In her space, the semi-prepared vegetables she had secretly handled with her mental powers during the morning at work were ready—washed, chopped, and set aside. She just needed to stir-fry them. Using her mind to do tasks still consumed energy, so she didn’t overdo it and only handled simple chores.
She took out the vegetables and quickly made a stir-fry of green peppers with cured pork and another dish of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. The rice had been pre-stored in her space, so she just took it out to eat. After lunch, she could even take a nap in her room. Life in this era was a bit harsh and resources were scarce, but the pace was slow and workers at the factory didn’t have much pressure. With her space, Lin Qianyi adapted quite well to life here.
After her nap, she hopped on her small bicycle and headed to work. Once in the office, she first finished her own tasks and then didn’t rush into her translation work. As expected, near the end of the day, the office director came over.
“Qianyi, the factory has informed me—once you finish your tasks, you can start on your own work,” the director said, his gaze full of complex emotions. This girl was increasingly impressive.
“Okay, thank you, Director,” Lin Qianyi replied with a nod.
As the director walked away, Wang Lan approached. “Qianyi, what’s going on?”
“Xu Gong asked me to help translate some documents, and the director came to tell me,” Lin Qianyi said. There was no need to hide it; once she started, everyone would know.
“Qianyi, you’re amazing—you can do that too?” Wang Lan exclaimed.
“My parents taught me,” Lin Qianyi explained with a smile.
“No wonder,” Wang Lan said, enlightened. Everyone in the factory knew Lin Qianyi’s parents had been senior engineers, so it wasn’t strange.
“Well, you’ll be busy then,” Wang Lan said, somewhat sympathetic. Work at the office was easy, so Lin Qianyi actually welcomed having something to do—and she could earn some extra money.
“Not a problem,” Lin Qianyi said. She was hoping for a bit of work; it was far too boring otherwise.
“Qianyi, after work do you want to go shopping? Some of us are going to the supply and marketing cooperative to see if there are new things,” Wang Lan invited her.
“No, I don’t need anything, too lazy to go,” Lin Qianyi replied. She didn’t really need to buy anything; there was already plenty of food at home from Meng Junchuan.
“Okay then,” Wang Lan said casually. Lin Qianyi had never been fond of leaving the factory, and even less so for shopping. The factory had complete living facilities, including a small store selling groceries and vegetables—enough for daily life without leaving the premises. If she didn’t want to cook, there was a cafeteria.
After work, Lin Qianyi returned home. She dug out some fabric, planning to make a few new clothes. Some of the fabric had been around for a while—thanks to the factory’s good welfare, they occasionally issued materials. The original Lin Qianyi had been too low-key in recent years and had barely made new clothes, wearing the same old pieces until they were worn out.
Lin Qianyi planned to gradually replace them. Old clothes wouldn’t be wasted—they could be cut into scraps for patchwork, a kind of recycling. She definitely wouldn’t want them herself, but people in this era were frugal and wouldn’t tolerate waste, so repurposing was the solution. For the great designer Lin, it was no problem.
Before starting, she had a meal. Sometimes she cooked outside, sometimes in her space, alternating for safety. Generally, she only cooked dinner in the space, while lunch was eaten outside.
She took the chicken wings she had secretly marinated at work, placed them on a baking tray, and put them in the oven with the timer set. In a pot, she boiled water to make vegetable mushroom soup. There were already steamed buns prepared in the staff cafeteria; she took one and sliced it thickly. She cracked an egg, beat it, heated a pan with oil, dipped the bun slices in the egg mixture, and slowly fried them. This was something her family’s housekeeper had taught her, and she found it delicious—crispy outside, soft inside.
Once the water boiled, she added the cleaned and chopped vegetables and flipped the chicken wings in the oven. Then she returned to frying the buns. The soup was done, seasoned, and poured into a bowl on the table. She placed the buns and, when everything was ready, the oven beeped—her chicken wings were done.
She started enjoying her dinner. The wings were perfectly cooked—crispy outside, tender inside—with just the right seasoning. Paired with the light vegetable soup and the soft buns, it was a delicious meal. After finishing, she cleaned up and went to her studio to work on clothes.
Making clothes was easy. She wasn’t doing anything fancy—just a little trick here and there: patchwork, a small pleat, cinching the waistline, adjusting the curve of pants, subtle tweaks to collars, pockets, or sleeves. Nothing could stump Lin Qianyi, and she quickly finished a simple, elegant, era-appropriate piece. She didn’t rush—taking her time was fine.
She sifted through her studio and storage room and found plenty of fabrics—though not in large quantities, there was variety. Some materials weren’t usable in this era, but she could make use of many. There were plain cotton fabrics, some coarse cloth, and even corduroy.
Whether or not they were usable now didn’t matter; she had plenty of clothes in her room to wear secretly, especially in autumn and winter. Her previous clothes had all been her own simple and elegant designs; small tweaks made them wearable again. Lin Qianyi picked a few pieces to alter and repair, ensuring she wouldn’t run out of clothes.
She took her time, slowly changing things so others could adjust. It was normal for a girl with a boyfriend to start caring about her appearance. Then she found some fabric scraps to make a patchwork tablecloth.
After finishing her work, Lin Qianyi once again indulged in a relaxing bath in her comfortable bathtub and left her space to sleep peacefully.
The next day at work, Lin Qianyi finally entered a state of no longer being bored. After finishing her tasks, she took out the materials Xu Gong had given her and began translating. The documents were simple, with few professional terms. If she was unsure, she marked it for reference. She planned to also consult her home bookshelf of professional books later to make future translations smoother.
Everyone in the office knew she was helping with translations and didn’t disturb her. However, they looked at her with more complex expressions—still admiring her. They thought this girl was truly extraordinary.
The material from Xu Gong was short and simple, and Lin Qianyi quickly completed it. Before leaving that evening, she took the translated documents to Xu Gong’s office.