Wang Fengqin rushed forward and pinned down the frenzied Zhang Duo. She stared at Ye Jin coldly and sinisterly for a long time.
Ye Jin was not afraid at all. Instead, she smiled faintly.
“My mother’s thing somehow ended up on my sister. I suppose she didn’t know how important this jade pendant was to me, so she just picked it up casually.”
Ye Jin was very skilled with words. Zhang Duo trembled all over in anger. Because of her emotional agitation, the wound on her eye began bleeding uncontrollably again. Waves of blood mist rose up, and the white gauze was quickly soaked through, turning completely red.
“Oh my, sister’s eye is bleeding so much. Mom, you should hurry and take her to the clinic!”
Ye Jin put away the jade pendant and said in feigned surprise.
Wang Fengqin held Zhang Duo’s arms tightly, desperately trying to stop her from lunging at Ye Jin again.
“Your sister’s eye is in such bad condition. I can’t support her alone. Come with me and take her to the clinic.”
“Yesterday’s experience was too terrifying. I don’t dare go to the clinic now.”
Ye Jin exaggeratedly shivered, her face instantly turning pale.
Zhang Duo’s condition was urgent. Wang Fengqin had no choice but to take her alone.
The mother and daughter left. Before leaving, Wang Fengqin carefully locked the room door.
Ye Jin returned to her own room, the storage room that had only recently been cleaned up. It was wedged in a corner, dimly lit, with moldy cracked walls and cobwebs hanging from the beams.
She bolted the door. In this dangerous and hostile household, she finally felt a bit of safety.
She took out the jade pendant from her chest. It was translucent and finely textured. Though shaped like a cloud, it was actually formed by a coiled dragon.
At the tail end was a delicate clasp. It was subtle, meaning the pendant could be worn alone, but it likely also had another half.
Ye Jin slowly rubbed it, its smooth oily texture making it increasingly hard to let go.
After her fight with Wang Fengqin and Zhang Duo, a long cut had appeared on her palm. In a place she could not see, the blood on her hand was continuously being absorbed.
After absorbing the blood, the dragon’s eye seemed to light up for a moment. A faint red glow appeared in the dark room, then quickly faded.
Before Ye Jin could react, a sudden black hole appeared and sucked her in.
“Where is this?”
The surroundings were unfamiliar. Moist black soil stretched beneath her feet, and at the center of the land stood an ancient well emitting white mist.
She walked to the well and scooped up a handful of clear spring water to drink. It was cool and sweet, and she immediately felt refreshed.
She moved her body and realized her strength seemed to have increased.
She had been bullied by her stepmother’s family not only because of her soft personality, but also because she was a premature baby who had been weak and sickly since childhood.
Grandma had once told her she grew up surrounded by medicine. She caught colds and fevers constantly, and various small bumps would appear on her skin, sometimes even turning into abscesses.
At her worst, her body was covered in bumps and clumps of hair would fall out. Her father treated her like a plague.
It was Grandma who took her to the clinic, then to hospitals in the county town, trying many folk remedies. After much treatment and medication, she eventually improved by chance.
Even so, it was only temporary. Every October, her hair would fall out in patches again, and small white spots would appear all over her body.
At that time, she looked miserable beyond recognition. She stayed in her room for a month without going outside.
Because of her condition, Ye Jin had never worked in the fields. Wang Fengqin often used this to spread rumors in the village that she was lazy.
Although she did not do farm work, she was very skilled at housework, and she handled all domestic chores in the home.
She did not understand farming, but looking at the black soil beneath her feet, she felt it was fertile and thought it would be nice to grow something.
So she acted immediately. She took out two packets of seeds from home, one radish and one watermelon.
The black soil was soft and moist. She could dig into it with her hands, but she was lazy and simply scattered the seeds on the ground.
To her surprise, the seeds were instantly absorbed into the soil the moment they landed, and green sprouts quickly emerged.
The sprouts grew visibly, forming lush green radish seedlings.
After a while, the growth stopped. Ye Jin scooped a ladle of well water and poured it over them.
The watered radish patch suddenly cracked open, and a huge radish pushed out from the soil with its green leaves still attached.
Ye Jin pulled it out lightly and weighed it. It was at least seven to eight jin.
The watermelon vines stretched out, twisting forward as if they had legs. Soon they bloomed small yellow flowers. After the flowers withered, a tiny watermelon formed.
She poured another scoop of water on it, and the watermelon began expanding like a balloon, growing rapidly before her eyes.
In just a few minutes, a watermelon weighing over twenty jin appeared.
Ye Jin tapped it. It was crisp and bounced slightly. She struck it harder, and it cracked open with a sharp sound.
A long crack spread across it until it split into two halves, revealing bright red flesh dotted with immature white seeds. The sweet fragrance filled the air.
By noon, she was already starving.
She picked up half a watermelon and took a bite.
The juice was sweet and refreshing, filling her mouth with a light fragrance.
After finishing half the watermelon in one go, she rubbed her stomach in satisfaction.
These years of hunger and poor health had given her severe stomach issues and a weak constitution.
But after drinking the well water and eating the watermelon, she felt much better. Could it be that both the watermelon and the well water had healing effects?
Thinking of this, Ye Jin grabbed a ladle and kept watering the soil.
One packet of radish seeds contained about one hundred seeds. All of them grew into radishes, each weighing seven to eight jin, totaling over seven to eight hundred jin.
The watermelon seeds were leftovers from watermelons she had eaten years ago, only about twenty or so in total.
Strangely, each vine produced only one watermelon, but all of them matured.
Each watermelon weighed twenty to thirty jin, adding up to four to five hundred jin in total.
It was winter now, so watermelons could not be sold, but radishes were in high demand during winter.
Ye Jin’s eyes lit up. The reason she was controlled by others was partly because of her weak body, but also because she had no money. With nothing to her name, she was easily manipulated.
With a thought, Ye Jin returned to her room. Lying on the hard bed, her mind raced quickly, and a good idea soon formed.