After returning to ancient times, I lived a life of farming and raising children in the mountains

So hungry... Can one feel hunger after death?

Amidst a daze, Ashley pondered over this thought. She was not sure how much time had passed until the discomfort of hunger, which seemed to press against her very core, finally roused her.

The moonlight, like silver frost, seeped into the room. As she tried to gather her thoughts, she vaguely realized that she seemed to be dead? But isn't this what an afterlife is supposed to be like? Even in the night, aided by the moonlight, she could discern that she was in a completely unfamiliar house.

Moving her fingertips, she sensed her bodily condition during each breath. Though a bit weary, she didn't feel the agony of illness. Gathering some strength, she placed her hand on her chest-her skin was warm, her heartbeat feeble but existent. Was she still alive?

Just as this thought passed, her mind was suddenly bombarded by a dense, stabbing pain. Ashley's body convulsed, and she instinctively clutched her head. The merging and upheaval of memories belonging to another person and her own self perplexed her. When she finally processed those memories and understood that she had crossed through time, she was drenched in a cold sweat from the pain.

Struggling to sit up, using the moonlight to survey the "memories" of the thatched cottage, she found that the scene before her matched inch by inch with the "memories".

She had traversed to a dynasty called GanKun Dynasty, and the original owner of this body was also named Ashley, a fifteen-year-old born into the Illegitimate nationality. Due to floods in her hometown, Ashley had lost her parents and siblings. She was the sole survivor and had traveled alongside her kinsfolk in a bid to escape the famine.

Escaping to the Cairil territory, most of the people in her clan had exhausted both food and money. They had no choice but to beg for alms while journeying south, foraging for wild fruits and vegetables in the mountain villages and fields to stave off hunger.

After months of fleeing, most people's bodies couldn't endure any longer. Selling their children had become a common occurrence-both to provide a livelihood for the children and a means to survive for the family. With no family left, Ashley encountered Annie, who wanted to find a wife for her nephew.

Annie's nephew, Shawn, was described as tall and robust, with no vices or disabilities, currently serving in the military and yet to return. Marrying a farmer would carry the risk of military service and its uncertain return, but it was still better than being sold into slavery or worse, especially since Ashley had nowhere else to go. Coincidentally, her aunt who had provided much care to her was critically ill. With gritted teeth, Ashley met Annie and, instead of selling herself, bartered herself for half a bag of grain to become a wife in the Ashley family.

This grain was subsequently handed over to Annie's kinsfolk, and Ashley accompanied Annie back to the village of Tenli. Compared to Ashley, Annie was much more proactive. Even though Ashley was not bought and there was no indenture in her hand, Annie spent very little money. Half a bag of grain constituted the entirety of the exchange.

Upon returning to the village, Annie promptly sought out a priest, transferred Ashley's household registry to the Ashley family, and swiftly arranged the marriage between Ashley and Shawn. It was only then that Ashley learned her so-called husband had been absent in military service for over two years and three months and was reported to have perished in battle. In other words, Ashley, newly married, was already a widow.

Although Ashley was bewildered and apprehensive, she had no other options. It was still better than continuing a vagrant existence, begging, or facing an uncertain future as a slave or worse. At least she had a "home".

As for why Shawn had died, and why Annie still wanted to find him a wife, these perplexities were resolved for Ashley only after she had lived with the Ashley family for half a month.

The Ashley family had split, and as part of this division, Ashley, the wife of the Ashley family, and Shawn's nine-year-old twin siblings were separated.

It was only then that Ashley understood the purpose of Annie's exchange for half a bag of grain.

A candid disposal.

The GanKun Dynasty had been engaged in continuous warfare for years, and in the last decade, it suffered from floods and droughts-the dual onslaught of natural disasters and man-made calamities. Life for its people was exceedingly tough. The Ashley family had fled to this place nine years ago, and over half of their extended family perished during the flight, whether in the act of protecting their families or succumbing to sickness and hunger.

The Ashley family had three brothers. Amidst the flight, the eldest, who was merely nine years old at that time, was left with Shawn and the twins born to Shawn's mother during their flight. Shortly after giving birth, Shawn's mother also passed away. The second brother's entire family didn't survive, and the youngest couple, newly married at the time, without children of their own, managed to survive with their own meager provisions.

After their prolonged flight, the experiences of hardships and finally settling into a place, Annie bore two children in the third year and four more in the seventh year. Consequently, her attentions shifted more toward her own children. Since the birth of Michael's first child, life for the three children of the eldest brother became increasingly difficult.

Fortunately, despite his young age, Shawn had some capabilities, and his physique-perhaps inherited from his father-was considerably robust. By the age of 12 or 13, he was actively contributing to the family's labor force. In consideration of this, Michael and Annie continued to support Shawn's two younger siblings.

A complication arose two years ago when the government conscripted soldiers. Michael, as the head of the household, was the most fitting candidate, but he dared not step onto the battlefield! With hardly any hesitance, he manipulated the situation and got Shawn enlisted without his knowledge, using Shawn's name on the enlistment papers.

As the patriarch of both the eldest and youngest families, Michael could naturally make decisions for the family. Before Shawn could understand the situation after returning from the mountains, he was forcefully taken away by the conscription officers.

Once Shawn was gone, life became a struggle for the twins. Initially, just a mild inconvenience grew into guilt-their concerns were still fixated on Shawn. But a few months ago, a few returnees from the military brought back news of a major defeat at the front lines. They reported that almost three out of every ten soldiers perished, and the battalion where Shawn was stationed was believed to have been entirely wiped out.

With Shawn's passing, Annie was no longer willing to support the twins, especially given that the government provided no compensation. Starting to feel resentful, she grew more agitated. Initially worried about the accuracy of the news, after waiting and waiting, with everyone else who could return having done so, and yet no word from Shawn, Annie's nerves became frayed.

The Ashley family had only been settled there for nine years. Although they had cleared some land, it was limited. Most of their cultivated land was still rented. After accounting for the rent and various taxes, life was already quite hard. With Annie's own four children, all together, there were six mouths to feed, and it was a struggle to provide enough to eat. Adding the two eldest from the grand family, that was eight mouths.

How much less could her own children eat if she took on two more mouths?

Annie was determined, but when Shawn had been conscripted at the age of sixteen, they couldn't truly abandon him even if they wanted to. Besides the potential backlash from the community, Michael himself didn't dare to defy his elder brother in case he passed away in the future.

Once the twins were in, there was no way out. Casting them away would result in starvation.

Although reluctantly, and with no other choice but to care for them, this was the situation they had to ponder every day. It wasn't until the arrival of Ashley's group of refugees in the township that Annie saw an opportunity, which led to the exchange of half a bag of grain for a wife for Shawn.

Annie thought she had played a clever move. Without her elder brother, why not bring back an elder sister-in-law? Who wouldn't want a reliable elder sister-in-law? They couldn't divide the two younger ones, so bringing in an older one and then dividing them would solve everything, right?

Hurrying back home and discussing this idea with Michael, they both readily agreed! The matter was swiftly taken care of, and after the new wife had been in the house for half a month, the division of the households was put in motion.

The items allocated to her were simple. When they first settled in the mountains, they had built a thatched hut, several self-made stools, a few planks, a bedsheet, some old clothes, a bag of grain, a pot, three sets of utensils, a few farming tools, and a bit of salt.

The most valuable possession was the unclaimed mountainous land where the thatched hut was situated.

Michael considered himself quite generous. After all, land was still land. Currently, half of the land he cultivated was still rented from a large landowner. Having raised three nephews for so many years, and now parting ways with them, Michael believed that allocating them a piece of land was more than enough.

It's worth noting that this piece of land was one of the two mountains that had been given to the refugees by the government for clearing and timbering upon their arrival. It should've belonged to Shawn, but Michael conveniently chose to forget this fact.

As Shawn had gone off to war in place of him and lost his life, and considering Shawn's promise to ensure the twins' welfare before his departure, the couple believed that by exchanging half a bag of grain for Shawn's wife, and having Shawn's wife raise the young children, they were not in violation of any promises.

The two children were helpless, and the recently widowed Ashley, who had been exchanged for half a bag of grain and abruptly thrust into this situation, dared not raise any objections.

The Ashley family had arrived as refugees, had no clan or relatives in the area, and with no elder kinsmen to oversee and restrain them, the villagers, even if they found Michael's actions distasteful, had no grounds to contest it.

In the end, this matter was ultimately accepted as such.

For three months, Ashley, a frail fifteen-year-old girl, lived atop the mountain with her nine-year-old nephew and niece, and the rations she received were nearly depleted.

The twins couldn't endure the hunger anymore and sought out Michael in the village for food. While Michael nodded affirmatively, Annie's provisions were limited. She would relent, with the stipulation, "Our livelihood is difficult, you can't keep coming here for food once you've left." Out of five requests, perhaps they would receive twice, and even then it would only be a few mouthfuls that would stave off starvation.

Despite the sudden arrival of an inexplicable elder sister-in-law, the two children were nonetheless mutually dependent for over three months. Each time they received food, they brought it back to share with Ashley, with two meals a day - the scant rice and boiled wild vegetables they managed to procure.

Prior to Ashley's arrival, this household had already been living on half-rations for over ten days.

Ashley, who had already been severely malnourished due to the arduous flight and the daily stress and fear, was overwhelmed and collapsed for two days. It was under the combined strain of illness and hunger that she passed away in the dead of night, only to awaken anew, refreshed.

Even at this moment, Ashley dared not believe it. Trembling, she placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heartbeat, and then tremblingly, she moved her hand to the tender flesh of her thigh, pinching it with all her might.

Yes, the heartbeat was real, the body temperature was real, and the painful sting from pinching was real. The burning hunger and exhausting weakness were distressingly real as well.

She... was truly alive!