Su Qingran frowned tightly as she watched the jade bracelet absorbing her blood. The scene before her was somewhat strange—when Qiao Manxue had activated the jade bracelet, she had only used a single drop of blood. Why did she need so much?
Before she could ponder further, her vision blurred, and the next second, she found herself in a bright, spacious area.
In front of her stood a three-story Western-style house, with a small spring bubbling outside. Surrounding the house was a patch of black soil.
Suddenly, Su Qingran felt a heaviness in her head, and a flood of information was thrust into her mind. Simultaneously, the lustrous glow of the jade bracelet in her hand faded, turning it into an ordinary jade bracelet.
At the center of her collarbone, an auspicious cloud pattern appeared.
It turned out this space was named “Auspicious Cloud” and had been passed down through generations of the Su family ancestors. However, no one had ever been able to fully unlock it.
The space was sentient. Ordinary people could use blood to unlock its storage function, but only a chosen descendant of the Su family could completely activate the space.
Once fully unlocked, the space’s functions were limitless. Storage was just the most basic feature; not only could living beings enter, but the warehouse also had a preservation function, making it incredibly powerful.
Moreover, once the space was fully activated, no one could take it away. In the future, it could be passed down to descendants bearing the cloud mark birthmark, including everything inside the space. However, the appearance of the cloud mark was random.
Although she couldn’t control which child would bear the cloud mark, she had the right to choose whether to pass it on. If she decided not to, the space would vanish upon her death.
After absorbing all this information, Su Qingran felt a surge of excitement and confidence. With the space fully unlocked, she no longer had to worry about it being stolen.
In her previous life, Qiao Manxue hadn’t possessed the ability to fully unlock the space. She had worn the jade bracelet constantly, and after gaining fame, it attracted the attention of many scheming individuals. Quite a few people noticed the bracelet on her wrist.
This had led to several life-threatening incidents.
Now that the jade bracelet had transformed into a cloud mark and merged with her, she had no such worries. She might even be able to use this to cause some trouble for Qiao Manxue…
The next day, Su Qingran woke up early.
After a quick wash, she hurried to the storage room and found the various seeds left by Zhao Lanzhi—radishes, cabbage, cucumbers…, as well as grains like mung beans and soybeans.
The rice was still in the fields and hadn’t been harvested yet; here, there were only seeds for wheat, sorghum, and corn. To avoid arousing Zhao Lanzhi’s suspicion, she took only a small amount of each.
After gathering the seeds, she restored the storage room to its original state.
Inside the space, Su Qingran used her mental control to till all the black soil. After planting the seeds, she irrigated them one by one with spiritual spring water.
Feeling the vibrant life within the space, her mood lifted considerably.
After breakfast, she slung a basket over her back and headed out.
Even now, when she went out, people still gossiped about her—mostly about how she had been rescued and held by a man, losing her purity and such.
But having lived a second life, she paid no mind to such idle chatter.
She simply ignored what others said. If anyone was foolish enough to provoke her directly, they shouldn’t blame her for not holding back!
Su Family Village had two rivers, and the villagers had given them names: the river at the village entrance was called Qing River, and the one at the village end was called Cui River.
The village outskirts were desolate and sparsely populated, so most people avoided going there. Everyone usually washed clothes and vegetables in the Qing River, only heading to the Cui River during the year-end fish harvesting season.
After walking along the Qing River for a while, one could see several hillsides covered with vast patches of grass, including various types of pigweed. Many children and elderly folks came here to gather pigweed.
A bit further up the hillside stood a mountain.
This mountain was called Crouching Chicken Mountain because its silhouette from a distance resembled a hen sitting on eggs. It was said that deep in the mountains lived tigers—some villagers had even heard their roars before. Thus, the people of Su Family Village never ventured deep into the mountains. When gathering mushrooms, digging for wild vegetables, or hunting, they only lingered around the foothills. Only large groups of brave individuals would occasionally explore the mountainside.
Of course, with so many people frequenting the foothills, prey was scarcely seen.
As Su Qingran arrived at the foot of Crouching Chicken Mountain, she noticed many people bent over gathering pigweed. Some children, tired from cutting grass, sat directly on the ground, while others dug up Sweet Roots to chew on.
These Sweet Roots released sweet juice when chewed, making them rare and delightful treats for children—unexpected little joys. Su Qingran herself had scavenged for them as a child, celebrating each find for days.
“You’re talking nonsense! Say that again if you dare!”
“Fine! Your aunt is promiscuous, involved with other men! That’s why Brother Lu called off the engagement!”
“You’re lying! I’ll smash your mouth!”
Su Qingran had just reached the hillside when she saw Dahu and Erhu fighting with several other children. Being younger, the two brothers were at a disadvantage.
“Dahu! Erhu!”
The other children froze in fear upon seeing Su Qingran, guiltily recalling their earlier slander.
“Aunt!”
Younger Erhu, scratched and bruised, burst into tears. “Aunt, wu wu… they insulted you… I’ll beat them to death! Wu wu… hic—”
Su Qingran felt a warmth in her heart. “Aunt understands.”
Before she could say more, the frightened children hastily defended themselves: “Sister Qingran, I didn’t say it!”
“Not me either!”
A boy in gray clothes remained tight-lipped. Dahu pointed at him accusingly, “It was Su Shuiniu!”
“Yes, him! We just arrived to gather pigweed today when he told us those things… we believed him…”
Su Qingran understood immediately upon looking at Su Shuiniu. He was Old Woman Wang’s grandson and Su Shuiqin’s younger brother. Su Shuiqin had always been infatuated with Lu Jingxuan, so it was natural for her to spread rumors through her brother.
In her previous life, before Su Qingran married Lu Jingxuan, Su Shuiqin had persistently pursued him, even nearly committing suicide by hanging.
But Lu Jingxuan was merciless toward those he disliked—he gave Su Shuiqin no hope whatsoever. Eventually, she seemed to accept reality and moved on, marrying quickly afterward. Rumor had it her married life was far better than Su Qingran’s had been.
It seemed Su Shuiqin was wiser than her after all.
“Su Shuiniu, Ergou, Zhuzi, Xiaolu—I’ll be speaking to your parents about how you bullied Dahu and Erhu.”
Su Hongshan was the brigade leader of Su Family Village, and few families in the village dared to offend his household. If parents found out their children had bullied his grandsons, a beating was inevitable.
“Ah!” the children wailed. “Sister Qingran, we really didn’t curse at you!”
“Sister Qingran, please don’t tell our parents, or they’ll beat us to death!”
“We promise we won’t bully Dahu and Erhu anymore!”
“Really?”
“Really! We swear!”
“Fine, I won’t tell your parents, but you have to do me a favor.”
“What favor?”
Su Qingran smiled and motioned for them to lean closer. Of course, Su Shuiniu didn’t approach—he wasn’t afraid of Su Qingran tattling to his parents, who never hit him anyway! But seeing all his friends gathered around Su Qingran while he stood alone made him feel betrayed. Angrily, he kicked a pebble at his feet and trudged off alone with his small basket.
After giving instructions to the children, they dispersed, leaving only the excited Dahu and Erhu behind. Dahu held a piece of Sweet Root in his hand. “Auntie, Sweet Root! Do you want some? Erhu and I found several pieces earlier!”
Su Qingran shook her head with a smile. “You eat it. I need to go into the mountains.”
“But Grandma said we’re not allowed in the mountains.”
“Children can’t go up there, but Auntie is an adult, so I can. You stay here and gather pigweed. When you’re done, go home—it’s sweltering outside.”
“Okay!” Erhu grinned, his eyes curving into crescents. “After we finish gathering pigweed, we’ll help Erniu and the others with the task you just assigned.”
“Erhu is so good. Auntie will buy you candy later.”
Su Qingran smiled. She had been worrying about how to spread the word about Lu Jingxuan and Qiao Manxue’s affair, and now, just as she was dozing off, a pillow arrived—why not make use of these children!
She just wondered whether Lu Jingxuan would marry her once their relationship was exposed!
…