Having lived in the lap of luxury for many years and always eating whatever delicacies she pleased, Ye Qisheng never imagined that one day she would be reduced to drooling with cravings.
And yet, those people weren’t even eating anything fancy—just coarse grain sorghum buns and plain porridge that the pedigree poodle she used to keep wouldn’t even deign to sniff.
Standing far away and watching for a good while, she sighed softly. Ultimately, she couldn’t muster up the thick skin to go over and beg for food, so she lowered her head and quietly walked away.
Passing by Doctor Xu’s house along the way, she hesitated for a moment, walked over, and knocked on the door, only to be met with complete silence inside.
As luck would have it, a villager happened to walk by and, assuming she was there for a medical consultation, said, “Doctor Xu went to practice medicine in the neighboring village bright and early this morning. He won’t be home for the next few days, so you should come back another time.”
Liu Shiting had already mentioned last night that Doctor Xu would be going out on calls this morning. Ye Qisheng hadn’t forgotten about this, but she was simply too hungry, so she had come over to knock on the door, holding onto a sliver of hope.
The result was obvious: Doctor Xu really wasn’t in.
Just as she was racking her brains, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something come rolling over with a rumbling sound.
With a soft *thud*, it bumped against her foot, wobbled a few times, and came to a complete stop.
Taken aback, she lowered her gaze to take a closer look, only to find a massive, pink-and-white peach.
Thinking someone must have accidentally dropped it, she raised her head and looked around. Not a soul was in sight, and even the villager who had just spoken to her had vanished.
While she was still wondering, *rumble rumble rumble*, another large peach rolled right up to her foot.
She looked in the direction from which the peaches had rolled, but before she could see clearly, the person over there swiftly darted behind a nearby wall. By the time she ran over, there was no trace of anyone left—only four large peaches and a few wild fruits whose names she didn’t know lying on the ground.
Ye Qisheng stood rooted to the spot with a bewildered expression, completely at a loss as to what was going on.
Whoever gave her these peaches must have been kind-hearted, but why were they hiding from her?
The scene felt somewhat familiar. Ye Qisheng recalled how, right after arriving at the Liu household last night, someone had also been secretly watching her from behind a tree, quickly ducking away the moment they were spotted.
Come to think of it, the figure and height of that person last night were about the same as the person just now… Could it be the same person?
Pregnant with a belly full of doubts, Ye Qisheng squatted down and stared fixedly at the fruit on the ground.
Since they went to the trouble of dropping the fruit right at her feet, they probably meant for her to eat them.
These peaches and wild fruits… shouldn’t be poisonous, right?
Ye Qisheng felt a subtle wave of amusement. She thought of the times she used to visit the zoo; the only difference was that back then, she was the one feeding the captive animals, whereas now, the tables had turned, and someone else was feeding her wild fruit.
So, did this count as what they called the wheel of karma coming around?
Her stomach let out another rumble. Ye Qisheng let out a soft sigh, shook off her listless mood, gathered all the fruit, and scooped them into her arms.
Oh well, no use overthinking it. In this vast world, filling one’s belly came first.
Even if these fruits were poisonous, she would accept her fate. Compared to being poisoned to death, she was even less willing to starve to death.
She carried them to the small stream at the edge of the village to wash them clean, sat down under a shady tree nearby, and began biting into them with gusto. Her eyes narrowed into happy crescents!
When one is hungry, anything tastes like a supreme delicacy of the mortal world!
Besides, these peaches were large, thick-fleshed, and full of juice. With a single bite, her mouth was filled with sweet and fragrant nectar—even tastier than the best honey peaches she had ever eaten!
After polishing off three water peaches in one go, she ate two sweet-and-refreshing wild fruits and simply couldn’t eat another bite.
Patting her slightly bulging belly, Ye Qisheng gathered the remaining fruit and was about to tuck them into her pocket when the shopping system suddenly flashed across her mind.
If she hadn’t seen wrong earlier, she remembered the shopping system had an item storage area where placed items could be automatically kept fresh.
Using her mental intent, she summoned the system and tried opening the storage function.
Sure enough, a line of prompts materialized floating in mid-air:
> [Confirm whether to store wild peach (1) and purple willow fruit (3)?]
So this wild fruit was called a purple willow fruit. Ye Qisheng mentally noted the name and thought *yes*. In a flash, the fruit in her hands vanished into thin air.
She opened the storage inventory, and the peaches and purple willow fruits that had just disappeared now occupied the previously empty grid, with the quantity of stored items displayed in the bottom left corner.
Seeing this, Ye Qisheng’s blood surged with excitement. Her previous frustration and annoyance were swept away instantly, and she suddenly felt full of hope for the future.
Although she was a useless rich second-generation heir who couldn’t do anything right—unlike other transmigrated female protagonists who could cook or practice medicine, and whose golden finger didn’t even allow direct shopping—having this portable storage space meant she wouldn’t have to worry about starving to death in this era!
She could use the space to buy goods in the south and sell them in the north, or at the very least, act as a courier delivering goods for others, and the money she earned could be safely hidden inside, guaranteed never to be lost.
harboring infinite fantasies about the future, Ye Qisheng walked up to the Liu family’s bamboo fence gate.
Aunt Fan had also just returned home from the fields. Looking up, she happened to see Ye Qisheng pushing the gate open and walking in. A flash of disgusted coldness crossed the old woman’s face as she slammed the main house door shut with a loud *bang*.
Ye Qisheng shrugged indifferently.
She was thick-skinned enough. Before transmigrating, there were plenty of people who hated her and looked down upon her status as an illegitimate daughter; she didn’t care much about adding the Liu mother and daughter to the list.
She had nowhere else to stay right now, and as long as they didn’t kick her out, she didn’t care what kind of sour expressions the Liu women pulled.
The sun was scorching hot today, and on her way back, Ye Qisheng had been baked into a sweaty, parched mess. Before heading to her room to rest, she intended to go to the kitchen to find some water to quench her thirst, only to find the door locked.
The kitchen door had been open when she left, yet it was locked tight the moment she returned. She glanced back at the main house door, and it wasn’t hard to guess who had locked it.
With no other choice, she headed to the well, laboriously pulled up a bucket of water, washed her hands, and scooped up several handfuls to gulp down.
Well-fed and adequately hydrated, Ye Qisheng let out a yawn and returned to her room. She first tucked the mink fur coat in the corner of the room and the jewelry she had removed earlier into her spatial storage, then lay down on the bed and drifted off to sleep in a daze.
I don’t know how much time passed before Ye Qisheng was suddenly jolted awake by a burst of scolding. Before she could even react, she was dragged right off the bed, her head taking a hard knock against the wooden floorboards, sending tears welling up from the pain.
Furious, she jerked her head up and found herself face-to-face with Liu Yuexia’s wrath-distorted expression.
“Oh! We’ve been working hard and sweating in the fields while you’ve been sleeping comfortably at home! Ye Qisheng, what do you take our family for?!”
Ye Qisheng’s sleep inertia was always very strong, and being startled awake by such a noisy commotion stirred up her own temper. She stood up abruptly and shoved Liu Yuexia away from blocking her path, snapping, “If you have something to say, just say it! What’s with putting your hands on me!”
Though she was an unpresentable illegitimate child, her biological father held a prominent position. No matter how much others despised or looked down on her, they only dared to gossip and sneer behind her back; absolutely no one had ever dared to show her disrespect to her face, let alone lay hands on her.
Back in her old life, Liu Yuexia would have been pinned to the ground and frictioned by her pack of wolf-like bodyguards.
Seeing that she actually dared to push her, Liu Yuexia grew so angry smoke practically poured from the top of her head. She planted her hands on her hips and yelled shrilly, “Did I say something wrong?! My eldest brother kindly took you in, and not only do you refuse to help out with chores around the house, you even have the nerve to hog my bed! You even dared to touch my things—how do you have the face?!”
Ye Qisheng had a sudden realization.
She had been too exhausted earlier and had crashed straight onto the bed without thinking. It was only natural that the other person was upset.
However, seeing the look on Liu Yuexia’s face as if she wanted to tear her to shreds, even if Ye Qisheng wanted to apologize, those words of regret were stuck in her throat and impossible to say.
Rubbing the back of her head where the painful bump was throbbing, she found herself completely speechless and simply bypassed Liu Yuexia to walk straight outside.
Liu Yuexia’s face turned green with rage as she closely pursued her, refusing to let up. “You stop right there! Who said you could leave! I haven’t finished talking yet!”
Ye Qisheng turned a deaf ear.
She didn’t want to quarrel. Anyway, dinner probably wouldn’t include her portion, so she might as well go outside to catch some fresh air and give her ears some peace and quiet.
Just as she was about to reach the doorway, she bumped headfirst into the Liu brothers—Liu Shiting and Liu Chengzhi—returning from the fields.
The two brothers looked quite alike: thick eyebrows, large eyes, and towering builds. At a quick glance, one might have mistaken them for twins.
Liu Shiting had heard his younger sister’s piercing shriek from far away. Frowning, he set down the hoe in his hand and asked, “What’s going on?”
Just as Ye Qisheng was about to explain, Liu Yuexia chimed in first, pointing straight at her and shouting loudly, “It’s all because of her! She doesn’t even cook a meal, just waiting around for us to wait on her hand and foot!”