Su Nianqiu slept soundly on the family kang for a full day and night.
During this time, Li Xiulan came in to check on her seven or eight times, each time tiptoeing to feel her forehead and tuck in the quilt corners, never forgetting to refill the enamel mug in the corner of the kang with hot water before leaving.
Su Jianguo, meanwhile, moved a small stool to sit at the entrance of the main room, puffing on his long-stemmed pipe one after another, glaring coldly at anyone who came to visit.
The entire Su family courtyard was quiet.
Su Nianqiu wasn’t actually asleep the entire time.
She spent most of it inside the Spatial Dimension.
The temperature of the Spirit Spring Water was just right, and soaking in it felt as comfortable as being in a hot spring. She simply took off her shoes and dipped her feet into the shallow pool near the spring’s source, soaking her feet while studying the specific functions of this Spatial Dimension.
The Spatial Dimension wasn’t large, estimated to be only about two or three acres, but it made up for it with its comprehensive features.
Inside the bamboo hut were simple stone tables and stools, and behind it was a small patch of black soil, loose and fertile, so rich it felt oily to the touch. Even better, wherever the Spirit Spring Water flowed, the grass was noticeably greener than elsewhere, and the air was filled with a sweet, refreshing scent.
She tried drinking several handfuls of Spirit Spring Water.
With each sip, her body felt clearer and more revitalized. The weakness left by the original host’s long-term malnutrition and the immense shock she had suffered was visibly fading away.
By the early morning of the second day, when Su Nianqiu emerged from the Spatial Dimension and opened her eyes, the first thing she did was startle herself with her own hands.
White.
Like peeled eggs, smooth and glowing.
She sat up abruptly on the kang and reached for the palm-sized mirror on the windowsill.
The face in the mirror left her stunned for a full three seconds.
The original host had always had good features—delicate and refined, considered top-tier in the village. But before, due to fear, vomiting, and jumping into the river, she had looked dull and dusty, beautiful but heartbreaking to see.
Now, it was different.
After soaking in the Spirit Spring Water all night, that layer of dullness had completely faded away, revealing the true beauty underneath. Her skin was so fine that not a single pore was visible, her eyes carried a naturally cool yet captivating charm, and her lips were naturally a soft pink. Even without makeup, she could outshine every girl in the surrounding villages.
This face, even in the fashion circles of her previous life, was good enough to debut directly.
Su Nianqiu put down the mirror, feeling extremely pleased.
She gently touched her abdomen and whispered, “Little one, let’s work hard together.”
The door creaked open as Li Xiulan walked in carrying a bowl of millet porridge, muttering, “Qiu’er, have some porridge to fill your stomach…”
Halfway through her sentence, she stopped.
Li Xiulan nearly dropped the bowl in her hands.
Her eyes widened as she stared intently at her daughter on the kang, her mouth hanging open for a long moment.
“Qiu… Qiu’er?”
“Mom, what’s wrong?” Su Nianqiu blinked innocently.
“Your face… what happened to your skin?” Li Xiulan set down the bowl and hurried over, reaching out to touch her daughter’s cheek. “Yesterday, your complexion was so poor, but today… it’s like you’ve become a different person?”
Su Nianqiu had already prepared an explanation: “Maybe it’s because I slept well, and my energy and blood have returned. Mom, didn’t you make me chicken soup? It must have helped.”
Li Xiulan was half-convinced, but seeing her daughter’s improved complexion, she felt nothing but joy.
“Alright, alright, as long as your complexion looks good! Hurry up and eat the porridge! You’re eating for two now, so you mustn’t go hungry.”
Su Nianqiu took the bowl and took a sip—it was watery and thin, with barely any rice grains to be seen.
Life these days was truly tough.
She thought to herself that once she figured out the workings of the Spatial Dimension, she would have to quickly improve her diet. Now that she was pregnant, her health came first.
After finishing breakfast, Su Nianqiu suggested going out into the yard to bask in the sun.
Li Xiulan quickly helped her outside, brought a small stool, and even placed a cotton cushion on it, treating her daughter as if she were a porcelain doll.
As soon as Su Jianguo saw his daughter come out, he stood up without even putting down his pipe and carefully looked her over.
After looking, this burly man’s eyes actually reddened.
“Good… it’s good that you’re better,” he turned away, his voice hoarse.
Su Nianqiu felt a warmth in her heart, and her nose tingled slightly.
In her previous life, she had no father or mother, but in this life, heaven had made up for it.
She sat quietly in the yard, basking in the sun. The sunlight fell on her fair face, making her seem to glow.
Around this time, the women in the village began heading out to work. Although the Su family’s yard gate was closed, the wall wasn’t high, and anyone passing by could easily see what was happening inside by looking up.
The first to pass by was Aunt Zhang from next door. She had been walking with her head down but caught a glimpse of a pale figure in the yard out of the corner of her eye. She instinctively turned to look—
And then she couldn’t move.
“Su… Su Nianqiu?” Aunt Zhang rubbed her eyes, thinking her old eyes were playing tricks on her.
Su Nianqiu, who had been covered in dirt and half-dead when she was pulled from the river just two days ago, was now sitting in the yard, as fair as a fairy who had stepped out of a painting?
Had her face been soaked open by the river water? Or had she shed a layer of skin?
Aunt Zhang clung to the wall and stared for a long time, until Li Xiulan’s sharp “What are you looking at?” chased her away.
But the news still spread.
By mid-morning, the news that “Su Nianqiu became even prettier after jumping into the river” had spread like wildfire throughout the entire Red Flag Brigade.
More and more people began “passing by” outside the Su family’s yard wall, craning their necks to look inside.
A few girls who had been on decent terms with the original host shouted over the wall, “Sister Nianqiu, what did you use on your face? How did you get so fair?”
Su Nianqiu smiled without answering.
What did I use? Soaked in Spirit Spring Water. Want a bottle?
By the afternoon, even people from neighboring villages had heard about it. Some busybodies came specifically to take a look and went back telling everyone, “That Su family girl who jumped into the river—I’ve lived forty years and never seen anyone so pretty. She looks like a New Year painting doll.”
The most sour were the village’s biggest gossips, who had previously cursed her the loudest.
Seeing Su Nianqiu looking like this now, they were so jealous their features seemed to twist out of place.
They had been quick to call her a “tramp” before, but now, seeing that not only was she fine but even prettier than before, the feeling in their hearts was like swallowing a fly.
The most affected was Wang Chunhua.
She took a distant look at Su Nianqiu, then went home and stared at her own sallow face in the bronze mirror for a long time. In a fit of anger, she threw the mirror to the ground.
“She’s just a tramp! What’s so pretty about her? No matter how pretty she is, she’s still a widow-to-be with a big belly!”
Her husband shrank in the corner, not daring to make a sound.
Su Nianqiu knew nothing about these matters, nor did she care.
Her mind was now filled with only one thing—how to use the Spatial Dimension to make money, how to raise the child in her belly well, and how to make a big splash when the college entrance exams resumed next year.
At night, after Su Jianguo and Li Xiulan had fallen asleep, Su Nianqiu lay on the kang bed, her consciousness sinking once again into the Spatial Dimension.
The Spirit Spring still bubbled with water, and the bamboo house remained quiet.
She crouched by the spring, cupping water in her hands and drinking it sip by sip.
With each sip, a warm current surged through her body, as if cleansing the impurities from her internal organs. She could clearly feel her strength returning, her spirits lifting, and even the various discomforts of pregnancy easing.
Su Nianqiu wiped her mouth, stood up, and turned her gaze to the black soil behind the bamboo house.
Tomorrow, she would need to take stock of what assets this Spatial Dimension truly held.
Filled with anticipation, she withdrew from the Spatial Dimension and fell into a deep sleep.
Outside the window, the moonlight flowed like water.
In a distant military camp in the northwest, a man wrapped in layers of gauze murmured once again in his unconscious state.
His lips were dry and cracked, covered in blood scabs, but the duty military doctor heard the indistinct words clearly—
“…Don’t be afraid.”