Lin He thought of this and asked Huang Shi, "Mother, how will we get through this winter? The weather is about to turn cold; how did we manage in previous years?"

Huang Shi, having learned from San Ya that Lin He's memory was a bit unclear about some things after waking, didn't think much of it, only sensing that her eldest daughter seemed more sensible today than before.

Huang Shi replied, "We'll manage somehow. Before winter truly sets in, your father and I will try to procure more food to store. At night, I'll do more embroidery to sell for money. In a few days, your older brother should be back from the town; maybe he can bring some good money home."

Huang Shi’s expression held a trace of helplessness, and a flicker of pity crossed her eyes. Her eldest son was only ten, yet they had to send him off to be an apprentice.

To be an apprentice was essentially to be a general errand boy—eating last and working the most, earning meager wages even after a month. But the truth was, the family simply couldn't feed so many children anymore.

Though only ten, the eldest son deeply loved his younger siblings. Seeing the extreme difficulty in supporting everyone, he volunteered to become an apprentice simply to lessen the burden, if only by one mouth less to feed, plus the small amount of money he could bring home monthly. As the saying goes, "Even a mosquito’s flesh is still flesh."

Thinking of this made Huang Shi deeply guilty; it was all because she and her husband lacked the ability that the family had fallen into such straits. Lin He noticed the guilt in Huang Shi's eyes and quickly changed the subject.

"Mother, don't worry. Haven't we gotten through every other year? Things will be better after this winter passes. I’m a year older now; I’m an adult. Next year will be better for the family."

Lin He deliberately adopted a child’s tone, saying this to Huang Shi with a bright, clear voice and widening her eyes for effect. Seeing her like this, Huang Shi chuckled, pulled her close. After all, this eldest daughter had always been a sensible child. Ever since the eldest son left, the household had truly relied on this girl.

In the blink of an eye, Lin He had been in this world for over half a month. When she woke this day, she noticed the family seemed happier than usual; smiles adorned everyone’s faces. San Ya and Xiao Bao were up unusually early too. Lin He saw them frequently glancing toward the courtyard gate and asked what was going on.

Huang Shi patted her head and said, "Your brother comes back around this time every month. He can stay home for two days today and tomorrow." Oh, so that was it. Lin He was quite eager for her brother’s return too, so she sat with them to wait.

After waiting for about half an hour, she heard Xiao Bao and San Ya’s joyous shouts, followed by the entrance of a small child in a coarse blue cloth jacket, carrying a small cloth bundle. This must be her brother.

Seeing her eldest son approach, Huang Shi immediately stood up, took the bundle from his hands, and asked, "Da Bao, have you eaten breakfast?"

Lin He also stood up and called out, "Brother."

Da Bao patted Lin He’s head and said, "I have."

Entering Huang Shi’s room, Da Bao untied the bundle and handed Huang Shi one hundred large coins. Lin He looked at the money with pity, gazing at her brother. She knew that this was what Da Bao earned in a month as an apprentice—a hundred large coins. A ten-year-old child in this era was already shouldering the heavy responsibility of supporting the family.

Lin He looked at those coins, her heart aching for her brother. What could one hundred large coins even buy? In the half-month since she arrived, Lin He had learned the local currency conversions: white flour was 15 wen per jin, coarse rice was 4 wen per jin, black flour was 7 wen per jin, cornmeal was 12 wen per jin, and pork was 25 wen per jin. Their family couldn't afford white flour; they ate only coarse rice. Pork and such were out of the question; she hadn't even seen any since arriving.

Da Bao then pulled two red hair ribbons from the bundle for Er Ya and Lin He, and a wooden spinning top for Xiao Bao, who happily snatched it and ran out to the yard to play immediately.

Lin He looked at her brother and said, "Big Brother, don't buy things for us anymore. Buy more good food for yourself."

Lin He struggled to imitate the speech of a seven-year-old girl; she found it surprisingly difficult and quite awkward. Da Bao smiled and replied, "Big Brother always eats until he’s full. I’m doing very well there; don't worry about me."

Lin He knew he was only saying that to keep his family from worrying. How could he be well-fed when he looked so thin? The ten-year-old boy looked younger than nine. Lin He’s nose stung with emotion. Huang Shi had already turned away to wipe her tears. Ah, such worries were crushing.

Although Da Bao claimed to have eaten, he still joined the family for the simple, unplentiful breakfast, laughing and talking. Afterward, Lin He told Da Bao, "Big Brother, let’s go to town for a look. It’s been a long time since we went."

Huang Shi chimed in, "Yes, Da Bao, take your younger siblings. Your father and I usually don't have time to take them since we have to work the fields. And we need to buy more grain; ours is running low."

Da Bao nodded. Lin He wanted to visit the town to see if there were any ways to earn money. Earning a lot quickly seemed unlikely, but improving their living conditions should be possible.

Lin He and Da Bao walked with their younger siblings for what felt like a long time—perhaps fifteen li—finally arriving at the small town closest to Lin Family Village. The town was called Huayu Town, and fortunately, it was market day. The town was crowded with people and numerous vendors.

Lin He looked around and noticed that while there were many sellers, the variety of goods was pitifully small. For example, regarding fruit, it was always the same few types of pears, apples, and oranges—just common fruits. Other varieties were virtually nonexistent.

Da Bao led them to the grain sellers and purchased ten jin of coarse rice and three jin of black flour, using up more than half their money. The black flour was for making steamed buns (wo wo tou); white flour was too expensive to even consider. Grains in this era were limited to just a few kinds.

Lin He also saw white rice for sale. This rice was slightly different from the rice she knew from her previous life; it looked somewhat like broken rice, very small grains, yet they weren't fragmented—just tiny. Unlike the plump grains she remembered, the color wasn't the crystalline white of modern rice. However, this rice was prohibitively expensive; one liang of silver bought only a few jin. Ordinary people couldn't afford it, let alone poor families like Lin He’s.

After buying the grain, they walked further. Xiao Bao spotted a steamed bun stall ahead and refused to move, his eyes fixed longingly on the large buns. At this time, a steamed bun cost two wen, and a plain steamed roll (mantou) cost one wen.

Da Bao sighed, seeing his little brother rooted to the spot. He told Lin He and San Ya to wait under a tree with the purchased grain, while he went to coax his brother away. Lin He stood there, looking around. Ahead, there was a meat stall. In her previous life, while trying to lose weight, Lin He often picked the meat out of her meals when eating out, only to throw it away in the end.

Now, she craved meat so intensely that she felt crazed. Seeing the pale, tender fat and the pinkish lean meat hanging there made her mouth water just recalling the taste.

Lin He watched for a while and saw the butcher place the pig offal into a worn wooden basin. The customers buying meat didn't even ask about the innards. Did people of this era not eat pig offal? Lin He thought of this, said to San Ya, "San Ya, you guard these; I'm going over there to look." San Ya nodded.

Lin He walked up to the meat stall. The butcher saw her approach and smiled, asking, "Little girl, what do you want? I’ll give you a good price."

Lin He pointed at the basin of pig offal and asked, "Boss, how much for these?"

The boss replied, "You mean the pig’s innards? This stuff isn't for sale; it’s inedible. I’ll throw it out once I’m done selling the meat."

So, they called it pig's innards. Lin He said, "Boss, sell them to me. My brother has money."