Grandmother’s hand was still gently stroking Jiang Wanning’s head.
Jiang Wanning leaned against her shoulder, breathing in the old woman’s familiar scent of ashes and dried grass. Suddenly, a thought came to her.
Medicine!
Grandmother’s cough still hadn’t been treated.
She straightened up from grandmother’s shoulder and rose to her feet.
“Grandmother, I’ll get you some medicine first.”
Grandmother was startled. “What medicine?”
Jiang Wanning didn’t answer. She simply raised her hand, and with a thought, a white plastic bottle appeared out of thin air in her palm.
Several words were printed on it.
Ambroxol Oral Solution.
She had searched through the Realm of Ningyuan before and found that this medicine was particularly effective for treating coughs in the elderly.
Jiang Wanning held the medicine bottle in her palm while everyone stared at it with their mouths hanging open.
Jiang Wanxing was the first to notice the object in her hand.
“Wanwan, what is that?”
Jiang Wanning walked to the table and placed the bottle on its uneven surface.
Everyone’s attention immediately gathered around it.
The small bottle was impossibly smooth. There were no seams or patterns, and the neat blue characters printed across its surface were completely unfamiliar to them.
Her second uncle reached out, wanting to touch it but not quite daring to.
“Is this… medicine bestowed by the immortal?” Second Aunt asked in a hushed voice, as though speaking too loudly might shatter the bottle.
“Yes. It’s specially made to treat coughs.”
Grandmother stared at the bottle. Her lips moved, but no words came out.
Jiang Wanning took out one bottle of the oral solution and examined it briefly. It could be consumed directly after opening and did not need to be mixed with water.
“Grandmother, drink this.”
Grandmother took the medicine and lowered her head to look at the liquid before raising her eyes to Jiang Wanning.
“Wanwan, this… can I really drink it?”
“You can.” Jiang Wanning crouched down and looked directly into grandmother’s eyes. “It was given to me by the immortal, so don’t worry.”
Grandmother didn’t ask any more questions. She drank it all in one go.
When she lowered the bottle, she smacked her lips, her expression turning slightly strange.
“It’s sweet?”
Her tone carried an almost disbelieving sense of surprise.
Jiang Wanning nearly laughed.
Ambroxol Oral Solution really was sweet. She remembered it well because she had taken it in the modern world.
“Yes, it’s sweet,” she said. “A lot of the medicine where the immortal lives is sweet.”
Her second uncle opened his mouth, then closed it again. His expression was complicated, as though he wanted to say something but felt that nothing he said would be quite right.
Jiang Baizhou stood in the corner, his eyes fixed on the bottle the entire time.
“Wanwan,” he finally said, “what is this bottle made of?”
Jiang Wanning glanced at him.
That was a good question. It showed that her brother was clear headed enough to notice the important details.
“I don’t know either,” she said. “The things used where the immortal lives are different from what we have here.”
The answer was vague, but it was enough. Jiang Baizhou nodded and did not ask further.
Grandmother set the empty bottle on the table and placed a hand over her chest.
“It feels like… my chest isn’t as tight anymore.”
There was uncertainty in her voice.
Jiang Wanning had almost said that it might be a psychological effect, but the term was far too modern. She caught herself halfway through.
Jiang Wanning shook her head. “Maybe it’s just… the medicine won’t work that quickly. You’ll need to take it for several days, but it really is effective.”
She placed the bottle of oral solution on the table, then paused.
This world probably didn’t have anything like it. Perhaps she could tear a piece from her outer garment and take it to a pawnshop to see whether she could exchange it for money.
After thinking about it, she put the bottle back into the Realm of Ningyuan.
Then Jiang Wanning took out a piece of meat.
It was quite large, weighing around four or five jin, with alternating layers of lean meat and fat and a thick layer of white fat around the outside.
Meat had not appeared on the Jiang family’s table for a very long time.
The last time they had eaten any was during the New Year, when her second uncle had somehow managed to get hold of a small strip of cured meat. It had been sliced paper thin and cooked in their porridge, leaving only two or three pieces floating in each bowl.
The moment Second Aunt saw the meat, her eyes turned red.
It wasn’t because she craved it.
Her heart simply ached.
She remembered the years when Jiang Wanning had been foolish and confused. The girl hadn’t even been able to eat her fill, let alone have something as precious as meat.
Now that Wanwan had returned and had food in her hands, the first piece of meat she took out wasn’t for herself to secretly enjoy.
She was sharing it with the entire family.
“Wanwan,” Second Aunt said, her voice slightly choked, “you should keep this meat for yourself.”
“I can’t eat that much by myself.”
Jiang Wanning handed the meat to her, speaking as casually as though it were a trivial matter.
“Second Aunt, stew it for lunch. Add plenty of water and make some soup. Everyone should have a bowl.”
Second Aunt took the meat with trembling hands. Looking down, she watched the thick white fat gleam beneath the morning light.
“Alright.”
She sniffed and said, “I’ll have Second Uncle stew it.”
Jiang Wanning turned and went back into the small room.
This time, she brought out even more things from the Realm of Ningyuan.
She untied the mouth of a sack, revealing gleaming white rice inside. It wasn’t coarse rice or broken grains, but plump, crystal clear grains of polished white rice.
Something utterly ordinary in the modern world was rarer than silver here.
Second Uncle’s mouth fell completely open.
He had spent his entire life farming. The finest rice he had ever seen was the polished rice eaten by wealthy landlords.
Yet the bag of white rice before him was something he had never even dreamed of seeing.
“Wanwan… this rice…” Second Uncle’s voice drifted uncertainly. “Is all the rice where the immortal lives like this?”
“Yes.”
Jiang Wanning placed the small sack on the table, then took out a mesh bag containing seven or eight potatoes.
The potatoes weren’t particularly large, but they were round and plump, with pale yellow skins still carrying traces of dirt.
“These are called potatoes, also known as yams.”
She placed the mesh bag on the table.
“They can be eaten as a staple food or used as a vegetable. Second Uncle, prepare them however you think is best.”
Jiang Wanxing had been unusually quiet.
She sat beside the uneven table, looking at everything that had suddenly appeared before them. Her eyes were red, but the corners of her lips curved upward slightly.
“Wanwan,” she said softly, “now that you’re back, our family has everything.”
The words were quiet, but Jiang Wanning understood the weight behind them.
Jiang Wanxing had said our family, not you.
They would live their lives together. It wasn’t Jiang Wanning simply taking out supplies to support everyone.
Jiang Wanning reached out and squeezed her cousin’s hand. She didn’t say anything overly sentimental and simply nodded.
Then she turned toward grandmother.
“Grandmother, there’s a date I need to tell you.”
Grandmother had been looking down at the white rice, but she immediately raised her head, her expression turning serious.
“What date?”
“The day the earth will shake.”
Jiang Wanning’s voice was quiet, but her tone was grave.
“There are only twenty days left. The seventh day of the eighth month.”
The room fell silent again.
Twenty days. The number landed heavily in everyone’s hearts.
“Twenty days…” Second Uncle murmured, his face growing slightly pale.
“It won’t only be an earthquake,” Jiang Wanning said. “After that, there will be heavenly fire, floods, and extreme cold. But for now, the two most urgent matters are these.”
She raised one finger.
“First, the crops in the fields must be harvested immediately. Whether they’re ripe or not, everything must be brought in within the next twenty days and stored inside the Realm of Ningyuan. Once the earth shakes, the ground will split apart, and all the crops will be destroyed.”
Then she raised a second finger.
“Second, the people in the clan need to know about this. I’m not saying everyone has to believe me, but at the very least, they need to know that things are about to change. We should take away as much as we can and save as many people as possible.”
Grandmother remained silent for a long time.
Leaning on her cane, her back slightly bent, she stared through the window at the gray, overcast sky.
After a long while, she finally spoke.
“Wanwan is right.”
Her voice was hoarse but firm.
“We’ll deal with the crops today. Your Second Aunt, Second Uncle, Baizhou, and your cousin can start by harvesting our family’s few mu of land.”
“Grandmother,” Jiang Wanning interrupted, “not just our family’s land. All the land belongs to the people in the clan. We need to harvest as much as we possibly can.”
Grandmother looked at her but did not argue. She simply nodded.
“As for the clan…” Grandmother paused. “Wanwan, how do you plan to tell them?”
Jiang Wanning had already thought it through.
“I’ll go to the clan leader first,” she said. “I’ll speak to her alone. I’ll tell her about the immortal and warn her about the disasters. Whether she believes me or not is her choice, but she must be the first person I tell. She’s the clan leader, and the people listen to her.”
Grandmother frowned.
“The clan leader is stubborn and difficult to persuade.”
“I know,” Jiang Wanning said. “But she’s the clan leader, so I can’t avoid dealing with her. Besides, I have things bestowed by the immortal. I’m not afraid that she won’t believe me.”
Grandmother considered it for a moment before finally nodding.
“Alright. Go, then. Leave early and come back early.”
Jiang Wanning stood and brushed at the nonexistent dust on the hem of her clothes.
“Second Uncle.”
She turned toward him.
“Keep the meat and white rice safe. Make a good meal at noon. Put the potatoes somewhere cool and don’t let the sun shine on them.”
Second Uncle nodded repeatedly. His eyes were still red, but there was already a smile on his face.
Jiang Wanning glanced at Jiang Wanxing.
“Sister, come with me to see the clan leader.”
Jiang Wanxing was briefly stunned before nodding.
She didn’t ask why. She simply walked to the door, pulled aside the crooked wooden bolt, and made way for Jiang Wanning.
Morning light poured in from outside, falling across Jiang Wanning.
She took a deep breath and stepped out.
Behind her, grandmother called after her.
“Wanwan, be careful.”
Jiang Wanning didn’t turn back. She merely raised a hand and waved.
When she reached the entrance of the courtyard, Jiang Wanning turned and looked back at the crooked little thatched hut.
The thatch on the roof had been blown into a mess by the wind. The bamboo by the walls had darkened, the door could not close properly, and the window paper was torn with several holes.
But this was her home.
Twenty days from now, everything here would be destroyed by the great upheaval when the earth shook.
But that was alright.
As long as the people remained, their home would remain.
Jiang Wanxing caught up from behind and stopped beside her.
“Let’s go, Sister.”
Jiang Wanxing answered softly and followed Jiang Wanning out of the courtyard.