Chapter 13 Entering the County Town

"Lan'er, go wash up, it's time to eat," called the sister-in-law, Zhou, as she watched them playfully bickering.

After getting cleaned up, everyone gathered around a stone table and Yang Lan'er looked at the breakfast spread before them. It was quite a feast: there was bamboo fungus mushroom soup, stir-fried chicken with bamboo shoots, braised rabbit meat, and even stir-fried sweet potato leaves. There was also a large pot of sweet potato porridge and another of potato cakes.

Yang Lan'er had initially thought it was a bit too oily for breakfast, but looking at everyone's faces and her own skinny frame, she couldn't help but smile. Since the drought last year, the family had been cutting back on food to make it last, and being up in the mountains at this time allowed them to eat wild game and replenish their bodies.

"Let's eat, everyone," said the family patriarch, Yang Lan'ers father, as he picked up his chopsticks and put a piece of bamboo shoot in his mouth.

The children eagerly shouted for the adults to help them pick out their favorite dishes, and the adults obliged. It was a lively breakfast.

Everyone, young and old alike, praised the delicious and refreshing bamboo fungus mushroom soup.

"Lan'er, where did you collect the bamboo fungus? Do we still have some? It's so delicious, I almost swallowed my tongue," Yang Cunyi, the family's food lover, asked with a look of infinite aftertaste.

Yang Lan lazily leaned against the stone wall and gave him a glance. "In the bamboo forest in the mountains. There should be some left."

"Lan'er, what are we waiting for? Let's go get some today!"

"Not today."

"Why not?" Yang Cunyi asked curiously.

"Today, I want to go to the county town."

Everyone looked at her in surprise, and her second brother quickly said, "Lan'er, it's dangerous out there now, I'll go with you."

Yang Lan'er wanted to decline, but seeing her family's disapproving gaze, she gave in.

After packing up, they left the cave and saw their little ones looking at them with pitiful, puppy-like eyes. Yang Lan'er coaxed them, "Mom, will come back as soon as possible, and I'll bring back some good food for you all. Please be good while we're away!"

As they looked at the melancholy eyes of the children, Yang Lan felt a headache and too much pressure. It wasn't easy to finally calm down the little ones, and Yang Lan wiped the nonexistent sweat off her forehead.

She stood up and took a deep breath, looking up at the sky. She couldn't help but curse the gods a thousand times in her heart: "Oh my god! I'm a queen, not a kindergarten teacher!"

As they walked through the dense forest, Yang Lan'er and Yang Cunzhi found some edible plants and casually gathered them into their backpacks. They even picked up some wild chickens and rabbits on the way out of the mountains.

When they arrived in the village, everything was quiet and still. Yang Lan'er and Yang Cunzhi exchanged a wry smile, grateful that they had discovered the valley. They unconsciously picked up their pace.

As they reached the outskirts of the county town, they saw several emaciated villagers sitting not far from the city gate, looking dazed and hollow-eyed. Seeing them reminded Yang Lan'er of the days when she first arrived and struggled to survive.

Suppressing her emotions, the two of them walked towards the city gate. From a distance, Yang Lan'er saw the words "Chong County" on the gate and learned from her second brother that it was named after the large Dachong Mountain.

There were soldiers guarding the gate, and Yang Lan'er and Yang Cunzhi had to wait in line to enter the city, paying twenty copper coins as a fee. The soldiers warned them to leave the city by sunset and not to loiter in the streets at night.

Walking along the ancient street, surrounded by women in traditional attire, Yang Lan'er finally realized that she had truly traveled back in time and wasn't just dreaming.

With this realization, Yang Lan'er felt less sentimental and more eager to explore the authentic ancient street. She learned that the county had two main streets and four smaller ones, and that there were two reputable pharmacies in the town, Ren Shantang and Shi Rentang.