Fleeing Famine: The Eldest Sister of a Farming Family with a Dimensional Space

Xu Nian is a twenty-eight-year-old woman working in Jiangcheng who endures sexual harassment from her manager. After confronting him and quitting her job, she visits a mysterious blind box food store where she pays 1,008 yuan for a bowl of plain white porridge. That night, she dreams of a mystical space containing rich black soil, a stream, and large fish. The next morning, she discovers she can enter this space at will and begins storing supplies and planting crops. Before she can fully utilize her new ability, she collapses and transmigrates into the body of a twelve-year-old girl named Xu Nian in the ancient Sheng Dynasty.

She wakes up in the home of the Xu family, a wealthy household in Dahe Village. Her new father, Xu Yaozu, is away taking the imperial examination, leaving her mother, Tian Shi, and grandmother, Wang Zhen, to care for her. Xu Nian quickly adapts to her new identity, using her modern knowledge to help the family. She learns that the Sheng Dynasty is under attack by the kingdoms of Yan Yang and Yun Lan. As refugees flee the advancing armies, the Xu family joins a caravan heading north toward the safety of Beijiang, the fief of the Northern Frontier King.

During the arduous journey, Xu Nian faces severe hardships, including extreme heat and food shortages. When her cousin falls ill with heatstroke, she secretly enters her space to gather mint leaves, which she claims were a gift from the Mountain Goddess. She uses this legend to justify her actions and maintain secrecy. Later, when the group encounters wild boars fighting antelopes, she helps secure meat for the refugees. She also uses her space to hide caught rabbits, ensuring her family has a steady food supply without arousing suspicion.

As they approach Baoning Prefecture City, they learn that refugees must pay ten taels of silver per person to enter. The villagers pool their limited resources, contributing over one hundred taels in total. Xu Yaozu enters the city to buy grain but finds prices inflated tenfold due to the war and drought. He struggles to purchase enough food for the entire group, highlighting the desperate economic conditions caused by the conflict. Xu Nian realizes she must rely on her space to sustain her family through the coming challenges.

The story follows Xu Nian as she navigates life in an ancient, war-torn society while hiding her supernatural space. She balances her role as a filial granddaughter and daughter with the need to protect her family from the dangers of displacement and scarcity. Her modern perspective and the resources of her space give her an advantage, but she must remain cautious to avoid being discovered. The narrative focuses on her efforts to secure food, water, and safety for the Xu family and the villagers as they continue their journey northward.