Gianna lied without hesitation.
But she didn't feel guilty at all. It was a kind lie—for the good of their family.
Floyd looked surprised. "So, you bought it?"
Gianna nodded. "I bargained for a long time and got it for just a few hundred coins. You're not mad at me, are you?"
In the past, Floyd might've cared and thought she was wasting money. But now, his thoughts had changed. Especially when he saw Gianna's careful and nervous expression, he only found her especially adorable at that moment.
"Why would I be mad at you? You must've thought it through when you bought the seeds. We have plenty of land. If you want to plant, just plant. Even if it doesn't grow, it's fine."
His words were sincere. Gianna had already prepared herself to be scolded but didn't expect Floyd to be so understanding.
She said with genuine warmth, "You're so good to me."
Floyd grinned. "You must be tired. Sit on the cart and rest for a while."
Gianna slipped three taels of silver into Floyd's hand.
"This is the silver I exchanged earlier. Keep it safe. I still have a little with me. There are a lot of people buying food in the city. It'll probably take at least another fifteen minutes to get in. Eat the bun first. I'll push the cart."
But Floyd couldn't let Gianna push the cart.
Pushing was hard work, especially with three kids on the cart.
So he quickly ate the bun in two or three bites and smiled. "I'm done. You sit and rest."
Gianna thoughtfully handed him water.
After about half an hour, they finally got into the city.
From the way people dressed, it was clear most of the townspeople were poor.
Everyone's clothes were worn out, and they all had one thing in common: they were thin.
Extremely thin.
Gianna's family of five stood out among the crowd.
Floyd was tall and looked strong, so they didn't run into any troublemakers.
Outside the grain shop, there was still a long line.
Floyd looked worried as he parked the cart and stared at the line. "Why are there still so many people?"
Everyone was busy with spring farming.
Gianna said anxiously, "I'm afraid even if we wait until evening, we won't get our turn. Floyd, maybe we should head home first. You can come alone the day after tomorrow, but go early."
Just after she said this, the shopkeeper's voice came from the front.
"We're sold out of seeds for today. If you want to buy, come back tomorrow."
Many people didn't give up and asked again, but the shopkeeper said they were all gone.
Floyd didn't hesitate. If the shopkeeper said they were out, then they really were. Without any fuss, he pushed the cart and left.
"Gianna, I'll take you all to buy something to eat."
The kids came to the town with them. They couldn't just eat a few big buns and call it a day. But they only had a little silver left, so they had to be careful with it.
After spring planting, Floyd would go find work, earn money, and buy back Gianna's dowry. Then he'd buy new things.
The kids started shouting that they wanted to eat meat.
The leftover wild boar meat was already long gone.
The kids were craving it. Floyd hesitated, but Gianna made the decision right away—they were buying meat.
There weren't even any vegetable sellers at the market. Only one lonely meat stall was there.
A lot of people were watching from a distance, but no one went to buy.
Gianna held Xeno and walked over.
The butcher was happy to finally see a customer and came forward.
"Ma'am, would you like to buy some meat?"
Xeno stared at the meat, unable to look away.
Gianna knew the kids wanted something fatty, so she pointed to a piece with more fat. "This piece looks good. How much per jin?"
The shopkeeper smiled warmly and was very friendly. "Twenty coins per jin."
Hearing the price, Gianna frowned slightly, but in the end, she made up her mind and bought two jin.
At this time, buying two jin of meat at once definitely made her a big customer.
So the butcher was very enthusiastic and gave her several jin of bones for free.
But those pig bones were very clean, not even a bit of meat left on them.
Still, pig bones were a good thing.
Once boiled at home, the children could drink the soup.
Floyd felt a little heartache seeing Gianna buy two jin of meat, but this thought quickly passed. He understood her good intentions.
The house only had mixed grains, so Gianna suggested they buy some beans.
Beans could be found at the mixed grain shop.
After buying two jin, the family headed home.
Today, they hadn't been able to buy any seeds, which made Floyd feel a little down.
Gianna had wanted to help push the cart, but Floyd directly refused.
On the cart, Gianna was holding Xeno, while Dennis and Nori leaned against her.
By the time they returned to the village, it was already dark. The surrounding snow kept it from being too dark, though.
Just as they reached the village entrance, they saw a house in the village had a light on.
"Is someone back in the village?" Gianna asked curiously.
Floyd frowned and looked towards the house with the light. "It seems to be Old Man Liu's family."
After returning home, Floyd reminded Gianna to close the door and then went to Old Man Liu's house.
Old Man Liu was helping his son and daughter-in-law tidy up the yard.
When Floyd appeared, Old Man Liu was especially happy.
"Floyd, did you go to the county?"
Floyd looked at Old Man Liu, who seemed even thinner than when he left. It seemed life hadn't been easy for him outside.
Floyd said, "I was planning to buy some seeds in the county, to plant for the spring, but today there were too many people buying seeds, and they were sold out before I could even get in line. Old Man Liu, did your family leave to escape the famine?"
Old Man Liu's son, Jill, walked over.
This time, however, Jill had a smile on his face, and his attitude towards Floyd was noticeably friendlier.
This change took Floyd by surprise.
When they were young, Floyd and Jill had gotten along well. Although Jill was a little older, he often protected Floyd.
But because of the food shortage, Jill had always felt uncomfortable.
This time, going to escape the famine had shown him a lot of dirt, and he became more and more grateful to Floyd. He also began to understand that Floyd had never owed them anything.
Instead, it was them who owed Floyd a lot.
Jill politely greeted Floyd. "Floyd, don't just stand outside. Come in and sit for a while."
Floyd was surprised but quickly reacted and declined, "It's too late, so I won't go in. You just got back, and I'm sure you have a lot of things to do. If you need help, just let me know."
Old Man Liu was also tired, so he didn't insist on keeping Floyd.
But just as Floyd turned to leave, he suddenly remembered something and reminded them, "The village's old well has water now, so you don't need to boil snow to cook anymore."
Floyd went back home and told Gianna about Old Man Liu's family returning.