“Sister, sister, I got it!”
Shen Baisu ran all the way to the riverbank, happily claiming credit in front of her sister.
Ignoring the dirt on the stone, Shen Baizhi excitedly took the rock that rightfully belonged to her.
It was as if fate had been nudged back onto the correct track at this very moment. From now on, with this space and her memories from her previous life, she would lead her younger sister onto a completely different path.
Seeing her sister’s smug little face as she waited for praise, Shen Baizhi placed a hand on her head and patted it, coaxing her like a child.
“Susú is amazing!”
From the time Susu was born, Shen Baizhi had been the one looking after her most of the time. Back then, she herself was only eight years old, yet she had to care for a baby just a few months old every day. Later, when Susu grew a bit older, she basically followed her everywhere.
Their parents simply couldn’t protect their children. Their father was blindly filial, listening to everything their grandparents said. Their mother was love-brained, listening to everything their father said, and because she hadn’t given him a son, she felt guilty toward the Shen family and obeyed them even more unquestioningly.
And so, the two sisters became pitiful little creatures that anyone in the Shen family could bully. Only because Shen Baizhi was a bit older could she protect Susu somewhat.
Fortunately, Susu was born rebellious, with a fiery temperament. The Shen family’s suppression didn’t make her obedient—instead, it only pushed her further out of their control.
In her previous life, if it hadn’t been for saving her… Susu could actually have lived quite well…
“Sis, what are you spacing out for? Are you so happy you’re crying? It’s just an ugly rock—why were you all fighting over it like it was a treasure? Aren’t you disgusted by it? Hurry up and wash it in the river!”
While Shen Baizhi was lost in thought, Shen Baisu had already thrown the clothes in her hands into the shallow water by the riverbank and was now using a stick to swish them around.
“It’s nothing. I was just thinking that Susu has grown up and can help her sister now. I’m happy,” Shen Baizhi said with a sincere smile.
She squatted down by the river as well, rinsed the stone clean in the water, then helped Shen Baisu quickly wash the pile of dirty clothes.
Shen Baisu picked up two more black stones of similar size from the riverbank and placed them on top of the clothes. She then said to Shen Baizhi,
“Alright, sis. I won’t ask what happened at brother-in-law’s place. Either way, you must’ve been wronged. Didn’t you say you still had something important to do? Go on, hurry up.”
Worried that her sister would be scolded when she went back, Shen Baizhi felt a bit guilty.
“You’ll get yelled at again when you return…”
“You think I’m the kind of person who just waits to get scolded? Didn’t I lose her stupid stone? Aren’t these two almost the same? I picked them up from the same river—what difference is there? If she thinks that’s not enough, I’ll come back and find her more. As many as she wants!”
Since neither of them had a watch, they could only roughly judge the time by the sun. It should be almost time for the villagers to finish work.
There really was no time to waste. After saying a few more words, Shen Baizhi headed alone along the river toward the back mountain.
Shen Baisu, on the other hand, found a large rock by the river and sat down, watching her sister’s retreating figure from afar as her expression darkened.
She knew something bad must have happened to her sister. Otherwise, with her sister’s personality, she would never have run back to her parents’ home on the second day after getting married.
Though she didn’t know what the “important matter” her sister mentioned was, she trusted her. Since her sister had asked her to help delay Shen Baiwei as much as possible, she would just go back a bit later.
Without her cooking, that grandmother who hadn’t done housework in over ten years surely wouldn’t step into the kitchen. When everyone finished work, the priority would naturally be feeding the whole family first. As for Shen Baiwei wanting hot water for a bath—she could just wait!
Shen Baizhi followed the river upstream until she was sure no one was around. Only then did she excitedly take out the stone.
She used her fingernail to pry open the scab on her wrist. Fresh blood immediately welled up.
She quickly pressed the black stone against her wrist, watching with her own eyes as it absorbed her blood. The sight felt utterly magical.
Before she could even finish marveling at it, a flash of white light filled her vision. When it faded, she found herself in a completely different world.
This must be the “space” Shen Baiwei had mentioned—an entirely separate realm!
Before her was a courtyard with three wooden rooms, covering an area of about three mu. The buildings themselves took up roughly one mu, while in front of them were two mu of fertile land, one on each side.
There was also a well in the center of the courtyard.
Shen Baizhi only glanced around briefly before leaving the space.
After all, it was hers now—there would be plenty of time to explore it later. Right now, something else was more important.
She remembered Shen Baiwei saying that it was this very afternoon when she’d acted on a whim and wandered into the back mountain, only to find an injured man by the river beneath a cliff.
She had instinctively sensed that his identity was extraordinary, so she saved him.
Later, after he recovered, he took her to the capital. Shen Baiwei transformed overnight from a rural girl into the adopted daughter of an elite family in Beijing.
This time, if Shen Baizhi could save that man before Shen Baiwei did, wouldn’t that life-saving favor belong to her instead?
Right now, she was the one who needed that favor the most.
After all, in an era where you couldn’t go anywhere without a letter of introduction, even if she could deal with the Lin family, once she divorced and left them, she would only be able to return to her parents’ home.
And that home would probably turn around and sell her off again.
So she needed this life-saving favor to help her leave the Shen family and leave An County.
Although she also needed that man’s support, she instinctively resisted walking the same path Shen Baiwei had taken in her previous life.
She wasn’t that greedy. She only needed him to shelter her for a few years—once policies opened up, she’d be able to go anywhere.
Thinking about that man all the way, Shen Baizhi never slowed her pace, nearly jogging until she reached the spot beneath the cliff that Shen Baiwei had mentioned.
She stopped to catch her breath before looking around carefully. The river formed a small waterfall here, and beneath the cliff was a pool surrounded by a wide stretch of pebbles. Farther out grew wild grass up to her calves.
As far as the eye could see, there was no one in sight, which made Shen Baizhi anxious. Had something gone wrong?
She was about to walk toward the tall grass to check when she suddenly heard the sound of something heavy splashing into the water behind her.
She spun around in alarm and saw a huge splash erupt in the pool. At this time of day, such a scene…
Joy surged through Shen Baizhi’s heart. The “rabbit” she’d been waiting for had arrived!
She hurried back toward the pool. By the time she reached the water’s edge, the surface had mostly calmed. In the center of the pool, a figure bobbed up and down, struggling desperately to swim toward the shore.
Perhaps because the man was injured, even though he was using all his strength, his efforts were practically negligible in Shen Baizhi’s eyes.
She really couldn’t imagine how he’d managed to struggle to shore in her previous life. Shen Baiwei couldn’t swim—there was no way she could have gone into the water to save him.
After thinking for two seconds, Shen Baizhi let out a soft sigh. She might as well save him properly, all the way.
There was no need to stand on the shore and wait for him to struggle over. She’d go into the water herself and help him—before Shen Baiwei suddenly appeared and tried to snatch him away from her.