Early on the third morning, Su Nianqiu woke up.
She wasn’t awakened by roosters—she was awakened by hunger.
The most direct effect of pregnancy was this: hunger came quickly. Last night’s bowl of porridge mixed with sweet potatoes would have barely counted as a meal in the past, but now it couldn’t last until dawn before her stomach began protesting.
She turned over, glanced at the dimly lit sky outside the window, and confirmed that Su Jianguo and Li Xiulan hadn’t yet gotten up. Immediately closing her eyes, she focused her consciousness and slipped into the Spatial Dimension.
The Spirit Spring was bubbling as usual.
Su Nianqiu first crouched down and drank three large handfuls of the spring water. A warm feeling spread through her stomach, and most of the hunger faded away.
Then she stood up, clapped her hands, and got down to business.
Taking stock of her assets.
She had already seen the bamboo house. The first floor was empty, with only a stone table and two stone stools—nothing else.
She walked around to the back of the bamboo house and crouched down to examine the patch of black soil. The plot was about half an acre in size. When she turned it over, it was moist and soft. Though she had studied design, she still had basic common sense—soil like this could grow anything.
But the problem was: where were the seeds?
She searched every nook and cranny of the Spatial Dimension.
There was a hidden compartment on the second floor of the bamboo house. When she pushed it open, Su Nianqiu’s eyes lit up.
Inside, several items were neatly arranged:
A coarse cloth sack. Opening it, she found half a bag of unhulled rice seeds.
Three shriveled ginseng roots, dark and yellowish in color, looking quite old.
A palm-sized clay jar. Pulling out the stopper and sniffing it—medicinal wine, and good wine at that, so pungent it made her sneeze.
At the very bottom, pressed beneath everything, was a roll of yellowed Silk Scroll.
Su Nianqiu unrolled the Silk Scroll. It was covered in tiny traditional Chinese characters written in clerical script, recording some methods for using the Spirit Spring: crops watered with Spirit Spring Water would have their growth cycle shortened to one-third of the normal time; medicinal herbs soaked in Spirit Spring Water would have their efficacy doubled; long-term consumption of Spirit Spring Water could strengthen the body and prolong life.
One-third of the growth cycle.
Su Nianqiu’s eyes sparkled.
Outside, it was early July, the season for transplanting rice seedlings. If she grew rice in the Spatial Dimension, what would normally take four to five months to harvest outside could be done in just one and a half months inside!
Not just rice.
If she could get her hands on vegetable seeds, or even medicinal herb seeds, the Spatial Dimension would become a small gold mine!
She picked up the three ginseng roots again for a closer look.
Though shriveled, Su Nianqiu had dealt with traditional Chinese medicine families often in her previous life while making high-end qipao dresses. She could tell that these roots were at least thirty years old.
Thirty-year-old ginseng roots weren’t worth much outside—at most, they’d sell for three to five yuan. But if she soaked them in Spirit Spring Water to double their efficacy, their quality and apparent age could approach fifty years or even higher.
Fifty-year-old wild ginseng roots, in this era—
That was hard currency.
On the black market, a decent ginseng root was worth at least twenty to thirty yuan.
Su Nianqiu took a deep breath, suppressing her excitement, and began listing her plans in her mind.
Step One: Soak the ginseng roots in Spirit Spring Water to enhance their quality and efficacy.
Step Two: Find a way to obtain various vegetable and grain seeds, clear the land in the Spatial Dimension, and start farming to solve the family’s food problem.
Step Three: Once the ginseng is properly nurtured, find an opportunity to test the waters at the town’s black market, exchanging it for money and various ration coupons.
Step Four: With startup capital, she could buy more seeds and supplies, creating a sustainable cycle.
As for long-term plans—
Su Nianqiu carefully rolled up the silk scroll and returned it to its hidden compartment, a faint smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
The college entrance examination would be reinstated next year.
At present, very few people in the entire country knew about this. But she did.
Not only would she take the exam, but she would also aim for the top score. She would walk out of this wretched village with dignity, carrying the child in her womb.
In her previous life, she had been an orphan, relying on scholarships and part-time jobs to complete her studies in design, fighting her way to become a top-tier designer. In this life, with the help of her Golden Finger, she refused to believe she couldn’t turn her fate around.
Su Nianqiu first soaked three ginseng roots in a clay jar filled with Spirit Spring Water and placed it in a hidden compartment inside the bamboo house.
Then, she dug around in the soil next to the vegetable patch in her Spatial Dimension and unexpectedly unearthed a few wild vegetable seeds. She wasn’t sure if they were naturally present in the Spatial Dimension, but without hesitation, she picked them up. Following the method described in the silk scroll, she soaked them in Spirit Spring Water before planting them in the black soil.
After finishing these tasks, she exited the Spatial Dimension. Outside, the sky was already bright. She got up from the kang and began folding the bedding.
Li Xiulan pushed the door open and entered. Seeing her daughter deftly dressing herself and tidying the bedding, she was both surprised and delighted.
“Qiu’er, are you feeling better?”
“Much better, Mom,” Su Nianqiu replied with a smile. “I’m hungry.”
“Ah! I’ll go make noodles right away. Yesterday, your father went to the neighboring village and traded for two jin of white flour. I’ll roll out the dough for you!”
White flour. In these times, it was a precious commodity, something ordinary families only indulged in during the New Year. For Su Jianguo to have managed to get two jin of white flour, he must have swallowed his pride and begged someone for it.
Su Nianqiu felt a mix of heartache and warmth.
She followed Li Xiulan to the kitchen.
While her mother was busy kneading the dough and turned to fetch a ladle of water, Su Nianqiu quietly focused her consciousness into the Spatial Dimension. Using her fingertip, she drew out a small half-bowl of clear Spirit Spring Water and discreetly added it to the dough basin and the iron pot simmering with broth nearby.
The family truly had little in the way of side dishes. Li Xiulan could only go to the back of the house and pluck a small handful of withered green onion leaves from the base of the wall. She chopped them finely and tossed them into the pot to stir-fry for flavor.
“Qiu’er, we don’t have much in the house. I’m sorry you have to make do with plain noodles,” Li Xiulan sighed, placing a large bowl of steaming clear broth noodles on the table.
“It’s no trouble at all. White flour is a luxury,” Su Nianqiu replied with a smile. She picked up a strand of noodles with her chopsticks and took a bite, her eyes immediately lighting up.
The noodles, infused with Spirit Spring Water, were exceptionally chewy and smooth, carrying an indescribable sweetness and freshness. Even the withered green onion leaves had been revitalized, releasing a rich, savory aroma. Most importantly, after finishing the bowl of hot noodles, her stomach felt comfortably warm. The weakness and fatigue brought on by her pregnancy vanished entirely, replaced by a surge of energy throughout her body.
“Oh, this white flour really is different. Why does it smell so fragrant?” Li Xiulan murmured in surprise as she took a sip of the broth from her own bowl. “Even my old rheumatism seems less achy.”
“Yes, the white flour Dad worked so hard to get must be special,” Su Nianqiu agreed calmly, without revealing anything.
Li Xiulan didn’t press further, simply attributing it to the nourishing quality of good grain. She watched her daughter eat heartily, her heart filled with joy.
Su Nianqiu quietly calculated in her mind. Although the Spirit Spring Water could strengthen the body and enhance the flavor of food, it couldn’t magically conjure vegetables and meat out of thin air. Relying solely on water wouldn’t provide the comprehensive nutrition her unborn child needed.
She still needed to obtain seeds as soon as possible to cultivate the land in her Spatial Dimension and figure out a safe way to bring things out from it.
After breakfast, Su Jianguo went out to work. Before leaving, he specifically instructed Li Xiulan, “Don’t open the door for anyone. Let Qiu’er rest well at home.”
Li Xiulan nodded repeatedly.
Su Nianqiu sat on the kang bed, took out an old piece of paper she had found in the bamboo house inside the Spatial Dimension, and began writing and sketching on it with a pencil stub.
She was making a list.
Current resources in the Spatial Dimension: half a bag of rice seeds, three ginseng roots soaking in Spirit Spring Water, a jar of medicinal wine, some wild vegetable seeds (already planted), and an unlimited supply of Spirit Spring Water.
Urgent external issues to resolve:
First, nutrition. The first three months of pregnancy are critical. Protein and vitamins are essential.
Second, money. In these times, everything requires ration coupons. Having money alone isn’t enough—you also need grain coupons, cloth coupons, and meat coupons.
Third, identity. She was currently labeled as “pregnant before marriage,” and stepping outside would invite scorn from everyone. She needed to find a way to establish herself, at least to stop the villagers from gossiping.
Fourth, the college entrance exam. There was still over a year before the exam system was reinstated. She needed to find textbooks and start reviewing.
Su Nianqiu read the list three times and felt she had a clear plan.
The top priority was to nurture the ginseng properly and then exchange it for money at the town’s black market. With the first bucket of gold, she could gradually tackle the other issues.
As she was planning, a series of light footsteps suddenly sounded outside the courtyard gate, followed by a soft, Beijing-accented female voice:
“Is Auntie home? I heard Sister Nianqiu was sick, so I came specifically to see her.”
Su Nianqiu’s hand holding the pencil paused.
She recognized this voice.
No, to be precise, the original owner’s memories remembered this voice clearly.
Chen Xiaoman, the female educated youth in the village.
In the original owner’s memories, Chen Xiaoman appeared to be a “good sister” on the surface but had secretly stirred up trouble behind her back. Zhao Dazhuang’s “chance encounter” with the original owner on the day she went to town for medical treatment was undoubtedly connected to this “good sister’s” tip-off.
And in the original plot, Chen Xiaoman was the typical “green tea educated youth” character—delicate-looking, soft-spoken, seemingly harmless, but with more twists and turns in her mind than a nine-linked ring puzzle.
Su Nianqiu put down the pencil, a cold smile curling at the corner of her mouth.
Perfect timing. It was time to settle some scores.