I Picked Up a High-Maintenance Mistress for Famine-Fleeing and Farming 21

Chapter 21: Spreading the News

“What’s this about life-saving? Tell us in detail,” Foreman Wu said, looking at Zhang Muchun with a serious expression.

“You probably won’t believe me when I say this, but a few days ago, I had a nightmare. I dreamt… I dreamt that in September, it would rain continuously, without end, until a flash flood erupted, washing away the houses and fields. As far as the eye could see, there was only a vast expanse of water. Except for the very tops of the tallest trees, everything was submerged,” Zhang Muchun said, her voice grim, sending an unbidden chill through the air.

“And you’re making such a huge fuss just because of a dream? I think you’ve lost your mind,” the young man named Daming said with a look of disbelief, almost speechless.

“If it were just a dream, I wouldn’t have gone to such lengths. But I went to the spirit medium for a divination, and she had a look on her face like the sky was falling. She told me to go back and see her in two days. If there really is a flood, this is no small matter. That’s why I’m in such a hurry to build a covered boat. Saving our lives is what’s most important!” Zhang Muchun’s brow was tightly furrowed as she effortlessly dragged someone else into her story. She had no choice; her own power was too weak.

“Chun-zi, is there really going to be a flood? Don’t scare me,” Li Gousheng exclaimed, nearly jumping three feet in the air.

“Does that boat of mine look like a joke? But I can’t guarantee it’s one hundred percent accurate. In any case, I’ve told you the reason. You can all decide for yourselves,” Zhang Muchun said, her eyes sweeping over them, wondering how much they had taken in.

“You said it would happen in September. Is there a more precise date?” Foreman Wu asked with a solemn expression.

“I’m not sure exactly how long we have, only that there should be enough time to build a small boat.”

For a moment, all of them were stunned. To say they believed her just like that was impossible. But what if? Who could afford to take that gamble? The rainfall this year was indeed heavier than in previous years. Maybe they should go home and build small boats too? Now that they knew what might happen, it was unsettling to do nothing.

“I’m not wealthy either. I’ll give each of you brothers one tael of silver. Go buy some grain and charcoal and prepare,” she said. She had said all she could. The rest was up to each person’s fate.

Hearing Zhang Muchun’s advice, the men descended the mountain with complicated feelings. To build a boat or not? For a moment, they couldn’t decide.

In the end, it was the more experienced Foreman Wu who made the decision: they would build. Zhang Muchun wasn’t crazy. Since she had gone straight to building a large boat, her story had some credibility. They were childhood friends, and he knew Muchun’s character. She wasn’t someone who would act on mere rumors.

Once the decision was made, they immediately took action.

…

Meanwhile, Liu Yunhe was looking at the cabins and noticed they all had two beds, which meant she didn’t have her own room.

On one hand, she told herself to endure it. On the other, she couldn’t help but pout. Judging by the number of beds, it seemed the Zhang family would be with them. This was understandable. Even if they had their conflicts, she believed that in a life-or-death situation, Muchun wouldn’t abandon her parents and siblings.

“Who am I sleeping in the same room with?” she asked, sashaying over to Zhang Muchun.

Zhang Muchun looked at her antics and wanted to laugh. “Who do you want to share a room with? My mother? My second sister?”

“No, neither,” Liu Yunhe protested, twisting the hem of her sleeve.

“Who else is there to sleep with? At a critical time like this, the Young Miss will just have to endure it,” Zhang Muchun said, suppressing a smile as she looked at Yunhe’s fingers, which were twisted like a pretzel.

“I don’t want to share a room with you,” Liu Yunhe mumbled, her head bowed. She didn’t feel safe; her heart was in a panic.

“There’s no other choice. If there were another spot, I wouldn’t want to squeeze in there either,” Zhang Muchun said, the corners of her lips curling up, her lazy eyes narrowing slightly as they rested on Liu Yunhe’s crestfallen little face.

Liu Yunhe listlessly resigned herself to her fate. At least there were two beds, she thought. She could endure it. She was just afraid she would dream of things she shouldn’t again.

“You stay home and prepare things. Take everything that can be taken. I’m going to the spirit medium’s place to find a way to spread the news. We’ll save as many as we can,” Zhang Muchun said, patting her on the shoulder, her voice gentle.

“I know.” Isn’t this exactly what I wanted? My bag isn’t even that full yet.

“Take this for self-defense. I’ll definitely be back before dark,” she said, taking out an ordinary butterfly hairpin.

“How is this supposed to protect me?” Liu Yunhe asked, looking at the brass butterfly hairpin with some disdain for its lack of delicacy and its ugliness.

“It may be crude, but it can save your life. Watch, I’ll show you once.” This was a small hidden weapon she had come across by chance. She had found it interesting and kept it, and now it was perfect for Liu Yunhe.

She aimed the hairpin at a large tree in the distance and pressed a raised spot. A silver light instantly shot out, flying straight into the tree trunk, embedding itself halfway.

“Wow, a hidden weapon,” Liu Yunhe said, realization dawning. No wonder this hairpin looked so clunky; it had a secret.

“This one isn’t the most powerful, but the needle is coated with a sleeping drug that can make a person weak. If you run into a bad person, just press this little button and aim it at them. Don’t waste them, there are only three needles. Understand?” Zhang Muchun explained seriously.

“Mm-hm,” Liu Yunhe said, taking the hairpin and playing with it with interest.

Zhang Muchun watched her fiddling with it, her heart pounding. Thankfully, there was a hidden safety latch on the top of the hairpin, so it wouldn’t be triggered by accident.

After playing with it for a while, Liu Yunhe looked up at her and said, “You’re the one going out. You should take this for protection, right?”

Zhang Muchun smiled faintly and said with confidence, “I don’t need this.”

She then inserted the brass butterfly into the side of Liu Yunhe’s hair and added, “Don’t touch it unless you have to. You can take it off when I get back.”

She was standing quite close. A faint blush crept onto Liu Yunhe’s pretty face, making her look like a fresh, delicious peach.

She watched Zhang Muchun leave, and then began her hamster-like moving activities.

Over the past two days, while Muchun was busy, she had been gradually stuffing things into her pouch. Cloth, cotton, clothes, shoes, various grains, apricots, pears, green jujubes, and small apples. She put in half of the pastries, cured meats, and preserved fruits they had bought. She even packed whatever she could get her hands on from the yard—vegetables, eggs, corn, tomatoes, potatoes. Although there weren’t many vegetables in the yard, she could gather a little of each. She had sewn many bags in her spare time. Though the stitches were ugly, they were practical. The vegetables were tied into bundles with string before being thrown into the bags. Although she couldn’t eat whole corn, the steamed cornmeal cakes Muchun made were quite good. Liu Yunhe picked a lot of corn and tossed it into her pouch, only stopping when her palms were red.

She had tested it a while ago. The items didn’t spoil. It was truly an immortal’s treasure.

She had packed a small portion of everything else, but she didn’t dare to take too much of the fine rice, fine flour, and coarse grains. It would be easily discovered by Muchun and hard to explain. Fortunately, with six or seven people eating at their house these past two days, it was reasonable for some to be missing.

She didn’t think she could hide it from Muchun for long, but now was not a good time for a showdown. Her ability to predict the future could be explained away as a prophetic dream or some immortal gift. But this bottomless pouch was not so easy to bluff her way through. She didn’t want to be suspected of being a demon.

It was better not to let her know for now. She would tell her later.

She looked with satisfaction at the food she had concealed, a slow sense of accomplishment blooming. She suddenly felt she had changed a lot during this time. She wondered how her sister was doing. She had sent a letter last time, reminding her to buy more dry rations, but she didn’t know if she had received it.

Liu Yanzhu’s husband’s family was far away in Yuge City. Perhaps they would be lucky enough to be spared. As for where Liu Shaohong had gone with his in-laws, she had no idea. All she could do was hope that everyone would take care of themselves.

…

Meanwhile, Zhang Muchun had finally arrived at Tonghua Village. She had missed the spirit medium last time, but this time, she had to get this done, or she wouldn’t be able to eat or sleep in peace.

“Big Brother, is Granny He home today? I have something I’d like her to look at for me,” Zhang Muchun said, carrying two jin of pastries as she walked into the courtyard.

“Oh, my mother is here. Little sister, I’ll take you in,” he said, putting down his farm tool and leading Zhang Muchun to Old Lady He’s room.

The moment Zhang Muchun stepped over the threshold, she saw the portrait of an immortal being worshipped in the room and smelled the heavy scent of incense.

A black-clad old woman in her sixties was sitting with her eyes closed, leaning to one side. In front of her was a small kang table, on which red paper, yellow paper, and copper coins were scattered.

“Granny, I’m Xiao Chun from Zhangjia Village. I’ve been having some bad dreams lately. I beg you to take a look for me and see if there’s any way to break the curse,” Zhang Muchun said, sitting opposite the old woman.

Hearing this, He Banxian slowly opened her eyes. Unlike her aged body, her eyes were sharp and bright.

“From Zhangjia Village? Tell me what you’ve dreamt,” the old woman said, her voice slow and deep as she sized her up.

“It’s not a good dream. It’s a dream of disaster,” Zhang Muchun said, embellishing Liu Yunhe’s description for the old woman.

He Banxian’s brow furrowed into a deep crease. She casually tossed the copper coins in her hand onto the table, muttering something under her breath.

At first, the old woman didn’t take her description seriously, thinking it was just a matter of bad luck, as there was no sign of decline in her features. But the hexagrams she cast three times all showed great misfortune, yet didn’t specify where the misfortune would come from. The old woman was confused. She had been reading faces and divining fortunes for half her life and had never seen such a chilling hexagram.

But this young person had no trace of dark energy about her. On the contrary, her forehead was full and her complexion rosy. Even if the signs indicated some hardship, she still had the face of a fortunate person.

Granny He had only divined for her personally. As for the flood she spoke of, that was the will of the heavens. Her own skills were too shallow to see the truth. However, based on the disaster she described, the hexagram was indeed menacing.

“Young person, even if there really is a natural disaster, it is a punishment from the heavens. We can only accept the suffering and misfortune it bestows,” Old Lady He said, looking exhausted after speaking.

Zhang Muchun seemed to understand her meaning. In the face of a great natural disaster, humans were as insignificant as ants. But so what if they were ants? They still had to fight to survive with all their might. As long as she wasn’t dead, she had to live. She hadn’t seen enough of this beautiful world yet.

She needed to spread the news quickly. She still had to go back and continue working on her little boat.

Zhang Muchun had hesitated. What if everything was calm and nothing happened, and her rumor caused widespread panic? But in the end, she still decided to spread the news.

If nothing happened, at worst, her reputation would be ruined, or she would get a beating. But if it really did happen, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

On her way back, she found some children and taught them a rhyme.

“He Banxian of Tonghua Village, shakes her head, September will be hard.
Endless rain will fall from the sky, mountain floods as fierce as a tiger.
Crops in the fields will be swallowed whole, houses and pigsties will collapse in rows.
If you want to live, first build a raft, grain and firewood must be prepared.
Not a single person in the family can be left behind.”

“Very good. Shout this for three rounds around the front and back of the village, and I’ll give each of you ten copper coins,” Zhang Muchun said, stopping seven or eight children playing at the village entrance and having them spread the news.

She didn’t know where the flood would reach, nor did she know how far the children’s rhyme would travel. This was all she could do. Do your best, and leave the rest to fate.