In August, Luo Town was under a scorching sun.
The Song Family kitchen.
Seven-year-old Song Yi'an sat in front of the medicine stove, the palm-leaf fan in her hand moving in small motions to control the heat.
Her small face was flushed red from the heat, and the strands of hair on her forehead were damp and sticking to her skin.
Just as the sweat was about to drip into her eyes, she quickly raised her arm and wiped it away with her sleeve.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
A boy's suppressed, muffled cough came from the next room.
Song Yi'an sighed softly; if only the Spirit Spring were still here.
She came from the apocalypse, and during a battle with the Zombie King, the Zombie King played dirty and chose to self-destruct when he couldn't win.
Considering that the Zombie King's self-destruction would destroy an entire city, at the critical moment, she pulled the Zombie King into her Space, and both the zombie and she perished together.
When she opened her eyes again, her soul had transmigrated into the body of a seven-year-old girl named Song Yi'an.
Fortunately, her Space Ability followed her, but the only pity was that her ability level had been reset to zero.
The Spirit Spring in the Space had disappeared, and the capacity of the Space had shrunk from the size of two football fields to less than one mu of land.
Everything had returned to the beginning.
Having transmigrated for five days, she knew clearly that the family was truly poor, so poor that they could barely afford a meal.
In her memories, her father was a well-known wealthy merchant in the area who was robbed and killed by mountain bandits while traveling as a merchant, leaving behind his wife and two young children.
Five years ago, the family was still relatively well-off, with one thousand taels of silver left; if they were just living an ordinary life, it would have been enough for the family of three to live a comfortable life for a lifetime.
However, her older brother, Song Yili, was born prematurely and had a weak constitution; he was a sickly child who could not go a day without the nourishment of expensive medication.
Medicine was expensive, and spending the one thousand taels of silver would only take two or three years.
In order for her son to continue his medication, Madam Gu gritted her teeth, dismissed all the servants, sold the large house, moved away from the County Town, and came to Luo Town to exchange for a simple, humble house.
Five days ago, Song Yi'an saw Chun Hua next door wearing beautiful new clothes and pestered Madam Gu to make her one as well.
Because there was no extra money on hand, Madam Gu said she would make it for her after the new year.
The original owner believed that her mother only had eyes for her brother and prioritized him in everything, even wearing her brother's hand-me-down clothes, and that her mother did not love her.
In a fit of anger, she ran out of the house and went to the riverbank alone to sulk, but unexpectedly, her foot slipped when she stood up, and she bumped her head.
Through a twist of fate, she had arrived.
"Er Ya."
A middle-aged woman whose appearance was somewhat similar to Song Yi'an walked in, gently stroking her head, her tone full of heartache.
"Look at you, covered in sweat; you must be overheated, right? Go and rest quickly; Mother will brew the medicine."
Song Yi'an looked up; the clothes on Madam Gu's back were sticking tightly to her body, and her forehead was covered in fine, dense beads of sweat.
"I'm not hot. Brother's medicine is almost done. Mother, you've been busy outside all day, your lips are dry; drink some water."
As she spoke, she handed over the bowl of clear water that was by her side.
Madam Gu took the bowl, tilted her head back, drank it down in a few gulps, and raised her hand to wipe the corners of her mouth.
"I've had the water. You go wash your face and cool off; look at how red your little face is." Madam Gu's tone allowed no room for refusal.
Song Yi'an knew she couldn't win against Madam Gu, so she handed the palm-leaf fan to her.
Leaving the sweltering kitchen, she didn't go straight to the inner room, but followed Madam Gu's words and went to the old ceramic vat in the corner of the courtyard.
The vat was filled with well water, and she picked up the gourd ladle floating on the surface, scooped up half a ladle of cold water, and splashed it onto her face.
The heat clinging to her face was instantly dispelled, and Song Yi'an felt as if she had come back to life, her mind also much clearer.
In ancient times, there were no cars, no airplanes, and no air conditioning; why was it still so hot?
By this time, the medicine in the kitchen was also brewed. Song Yi'an used a damp cloth to wrap around the handle of the medicine pot and carefully poured the medicinal liquid into a bowl.
"Mother, I'll take this to Brother."
Madam Gu watched her daughter's small back, feeling extremely bitter in her heart.
Five days ago, Er Ya had run back with a face full of blood, which had scared her quite a bit.
Fortunately, the wound wasn't deep; it was just a scrape.
Since that day, Er Ya had become much more steady in just a few days; one had to know that before, she wouldn't even call him "Brother," but recently she had become much closer to Yili.
Song Yi'an carried the medicine bowl, carefully lifted the door curtain, and walked into the inner room.
The room was even more stifling than outside because Song Yili could not be exposed to wind; if he caught a draft, he would cough severely. Only a small window was left with a crack open to let in light, barely enough to see the figure lying on the bed.
Song Yili heard the movement and struggled to sit up, but it resulted in another fit of coughing.
"Brother, don't try to get up by yourself."
Song Yi'an walked to the bedside, set down the medicine bowl, and skillfully smoothed his back to help him catch his breath.
"Er Ya..."
Looking at his younger sister's cheeks, which were slightly flushed from the heat of brewing the medicine, and the cut on her forehead, Song Yili's eyes were full of guilt.
"I'm sorry."
Song Yi'an quickly interrupted him, "Brother, how old are you? Why are you acting like an old man, saying sorry at every turn?"
Song Yili was only three years older than Song Yi'an, but due to his chronic illness, his mind had been tempered to be more mature than most children.
But to Song Yi'an, neither Song Yili nor Madam Gu had lived as long as she had.
Especially Song Yili; even though he was the older brother, his physique was not much different from hers—sickly and thin as a bamboo pole.
When the medicinal soup was no longer too hot to drink, Song Yi'an leaned over, used a bit of leverage to help Song Yili sit up, and sat on the edge of the bed, letting him lean back comfortably.
"It's hot, drink slowly."
She held the medicine bowl to her brother's lips, watching him furrow his brows tightly and swallow the extremely bitter medicinal liquid one mouthful at a time.
With every mouthful he drank, his brows seemed to furrow even tighter, and Song Yi'an, watching from the side, felt the bitterness in her own mouth.
After finally finishing the medicine, Song Yi'an stuffed a piece of candied fruit into Song Yili's mouth.
"What is this?" Song Yili chewed it; it tasted sweet and had a faint fragrance of peaches.
Song Yi'an looked at Song Yili's bulging cheeks and reached out to poke them.
"Peach Candied Fruit, is it good?"
Song Yili nodded repeatedly, and the nausea in his stomach was immediately diluted quite a bit.
"It's delicious. Er Ya, where did you get this?"
Of course, she made it herself; she still had a full jar of candied fruit in her Space, and plenty of honey left as well.
Song Yi'an didn't dare tell the truth; if Madam Gu found out she had gone up the mountain to raid a beehive to make candied fruit, there was no telling if she would ever let her go out again.
Song Yi'an told a lie without changing her expression: "Chun Hua next door gave it to me."
Song Yili rubbed Song Yi'an's round head and said with a smile, "In the future, Er Ya should eat them yourself; you don't need to save them for Brother."
When their father was still alive, every time he finished his medicine, his father would reward him with a piece of candied fruit; the taste was similar to the one Er Ya gave him, sweet and sugary.
Candied fruit made with honey was extremely precious; even their father had only brought back a small jar.
He had seen Chun Hua next door, and she was just as stingy as her mother.
Previously, when the family's gourd ladle cracked and Mother wanted to borrow one, Chun Hua's mother had made excuses and haggled; how could she possibly give candied fruit to Er Ya for nothing?
However, he didn't want to expose Er Ya.
In the past, Er Ya always complained that he smelled strongly of medicine, and whenever she saw him, she would cover her nose or hide behind Mother, refusing to get close.
He didn't want her to go back to being like that.
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