Transmigrated Into an Ancient Famine Novel as a Scumbag Alpha (ABO, GL) - Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Jiang Jinhuang had already washed the pork and cabbage in a wooden basin and then placed the meat on the cutting board to chop into small pieces.

Seeing she couldn’t get any answers, she stopped asking. “Ye Qing, grab the seasonings for me.”

“Okay.” Ye Qing, relieved that Jiang Jinhuang wasn’t questioning the origin of the ingredients anymore, got up and quickly fetched various seasonings.

Jiang Jinhuang cut the fattier pork, preparing to render it for oil later to save some oil. She set the chopped pork aside, then shredded the cabbage for later use.

While Jiang Jinhuang prepared, Ye Qing made several trips to bring in the seasonings from outside.

Meanwhile, Jiang Jinhuang had started cooking rice over another small fire. Once the seasonings arrived, she put the fatty pork in the iron wok to render the oil.

She hadn’t known how to cook before. As the daughter of a Minister of Rites, she had never done such rough work growing up. Her cooking skills were all thanks to Ye Qing.

Soon, the pork fat was rendered into oil, and the leftover fatty meat turned into slightly charred cracklings, looking delicious.

Jiang Jinhuang stir-fried the pork pieces in the oil. When they were almost done, she added the seasonings, then tossed in the cabbage to stir-fry together. Soon, the aroma spread far and wide.

The little one stood nearby, watching the wok and swallowing hard. “Sister, why isn’t it ready yet?”

Jiang Jinhuang smiled at her. “It’ll be ready soon. Be good and wait for dinner.”

“Okay.” The little one replied seriously.

Ye Qing was about to take down the clay pot but was stopped by Jiang Jinhuang. “I’ll do it. I said today your hands should rest, so don’t move around.”

“Alright.” Ye Qing obediently stopped, sitting side by side with the little one, waiting for Jiang Jinhuang to serve the food.

When Jiang Jinhuang took the iron wok off the fire, she saw the big and small pair neatly watching the wok. Her eyes curved with a smile, and a sudden thought hit her—Ye Qing seemed quite obedient?

Then Jiang Jinhuang shook her head. She quickly set the iron wok aside, took down the clay pot, and served rice. She filled a big bowl for each of them, then topped the rice with pork and vegetables.

Ye Qing grabbed her bowl and started eating heartily. The pork was tender with some crispy fried bits, perfect with the rice. She ate half a bowl in one go, then went back to the wok for more vegetables and meat.

The little one ate eagerly too, her face smudged with rice grains, savoring every bite.

Only Jiang Jinhuang ate gracefully, despite her hunger. Years of habit made her eat slowly and elegantly.

Ye Qing didn’t bother her and kept devouring her food. In the end, she even got another half bowl of rice. Meat paired with vegetables was just too good.

In the end, the pot of rice and the large wok of vegetables were nearly finished.

After dinner, Ye Qing let the little one play inside to digest a bit. Jiang Jinhuang cleaned the pots and bowls.

Ye Qing thought for a moment and went to the living room with a table. She closed the door and blocked it with two long benches to prevent a night raid. After that, she returned to the room.

After resting a bit, they went to bed. The little one and Jiang Jinhuang slept on the inside, while Ye Qing slept on the outside.

Having a place to shelter from the wind and rain was much more comfortable than resting in a wilderness shack.

Ye Qing couldn’t sleep yet but lay down to rest. They had a full day of travel tomorrow, so she needed to recover her strength.

Jiang Jinhuang, holding the little one, lay down too. She recalled the moment at noon when Ye Qing passed her the pheromones. Ye Qing had pinched her thigh, and not just this time—she remembered Ye Qing doing it before too. Why did Ye Qing do that?

Jiang Jinhuang had a faint guess but wasn’t sure. Was Ye Qing really that kind?

“When you pass me the pheromones, why do you always pinch yourself?”

The sudden question broke the room’s silence. Ye Qing hadn’t expected Jiang Jinhuang to ask this. She answered honestly, “Your pheromones smell pretty good. I’m afraid I’ll lose control and bond with you formally, so I pinch myself to stay clear-headed.”

Jiang Jinhuang looked at Ye Qing. The room was dim, and she couldn’t see Ye Qing’s expression, but Ye Qing was telling the truth. Qianyuan and Kunze were easily swayed by desire, and passing pheromones could easily lead to losing control. Jiang Jinhuang hadn’t expected Ye Qing to really do this, and not just once.

No matter the reason, Ye Qing had taken good care of her during her heat period. When passing pheromones, Ye Qing was restrained, only pressing her lips to the bonding mark, never crossing any lines. But as for herself…

Jiang Jinhuang closed her eyes, thinking of the red marks on Ye Qing’s neck. Her ears reddened unconsciously. During her heat, she seemed to have taken quite a bit of advantage of Ye Qing.

Jiang Jinhuang cleared her throat and turned her back to Ye Qing, not wanting Ye Qing to notice her blush.

But the room was too dim for Ye Qing to see anything. It was mainly Jiang Jinhuang feeling guilty.

Seeing Jiang Jinhuang go quiet, Ye Qing thought she was going to sleep. She closed her eyes to drift off, but just as she was about to fall asleep, the system in her mind startled her awake.

The system’s shrill mechanical voice blared in her head, “Congratulations, dear! The female lead Jiang Jinhuang’s favorability +20. Current favorability -80. Your remaining exchange quota is 38.”

Ye Qing nearly had a heart attack from the scare. She was just dozing off, and the system spooked her.

Clutching her chest, she snapped in her mind, “Seriously? Didn’t you see I was about to sleep? You’re going to scare me to death like this.”

The system, in its grating mechanical tone, said innocently, “Not my fault, dear! We systems report favorability changes in real-time. Jiang Jinhuang’s favorability just increased, and I had to tell you immediately.”

Ye Qing gritted her teeth and held back. Fine, at least it wasn’t a drop in favorability. A 20-point increase was good news.

She figured this favorability boost probably had to do with Jiang Jinhuang’s question just now.

After calming down and seeing the system go quiet, Ye Qing tried to fall back asleep. Thanks to habits from her past life, she could sleep quickly in any situation.

But Jiang Jinhuang didn’t fall asleep right away. She had napped in the cart that afternoon, so she wasn’t too sleepy. The little one beside her was sleeping soundly.

After some time, a few noises came from the quiet courtyard. Several figures climbed over the earthen wall.

They searched the courtyard but couldn’t find any trace of the horse.

The leader signaled to the other two. The three cautiously approached the house, listening for any sounds inside. Confirming it was quiet, one of them pulled out a dagger.

He slid the dagger into the door crack, slowly prying the bolt open. When the bolt was undone, he gently pushed the door but found something blocking it.

Now the three were anxious. They had been eyeing Ye Qing’s group for a while, though they weren’t interested in them—just their horse. With that horse, they wouldn’t go hungry for seven or eight days.

They had assumed the horse was tied in the courtyard, but there was nothing there. Having come this far, they weren’t leaving empty-handed.

Inside the room, Ye Qing was woken by the noises. She quietly sat up, and with a thought, a long sword appeared in her right hand.

Ye Qing tiptoed to the outer room and heard someone pushing the door. The intruders were clearly not bold, only nudging the door without daring to barge in.

Ye Qing stood near the door. Suddenly, a loud kick came from outside, and the door, along with the two benches blocking it, was forced open a crack.

Moonlight streamed through the gap, revealing Ye Qing’s face to the three outside. Seeing someone standing in the dark room, they screamed in terror and bolted out.

Ye Qing chased them into the courtyard, sword in hand, glaring coldly. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Damn, it’s not a ghost, thank god. You scared the sh1t out of me.”

“What do we want? Hand over your horse, and we might let you off.”

“Yeah, just the horse. Give it up, and we’ll spare you.”

Ye Qing frowned at them. They were trembling, clearly inexperienced at robbery but still talking tough.

“With your guts, you dare try to rob me?” Ye Qing almost laughed.

The masked leader, angered by her mockery, lunged at her with his dagger.

Ye Qing kicked the dagger aside, and with a swing of her sword, the man fell. The other two, seeing things go south, tried to climb the earthen wall. Ye Qing stepped forward, and with one slash each, the courtyard fell silent.

Ye Qing casually grabbed a rag from her space to wipe her sword clean. She left the bodies in the courtyard as a warning to others who might try something.

After cleaning her sword, Ye Qing returned inside. In the inner room, Jiang Jinhuang and Yangyang were awake, startled by the noise. Jiang Jinhuang shielded the little one, gripping the dagger Ye Qing had given her for protection.

Seeing Ye Qing return, she let out a heavy sigh of relief. “What happened?”

“It’s fine. They were after our horse. I took care of it. Go back to sleep.”

Ye Qing added a few thick logs to the fire. The flames weren’t strong anymore.

Jiang Jinhuang, still shaken, put away her dagger. She glanced toward the window, still worried. “Isn’t traveling with the horse too conspicuous?”

“Can’t help it. We need the horse for luggage, and Yangyang can’t walk far. The cart’s the best option. We just have to be careful.” Ye Qing sighed.

“That’s all we can do.” Jiang Jinhuang nodded. The horse saved them a lot of trouble, but it also made them a target.

Ye Qing waited for the fire to burn stronger before returning to bed. The incident hadn’t fazed her, and she fell back asleep.

In the middle of the night, Ye Qing was woken again by noises outside. It seemed more people were after the horse, but they were terrified by the bodies in the courtyard and scrambled over the wall in panic.

By the time Ye Qing went out, the courtyard was empty except for the bodies.

She didn’t bother with them, though she looked weary. Being woken twice in one night would annoy anyone.

Ye Qing went back and fell asleep, this time sleeping until morning.

When Ye Qing woke, the fire in the room had gone out. She quickly got up to restart it, then took out half a bowl of rice to make porridge, along with three salted duck eggs.

She kept the pot warming on the fire and went outside to drag the three bodies to an empty room next door, so they wouldn’t scare the little one.

After breakfast, the three set off. Ye Qing led the horse cart, while Jiang Jinhuang and the little one sat in the back.

As they left, others staying in the village started moving out too. Following the flow of people, Ye Qing’s group continued south.

With the horse, they traveled faster than other refugees. By noon, they had covered a good distance. Since they had a big breakfast, they didn’t cook lunch, just ate some beef jerky by the roadside.

While eating, they saw a long caravan with mules and horses pulling goods, accompanied by armed servants. In the middle were three tightly covered carriages, clearly belonging to a wealthy family.

Many refugees were sneaking glances at the caravan, curious about their background.

“So many horses,” the little one said, pointing while chewing her jerky.

Jiang Jinhuang looked over. “Looks like wealthy merchants fleeing south.”

She thought of her and her sister’s own experience. They had traveled with their mother to Linzhou City to visit their grandparents, but the famine along the way was severe. They had guards and servants, but starving refugees had scattered them, stealing much of their food and horses. Some guards and servants likely died.

In the chaos, a few guards protected their mother, but she and her sister were separated by the mob. Thankfully, they were still alive.

Jiang Jinhuang sighed, unsure if she’d find her grandparents in the south.

Ye Qing wasn’t envious of the caravan. Even their single horse attracted attention from refugees. A caravan with so many horses was an even bigger target. Without skilled guards, they’d struggle to reach the south safely.

Ye Qing looked away and kept eating her jerky. “By the way, do you know where your grandparents went?”

Jiang Jinhuang shook her head. When she reached Linzhou City, her grandparents’ home was already empty.

Ye Qing nodded slightly. It made sense. In ancient times, communication was slow. Sending a letter from the capital to Linzhou City, across several provinces, took over a month. Then traveling took another month or two. A lot could happen in that time.

Ye Qing figured they’d have to settle in the south first, then find a way to reunite them.

For the next couple of days, their journey went smoothly, though their pace matched the caravan’s, so they often camped near them at night.

The refugees grew used to the caravan, and some even trailed behind, not daring to act but hoping to scavenge if the caravan ran into trouble.

On the third night, Ye Qing’s group was still traveling in the wilderness. She found a relatively clean spot and started setting up a shack. Other refugees were nearby, and the caravan was in the distance.

The caravan, with many people, lit large fires and torches, illuminating the surrounding woods.

Ye Qing didn’t mind, focusing on building the shack. Jiang Jinhuang started a fire.

The horse had made their days easier, but it was visibly thinner. Ye Qing had been feeding it dry grass, but horses needed beans or corn too, which she couldn’t provide now.

She gave the horse more dry grass and a basin of spiritual spring water before returning to the fire.

Jiang Jinhuang had made a dish of cured meat, cabbage, and flatbread. Eating a hot bowl, Ye Qing felt less tired.

After dinner and a quick cleanup, the three went into the shack. The little one, not sleepy, pointed at the caravan. “It’s so bright over there.”

Jiang Jinhuang pinched her sister’s cheek, smiling. “They have more people, so it’s brighter. Come sleep now.”

“Okay.” The little one obediently slipped into the blankets next to her sister.

Ye Qing stayed awake. Jiang Jinhuang’s heat period was over, so they took turns keeping watch. Ye Qing took the first half of the night.

Gradually, the surrounding noise died down as refugees settled in. The caravan quieted too.

Around midnight, Ye Qing added wood to the fire. She heard faint hoofbeats in the distance. Unsure, she lay on the ground to listen. The hoofbeats were chaotic, clearly from more than a couple of horses.

Ye Qing jumped up, quickly stored the cart in her space, and rushed to wake Jiang Jinhuang and Yangyang.

“Jinhuang, Yangyang, wake up. Trouble’s coming.”

Jiang Jinhuang got up, holding the sleepy little one. “What’s wrong?”

“Horses are coming this way, and it sounds like a lot of them. We need to move.” Ye Qing pulled Jiang Jinhuang up.

“Hurry, go to the horse and wait for me.”

Jiang Jinhuang, flustered, carried the little one to the horse. Ye Qing quickly stored the blankets in her space.

She ran to the horse to help Jiang Jinhuang up, but it was too late.

Whistles and shouts came from all directions, closing in on them. Rushing out now would make them a target.

Ye Qing pulled Jiang Jinhuang down to crouch. She grabbed a handful of dirt and smeared it on Jiang Jinhuang’s face, then quietly stored the horse in her space.

They looked like ordinary refugees after days of rough travel, but a horse would scream “target.” It was too obvious.

Ye Qing smeared dirt on the little one’s face, turning her pitch-black, then dirtied her own face like a smudged cat.

She crouched outside a tree, shielding Jiang Jinhuang and the little one. In the distance, the figures became clearer.

Ye Qing peeked out. They were mountain bandits, armed with knives, some on horseback, others on foot, acting arrogant as if announcing their arrival.

Ye Qing glanced further. Where torchlight fell, a few refugees tried to run but were cut down by the outer bandits, bl00d splattering everywhere. The bandits grew more excited.

Ye Qing estimated there were over a hundred bandits outside. Her heart sank.

The bandits approaching them laughed at the trembling refugees. “Don’t run. We’ve got this place surrounded. Run, and you die. Follow us quietly, and you might live.”

“Yeah, just squat and hold your heads, and you’ll suffer less.”

Ye Qing kept her head low, watching the bandits with her peripheral vision. They seemed to enjoy the refugees’ fear, gleefully heading toward the caravan.

“Stay still. If it weren’t for that fat sheep up ahead, we wouldn’t bother with you poor bastards.”

“Exactly. Robbing you would just mean more mouths to feed.”

“Fifth Bro, don’t say that. The boss said we need Qianyuan for labor on the stronghold’s walls. As for Kunze and Zhongyong, heh heh…”

He didn’t finish, but Ye Qing understood their vile intent.

They needed to escape, but with torches everywhere and more bandits outside, Ye Qing didn’t dare move.

She could handle five or eight bandits, but dozens? She’d trained for ten years in the apocalypse, but she wasn’t invincible. She could still get hurt and bleed.