The Whole Family Prepared Two Years in Advance for the Great Famine Escape

Zhao Xiaobao is the youngest daughter of the Zhao family in Wanxia Village, a remote rural community struggling with poor harvests and economic hardship. The village is isolated, requiring a four-hour mountain trek to reach the nearest town. The Zhao family is large, comprising Old Man Zhao, his wife Wang Shi, their three married sons, and five grandsons. Despite their hard work, the family faces constant food shortages due to bad weather and heavy taxes. Zhao Xiaobao is treated as a precious child, receiving special care and better food than the rest of the family. The family harbors a secret: Xiaobao possesses a magical ability to transport them into a hidden realm. When she is half-asleep at night, holding her hand allows a family member to enter this fog-covered land, which contains fertile soil, a perpetual stream, and a large peach tree. The family uses this realm to clear land and grow crops outside the jurisdiction of the state, ensuring their survival.

The core conflict arises from the family's precarious financial situation and the need to secure their future. During a trip to town to sell eggs and look for work, Old Man Zhao and his eldest son, Zhao Dashan, discover a buried jar containing gold coins, gold leaves, and jewelry while burying Xiaobao's waste. This unexpected windfall changes their circumstances, allowing them to buy meat, salt, flour, and other necessities. However, the family keeps the discovery secret, fearing that outsiders would bring disaster if they knew of the wealth. The gold is hidden in the immortal realm for safekeeping, further entrenching the family's reliance on Xiaobao's magical gift. The family begins to systematically use the realm to reclaim land and build a house, working in shifts to clear fields and prepare for planting.

A key turning point occurs when the family tests the agricultural potential of the immortal realm. They plant seeds that would normally take a month to sprout, but due to the realm's unique conditions, the seedlings mature in just a few days. This discovery validates their strategy of using the hidden land to supplement their food supply. Meanwhile, the outside world grows increasingly unstable. News of severe snow disasters in the north reaches the village, and local weather patterns become erratic, with droughts followed by heavy snows. The Zhao family remains insulated from these crises by their secret source of food and wealth, but the external pressure mounts. The family's secrecy is tested when villagers gossip about their strange behavior, suspecting discord or hidden activities, but Old Man Zhao silences the rumors through intimidation.

As winter sets in, the family continues to exploit the immortal realm. The three brothers take turns entering the dream world to work the land, while Xiaobao remains unaware of the burden placed on her. The family builds a wooden house in the realm to provide shelter for their work. The contrast between the harsh, snowy reality outside and the temperate, fertile environment inside the realm highlights the family's dependence on this magical advantage. The story follows their efforts to balance the demands of the outside world with the secret labor in the immortal land. The narrative ends with the family preparing to transplant the rapidly grown seedlings, securing their food supply for the coming months. The underlying tension remains between their hidden prosperity and the growing external threats posed by natural disasters and social instability.

The Zhao family's situation improves materially, but their reliance on Xiaobao's magical ability creates a fragile foundation. The secret of the immortal realm binds the family together, but it also isolates them from the community. The story explores the dynamics of a large, multi-generational household navigating poverty and scarcity through supernatural means. The characters are defined by their practicality and resilience, using every available resource to survive. Xiaobao's innocence contrasts with the calculated exploitation of her gift by her family. The narrative does not resolve the external conflicts but focuses on the family's internal strategies for maintaining their livelihood. The hidden realm serves as both a sanctuary and a burden, offering escape from hardship while demanding continuous labor and secrecy. The story sets the stage for future challenges as the external world becomes more dangerous and the family's secrets become harder to keep.