Liu Ye thought to herself that stealing a little food was fine, but stealing silver—she didn’t have the courage for that yet.
She walked a couple of steps toward the pigpen, then suddenly realized something was wrong. She wasn’t that foolish girl anymore—she wouldn’t sleep in a pigpen. She turned and went to the woodshed instead.
The woodshed was full of firewood. Aside from being a bit messy, there was nothing wrong with it—and it was definitely better than the pigpen. At least it didn’t stink.
“OK, I’ll settle here for now. Rats and bugs, don’t come out and scare me,” she muttered.
Sitting on a pile of firewood, she took a corn cake from her space and ate it. She had eaten two cakes at noon in the mountains, leaving three in her hand.
Today’s food was settled—but what about tomorrow?
Now that the Liu family had lost their pig, once Liu Ya and Liu Qing discovered their clothes missing, and the foolish girl’s mother found missing cakes and kitchen tools, they would definitely guard everything tightly. It would be harder to steal anything.
She wasn’t incapable of leaving the Liu family—but she had no silver.
She didn’t dare steal money from the main house. She couldn’t possibly go begging either. And in this era, who would give her food? Northern regions were suffering disasters; the weather was unbearably hot and crops weren’t growing. Everyone was struggling just to survive.
No, she couldn’t leave the Liu family yet. At the very least, she had to wait until her space grew a harvest so she’d have food.
Right—she needed to enter her space and farm immediately.
She quickly finished the corn cake, and with a thought, entered her space.
What greeted her was a pile of random items she had stored earlier, messy and stacked together. There was also the big black pig lying motionless on the ground.
She walked over and checked its breathing. Nothing. The pig was dead.
It seemed that anything living that entered her space would die—except her.
She didn’t know how to handle a pig anyway, so she left it for now. If she ran out of food later, she could cut meat and roast it in the mountains.
Heh—that actually wasn’t a bad idea.
She placed pots and bowls beside the spiritual spring and moved farming tools near the field.
Then she opened the seed bags.
What kind of seeds were these? Some big, some small—she couldn’t recognize them all. She only knew corn and soybeans.
“OK, I’ll plant these two first.”
She had only a handful of soybeans and corn, so she casually scattered them across the field. She clapped her hands, then threw in all the vegetable seeds too.
“Done. Once they grow, I’ll know what they are.”
Next, she went to the spiritual spring. The water was almost overflowing. She hadn’t even tried it yet.
She fetched a bowl, scooped half a bowl, and nervously took a sip.
Hmm… not bad. It was slightly sweet, like honey water—but without the honey flavor.
She finished the half bowl and then drank another full bowl.
After drinking, she felt full. Her stomach wasn’t hungry anymore, and her body felt warm and energized, as if she had endless strength.
She hadn’t expected the water to be so effective.
Next time she was hungry, she’d just drink this.
She put the bowl down, thought “exit,” and left the space.
Lying on the straw pile, she was about to fall asleep—when the woodshed door was suddenly pushed open.
“Big fool! So you’re hiding here! Our pig is gone—do you know that? Where did you hide the pig, you idiot!”
It was Liu Qing shouting.
Liu Ye pretended to be scared and burrowed into the firewood, thinking: You’re the fool. Your whole family is foolish. Of course I know the pig is gone—I stole it.
Liu Qing stretched his neck and shouted outside, “Father! Mother! Come quickly! The fool is hiding in the woodshed! The pig is gone and she’s still sleeping!”
Liu Lao Da rushed out angrily, grabbed a wooden stick from the wall, and charged into the woodshed. He raised the stick to strike.
Just as it was about to hit her head, Liu Ye panicked and instinctively pushed him hard, then ran out.
She didn’t stop until she reached the gate.
“Ah!”
Liu Lao Da was slammed into the wall. His head split open and blood poured out.
Liu Qing screamed and ran outside: “Bad news! The fool beat my father to death! Grandfather! Grandmother! Come quickly!”
Liu Ye patted her chest, still shaken. “Good thing I ran fast. Otherwise that thick stick would’ve cracked my skull.”
As for Liu Lao Da… he deserved it.
Inside the house, everyone rushed out after hearing the screams. Seeing Liu Lao Da injured, Liu Lao Er and Liu Lao Ye quickly carried him back inside. They decided not to call a doctor—the family had no money.
Liu Ya, Liu Qing, and the others glared at Liu Ye and returned to their rooms.
Just when Liu Ye thought it was over, Second Aunt Liu spoke in a sarcastic tone:
“Mother, this fool is a jinx. Look at how she’s ruined our family. Ever since she was born, we haven’t had a full meal. Even the crops don’t grow properly. Now the pig is gone and even Big Brother is injured. Our family is finished!”
Liu Ye looked at the ugly woman and wanted to slap her.
“You’re the jinx! You’re the one who brings disaster!”
Old Madam Liu flew into a rage, took off her shoe, and threw it at Liu Ye:
“You damned fool! You curse of the family! I’ll beat you to death today!”
Liu Ye dodged easily.
Seeing she dodged, Old Madam Liu became even angrier. She took off the other shoe and chased her.
But Liu Ye didn’t just stand there to be hit.
So it became a chase—around the front yard, then the back yard, then back again.
Old Madam Liu was exhausted like a dog, while Liu Ye only grew more energetic.
Then Liu Ye’s eyes flickered.
She suddenly ran toward Second Aunt Liu.
Second Aunt Liu saw the shoe flying toward her face and tried to run—but Liu Ye yanked her back, forcing her to take the full blow.
“Smack!”
“Ah! My face!”
Second Aunt Liu clutched her face and screamed: “Mother! Watch where you’re hitting! Are you trying to hit her or me!”