She remembered it was around this time — someone had dug up ginseng in the back mountain and sold it for eighty taels of silver.
With a try-your-luck mentality, she headed up the mountain and began searching.
After circling the area without finding anything, she sat down to rest.
“Hiss—!”
She sucked in a sharp breath. When she lifted her hand, she saw her palm had been sliced by thorny brush, blood pooling on the ground.
She grabbed some dirt and pressed it against her palm to stop the bleeding.
Muttering to herself, she complained, “When you’re unlucky, even drinking water gets stuck between your teeth.”
Maybe she truly had no fortune-making fate.
The sky was growing late. She stood up, preparing to leave.
Suddenly, from the very spot where she had cut her hand, a flash of light flickered.
She quickly crouched down to look.
There was a jade pendant lying in the grass.
The moment she picked it up, a voice came from inside.
“Is this some new drama? Why does she look so much like me? Wait — why are all the words from my new novel’s chapter gone? Could this village-dressed woman be the heroine of my new book?”
The woman inside the jade pendant was muttering to herself.
Village-dressed?
Was she talking about me?
Shen Yunzhi asked cautiously, “Who are you?”
“You can hear me?” the voice inside the jade pendant responded.
Gathering her courage, Shen Yunzhi said, “I can hear you. Are you a ghost?”
When she was young, before her father passed away, their family had been relatively comfortable. He copied manuscripts at the bookstore, and she would sit nearby reading illustrated storybooks filled with tales of demons and spirits.
“How should I explain this… Just think of me as an immortal. You can’t see me, but I can see you. And I know about things on your side.”
Can’t see her?
Shen Yunzhi could faintly make out a silhouette inside the jade.
It was a woman.
She was dressed neatly — her clothing looked somewhat like a skirt, yet unlike anything from their time. It covered her body completely, and her hair was casually tied up.
She shook the jade pendant hard, trying to see more clearly.
“What’s going on? I can’t see anything now!” the woman inside exclaimed.
Shen Yunzhi stopped shaking it and continued talking instead.
“You really know about our world?”
“Of course. Your name is Shen Yunzhi. In your previous life, you committed countless wrongs. You’ve been reborn to atone.” The woman said this partly to test whether the scene on her phone was connected to her own unfinished novel plot.
Shen Yunzhi had never told anyone about her rebirth.
It was her greatest secret.
She believed the woman’s words halfway.
“Do you know what my fate will be next?”
She was only a peasant woman. Even with another chance at life, she didn’t know how to change her destiny or let her family live well.
So she treated this ability to converse through the jade pendant as a miracle.
“Your rebirth storyline hasn’t even been written yet…” the woman muttered, now certain this resembled the plot she had planned — except the direction was deviating from her original outline.
Shen Yunzhi felt completely confused.
“It’s ginseng!” the voice suddenly exclaimed. “You’re stepping on ginseng!”
Shen Yunzhi quickly lifted her foot and bent down.
Sure enough — it was a well-formed ginseng root.
She tore off a piece of cloth, wrapped it carefully, and hid it away.
With this ginseng, her financial strain would ease considerably.
It truly was a miracle. Heaven had sent help.
“Move the jade a little to the left. Let me see what that is,” the woman inside said again.
Shen Yunzhi tactfully moved the jade pendant closer.
“It’s false groundcherry!”
“What’s that?” Shen Yunzhi had never heard of it.
“It’s the raw ingredient for making ice jelly. What you make from it tastes amazing.”
“Can you teach me?” she asked eagerly.
“Of course. I’m actually a somewhat well-known food blogger. I just don’t have the ingredients right now. Once I buy some, I’ll teach you step by step.
If it tastes good, you could even set up a stall. Your era doesn’t have anything like this — you’ll definitely make a fortune.”
Shen Yunzhi didn’t understand what a food blogger was, but she understood the importance of making money.
A smile appeared on her face, hope filling her heart.
She gathered some false groundcherry and headed down the mountain, chatting idly along the way.
“Do you know my fate but just don’t want to tell me?”
“I know your original fate. You were reborn to atone for your sins. Originally, you were the heroine of this story. But you were robbed of your fortune by a transmigrated woman. In this life, you were still destined to die tragically.
But now… things seem to be changing.”
“What is transmigration?” Shen Yunzhi’s heart tightened.
“Well… imagine you suddenly traveled back a hundred years. That’s transmigration.”
She half understood.
“Does it have something to do with me?”
“It’s your husband’s future wife.”
“My husband isn’t dead?” In her previous life, she had heard nothing after news of his death.
“He didn’t die. He became a great general. Two years from now, he’ll return to find you. But your village will be destroyed by a sudden flood. Believing you all dead, he’ll build a memorial tomb for you and return to the capital — where he marries that transmigrated woman.”
Memories surfaced.
Two years later, there had been a flood. Her eldest son had been swept away, never heard from again.
She had fled with her family, only returning five years later.
The thought that her husband was alive filled her with joy — but the thought of him marrying another woman darkened her heart.
She and Su Jinhuai had grown up together, childhood sweethearts. The Su family had once been scholarly. He had joined the army to build a career.
At first he wrote letters. Then silence.
Finally, the only news she received was that he had died in battle, followed by the court’s compensation payment.
“What kind of person is that transmigrated woman?” she asked.
There was no answer.
Back home, her thoughts were consumed by the idea.
“Mother, you’re back.” Su Jingci had been waiting outside, worried she might be bullied by the Shen family.
“Are you feeling better?”
“The doctor came. It’s nothing serious.”
He hesitated.
“Is there something else?” she asked gently.
“The doctor said Grandmother’s illness needs ginseng as a medicinal catalyst…” he said quietly.
They couldn’t afford it. Even ordinary ginseng cost five taels.
In the past, his mother had only treated the Shen family as real relatives. She never cared about the Su children.
If treatment required money, she would rather watch someone grow seriously ill than pay.
This time, getting a few taels back from the Shen family was already unexpected.
He didn’t dare hope for more.
He only wanted to try — just in case she still had silver.
Shen Yunzhi took the ginseng she had picked up from her robe.
“Where did you get that?” His voice held shock — and a trace of joy.
“I found it while digging wild vegetables in the mountains. Take it.”
Su Jingci’s expression grew complicated.
In the past, even if the Su family found a stone, she would curse about it for days.
Now she not only helped retrieve money from the Shen family — she was giving away valuable ginseng.
What was she planning?
Was it for the remaining compensation money?