Liu Qiuhua’s face was still throbbing with pain. Only after seeing Tian Baozhu actually leave the educated youth spot did she wear a gloating expression and viciously curse.
“I think Tian Baozhu has probably moved in with that loafer who pulled her out of the water. Otherwise, why would she go live alone in the village?”
Upon hearing this, Ma Zhenzhen’s eyes flickered a few times. She didn’t chime in with Liu Qiuhua as she usually did. In fact, she was even a bit annoyed with Liu Qiuhua for being completely unable to see the current situation.
If Tian Baozhu were still the same as before, someone who could be easily pushed around, then saying such things would be fine. But after today, when Tian Baozhu had slapped her across the face, she still hadn’t learned her lesson and was practically courting death. If those words ever reached Tian Baozhu’s ears, Liu Qiuhua would likely end up getting another beating.
Anyway, with a fool like Liu Qiuhua jumping around at the forefront, no matter what happened between her and Tian Baozhu, Ma Zhenzhen could just sit back and enjoy the show.
Tian Baozhu carried her bedding and a wooden chest into the house. After setting things up, she took out a flashlight from her space and looked around, only to find there was no firewood to heat the kang (a heated bed).
Party Secretary Liu, being a man, simply hadn’t thought of such details. However, Tian Baozhu wasn’t worried. Although she couldn’t enter her space right now, she could still take things out of it. In the woodshed inside her space, there was plenty of chopped firewood and kindling shavings.
After heating up the kang, Tian Baozhu took out a coal stove, a kettle, and a stainless steel pot as big as a face basin from her space. Fortunately, the faucet in her space still worked, so she wouldn’t have to worry about drinking water.
She lit the coal stove, first boiled a kettle of water, and filled two thermoses from her space with it. She also poured a bowl of hot water and set it on the edge of the kang to keep warm, so she’d have something to drink if she got thirsty.
Then, she filled the stainless steel pot with water, and once it boiled, she added some dried noodles. After bringing it to a boil and adding cold water three times, she fished out the noodles and mixed them with lard and light soy sauce. Without needing salt or MSG, the noodles were perfectly savory.
Tian Baozhu had initially thought she’d eat at most one bowl of such simple oil-mixed noodles. But when she wiped her mouth and put down the bowl, she realized she had devoured the entire batch of noodles.
Patting her stomach, she let out a small burp. She had discovered that her current body had a huge appetite. Even after eating that entire batch of noodles, she only felt about half-full.
Thinking back to the four dishes and one soup, plus the big bowl of rice she had devoured at the educated youth spot, it was clear just how much this body could eat. This was probably because, in this era, food lacked oil and fat, and people did heavy physical labor without enough caloric intake, so they needed to eat more.
However, Tian Baozhu had noticed since waking up that her body was incredibly strong—on par with her strength back in the modern era. That was why she had dared to talk back so boldly at the educated youth spot. Otherwise, she wasn’t foolish enough to provoke people without being able to defend herself—that would just be asking for trouble.
Still feeling a bit hungry, Tian Baozhu took out eight eggs from the refrigerator in her space, boiled them, and ate four in one go. Reluctantly, she put the remaining four back into the space. Eating too many eggs at night, she worried about the cholesterol.
She washed the pots and bowls, took out a washbasin and a foot basin, and freshened up. Then, she closed the door, grabbed a thick stick about as wide as an arm, and propped it against the back of the door.
She snuggled into the warm, cozy bedding, turned off the flashlight with a sense of security, and closed her eyes. Even as she drifted off, Tian Baozhu was still thinking: tomorrow, after getting the referral letter and heading to the county town, she had to sell as much as she could to make more money.
Also, the things in her space wouldn’t last forever once used up. So, after building the house, she’d have to be thrifty and budget carefully.
Just as dawn broke, Tian Baozhu, who usually slept until she naturally woke up, suddenly opened her eyes.
Staring at the dim, shadowy light in the room, she let out a long sigh.
This body must have been accustomed to waking up this early. She wanted to roll around in the bedding on the kang and sleep a bit longer, but she felt utterly uncomfortable.
Tian Baozhu had no choice but to exhale, sit up, and stare blankly for a while.
Then, in a daze, she recalled being kicked out of her space yesterday. She wondered if she could get back in today.
With a flicker before her eyes, Tian Baozhu found herself inside her space, clutching her bedding.
Her mind, still groggy moments ago, instantly cleared.
With a silent cheer of joy, she dashed into the bathroom. She had been holding it all night—time to relieve herself first.
After using the bathroom, she washed her face and brushed her teeth.
Then, delighted, she trotted into the kitchen, planning to fry a few eggs in the space before heading out to make some white congee for breakfast.
The moment she stepped in, she noticed something unusual.
The rice and dried noodles she had unpacked and sold yesterday had been restored to their original state.
Her heart stirred, and she quickly ran to the refrigerator, yanking it open.
Sure enough, the fish and meat she had sold yesterday, along with the eight eggs she had boiled the previous night, were all back.
Thinking of the eight eggs she had boiled, of which she had four left and placed back into the space, she searched around everywhere. Eventually, she found those four eggs in a bowl inside a cupboard.
Moreover, after boiling and eating four eggs last night, the remaining four had felt warm to the touch when she held them. Now, picking one up, the texture in her hand was exactly the same as last night.
This meant that food cooked outside and brought into the space stayed warm and fresh.
Most importantly, items originally from the space would be restored to their original state the day after being taken out!
Tian Baozhu was so thrilled she nearly did a split right there in the space to express her excitement.
But after the excitement subsided, she thought again about being ejected from the space yesterday.
She walked over to the dining area and saw that the four dishes and one soup, which should have been restored on the table, hadn’t reappeared.
Could it be that the amount of time she could stay in the space was linked to the food on this dining table?
Still, this was merely her conjecture.
After frying the eggs, she slipped out of the space and started cooking the congee.
Tian Baozhu had just finished breakfast and washed the dishes when she heard voices approaching from a distance—it was the workers from the Liu family.
Hearing the noise outside, she quickly put all the items she had taken out of her space back inside. After checking that nothing seemed amiss, she opened the door and walked out.
“Good morning, uncles. Sorry for the trouble again today.”
“Not at all, Educated Youth Tian!”
The workers, all close acquaintances of Party Secretary Liu, responded cheerfully to her politeness.
They weren’t working for free. Party Secretary Liu had told them that Educated Youth Tian would compensate them with money and ration tickets.
Now that winter had arrived, everyone was preparing to hunker down for the season. Earning a little extra money would allow them to buy more meat for the New Year, so their families could have a bit more to eat and enjoy some meaty flavor.