Lin Shengxia couldn’t help laughing at Cui Shizhen’s words. She glanced at the clock in the room and realized it was almost noon.
She didn’t dare waste another moment. Without even removing her makeup, she hurried back toward the steamed bun shop.
After briefly saying goodbye to Li Xiangqin, Lin Shengxia stepped across the boundary!
Meanwhile, back at the ruined temple, Lin Qizheng and Dong Wanqiu were waiting anxiously.
They knew that Lin Shengxia would probably be gone longer today because she was learning from Cui Shizhen, but Dong Wanqiu still couldn’t shake her uneasiness.
She stayed close to the back door the entire time.
The moment she finally heard her daughter’s voice, she immediately opened it.
But the instant she saw Lin Shengxia, she screamed in fright.
“Shengxia! How did you suddenly come down with smallpox?!”
Only then did Lin Shengxia remember that she still hadn’t removed the special-effects makeup from her face and body.
She smiled reassuringly.
“Mom, I don’t have smallpox. This is the special-effects makeup I told you about. Look.”
As she spoke, she firmly peeled one of the fake “smallpox pustules” from her wrist and handed it to Dong Wanqiu.
Only then did Dong Wanqiu realize something was wrong.
She cautiously reached out and touched it. Sure enough, it didn’t feel soft like a real smallpox pustule. Instead, it had a strange, fuzzy texture.
“I knew it! You already had smallpox when you were little. How could you possibly get it again at your age? So this is special-effects makeup? I have to admit, it really does look convincing!”
Even Lin Qizheng had been startled earlier. For a moment, he had thought his daughter had contracted some terrible infectious disease while visiting 2026!
Now that he knew everything had been created with makeup, Lin Qizheng became even more curious about the world fifty years in the future.
Lin Shengxia checked the locks once more. After making sure everything was securely locked, she smiled and pulled Lin Qizheng and Dong Wanqiu inside the ruined temple.
She closed the temple door as well, making certain that no one outside could see what was happening inside.
Only then did she take out the 100,000 yuan she had earned from selling the Wuling ginseng that day and place the money in front of her parents.
“This morning, I found a top-grade Wuling ginseng in a cave. Sister Shijin offered me one hundred thousand yuan for it. I thought the price was fair, so I agreed. Dad, Mom, think about it carefully. With this much money, what can we do?”
Their family could barely accomplish anything in this era because of their circumstances.
Almost everything they needed had to be purchased by Lin Shengxia in 2026.
Seeing such an enormous amount of money all at once left both Dong Wanqiu and Lin Qizheng stunned.
Lin Handong was still asleep and had no idea that their family’s savings had undergone a tremendous change overnight.
Lin Qizheng was the first to recover from his shock.
“Put it away immediately! And don’t take that much money out like this again. Do you understand?”
Lin Shengxia nodded and quickly stored the money back inside her mysterious space.
Dong Wanqiu pressed a hand against her violently pounding heart.
She was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t sit still. In the end, she simply rushed into the kitchen.
Only cooking could calm her down right now!
Meanwhile, Lin Qizheng fell into deep thought.
Truthfully, after learning that his daughter had suddenly acquired such a large sum of money, the first person he thought of was an old friend who had also been sent down to the countryside.
That person was Zhuang Beiwang, the elderly traditional Chinese medicine doctor who had once taught Lin Shengxia about medicinal herbs.
“I wonder how Elder Zhuang is doing. He has no wife or children, and he’s already so old. If only we could help him somehow.”
Hearing him mention Zhuang Beiwang immediately dampened Lin Shengxia’s mood.
“Yes… If only we could help Elder Zhuang.”
If Zhuang Beiwang hadn’t taught her about medicinal herbs, Lin Shengxia would never have recognized the purple-flowered violet.
Without that medicinal herb, she would never have met Cui Shijin.
And without meeting Cui Shijin, she wouldn’t have earned the 100,000 yuan she had today.
Almost the instant those words left Lin Shengxia’s mouth, her figure completely vanished from the ruined temple.
At the same time, inside the cowshed of the Tiangu Production Brigade, Zhuang Beiwang was struggling to clean the cattle pen.
When Lin Shengxia suddenly appeared before him, he nearly thought his aging eyes were playing tricks on him.
Lin Shengxia quickly looked around.
Once she confirmed where she was, a realization suddenly struck her.
Something about her mysterious space must have changed!
After making sure there was no one else nearby, she used her thoughts to retrieve the Eight-Treasure Cakes stored inside her space. Pretending to take them from the small basket in her hand, she passed them to Zhuang Beiwang.
“Elder Zhuang, I know you must be wondering why I suddenly appeared here, but there are some things I can’t explain to you right now. Please eat first!”
Zhuang Beiwang gave Lin Shengxia a long, searching look.
Then he lowered his gaze to the soft, freshly steamed Eight-Treasure Cakes in his arms.
At that moment, he could no longer care about manners.
He sat directly on the ground, grabbed one, and stuffed it into his mouth.
Afraid that he might choke, Lin Shengxia hurriedly took out a cup of soy milk she had brought from Li Xiangqin’s shop and handed it to him.
She even thoughtfully inserted the straw for him.
Zhuang Beiwang had never seen soy milk packaged like this before, but he wasn’t a rigid or narrow-minded man.
He accepted it without hesitation and drank deeply.
Only after eating and drinking his fill did he smile at Lin Shengxia.
His eyes were filled with affection.
“I thought these old bones of mine wouldn’t last long enough to see all of you again.”
Those few words immediately made Lin Shengxia’s eyes sting.
She hurriedly wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
She didn’t know why she had suddenly been able to come here.
But if she could come once, then surely she could come a second time.
And a third!
After carefully removing all traces of her visit, Lin Shengxia looked at him seriously.
“Elder Zhuang, what do you need most right now? I’ll bring it to you tonight.”
Zhuang Beiwang’s eyes immediately lit up.
But a moment later, he lowered his head hesitantly.
Lin Shengxia didn’t pressure him.
She simply waited for him to think it through and tell her himself.
She couldn’t be certain how many times she would be able to travel back and forth like this, so she wanted to prepare as much as possible while she still could.
Zhuang Beiwang had devoted his entire life to researching traditional Chinese medicine and had never even started a family.
Back when they lived in the residential compound, he had cared for Lin Shengxia and Xiaodong almost like a grandfather.
“If possible, I need some anti-inflammatory medicine and fever reducers. In my cowshed, I…”
Zhuang Beiwang looked up at Lin Shengxia.
After a long hesitation, he finally made up his mind.
“I’m hiding someone there.”
He paused before adding,
“He suffered a gunshot wound.”
Lin Shengxia’s mouth fell open in shock.
But she knew Zhuang Beiwang well.
He was never impulsive.
If he had taken the enormous risk of hiding and saving someone, then he must know that person.
Perhaps that person was even extremely important to him!
With that thought, Lin Shengxia stopped hesitating.
First, she took out one of the powerful fever-reducing pills she had originally bought for Lin Handong and handed it to Zhuang Beiwang.
Then she said seriously, “This is for his fever. I’ll do my best to prepare everything else you need. If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll come back tonight!”
After saying that, Lin Shengxia hurried out of the cowshed.
She found a deserted place and silently thought,
“I want to go home.”
Sure enough, the very next moment, she reappeared inside the ruined temple!
Back in the cowshed, Zhuang Beiwang stared at the place where Lin Shengxia had disappeared.
For a long moment, he remained completely dazed.
If not for the fullness in his stomach and the white pill still resting in his hand, reminding him that everything had truly happened, he might have believed the entire encounter had been nothing more than a hallucination.