Lin Shengxia had no idea how to comfort her father, so all she could do was awkwardly follow the instructions and apply medicine to his injuries.
Once all his wounds had been treated, she took out the quilt she had bought in 2026 and spread it over the pile of straw.
“Father, why don’t you lie down and rest for a while?”
The sky outside had grown gloomy, and it looked like it would start raining before long. Besides, they had replaced the locks on both the front and back doors with sturdy brass ones, so staying inside the ruined temple was actually safer for them now.
Lin Qizheng wanted to say that he was fine, but seeing the stubborn look on his daughter’s face, he could only sigh softly and obediently lie down.
The quilt Lin Shengxia had bought was quite large. Half of it was spread beneath him while the other half covered his body. The soft, comfortable bedding soon made Lin Qizheng drowsy, and before long, he fell into a deep sleep.
Lin Shengxia then told Lin Handong to take this opportunity to get some sleep as well. His high fever had only just subsided, and his body had yet to fully recover. Getting plenty of rest would help him regain his strength.
Seeing that Lin Shengxia had gotten both Lin Qizheng and Lin Handong to sleep, Dong Wanqiu guessed that her daughter probably had something she wanted to discuss with her privately.
She quietly watched Lin Shengxia until her daughter reached out and handed her a bottle similar to the medicine spray she had just used on Lin Qizheng.
“Mother, this is pepper spray. It’s filled with concentrated chili extract. If anyone tries to hurt you, don’t hesitate to use it on them.”
This was something she had specifically asked Xiao Zhang, who helped out at Li Xiangqin’s shop, to find for her!
Xiao Zhang was young and living on her own, so she naturally kept plenty of useful self-defense items around.
Unfortunately, Lin Shengxia hadn’t managed to buy the other things yet. Even this extra-strength pepper spray had been given to her by Xiao Zhang as a favor.
Dong Wanqiu didn’t refuse. She accepted the bottle and couldn’t help sighing.
“I never thought much about it before. Who would’ve imagined that one day, being good-looking would become a source of trouble?”
But she couldn’t bring herself to deliberately harm or disfigure herself just to avoid trouble.
Even if she were willing to do such a thing, Lin Qizheng and their two children would never agree.
“If only there were some way to make everyone in the village avoid us the moment they saw us…”
Dong Wanqiu murmured softly, not expecting there to actually be a solution.
But Lin Shengxia firmly committed those words to memory.
She felt that her family’s perspective was somewhat limited. If she brought the same problem to the people of 2026, perhaps they would come up with a completely different answer!
For now, however, it was obvious that someone in the village had set their sights on her and her mother. They had to be extremely careful with everything they did.
If something really happened to them, no one in the village would come to their aid!
After thinking for a moment, Lin Shengxia lowered her voice and suggested, “Mother, I’ll go up the mountain by myself tomorrow morning to gather wild vegetables. You can stay here and wait for me.”
“Absolutely not! Those people are coming after you! They didn’t run into you today, but that doesn’t mean they’ve given up!”
Of course Lin Shengxia knew what Dong Wanqiu was worried about.
Instead of explaining, she demonstrated her ability right in front of her mother—by suddenly vanishing into thin air!
When Lin Shengxia appeared again, she found Dong Wanqiu still sitting there in a daze. Clearly, her mother had yet to recover from the shock of seeing her daughter suddenly disappear.
“Mother, you saw it yourself. I have a way to protect myself from them. Besides, I’m the only one who can enter that space. If you come with me and we really encounter danger, I won’t be able to protect you.”
If Lin Shengxia went up the mountain alone and ran into those people, all she had to do was find some bushes to hide behind and slip directly into her mysterious space.
Even if those people searched every inch of the mountain, they would never find her!
After hearing her explanation, Dong Wanqiu lowered her eyes and thought for a while.
She knew that, for the time being, this was their best option. With a helpless sigh, she reluctantly agreed.
Even so, she still couldn’t help warning her, “Wild vegetables and everything else are just material things. If you encounter danger, always remember that protecting yourself comes first. Do you understand?”
Lin Shengxia knew her mother was only worried about her. Smiling, she nestled into Dong Wanqiu’s arms and softly promised that she would.
The mother and daughter had barely finished their conversation when a deafening clap of thunder exploded outside.
The next moment, torrential rain came crashing down.
The rain struck the muddy courtyard with such force that it left countless shallow pits in the ground!
There was nothing for them to do in the ruined temple on such a rainy day, so mother and daughter simply curled up together beneath the quilt and soon fell into a deep sleep…
Early the next morning, Lin Shengxia opened her eyes.
To her surprise, Dong Wanqiu had already cooked a pot of porridge in the courtyard.
Seeing that her daughter was awake, she quickly filled one of the white porcelain bowls Lin Shengxia had bought yesterday and set it aside to cool.
Lin Shengxia took out the pickled vegetables she had bought and placed them on the small wooden board they used as a dining table.
Paired with the thick, creamy white rice porridge, the simple meal left them feeling warm, full, and energized!
Lin Shengxia strapped on the small bamboo basket Dong Wanqiu had prepared for her and walked out through the back door without hesitation.
As soon as she stepped outside, she reminded Dong Wanqiu to lock the door behind her. When she returned, she would call out and let her mother know it was her.
Without Dong Wanqiu accompanying her, Lin Shengxia made her way up the mountain without any trouble and first headed toward the place where she had previously found the hanging melons.
Naturally, there were no hanging melons left.
However, at the place where she had previously discovered wood ear mushrooms, another cluster of fresh ones had grown.
Lin Shengxia carefully picked them and immediately stored them inside her mysterious space.
Only then did she take out the iron shovel she had bought from the general store yesterday.
With the proper tool, it didn’t take long for her to dig up enough wild vegetables to fill her entire bamboo basket.
Just as she was preparing to head back, her foot suddenly slipped.
Before she could react, both she and her basket went tumbling into a small ravine nearly as deep as half a person’s height.
Lin Shengxia didn’t panic.
She moved both ankles around to make sure she hadn’t sprained them before getting back to her feet with the basket still strapped to her back.
She was about to look for a sturdy vine she could use to climb out when she unexpectedly spotted a tiny purple flower growing near the upper edge of the ravine.
“Is that… Chinese violet?”
Back when Lin Shengxia lived in the capital, she had learned some basic knowledge of medicinal herbs from a retired traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who lived in their residential compound.
Chinese violet was one of the medicinal plants she had learned about.
She hadn’t expected to find it here in the mountains behind Maisui Production Brigade!
More importantly, Chinese violets usually grew in clusters. Since she had found one here, there had to be more nearby!
Lin Shengxia immediately stored all the wild vegetables in her mysterious space. Then she carefully dug up the entire Chinese violet plant, roots and all, and placed it inside her bamboo basket.
Following the direction in which she had found it, she continued deeper into the mountain for a little over a hundred meters.
Then she stopped in astonishment.
Before her stretched an entire field of blooming Chinese violets!
Lin Shengxia’s eyes lit up with delight.
The sky had yet to fully brighten, so she quickly got to work, moving as fast as she could.
She continued until orange-red rays of dawn slowly crept above the mountain ridge.
Only then did Lin Shengxia finally stop and hurry back toward the ruined temple!
Dong Wanqiu had been waiting anxiously by the back door the entire time.
When she heard hurried footsteps approaching from outside, her heart nearly leaped out of her chest!
Then, in the next instant, she heard her daughter’s voice.
Dong Wanqiu didn’t hesitate for even a second. She quickly unlocked the back door and let her daughter inside.
She carefully examined Lin Shengxia from head to toe.
Only after confirming that her daughter hadn’t been injured did Dong Wanqiu finally breathe a long sigh of relief.