, remembering what she had said that morning. I told you that hooligan couldn’t catch anything. She just brought back a basket of vegetables to pretend.

“Ping’an, weren’t you going hunting? Why are you back at noon?” someone shouted from the field.

Ji Ping’an feigned impatience. “I didn’t catch anything, so I came back.”

She had covered her catch with vegetables for this very reason.

The original host’s image had to change, but not too abruptly. She couldn’t suddenly become an expert hunter. The changes had to be gradual so people would slowly accept them.

With her words, no one asked any more questions. They just lowered their heads to hide their smiles. Still, it was a good thing that the village hooligan was willing to go into the mountains to gather wild vegetables.

When she reached the turnoff, Ji Ping’an looked at the sky. She figured she could still make it to the county seat and back. Big Willow Village wasn’t far from the town, but it was still about a four-mile walk, and the original host usually walked it.

Ji Ping’an looked at the dirt road in front of her, took a deep breath, and adjusted the basket on her shoulder to continue walking. Although the original host was an Alpha, she had been spoiled by her mother and never did any heavy labor, so her stamina was average. She had only been carrying the basket around in the forest for one morning, and her legs were already sore by the time she got to the turnoff. But when she thought about the money she could get from the game in her basket, a four-mile walk seemed like nothing at all.

Less than an hour later, Ji Ping’an arrived at the county gates. As she walked in, she saw all kinds of shops lining the streets: restaurants, bun shops, clothing stores, grain shops, and more. Even with all the shops, there were still many small vendors with stalls. A vendor only had to pay the government one copper coin a day to get a spot on the street. If they paid a hundred coins, they could have a fixed spot. Many people on the street came from the villages below Donghe County, selling extra eggs or wild vegetables to supplement their income.

“Freshly baked flatbreads! Come and see! They’re guaranteed to be soft and fragrant!”

“Steamed vegetable buns for two coins each, meat buns for four coins! They’re still hot!”

“…”

The shouts from the vendors were endless, and the fragrant smells from all the food made Ji Ping’an’s lips involuntarily purse. The sweet potatoes this morning had been filling, but they were small, and she had only eaten one. After walking in the forest for several hours, her stomach was long empty. She rubbed her belly, thinking over and over, Almost there! Almost there! I can eat as soon as I sell this stuff! While chanting this to herself and covering her nose to avoid smelling the food, she finally reached the butcher shop she was looking for after another fifteen minutes of walking.

The butcher was a sturdy man in his thirties. He was chopping bones with a large cleaver and looked up to ask, “Do you want to buy some meat, miss? What would you like? This is all good meat, fifteen coins a pound.” Fine meat was considered good, while offal was much cheaper.

“I’m not buying,” Ji Ping’an said. “Do you buy wild game? I just caught some on the mountain today.”

The butcher stopped chopping, surprised to see such a young hunter. “I do, but I need to see it first.” Although most people came to the shop to buy pork, many rich families enjoyed wild game and would buy a lot at a time.

Ji Ping’an took out two rabbits and a chicken from her basket, leaving the remaining rabbit and the snake inside, covered by the wild vegetables. The butcher worked with meat all day, so he could tell her catch was fresh. He decided immediately, “Twelve coins a pound. If you agree, I’ll take them.”

“Sixteen coins,” Ji Ping’an said. Wild game was no worse than pork, and the meat of wild rabbits and chickens was even more flavorful. Twelve coins a pound was a clear lowball offer.

Hearing this, the butcher let out a laugh. “My girl, look at this. The fur is still on the rabbits and chicken. That takes up some weight. Sixteen coins a pound is too much. How about I give you fourteen coins a pound?”

“Fifteen coins,” Ji Ping’an countered. She was so poor that she couldn’t afford to let even one coin go. “If I catch any more game in the future, I’ll bring it to you first.” She knew she’d be hunting more in the future, so she might as well find a stable buyer now.

The butcher gritted his teeth and took the game from her. “Fifteen coins it is, then. But we have a deal. If you catch any game from now on, you have to bring it to me first.” If it were anyone else, the butcher would have stuck with fourteen coins. But he had been buying wild game for years, and he had an eye for it. The game Ji Ping’an brought had fatal wounds in key spots, and with just a single wound on its abdomen, it was proof that she was a skilled hunter. He wouldn’t have to worry about finding good game in the future. Giving up one coin now for goodwill seemed like a loss, but if she brought him a large animal like a wild boar, he would make a profit.

The two rabbits and one chicken weighed eleven pounds and six ounces, which came out to one hundred and sixty-one coins. Ji Ping’an counted them one by one, making sure there were no mistakes. She took out fifteen coins and put the rest in her pocket. She then gave the fifteen coins back to the butcher with a smile. “Boss, give me one pound of meat, a fatty one.”

“You got it!” The butcher deftly cut a pound of meat and wrapped it up for her. “Going to render the fat?”

“Yep,” Ji Ping’an nodded. She would render the lard to use for cooking later, and the crispy cracklings left over could be a snack for Shen Zhiyu and Suisui.

With her hunt being sold, Ji Ping’an’s basket felt much lighter. She went back to the bun stand she had passed earlier and spent six coins on three of the vegetable buns she had been dreaming about. After wolfing down one, her hunger was finally satisfied. She put the remaining two buns and the meat she had just bought into her basket.

Next, Ji Ping’an went to the grain store, where many people were waiting to buy grain.

“Boss, why did the price of grain go up so much again?”

“I know, right? Japonica rice is fifty coins a dou, wheat flour is forty-five coins a dou, and even beans went up five coins!”

The boss weighed the previous customer’s grain and replied, “I don’t set the prices myself. Go ask at any other shop; you won’t find one cheaper than this. They can only be more expensive.” He explained, “There was a flood in Jianghe County last year and a drought here. The harvest was low in both the north and south, so the price of grain naturally went up.”

Ji Ping’an took in the information, her face giving nothing away. “I’ll take half a dou of japonica rice and half a dou of wheat flour,” she told the boss.

The current emperor was Shen Zhiyu’s father, but he was incompetent and accomplished nothing during his reign. He built the Hall of Longevity to house a thousand people without caring about the hardships of his people. A few years later, the old emperor would die, and the court and the common people would fall into chaos. Shen Zhiyu would take this opportunity to build her power and eventually ascend the throne.

After getting her rice and flour, Ji Ping’an went to the pharmacy to sell the last item in her basket.

“A snake?” The old doctor at the pharmacy squinted at the contents of her basket.

Ji Ping’an nodded. Snakes were frightening, but they were also a valuable ingredient for medicine. Snake meat could expel wind and dampness, snake bile could cure fevers and coughing fits, and even snake skin steeped in wine had benefits.

“This snake isn’t small, but its head is smashed, so the price will be lower. I can only give you one silver coin.” A large snake like this was a rare find. Catching one was risking one’s life. If she had sold it in the capital, she could have gotten five or even ten silver coins if she were a good talker. But Donghe County was a small place, and one silver coin was still a lot—enough to feed a frugal family for half a year. Still, Ji Ping’an didn’t immediately agree.

“One silver coin is fine, but you have to give me some medicine for fever and cold, some for external wounds, and some to remove scars. And if you have any medicine to repel insects, give me some of that too.”

Catching the snake was an unexpected bonus. Ji Ping’an had thought all her money from the game would be spent on medicine and grain, but now she didn’t have to worry. The old doctor nodded. They were a pharmacy, so these herbs didn’t cost them much. “I can do that.”

After they agreed, Ji Ping’an gave the doctor the snake. She didn’t want the silver coin and had someone at the pharmacy exchange it for copper coins. As she felt the heavy weight in her pocket, Ji Ping’an thought about how she would stew the remaining wild game she had kept for herself, so Shen Zhiyu and Suisui could also taste meat.

She couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile. Sure enough, having money and food is what brings peace of mind!