They arrived at the cowshed.
Xiao Guodong’s grandmother and mother had gone out to graze the cattle. Only Grandpa Xiao, Father Xiao, and the two other families who had also been sent down remained, cleaning cow dung and pig manure.
The moment they saw Hehua carrying Xiao Guodong inside, they were startled.
The main reason was that Xiao Guodong was lying motionless in Hehua’s arms with his little bottom sticking up, looking completely lifeless. Grandpa Xiao and Father Xiao thought something terrible had happened to him.
As parents, how could they not know that their child was being bullied by the village children?
But they were members of the “Stinking Ninth Category.” How could they possibly dare challenge the villagers? It would be like an egg striking a rock. Besides, those children had mostly just insulted him a few times and rarely laid hands on him, so all they could do was tell their own child to endure it.
What they had never expected was that the children could become so vicious.
In fact, it was a chain reaction.
Previously, those children would at most push Xiao Guodong over, refuse to play with him, steal the things he gathered, or take away his food.
To children, refusing to play with someone was already considered extremely cruel.
The reason they went this far today was because of the “falling into the water” game Wu Laidi had played the previous night.
It wasn’t that someone had inspired them.
They had simply learned it.
Watching the Xiao family rush toward them, Hehua immediately put away her smile.
Deep down, she sympathized with the “Stinking Ninth Category,” but in broad daylight she still had to maintain appearances. The villagers wouldn’t deliberately harm one of their own, but several of the educated youths at the production brigade’s youth station were not people to be taken lightly.
Xiao Guodong was only a child, so no one could make a political issue out of him.
But the adults were a different matter.
Keeping her tone cold, she briefly explained what had happened, placed the child into Father Xiao’s arms, shoved the ginger into his hands as well, then turned around and left.
Xiao Guodong tightly held the two fruit candies that Big Sister Hehua had secretly slipped into his hand.
Looking at her departing figure, he engraved her image firmly into his heart.
Grandpa Xiao and Father Xiao exchanged a glance.
Everyone in the brigade said Shen Hehua was an unruly troublemaker.
Yet this young woman hadn’t been afraid of getting implicated. She had saved their child and even sought justice for him.
Sure enough…
You couldn’t judge a person by appearances.
And you certainly couldn’t judge them just by rumors.
After all, who would have imagined that a family who had been close family friends for generations would report them for personal gain?
The father and son silently engraved this kindness into their hearts.
The young woman considered it nothing more than a small act and expected nothing in return.
But the Xiao family could never forget it.
For now, however…
Keeping their distance from her was the best way to repay her.
…
Hehua had no idea how the Xiao family felt.
Nor had she ever expected them to repay her.
Right now, all she could think about was getting home.
She needed to go home and discuss with Niu Niu how to use the energy she had gained from saving someone.
Good heavens!
A person who carried the nation’s destiny.
How much energy would that be?
We’re rich…
We’re rich…
We’re rich…
She happily skipped all the way home, her short little legs spinning like wheels.
After turning left, then right, she arrived home in less than fifteen minutes.
She shut the front gate, hurried into her room, closed the door tightly behind her, climbed onto the kang bed, and sat cross-legged.
[Niu Niu, how much energy did I get?]
[Eight hundred.]
[Eight hundred?!]
[That’s right. Eight hundred. After all, he carries the nation’s destiny. You’re also quite lucky yourself, though that’s not surprising. You’re one of the important supporting female characters in the storyline, so your own fortune isn’t weak. Naturally, extraordinary people will appear around you.
Eventually, your fortune would have been gathered by the vicious supporting female character, who would then use it to fight the female lead. That’s why so many villainesses seem like they’re about to disappear from the story, yet somehow survive and suddenly receive unexpected help.
The female lead’s fortune works the same way. Especially in tragic romance stories, as they defeat villains and gain support from their allies, their fortune keeps growing stronger.
It’s different from those stories where the heroine is blessed with overwhelming luck from the very beginning. In those worlds, most of the fortune is concentrated on the protagonist right from the start.]
Hehua’s eyes lit up.
It felt like she had just figured something out.
[Niu Niu… is this the way to deal with the other characters in the story? The vicious supporting female character… and even the male and female leads?]
Niu Niu didn’t answer.
But sometimes…
Silence was the best answer.
Hehua revealed her little white teeth and grinned.
[Hehehe… Thank you, Niu Niu.]
She now knew exactly how she should deal with the vicious supporting female character after she reached the military.
As for the male and female leads…
Hopefully they wouldn’t interfere.
In her previous life, while investigating the truth behind her second sister-in-law’s death along with her unborn twins, she had already suspected that the female lead had secretly orchestrated the vicious supporting female character’s marriage to her second brother.
But she had never found any concrete evidence.
The female lead had always manipulated people through carefully chosen words.
She had only discovered the clues herself by piecing together fragments from an argument with that woman.
Unfortunately…
She had died too suddenly.
There had still been many unanswered questions.
Niu Niu muttered quietly,
[Don’t thank me. I didn’t say anything.]
Hehua winked exaggeratedly, giving it a mischievous I understand. I understand. I won’t say anything.
Niu Niu: “…”
That’s painful to look at.
[Enough with the winking. Here’s how I’ve planned to use the eight hundred energy points.
Two hundred points will buy a Marrow Cleansing Pill to improve your physique and remove toxins from your body.
One hundred points will buy a Strength Pill, just like we agreed earlier.
Three hundred points will buy an Intelligence Awakening Pill to increase your comprehension, develop your brain, and improve your aptitude.
The remaining two hundred points will be kept in reserve for whatever you choose to study in the Learning Room later, as well as our daily needs, such as scouting and investigation.]
It practically fed this foolproof tutorial directly into the silly girl’s mouth.
Niu Niu only hoped the Intelligence Awakening Pill would improve the right part of her brain.
They were tied together now, so Hehua wasn’t worried that Niu Niu would cheat her.
She answered decisively.
[Okay. We’ll do it your way.]
Niu Niu had always been incredibly efficient.
Since no one else was home, they decided to do it immediately.
It opened the system shop and quickly completed the purchase.
Hehua watched as the interface flashed repeatedly before finally displaying four large words:
Purchase Successful.
Three white jade bottles, each about half the size of her palm, floated on the screen.
Niu Niu sounded a little excited.
The child in its care was finally about to take her first step toward becoming stronger.
[Hehua, just reach out and take them. The moment you hold one, it will materialize. Use the Marrow Cleansing Pill first.
You’ll need to prepare bathwater. Although this is only a mortal-grade pill, its effects on ordinary people are equivalent to what spiritual pills do for cultivators.
Compared to body-tempering pills, its effects are much gentler. While cleansing your bones and improving your constitution, it will also expel toxins and impurities from your body.
It will smell terrible, so you’ll need a bath afterward.
After taking the Marrow Cleansing Pill, take the other two pills. That will allow their effects to work much better—especially the Strength Pill.]
Fortunately, the weather was already warm.
She didn’t need to boil much hot water to prepare several tubs for bathing.
Niu Niu always acted quickly.
As for Hehua…
Her overwhelming desire for revenge and to escape the story’s predetermined fate made her even more eager to improve herself.
She immediately got to work.
After spending some time preparing everything for her bath, she followed Niu Niu’s instructions.
Only after climbing into the wooden bathtub did she materialize the Marrow Cleansing Pill.
She swallowed it, tossed the empty bottle directly into the system storage space, then braced herself for the agonizing pain of body cleansing.
She had mentally prepared herself by comparing it to the pain of falling off a cliff in her previous life.
As a result…
Before she even felt any pain…
She was already covered in filth and foul-smelling impurities.
Before it had even truly begun…
It was over.
Hehua hurriedly scrubbed herself clean.
She felt that if she wasn’t going to die from the pain…
She might die from the smell instead.
After washing herself once, she put her old clothes back on without changing into clean ones and prepared to replace the bathwater.
Watching Hehua pick up a small washbasin to scoop out the water bit by bit, Niu Niu rubbed its forehead.
[Hehua… has it occurred to you that after taking the Strength Pill, you can simply carry the entire bathtub outside and dump the water? You don’t need to go through all this trouble.]
Hehua: “…”
Right…
She looked at the little washbasin in her hand.
It suddenly made her look…
Not very smart.
She calmly set it down.
No one else was here anyway.
Niu Niu didn’t count.
It wasn’t a person.
Feeling quite clever, she reached out and grabbed the Strength Pill, causing it to materialize.
See?
She was smart.
She tossed the entire pill into her mouth in one gulp, then coolly flicked the empty bottle into the system backpack.
Niu Niu: “…”
That ridiculous burden of insisting she wasn’t stupid…
The pill’s effects were incredible.
It melted the instant it entered her mouth.
Its medicinal power rapidly spread through every muscle and bone in her body.
Hehua felt overflowing with strength.
Even her biceps and triceps seemed to be strutting proudly, swaggering around as arrogantly as their owner, completely out of control and showing off.
Grabbing the edge of the bathtub with one hand, Hehua roared heroically,
“Up!”
Pop!