At the boundary between life and death, she overheard her husband and mother-in-law discussing their decision to give up on her treatment.
It was also at that moment that she suddenly lost consciousness and entered the game.
As a result, her physical body in the real world stabilized, and she did not die after all.
However, she was left a high-level paraplegic, completely immobile except for her neck.
She had previously spent points to regain consciousness for a brief moment.
Eating, drinking, and relieving herself all took place in bed. Her mother-in-law did not dare to tamper with anything directly for the time being, but cursed her incessantly while secretly pinching her.
Judging by the disgusted look in her husband’s eyes, it would likely not be long before he brought up a divorce.
Lu Le had come to terms with it.
She certainly did not want to die!
Once she saved up enough for the interdimensional transfer processing fee, she was going to cure herself.
There were also various physical enhancement pills—taking just a few back with her would ensure she could beat that scum of a man and the old woman until they were unable to care for themselves.
Her life had almost been given up.
How could she let them off so easily?
She did not know how much longer her body could hold out.
Gritting her teeth, Lu Le swore she would work hard to earn points and level up, all so she could avenge herself sooner.
Song Xu listened to Lu Le’s rambling while slurping her noodles.
Softening her voice, she sent a voice message, “Little sister, you aren’t a malicious stepmother. You are an exceptionally good one.”
She paused and added, “Really, you are wonderful. That man isn’t worthy of you.”
The other side fell silent for a second.
“Sister! You’re so right!” Lu Le’s voice sounded as if she had been injected with a burst of adrenaline. “So what else do you need? Wooden planks? Iron ore? I’ll go get them for you right now!”
“I don’t lack anything right now, and you shouldn’t keep mining all the time either.” She checked Lu Le’s level, which was still level 2. “Hurry up and practice your archery proficiency. Leveling up quickly is the real priority.”
“Is yours archery proficiency? Sister, I’m leveling up shield and axe proficiency, probably because I’ve been using an axe all along. I’ll go buy a bow to try right away!”
“Don’t. Since you’ve learned the axe, focus on practicing that one. Get it up to level 1 first.”
“Okay.”
Ending the private chat, Song Xu leaned beside the temporary campfire, watching the dancing flames.
Lu Le harbored no malicious intent.
Song Xu was not heartless.
Even though the other party might be so enthusiastic because of her skill effect, when someone offered a burning heart, she could not turn them away with a cold face.
If that was the case, then… she would accept it.
Using the cooking pot, Song Xu fried a batch of glistening, juicy rabbit meat, sending it over to Lu Le along with that Small Wooden Cabin Blueprint.
[Bao Bao’s Mom: Don’t just mine; stay safe. Eat when you’re hungry.]
[Malicious Stepmother: !!! Sister! I… I don’t need this, I still have food here. And this blueprint, it’s super expensive right now, you should take it to exchange for equipment…]
[Bao Bao’s Mom: Cut the nonsense, take it. If you dig up more materials, don’t give them to me for now. Upgrade your wooden cabin, or you won’t be able to withstand the Extreme Cold Tide when it comes.]
The other side was quiet for a few seconds.
[Malicious Stepmother: (ಥ﹏ಥ) Waaah! Sister, you are so good to me! I… I will definitely level up faster and not hold you back!]
Song Xu closed the panel and added a piece of firewood to the fire.
The firelight reflected off her face, expressionless, yet her eyes softened slightly.
In this damned game, having someone to help each other out did not seem like a bad thing.
She glanced at her own experience bar.
0/2400.
Having just reached level 9, killing scarecrows no longer granted experience.
A few new gathering quests appeared in the quest list.
She exchanged a few pieces of rabbit meat for all the materials, needing only to submit them directly.
The stuffed bread and milk given as rewards were somewhat dispensable to her, but the tight leather pants were quite nice; at least she finally had a pair of pants to wear.
There was still one kill quest left.
[Please head to the Northern Mountains and kill Hopping Sheep x30. Quest Rewards: Emergency Band-aid x3, Points +60.]
Song Xu checked the monitor screen of the Peeping Bear.
Real-world time: 3:50 AM.
Her daughter was no longer kicking off the blanket. Her little face was flushed red, and she was still asleep.
She opened the system mall and chose to exchange for conscious time.
There were still ten hours left on the Extreme Cold Tide countdown, so she had to hurry.
She summoned the small wooden cabin.
Taking out a piece of roasted moth meat, she maxed out the favorability of the only remaining green-named toad.
Then she found a grass vine and tied the toad to the doorway.
“Be good and guard the house.”
The toad blinked and lay down without moving.
Song Xu squeezed into the wooden cabin, closed the door, lit the stove, and lay down on the straw bedding.
She selected to return.
The world spun wildly.
Opening her eyes, she immediately sat up and checked the contents of the Big Stomach Pouch.
Fortunately, everything was still there.
Song Xu stepped off the bed quietly, washed up briefly, and then brought over warm water to wipe her daughter’s face and hands, change her diaper, and feed her formula milk.
This time she exchanged for two bottles of Gene Repair Fluid, feeding them both to her daughter after she finished her milk.
Bao Bao co-operated dazedly, her eyes not even fully open.
Once everything was taken care of, she strapped her daughter to her chest using the baby carrier.
The little one rested her head against her shoulder and fell asleep again.
At 4:30 AM, Song Xu pushed open the rolling shutter door of the bun shop.
She turned on the lights, boiled water, and kneaded the dough.
Taking out the pork bought yesterday from the Big Stomach Pouch, she minced the meat.
Next, she pulled out a large bundle of giant Welsh onions pulled from the game.
The onion leaves were long and thin, grayish-green in color, with a flavor far more intense than ordinary Welsh onions.
She washed them carefully and chopped them finely.
The minced onions were mixed into the meat filling, along with soy sauce, salt, and a little toad oil, whipped continuously in one direction.
The filling grew increasingly thick and sticky, and the aroma grew stronger and stronger.
Without pausing her hands, she quickly pulled off dough portions, rolled out the wrappers, and stuffed the buns.
Plump buns were placed into the cooking pot one after another.
Synthesizing cooking pots was extremely simple, so Song Xu made three more in one go, filling all the stoves in the room.
Three were used for steaming buns, and one for simmering soup.
Although these stone pots were smaller than her steamer, their cooking speed was exceptionally fast.
Once a recipe was set, it would automatically adjust the temperature according to the ingredients, maximizing the release of their aroma, which was practically unscientific.
For a time, the four pots bubbled away, billowers of hot steam rising.
Five minutes later, the first batch of buns was done.
Song Xu lifted the pot lid, and white steam burst forth with a crash.
The pork and Welsh onion buns emitted a rich, intense aroma, instantly filling the small shop.
The smell was so delicious it made one’s stomach rumble with greed.
Unafraid of the heat, Song Xu picked one directly out of the pot and took small bites.
Her daughter was still napping in the stroller, so Song Xu picked out another one and placed it to the side to cool down for when she woke up.
The first person to push open the door and come in was the owner of the supermarket next door.
Sniffing the air, he looked around in amazement: “Little Song, what filling did you make this morning? How is it so fragrant?”
“Pork and Welsh onion.” Song Xu smiled as she plated it for him. “Still two?”
The owner nodded and took it, not caring about the heat, taking a bite directly.
The bun skin was thin, and upon biting open, hot juices rushed out first.
A unique savory onion flavor exploded in his mouth. The owner’s eyes widened, and he swallowed one down in two or three bites, huffing from the heat: “Oh my, this is truly divine! The bun filling you prepared today is wonderfully seasoned! Give me two more!”