That’s right.
Her secret.
She wasn’t clear how this thing had come about. She only vaguely remembered sensing it after returning from an overseas trip with friends.
During that trip, they had accidentally entered a forest.
It should have been a primeval forest.
She had stumbled into it by mistake.
Inside, the spiritual energy was abundant, so comfortable that it made people want to open every pore in their bodies.
In her view, no one had stepped into that place for at least several hundred years.
She had been stunned.
It was simply a natural medicinal herb warehouse.
There was nothing you could think of that couldn’t be found there—various spiritual plants, medicinal herbs, and fruit trees.
Some spiritual plants and herbs were even over a thousand years old.
In truth, she couldn’t name most of them, since she had never studied medicine.
But that didn’t matter.
Her eye for quality was good, and her mind worked quickly.
In such a treasure land filled with spiritual energy, how could anything growing there be bad?
Most importantly, this was another country.
This was a primeval forest.
These were other people’s things.
That was the key point.
Taking someone else’s treasures—that was satisfying.
Besides, who knew if anyone else would enter again even after several hundred more years?
And with such abundant spiritual energy here, if one batch could grow, then surely another would grow again.
She comforted herself with that thought and directly swept the place clean…
Of course, sweeping everything clean wasn’t easy.
She couldn’t enter freely, and she couldn’t carry things out easily either.
If possible, she would have loved to take all the spiritual energy there with her too.
Unfortunately, that really wasn’t possible.
That entire batch of things was still growing nicely inside her space.
After all, time flowed quickly in the space, and those things had unknown ages now.
Back then, even as someone who didn’t understand medicine, she knew they were great tonics.
She didn’t dare use them on others.
They were too full of spiritual energy and too nourishing. She firmly refused to take them out and “harm people.”
Even the fruits could only be eaten by herself now.
After all, she had been eating them for years and was already used to them.
It was after that trip, after returning from the primeval forest, that she sensed it.
It seemed she could understand animals and plants speaking???
How terrifying!
She hadn’t had any special encounter inside the forest.
Even she herself found it strange.
Later, she secretly tested it several times.
Fortunately, it was only animals and plants.
She couldn’t hear human thoughts.
Otherwise, it would truly have been frightening to death.
After arriving here, she thought it was already heaven-defying luck that the space had followed her.
But during her first trip up the mountain, she discovered something wasn’t right.
When collecting the wild grape vines, not only could she understand them, she could even sense their happy emotions.
Good heavens.
This world had turned mystical!
She could deeply feel the attraction the deep mountains had for her.
She could also sense that in the embrace of trees, she could quickly calm down.
So during her few trips into the mountains, she always headed straight into the deep forest.
There, she could feel her own joy.
She had a sense of belonging and peace.
She liked this place.
After calming her violent emotions, she began collecting again.
Since she had already come here, how could she return empty-handed?
That wasn’t her style.
She walked deeper.
This was an area even experienced hunters didn’t dare enter, yet the little girl moved through it as if there were no one around.
Taking a breath of fresh air, the little girl sighed.
“There are so many better things here than outside.”
Of course.
Everyone knew there were good things deeper inside.
But no one dared come.
One needed to have a life to take them, after all.
Looking at the sky, the little girl decided not to return tonight.
It was rare for her to indulge like this.
Besides, during New Year, when no one came out to visit, it was safest.
Although very few people came looking for her anyway, who could say for sure?
As the old saying went, one really shouldn’t think too much about something.
Down the mountain, Lin Guanghui had just been met with a closed door at the little girl’s house.
Afraid that she would feel too lonely spending her first New Year here alone, Lin Guanghui had thought of coming to talk with her.
Of course, if he could conveniently mooch a delicious meal, that would be even better.
He had calculated everything.
What he never expected was that he wouldn’t even see the little girl.
The doors and windows were tightly shut.
There was no smoke coming from the chimney.
It had just snowed in the morning.
Looking into the courtyard from over the wall, there were no footprints and no signs of the door having been opened.
All signs pointed to one thing.
No one was home!
No one was home!
There was actually no one home!
How could that be?
The little girl wasn’t someone who liked visiting others, and she definitely wouldn’t go out visiting during New Year.
Besides, there were only a few people in the village she was close to.
Did she go to town?
Probably not.
Everything was closed for New Year. There was nowhere to shop.
Did she go find Jiang Tao?
Even more impossible.
Thinking back, he had seen her yesterday afternoon, and she hadn’t gone to get an introduction letter.
That meant she hadn’t gone far.
If not far, then nearby.
Nearby?
His gaze swept around and landed on the mountain foot not far away.
The mountain?
Could the little girl have gone up the mountain?
Mm.
The little girl must have gone up the mountain.
She was alone during New Year and lonely.
Besides, she already liked going up the mountain.
He could sense that the little girl had an indescribable familiarity and closeness with the mountain.
It was as if…
Mm.
As if going up the mountain was like strolling through her own backyard.
Speaking of which, he blamed himself too.
When the little girl came to his home that morning to deliver New Year gifts, something had clearly seemed off. She left in a hurry after delivering them.
Why hadn’t he thought more about it?
He regretfully patted his head.
The little girl had clearly been affected by the New Year atmosphere.
After all, she was still a little girl who had only just turned seventeen after New Year.
Spending New Year away from home for the first time would inevitably bring feelings of loneliness and desolation.
What should he do now?
Go look for her?
The little girl had gone out to clear her mind, not run away from home.
Besides, in these mountains…
Heh.
If one entered the mountain, who would find whom was still uncertain.
Looking at the mountain peak covered in mist from afar, Lin Guanghui sighed.
The little girl didn’t care at all about what was happening outside.
Inside the deep mountains, she was truly like a fish in water.
The mountain was a treasure vault.
Along the way, the little girl collected until her hands went soft.
Her space became more and more abundant, expanding again and again.
The little girl’s mood was so good she felt like she could fly.
Spiritual energy from all directions rushed into the little girl’s body, then automatically circulated within her.
From time to time, the little girl also contributed well water from her space, returning it to this lovely forest.
Mm.
The little girl sincerely felt that forests were far more lovable than people.
After finally indulging herself once, it was natural that plans couldn’t keep up with changes.
The little girl who had originally planned to return the next day stayed in the deep mountains for a full week before reluctantly preparing to descend.
By the time she came back, it was already the seventh day after New Year.
She quietly jumped back into the courtyard from the rear wall.
After entering the house, she first lit the fire to heat the brick bed, heated the fire wall, boiled water, and wiped away dust.
The house had been unoccupied for a week and had already gathered a thin layer of dust.
It had been snowing lightly over the past few days, and a fairly thick layer of snow had accumulated in the courtyard.
The little girl didn’t clear much.
She only cleared the path leading to the gate.
That afternoon, when Lin Guanghui came for his routine check, he saw smoke rising from the chimney at the foot of the mountain from afar.
His heart filled with joy.
The little girl had returned.
He quickly walked to the gate and looked into the courtyard.
Sure enough.
Sigh.
His heart finally settled.
He knocked and entered the house.
Looking at the situation, she clearly hadn’t finished cleaning up yet.
The little girl probably didn’t have time to deal with him for now.
He didn’t ask anything either.
His main reason for coming was to make sure she had returned safely.
Now that he was certain, he felt relieved.
After exchanging a few casual words, he left.
The little girl had no other plans for the time being.
When she had nothing to do, she studied her space, which had expanded by who knew how many times, and the spiritual energy filling her body.
She felt helpless.
She had thought this was a transmigration farming story.
But what did this mean now?
Was it planning to turn into a cultivation style?
Was she supposed to establish a sect?
There were some cultivation manuals inside the space.
They had already been there in her previous life when she first obtained the space.
When she had nothing to do, she had flipped through them before.
They were similar to the heavenly spiritual roots and fire spiritual roots described in cultivation novels.
Back then, all kinds of cultivation novels had been everywhere.
The little girl had always thought these manuals were fake, just like novels.
But now it seemed that wasn’t exactly the case.
She didn’t know why she had suddenly been able to understand the language of animals and plants.
She didn’t know where the spiritual energy came from.
And she didn’t know whether this was a cultivation method.
If it was, then the question became whether cultivators still existed in this world.
With nothing to do, she casually flipped through several books inside her space.
Only then did she learn that these two abilities were signs that the space had completely acknowledged her.
In other words, because the space had fully recognized her in her previous life, it followed her in rebirth and would continue following her lifetime after lifetime.
The little girl was stunned.
So that was how it was.
Then in this lifetime, she definitely had to fill the space completely.
What if she was reborn into an even poorer family next lifetime?
Pah.
What was she thinking?
If she really switched to cultivation, then her life would be very long.
However, with her half-baked knowledge, she didn’t know how to teach anyone.
Maybe she could just give each person a book and let them comprehend it themselves?
While she was busy planning the future, she had no idea others were discussing her.
Because of the several meat distributions in autumn, the villagers hadn’t quibbled about sharing with the educated youths.
The educated youth station had also enjoyed a decent New Year.
Now that New Year was over, they naturally returned to plain meals again.
The year had only just begun.
Their current food rations had to last until the next grain distribution.
It would still be more than four months before wild vegetables could be dug.
There was no work these days either.
As long as they weren’t hungry, that was enough.
Eating too much would be wasteful.
The eight educated youths sat around the table drinking cornmeal porridge, eating pickles, and chatting.
Naturally, the topic shifted to Tang Tang.
Zhang Hongjun sighed.
“If Tang Tang hadn’t given us white flour, we wouldn’t even have eaten white flour dumplings for New Year.”
Li Hongling, who had come with Zhang Hongjun, continued:
“That’s right. You all really caught good days this year. Last year, the three of us ate one meal of sorghum rice and a plate of shredded potatoes, and that counted as New Year. The year before that, we drank porridge. How could it compare to this year? There was meat and dumplings. This kind of life felt like a dream before.”
“Exactly. I remember last year, many villagers’ families didn’t even have meat for New Year.”
This was Liu Hongyan, the third person among “the three of us,” an educated youth who had come in the same batch as Zhang Hongjun.
“Mm. Last year’s grain wasn’t even enough to eat. Many families drank thin porridge for New Year.”
This was Qian Heping, an educated youth who had arrived in the second year and whose family background was fairly good.
“This year, out of the three times meat was distributed, Little Tang had a hand in two of them.”
Among the educated youths, Tang Tang was the youngest, so calling her Little Tang was reasonable.
“Yes, she’s way too impressive. That time, I saw from far away. With one punch, the wild boar’s brain shattered.”
“Exactly, exactly. I thought only Lin Guanghui was powerful. I didn’t expect Little Tang to shock everyone the moment she acted.”
“Yeah. She picked up a huge sack of sweet potatoes without any effort at all.”
“If only I had that much strength too.”
“Haha.”
The topic immediately went off track.