Jiang Ci swiftly dodged Jiang Wanwan.
As expected, Jiang Wanwan crashed right into the bedroom door.
A loud “bang” echoed through the room.
“What’s wrong, what’s wrong, Wanwan?”
Mother Jiang, holding a spatula, rushed out from the kitchen upon hearing the commotion. The moment she saw Jiang Ci, her anger flared. “I knew it was you, you ungrateful wretch! You’re bullying Wanwan again, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not. Which eye of yours saw me bullying her?”
Jiang Ci tucked away the earring and straightened up to face Mother Jiang.
Jiang Wanwan whimpered, clutching her forehead as she pointed accusingly at Jiang Ci. “Mom, Jiang Ci stole my things… and… and hit me.”
What?
Stealing Wanwan’s things and hitting her?
Mother Jiang, already seething with resentment toward Jiang Ci, raised her spatula and swung it at her. “How dare you, you ungrateful wretch! Today, I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t forget. I raised you since you were little, and this is how you repay us…”
Whack!
With a nimble sidestep, Jiang Ci evaded the blow, causing Mother Jiang’s spatula to miss its target and slam onto the table with a loud “thud.”
Clutching the earring in her hand, Jiang Ci was eager to bind it to herself as soon as possible and didn’t want to waste time arguing with Mother Jiang.
She turned and dashed back to her room.
Mother Jiang, having missed her target and now watching Jiang Ci flee, grew even angrier. “Jiang Ci, you ungrateful wretch, come out here right now…”
Jiang Ci couldn’t be bothered to respond.
She shut her bedroom door and, without delay, pricked her finger with a needle, letting a drop of blood fall onto the earring.
After the earring emitted a soft, glowing white light, Jiang Ci’s consciousness was filled with the image of a vast expanse of land. A small stream flowed gently along its edge, and lush green grass covered the ground.
What a beautiful place.
Unfortunately, Jiang Ci couldn’t physically enter the Space; she could only visualize it in the depths of her consciousness with her eyes closed.
Damn it!
Is this what it means to be Cannon Fodder?
She remembered from the book that after the female lead, Jiang Wanwan, bound the Space to herself, she could freely enter and exit it.
Why is it that she can only see it but not enter?
This is just unfair.
But what could she do? Who made her the Cannon Fodder?
Withdrawing her consciousness from the Space, Jiang Ci looked at the earring lying in her palm and tried placing it inside the Space using her will.
Huh!
It seemed the Space wasn’t entirely useless after all—she could store things in it using her mind.
Next, Jiang Ci dug out the two hundred yuan she had saved over the past two years of work, along with a few grain ration tickets, and placed them all into a biscuit tin.
Using her will, she stored the tin inside the Space.
Great! She could store things in it. Now she wouldn’t have to worry about Mother Jiang barging into her room and taking her belongings anymore.
Previously, every month after Jiang Ci received her salary, Mother Jiang would tell her in front of Father Jiang to keep her own money and not worry about contributing to the household expenses.
But as soon as Father Jiang left for the military unit, Mother Jiang would sneak into Jiang Ci’s room while she was at work and take her money.
The original Jiang Ci had never told Father Jiang about this. After all, she was living under someone else’s roof and didn’t want to cause arguments between Father Jiang and Mother Jiang over her.
Unfortunately, her concessions didn’t earn her Mother Jiang’s gratitude; instead, they only made her seem easy to manipulate.
Outside, Mother Jiang banged on the door for a long time but couldn’t force it open. After Father Jiang returned home, she didn’t dare continue making a scene.
She also didn’t dare tell Father Jiang that Jiang Ci had taken the earring, as he knew perfectly well that the earring belonged to Jiang Ci.
All she could do was comfort Jiang Wanwan. “Don’t worry. Tomorrow, when she goes to work, I’ll go into her room and get the earring back for you. Let’s eat first!”
Jiang Wanwan nodded tearfully, but deep down, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something important had slipped away from her.
For now, though, she had no choice but to let it go.
Because after dinner, Father Jiang called Jiang Wanwan into his room and pressured her to reveal who the ruffian was, threatening to report it to the authorities and handle it officially if she didn’t speak up.
Jiang Wanwan was so anxious she could only cry.
Mother Jiang then argued fiercely with Father Jiang, forbidding him from reporting it to the authorities.
The whole family was in turmoil all night.
Jiang Ci, however, slept soundly.
Early the next morning, when she opened the door and encountered Father Jiang with a weary face, Jiang Ci expressed sympathy for him.
But only sympathy.
She couldn’t help either.
She could only go to the hospital later and help Father Jiang check on Pei Jiran, who was hospitalized, to see if there was anything she could assist with.
But as soon as she entered the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department, Director Cai of the department called out to her, “Little Jiang, I have a meeting to attend. Please watch the outpatient clinic for me for a while, I’ll be back soon.”
“…Oh! Okay, Director.”
Jiang Ci hesitated before agreeing. It seemed she could only check on Pei Jiran, the cannon fodder who shared her fate, after the consultation ended.
“Doctor Jiang, do you think Director Cai is attending a meeting now because the hospital is planning to disband and abolish the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department?”
Her colleague Doctor Fang was young, having just joined the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department this year through connections, and she feared the rumors might become true.
Wouldn’t the money spent on those connections be wasted then?
Jiang Ci shook her head, “I don’t know, the director didn’t say.”
She had just arrived here and wasn’t very familiar with everything, but it seemed there was something like this in the original body’s memory.
“Ah~, Doctor Jiang, your father is a military commander. Even if the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department is abolished, you’ll definitely be transferred to another department. I’m doomed! Without any background, I can only…”
Jiang Ci frowned and glanced at the resentful Doctor Fang, noticing her forehead hidden under thick bangs, and interrupted her, “Your cheeks lack flesh, your forehead lacks brightness, your fate indeed isn’t as good as mine, and moreover, you’re going to encounter great misfortune these two days. Good luck to you!”
Doctor Fang: ?
After saying this, Jiang Ci put on her white coat and left.
Leaving Doctor Fang bewildered.
“Hey! Comrade, may I ask…”
An elderly woman wearing a deep blue headscarf came to the consultation room. Seeing Jiang Ci sitting there, she thought she had entered the wrong door.
She stepped back to look at the sign hanging on the door, then walked in again, hesitantly asking, “Isn’t Director Cai consulting today?”
“Yes! Director Cai has a temporary meeting, he’ll be back soon. Come in and sit, auntie!”
Jiang Ci invited the patient in while observing her. The patient walked unsteadily, her complexion dull.
Even her lips appeared pale.
“Auntie, where do you feel uncomfortable?”
Jiang Ci casually asked.
“Oh! It’s an old ailment. I have chronic rheumatism in my legs; every winter my legs ache terribly. These past two years, thanks to Director Cai,
although it still hurts, I can walk. I came today to ask Director Cai to prescribe some more medicine for me.”
Listening to the patient’s rambling answer, Jiang Ci stood up and poured her a cup of hot water, handing it to her.
The auntie thanked her repeatedly.
Jiang Ci smiled, “Chronic rheumatism isn’t a serious illness, but it’s miserable in winter. Auntie, your legs aren’t comfortable in summer either, right?”
“Huh!” The auntie exclaimed in surprise, “Exactly! In summer when others are dying from heat, my legs still need to be wrapped in cotton pants.”
“It’s a condition from childbirth, about twenty years now!”
The auntie was stunned again, “Yes! How did you know?”
Jiang Ci smiled, lowered her eyes, and said, “Director Cai mentioned it. He also said there’s a folk remedy for your condition. Would you like to try it?”
“What folk remedy?”
“Just go home and dig up some chili roots, mix them with mugwort, boil water, and soak your feet. Try it for three days first.”
Huh?
The aunt was utterly stunned. “This… this can work?
If it works, why didn’t Director Cai tell me before?”
“Director Cai only found out by flipping through medical books recently! He originally wanted to tell you directly, but something urgent came up, so he asked me to pass it on to you.”
Jiang Ci spun lies with ease.
The aunt was half-convinced, half-doubtful, but since it was Director Cai who said it, what harm was there in trying?
After seeing the aunt off and waiting for Director Cai to return,
Jiang Ci got up and left, heading toward the inpatient ward.
She wondered how badly that cannon fodder Pei Jiran was injured? She remembered that in the original book, Pei Jiran hadn’t been injured at this point.