Back in her room, Lin Susu felt conflicted. That bowl of green bean syrup the matriarch had brought in the evening—laced with a sedative—she had caught it in her space.
The moment she smelled it, she could tell it was some kind of sleeping pill. When the matriarch had brought it to her, just one whiff was enough to know what was inside.
The question now was: should she actually drink it?
“Drink it! Play the whole act. Lin Xinyao got knocked out by herself and left at the chaotic house; she’ll definitely come looking tomorrow when she wakes up. Drinking the sedative will confuse people better.”
She tipped her head back and swallowed the sedative in one gulp, then, in a haze, remembered lying down on the bed.
When she regained full consciousness, she was surprised to find herself in a hospital. Asking the nurse who came to check on her, she finally learned what had happened.
After the Lin family left, the local street office had received the news that morning. They organized people to open the gates of the Lin estate and searched the entire household from top to bottom.
Lin Suyu (for convenience, henceforth referred to as Lin Suyu) was found in the servants’ quarters in the back yard. When the street office staff tried to wake her to ask about the Lin family, they realized something was wrong.
No matter how hard they tried, she wouldn’t wake up. Panicked, the staff lifted Lin Suyu and rushed her to the hospital.
“You’re awake? I’m a staff member from the street office. My surname is Liu. May I ask you a few questions regarding the Lin family?”
Notified by the nurse that Lin Suyu was awake, Officer Liu wanted to gather the necessary information before the end of the day.
“What… what happened?” Lin Suyu asked, panicked, as if she herself didn’t quite understand.
“The Lin family has left. Did you know about this?”
“Master Lin said they were relocating out of town.”
So, yes, she knew.
“What happened last night? Why were you sedated?”
“I think it was in the evening when I drank the green bean syrup the matriarch gave me. I don’t really know what happened after that.”
Officer Liu stared closely at Lin Suyu, watching her expressions carefully. But Lin Suyu wasn’t really twelve; she perfectly knew what to say, what not to say, and how to act.
“Officer Liu, Master Lin spoke to me before. He told me about my biological father and even transferred my father’s house into my name. Does that mean they don’t want me anymore?”
For a twelve-year-old girl, these questions were reasonable.
“This…” For the street office records, Lin Suyu was a Lin family daughter, and now suddenly there was a biological father?
Before they could continue, the police arrived, asking the same questions about the Lin family.
Selecting carefully, Lin Suyu cooperated obediently, revealing only what needed to be said. Finding no new leads, the police left her address in case a follow-up was required.
“Lin Suyu, have you seen Xinyao? Did you hide her?”
A man in his thirties barged in, firing questions at her. Noticing the police inside, he restrained the harshness on his face.
“Seen… yes. Last evening, the young lady and the matriarch came to give me green bean syrup. I… I drank it and fell asleep, and now I woke up here.”
Lin Suyu shrank back in fear but spoke clearly enough for everyone to hear.
“What about the young lady? Uncle, are you looking for her?”
Subtly, she alerted the police: the Lin family’s young lady, Lin Xinyao, was missing, not taken with the family.
Once the police focused on the right point, they verified their identities and took the matriarch’s brother for questioning.
“Officer Liu, I’m fine now. I want to be discharged. I’ll pay back the medical expenses the street office advanced.”
“That’s fine. I’ve asked the doctor. If you feel okay, you can leave. Wait, I’ll handle the paperwork for you.”
The street office treated Lin Suyu well. Officer Liu efficiently completed the discharge procedures and personally escorted her back to the Lin estate, since she needed to retrieve her personal items.
“Officer Liu, my household registration has changed. I won’t be living here anymore. I’m moving into the house left to me by my biological father. If you need to contact me, you can go to my new home.”
“Alright. If you have any trouble, you can contact the local street office. Take care of yourself. If something arises that you cannot solve, come to me; I’ll help if I can.”
Perhaps out of sympathy, or as part of his dedication as a street office staff, Officer Liu offered Lin Suyu words that were almost a promise.
Lin Suyu was surprised; she hadn’t expected this. People in this era were really divided—some were simple and admirable, others detestable to the extreme.
Leaving the Lin estate, Lin Suyu carried a small package. Officer Liu, concerned, waited to ensure she reached the house registered under her name.
“Officer Liu, here’s the payment for the hospital. Actually, I could have gone home myself. I don’t want to trouble you further.”
Although she politely declined escort, he insisted on seeing her safely to her new home and instructed her to go to the street office the next day to finalize her household registration and property records before leaving.
Through Officer Liu’s explanation, Lin Suyu learned that a new housing rental policy had started. If she didn’t notify the street office that the house was occupied, they might assign a tenant.
Before sunset, Lin Suyu examined her future home. Though a single house, it wasn’t large. The layout—one bedroom, one living room, one kitchen, one bathroom—was practical. The front yard had several dozen square meters for planting vegetables, while the backyard had a functional well.
The furniture was minimal but refined. In the room stood a kang bed; she could lie down immediately with bedding. Lin Suyu was very satisfied with the house and even let go of her previous resentment toward Master Lin, her convenient father.
Seeing night fall, she decided not to sleep outside. In the dark, she didn’t want to bother setting up her new home.
Slipping into her space, she glanced at the fields outside the yard. Oh! The seeds she had planted before had already sprouted to over a finger’s height.
If well water helped plants, what about spirit spring water? Lin Suyu was curious. Her space had accumulated nearly half a pot of spirit spring water, and she didn’t mind using a drop or two.
Following her impulse, she used her consciousness to draw the well water into a large jar she had brought from the Lin kitchen, added a drop of spirit spring water, and evenly watered the newly planted crops outside.
A miraculous sight unfolded: the finger-high plants grew at a visibly rapid rate. It was overpowering! The spirit spring water was incredibly effective; in no time, the vegetables and fruits she planted were fully matured.
Tender green onions, spinach, Chinese cabbage, baby cabbage… beans, cucumbers, pumpkins, loofahs crawling across the ground… eggplants and chili peppers hung full on the branches.
With spirit spring water in hand, Lin Suyu no longer had to worry about food. She was confident she could survive the upcoming three years of famine.
Most importantly, given her current physical condition, vegetables and fruits grown with this diluted spirit spring water would best aid her recovery. After all, taking care of a previously damaged foundation was crucial.