Given how frantic and dramatic Wang had been acting on the riverbank, anyone present would have logically assumed that Li Xiyue had already drawn her final breath. Yet now, his aunt was calmly informing him that the girl had miraculously survived.
Without a single moment of hesitation, Zhu Qingshan replied flatly, “Then I shall marry her.”
Aunt Chen had only raised the question to gauge his disposition, but seeing her nephew agree to the arrangement so instantly and without the slightest hesitation made her feel somewhat unsettled.
She remained seated for a while longer before finally taking her leave, determined to return home and conserve her energy. If Wang Zhen’er truly dared to march over and demand the dissolution of the engagement, Chen was fully prepared to create an enormous scene and humiliate her in front of the entire village.
Once Zhu Qinghe bolted the courtyard gate shut, Zhu Qingshan closed his eyes and quickly drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, Li Xi, or rather, Li Xiyue as she was now known, found herself thoroughly neglected by her cold-hearted uncle and aunt. They had not even bothered to leave her a single bite of food, choosing instead to lock her inside her room from the outside.
Taking advantage of the complete isolation, she willed her consciousness forward and vanished into the Langhuan Realm.
While the outside world lay buried in pitch-black night, the interior of the pocket dimension remained as bright as midday.
Within minutes, Li Xiyue devoured a huge bowl of steaming cross-bridge rice noodles. Still unsatisfied, she followed it with an entire plate of braised pork trotter rice.
“Burp…”
“Ah, I’m completely stuffed,” she muttered, rubbing her rounded stomach.
Feeling energized again, she decided to properly inspect the area. The accessible territory of the dimension had clearly expanded since before. Walking toward the backyard of the bamboo pavilion, she discovered, to her disappointment, that all the spiritual herbs Daoist Master Qinglu had cultivated had long since withered away into lifeless husks.
I wonder if the spiritual spring can revive them? she thought.
Acting on impulse, she fetched a bucket of water from the spring and carefully poured it over the dry soil. Unfortunately, nothing changed.
Curious, she scooped herself a cup and drank it.
The spring water tasted astonishingly sweet and refreshing, far superior to any premium bottled water from the modern world. Yet aside from the pleasant taste, she felt no obvious changes.
Fearing that Wang might unlock the room early and discover her disappearance, Li Xiyue did not dare remain inside the dimension for too long. She grabbed a thick modern down comforter from her supplies and immediately returned to the outside world.
It was only early April, and the nights in the countryside were still bitterly cold. After falling into freezing water earlier that day, she knew with absolute certainty that sleeping beneath Wang’s thin, damp quilt would leave her bedridden with a high fever by morning.
Wrapped tightly in the soft, fragrant comforter, Li Xiyue quickly drifted into peaceful sleep.
Completely unaware that a layer of dark, foul-smelling impurities was slowly seeping out through every pore of her body.
The next morning, she was jolted awake by an absolutely horrifying stench.
Reaching up to touch her face, her fingers came away coated in greasy black residue. Even the pristine comforter had been stained and now smelled utterly revolting.
Without hesitation, she tossed the blanket back into the Langhuan Realm and entered the space herself, thoroughly scrubbing her body clean with fresh water until her skin felt entirely refreshed.
Naturally, she used ordinary reservoir water rather than the spiritual spring. She was not nearly extravagant enough to waste such a precious resource on bathing.
Just then, violent pounding suddenly erupted against her bedroom door, forcing her to exit the dimension at once.
“You lazy little wretch! If you don’t open this door right now, don’t expect to eat a single grain of rice today!”
Li Xiyue grasped the latch and yanked the door open without warning.
Caught off guard, Wang stumbled forward awkwardly and nearly planted her face directly into the dirt courtyard.
“Oh my, Aunt! Please be careful!” Li Xiyue exclaimed with exaggerated concern. “It doesn’t matter if you smash the doorframe with your face, but you absolutely must protect your precious lower back!”
Wang spun around furiously and raised her hand to strike her, only for a sharp crack to suddenly echo from her spine.
“Ow! My back! My back hurts so badly! Hurry and fetch the village doctor!”
Li Xiyue took a few leisurely steps toward the gate before pausing thoughtfully.
“Aunt, you’ll need to give me some money first. I don’t have any coins to pay the doctor.”
The instant she heard the word money, Wang’s miraculous recovery was immediate.
“You ungrateful little brat! You refuse to spend even a single copper coin for your own aunt? No wonder your family abandoned you in this miserable countryside!”
Cursing viciously beneath her breath, Wang hobbled away while internally deciding to starve the girl for the rest of the day as punishment.
Hmph, she thought resentfully. How does this little wretch manage it? She barely eats and works all day, yet her skin remains so pale and smooth. If Madame Qin from the main estate ever sees her looking this healthy, she’ll think I haven’t been tormenting her enough.
“Mother! Give me money! I’m broke again!”
A loud voice interrupted Wang’s thoughts as her son, Zhu Qingsong, stormed into the courtyard.
“Didn’t I just give you fifty copper coins yesterday?” Wang snapped irritably. “How did you spend it all already?”
“That tiny amount isn’t even enough for a beggar,” Zhu Qingsong scoffed dismissively. “Isn’t that merchant girl’s family rich? Why not make her father pay for her living expenses? Is she supposed to stay here eating our food for free?”
Seeing the vulgar way Zhu Qingsong’s eyes lingered on her bedroom window, Li Xiyue’s expression darkened. She immediately slammed the door shut and bolted it from inside.
“Didn’t you say her grandfather hid a huge stash of gold and silver somewhere in this house?” Zhu Qingsong continued complaining outside. “We’ve practically torn the place apart over the years and still haven’t found anything. If you ask me, we should just sell the estate.”
“Shut your stupid mouth!” Wang hissed. “If we sell this house, where will we get the money for your marriage? Get lost! If you keep yelling, you won’t get another coin from me!”
Despite her reluctance, she painfully dug twenty copper coins from her robes and tossed them over.
This time, Zhu Qingsong wisely accepted the small amount without complaint. Clutching the coins tightly, he hurried off toward the village gambling den.
Inside the room, Li Xiyue’s chest rose and fell with suppressed fury.
Not only for herself, but for Zhu Muyin and old Master Zhu Shou as well.
Those shameless parasites had occupied the ancestral estate while abusing the rightful heir without restraint.
Still, Zhu Qingsong’s careless remarks about hidden treasure immediately caught her attention.
If her grandfather truly had concealed gold somewhere within this estate, she intended to find it herself.
After all, she had already survived death and transmigrated into a novel. Finding hidden treasure no longer sounded impossible.
Later that afternoon, after Wang left to gossip with the neighbors and Zhu Tiezhu disappeared elsewhere, Li Xiyue quietly slipped into the kitchen.
The moment she opened the storage jars, she laughed coldly.
The rice container and pantry shelves were completely empty. The place had been cleaned out so thoroughly that even a mouse would starve to death inside.
Wang currently occupied the room that had once belonged to Li Xiyue’s mother.
According to local customs, elderly people preferred returning to their ancestral homes before death, which was why Master Zhu Shou had insisted on coming back to this estate in his final days. Since he had died inside the master bedroom, the superstitious Wang considered the room unlucky and refused to live there herself, instead sealing off the neighboring rooms.
Grabbing a heavy meat cleaver, Li Xiyue smashed apart the rusty lock on Wang’s wardrobe.
Inside, she discovered hidden stores of sesame oil, salt, soy sauce, refined flour, polished rice, and even a basket of fresh eggs.
A grin spread across her face.
Soon, a fire crackled beneath the stove.
She cooked herself a massive bowl of handmade noodles, added two perfectly fried eggs, and stirred in a generous spoonful of pork lard.
The meal itself was simple, but the thought of Wang discovering her precious hidden ingredients missing made every bite taste heavenly.
After eating her fill, Li Xiyue carefully applied charcoal dust and pale powder to her face, creating the perfect illusion of long-term malnutrition.
Her naturally flawless complexion simply did not match the image of an abused orphan. If she intended to manipulate public opinion, appearances mattered.
Once properly disguised, she headed toward the busiest section of the village.
“Oh, Miss Li! Have you recovered from yesterday’s accident?” a village woman called out warmly. “A young girl falling into freezing water is no small matter. You must take care of yourself.”
Li Xiyue recognized her immediately.
“Aunt Guihua, please just call me Xiyue. Thank you for your concern.”
“You’ve become so thin,” another woman named Aunt Li remarked sympathetically. “A young girl should have a little flesh on her bones. That aunt of yours is truly vicious. Look at how fat she’s raised her own son while starving you like this…”
“Aunt Li, please don’t blame my aunt,” Li Xiyue replied softly, lowering her eyes as her voice trembled.
“She always says young girls look prettier when they’re slender, and worries that eating too much would harm my marriage prospects.
So she only allows me one meal each day. Yesterday, I heard Xiaohu mention that the mulberries near the eastern pond had ripened, and I was simply too hungry… I only wanted to pick a few berries to fill my stomach. I never expected my vision to blur from hunger and cause me to fall into the water. Fortunately, Brother Zhu happened to pass by and saved me.”
“So that’s what really happened!” Aunt Li exploded furiously. “I knew Zhu Ergou was spreading nonsense! That Wang woman is going to suffer karmic punishment sooner or later!”
“She’s completely shameless!” another villager chimed in. “If being thin is so wonderful, why doesn’t she starve her own son too? That boy looks like a bloated pig. What respectable girl would ever marry him?”
Because Wang had spent years alienating everyone around her with her arrogance and stinginess, the crowd quickly erupted into loud condemnation.
Li Xiyue offered the women a grateful smile and curtsied politely.
“Dear Aunts, I’ll take my leave now. I plan to visit the Zhu family residence and personally thank my savior.”
“That’s exactly what a proper girl should do,” Aunt Guihua nodded approvingly.
“Our Qingshan is an excellent young man,” Aunt Li added proudly.
Li Xiyue smiled faintly and continued down the dirt road.
“That poor girl truly has a miserable fate,” someone sighed behind her.
“Exactly. Her father and stepmother are heartless monsters.”
“And Wang is no better. She occupies the ancestral estate while pocketing the silver Master Li sends every month for the girl’s upkeep!”
Dear Aunts, you could at least wait until I’m farther away before discussing my tragic backstory so loudly, Li Xiyue thought helplessly.
Still, considering her goals, everything was progressing exactly as planned.
Although the original Li Xiyue had never visited Zhu Qingshan’s home, she knew roughly where it was from speaking with Zhu Qinghe in the past.
Naturally, visiting a lifesaver empty-handed would be terribly rude. Yet given her current identity as a poor abused orphan, presenting an extravagant gift would only attract suspicion.
While searching through her modern supplies earlier, her eyes had landed upon several crystal hairpins she had once bought online.
Perfect.
She could simply present them as gifts for Zhu Qinghe instead.
After asking an elder for directions, Li Xiyue tucked two sparkling crystal hairpins into her sleeve and knocked gently on the weathered gate.
To her surprise, Zhu Qingshan himself opened the door.
Li Xiyue froze slightly.
“Um… hello, Brother Zhu. I’m very glad to find you at home. I came to personally thank you for saving my life yesterday.”
Before Zhu Qingshan could respond, Zhu Qinghe suddenly peeked out from behind him.
“Sister Li!” she exclaimed warmly. “Have you recovered already? Please come inside!”
“There’s no need to trouble yourselves,” Li Xiyue replied with a polite wave. “I only came to thank Brother Zhu, and to visit you as well. Here, I brought a small gift for you.”
She withdrew the crystal hairpins and placed them into Zhu Qinghe’s hands.
The young girl’s eyes widened instantly with delight.
The sparkling accessories were unlike anything she had ever seen before.
Still, she hurriedly tried returning them. “Sister Li, these are too precious. I can’t accept them. My brother was the one who saved you.”
“They really aren’t expensive,” Li Xiyue assured her truthfully. “They’re extremely common where I come from.”
Since opening the gate, Zhu Qingshan had remained unusually silent, merely watching her with unreadable eyes.
Finally, he spoke.
“Accept them,” he told his sister calmly. “And if Miss Li ever needs help in the future, remember to assist her whenever possible.”
He understood clearly that refusing the gift outright would only leave Li Xiyue feeling indebted and uncomfortable.
Seeing her brother approve, Zhu Qinghe finally accepted the hairpins with a bright smile.
“Then I’ll shamelessly accept them! Sister Li, if you ever need help with anything in the village, you must come find me.”
Li Xiyue nodded politely, offered Zhu Qingshan one final bow of thanks, and quietly departed.
Standing by the gate, Zhu Qingshan watched her retreating figure with growing confusion.
In his previous life, after being rescued from the pond, Li Xiyue had fallen into complete despair and emotional collapse. She had certainly never come to his house to thank him with such calm composure.
In fact, the next time he had seen her in his past life was at the edge of the pond again, moments before she attempted to drown herself.
This time, the course of fate had changed completely.