The Lucky Heiress

Wei Qingwan held back her tears, tolerating the pain as she ripped away her torn skirt hem, and carried on following Wei Ruo’s footsteps.

After travelling a little further, Wei Ruo stopped, pulled out a tool, and began to dig.

This tool, specifically custom made for Wei Ruo, had a hollow cylinder on the front end and a long handle in the back.

Wei Ruo would thrust this tool deep into the soil, then pull it back out with force. This allowed her to extract soil from the surface to fifty centimeters deep, with the extracted soil maintaining its original strata.

Once taken back, such soil samples would allow Wei Ruo to meticulously study and analyze the alkalinity of the soil, hence developing respective plans for improvement.

Wei Ruo then packed the collected samples into a bag, marking the locations from where they were collected.

After she finished digging, she continued on her path, proceeding to the next location to dig again.

After walking for about an hour, Wei Qingwan, who was both hungry and exhausted, could not bear it any longer.

“What exactly are you trying to do, Sister?” Wei Qingwan’s eyes welled up with tears as she questioned Wei Ruo.

Wei Ruo halted and looked at Wei Qingwan, who was staring back at her with eyes red as if deeply wronged, the resentment and blame evident in her gaze.

“I am naturally focused on important business,” Wei Ruo replied.

“If you’re unhappy about me tagging along, you could’ve just told me, why torture me this way?” Wei Qingwan retorted.

“You’re putting too much importance on yourself. If you don’t want to continue, go back. No one is stopping you,” Wei Ruo replied coldly.

Wei Ruo continued her journey after stating that, without wasting any time. The accompanying crew also closely followed Wei Ruo, leaving Wei Qingwan behind.

They had been walking for about an hour by then, covering a significant distance.

All the while, Wei Qingwan was occupied with avoiding the sharp edges of the wild grass leaves and the broken rocks on the ground, and had not been paying attention to their route.

Left behind by Wei Ruo, she was unable to head back on her own and had no choice but to trail behind Wei Ruo and her party.

However, the pain in her feet discouraged her from taking even one extra step.

“Then, send me back with two of your men,” Wei Qingwan requested of Wei Ruo.

“Didn’t you want to stay by my side?” Wei Ruo questioned.

This was a request Wei Qingwan herself had made, and Madam Yun had repeatedly reminded her of it before they set off.

“I… I want to go back now,” Wei Qingwan managed to say.

“This is what you requested. I did not force you to follow me,” Wei Ruo reminded.

“I… I understand,” Wei Qingwan bit her lip.

“Alright then.” Wei Ruo carelessly assigned two guards to bring Wei Qingwan back to Madam Qin.

Although she was granted permission to return, the journey back was still a major challenge for Wei Qingwan.

The journey, which had taken half an hour on the way there, would now take even longer on the return.

Walking was an extremely laborious task for Wei Qingwan.

Furthermore, the two guards Wei Ruo assigned to escort her were not at all helpful, forcing Wei Qingwan to rely on herself the entire trip.

By the time Wei Qingwan saw Madam Qin again, she looked completely disheveled. Her clothes were disordered, and her skirt and sleeves were torn in several places.

The parts of her face that were pale were extremely so, the flushed parts were bright red, and sweat had plastered strands of her hair to her forehead.

Madam Qin glanced at Wei Qingwan, not asking any questions nor showing any concern.

The two guards who escorted Wei Qingwan back simply left after their task was completed.

Abandoned and ignored, Wei Qingwan stood rooted to the spot. Heartbroken and fatigued, she felt utterly lost.

At that moment, her feet were sore and painful, and she could feel blisters forming. Her stomach was also rumbling with hunger. It was already past lunchtime, but she had not eaten anything yet.

After giving it some thought, she weakly asked Madam Qin for help, “Madam Qin, my feet are hurting. Could you get a lady doctor for me?”

“Miss Wei, take a look around. Do you see a lady doctor here? Not even a doctor, for that matter,” Madam Qin replied.

Biting her lip, Wei Qingwan carried on, “Madam Qin, could I get something to eat then?”

“The rations and water for today’s lunch have already been distributed. You’ll have to wait until dinner for the next meal,” Madam Qin replied.

Every day, there were three distributions of food and water by the Government Office to everyone in the wasteland, regardless of whether they were refugees or people sent by the government and elite families. Everyone was treated equally, with no preferential treatment.

Not even Wei Qingwan, let alone Madam Qin, could expect a different treatment here.

Wei Qingwan expression was frozen.

Looking at Wei Qingwan’s face, which wore an expression as though she had suffered great injustices, Madam Qin urged her, “Miss Wei, take a look around at where you are, and look at those refugees in the distance. People come here for survival or rescue, not for luxury. If you can’t handle hardships due to your delicate health, you shouldn’t be here. No one here will show kindness to a pampered princess.”

Upon being chastised by Madam Qin, Wei Qingwan felt even more mistreated. She wasn’t aware that Wei Ruo was coming to a place like this. If she had known, she would have never come.

With her lips pursed tight, Wei Qingwan stopped seeking help from Madam Qin and began limping towards Wei Ruo’s parked carriage.

Initially, she intended to rest in the carriage but was stopped by a guard.

Wei Qingwan looked at the guard blocking her path, perplexed. “I want to rest in the carriage. Why are you stopping me?”

“I’m sorry, but this is Miss Wei’s carriage. It’s our duty to watch over it while she’s not here,” the guard said, maintaining a neutral expression.

“This is a carriage belonging to the Wei Residence. I am her sister. How could I not have the right to go into this carriage?” Wei Qingwan bit her lip, a look of disbelief in her eyes.

This carriage was initially assigned to her and was only given to Wei Ruo when she started going to Mr. Wang Caiwei’s place for her studies.

The guard didn’t say anything else, but he still refused to let Wei Qingwan pass.

Madam Qin intervened, saying, “This carriage is Miss Wei’s, and it holds her private belongings. The guards are tasked to look after it while she’s not around. Miss Wei, please find another place to rest.”

That comment ended Wei Qingwan’s thoughts of resting in Wei Ruo’s carriage.

Wei Qingwan stood there, stunned. She was rooted to the spot, unsure of whether to move forward or back.

The only places she could sit were two carriages. Other than Wei Ruo’s carriage, there was the one Madam Qin came in, which was certainly not a place Wei Qingwan could go to rest.

Wei Qingwan said to Madam Qin, “Madam Qin, I just want to find a place to rest my legs.”

Her voice was feeble, and considering her meek appearance, she appeared fragile enough to be swept away by a gust of wind.

Madam Qin suggested expressionlessly, “Miss Wei, you can find a rock to sit on.”

Wei Qingwan looked at the ground.. The rocks were dirty, but more importantly, as a noble lady, how could she possibly sit on a rock in full view of everyone else?