System 2023! Yue Jiuyue felt a surge of excitement, all drowsiness gone.
But after waiting a while, she found that the system was still booting up—no products on display yet.
Well, she’d just have to wait a bit longer…
As she waited, Yue Jiuyue drifted off to sleep without even realizing it.
If it hadn’t been for her daughter-in-law tremblingly reaching out one finger to check under her nose, tickling her into a massive sneeze, she probably would have slept straight past noon!
“Mother.” Liu stood by the bed, her voice shaking.
Yue Jiuyue felt helpless. If the original owner’s memories weren’t sugarcoated, then she really hadn’t abused her daughter-in-law—she just had a harsh tone. So why was Liu so terrified of her?
The original owner had disliked Liu for two reasons. First, Liu was always timid and fearful, acting as if she were being bullied—just looking at her was infuriating.
Second, in the four years since marrying into the family, Liu had only given birth to a girl. And now, nearly three years had passed with no sign of another pregnancy. The original owner even began to suspect that Liu might be unable to have more children—which would mean the end of the line for her eldest son, Lin Chaodong.
So, the original owner’s dislike for Liu grew, and her attitude worsened.
And Liu, already timid by nature, only grew more frightened in the face of an increasingly fierce mother-in-law.
It was a vicious cycle.
Yue Jiuyue ignored Liu, who was practically trembling with fear, got up, and walked out of the inner room.
“Mother, are you alright?”
“Mother, you must be hungry, right? My sister-in-law has already made breakfast—we’re just waiting for you.”
“Mother, did Liu upset you again? She’s always been like that—moping around with that long face every day. Don’t even bother with her!”
In the main hall, as soon as the three sons saw Yue Jiuyue come out, they immediately rushed over with concerned greetings. Every single one of them acted like the most filial son in the world.
Yue Jiuyue’s face twitched involuntarily. Three grown sons, just like that—she’d really hit the jackpot!
Supported by her sons as she sat down in the head seat, Yue Jiuyue looked at the bowl of wild vegetable soup in front of her. Her face turned even greener than the soup itself.
Wild vegetable soup again! If she kept eating this, even her guts would turn green!
And on top of that—she hadn’t even brushed her teeth!
But then she remembered: this was a famine year. Not to mention how precious water was—even salt, normally a common household item, was a luxury. There was simply nothing suitable for brushing teeth.
But she couldn’t just eat without cleaning her mouth—she couldn’t stomach it.
Compromise: she’d just rinse her mouth.
Thinking this, Yue Jiuyue got up, went out to rinse her mouth, and came back to sit down in the main hall. She looked at the chipped bowl in front of her, touched her stomach—now aching with hunger—and finally said heavily:
“Eat.”
What else could she do? Was she really going to starve herself to death?
Yue Jiuyue finished breakfast as if swallowing poison, saw off the three-man team heading into the mountains to fetch water and dig for wild vegetables, then went out alone to explore—to see if she could find anything useful.
The system wasn’t responding, but she couldn’t just sit around waiting. Heaven had already given her a golden finger; surely she couldn’t just wait for Heaven to turn it on for her? If she really left it all up to fate, the system would still be booting up. She had to go out and actively look for a chance to activate it.
Yue Jiuyue didn’t head into the village. Instead, she left the house, turned a corner, and went straight up the mountain behind their home. There were plenty of wild things in the mountains—and since they weren’t anyone’s private property, she could help herself.
The moment she reached the foot of the mountain, a ding sounded in her head.
[Ding… Medicinal materials detected…]