To her surprise, when Yun Xi told Yun Dahai she wanted to read books, he only hesitated briefly. He didn’t object—he simply asked if she could recognize characters. Yun Xi answered that ever since she woke up, she somehow felt she could read, though she didn’t know why.
Yun Dahai looked shocked, staring at her for a long moment, but said nothing. Finally, he handed her the books and reminded her repeatedly to take good care of them.
Yun Xi felt a bit uneasy. Did he suspect something?
But since he didn’t question her, she wouldn’t bring it up.
Once she had the books, she read them one by one. She wanted to quickly understand this world—and even more, she wanted to change the current miserable situation. For a PhD in agronomy to go hungry… it was humiliating.
After two full days of reading, she finally gained some basic knowledge about this world.
Before Fengli Kingdom was established, the entire continent was in chaos. Dozens of small nations existed, constantly at war. Later, the first emperor of Fengli, Feng Hongzhi, unified the continent, putting an end to the endless battles.
Among those small nations had been one called the Yun Kingdom.
Hidden deep within mountains with steep terrain, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. It became the last kingdom to fall to Feng Hongzhi.
After the Yun Kingdom’s destruction, it vanished from historical records. Some rumors said it wasn’t destroyed but had gone into seclusion. Others said the royal family left behind vast hidden treasures deep in the mountains. Feng Hongzhi even sent many teams to search for the Yun Kingdom’s wealth, but all attempts failed and the matter was abandoned.
Yun Kingdom… Yun Village…
There had to be a connection.
Every household in Yun Village carried the Yun surname. Could this village be the remnant of that kingdom? The thought stirred Yun Xi’s curiosity. She recalled the locked yellow-wrapped box she had found earlier—perhaps it contained some clues.
At mealtime, however, her thoughts were interrupted by the harsh reality in front of her—a bowl of dark, unidentifiable vegetable mush. Yun Xi nearly cried again. This life was truly too bitter. She forced down a spoonful, but the taste was awful.
Seeing her frown, Yun Dahai sighed heavily.
“Sigh… Without grain, the entire village is barely holding on. There used to be wild vegetables on the mountain, but even those have been eaten clean. Winter is coming soon… I don’t know how we’re supposed to survive.”
“Yes… With the cold and no food, more people will surely die. Heaven really gives no path for us,” Madam Yun added, sorrowful.
“Father, can I go up the mountain with Mother tomorrow?”
Yun Xi asked suddenly.
“If the wild vegetables are gone, maybe there are other things we can eat.”
Books mentioned that people here mainly ate rice—only one rice harvest per year. There were no sweet potatoes, potatoes, pumpkins—nothing high-yield. These crops were lifesavers in ancient times. If she could find even a chance of such crops in the mountains, it would change everything.
She also wanted to explore the path near the forbidden back mountain and see if she could observe it from a distance.
Then she remembered something.
“Father, how do we keep warm during winter?”
“Keep warm? You mean… roasting by the fire?” Yun Dahai asked curiously.
“No, I mean warming the whole house. Otherwise people will freeze.”
Having experienced modern heating, Yun Xi absolutely didn’t want to freeze half to death again.
“You child, always talking about death!”
Madam Yun glared at her. Yun Xi stuck out her tongue in apology.
“Xier, do you know any ways to keep warm?”
Yun Dahai caught the important point immediately.
“Yes. I read about it in a book.”
Yun Dahai’s expression grew uneasy. He knew his own books well—none mentioned any warming methods.
But Yun Xi didn’t notice and continued explaining:
“This heating method is called a ground dragon. You build a waist-high hollow structure along the walls inside the house, with a channel leading outside. You burn a fire outside, and the hot air flows through the hollow channel into the house to warm it. It’s best to use slow-burning wood so it lasts through the night. I can draw a picture for you if you want.”
Yun Dahai stared at her, astonished. He had never heard of such a thing—but it sounded logical and very useful.
“Alright, Xier. Draw it out for Father tomorrow. If it works… you’ll be the village’s benefactor. Every winter, many elderly people die because the cold is too harsh.”
“It’s nothing. I just happened to read about it and mentioned it.”
Yun Dahai gave her another deep, thoughtful look… then lowered his head and continued eating.
But that look held meaning Yun Xi couldn’t yet decipher.