Her front courtyard was not a residential-style yard but an open, operating shop. Of course, it wasn’t an ordinary storefront. Her business mainly focused on custom orders. There was a reception hall where the clothes and accessories she designed were displayed. The side rooms served as workshops—she had her own private workspace as well as workrooms for employees, handling only single-piece custom orders. Mass-produced items were made at a separate factory located in the suburbs.
The front courtyard also had offices for employees. On a normal day, there were quite a few people around. She had set up a separate kitchen and dining area to provide staff meals. When she went into that kitchen to take a look, she found plenty of supplies inside—refrigerators, freezers, and even aquariums. She wasn’t a harsh employer, so the standard of food for her staff was particularly good. The variety was truly impressive.
Lin Qianyi was delighted. Thankfully, she had been a generous boss—now the one benefiting was herself. Her own work was design; management and operations were handled by professionals she had hired. In truth, she wasn’t particularly driven by ambition. She ran this business purely out of personal interest, having started the studio back when she was still in school.
Over the years, the factory had expanded several times, and she had earned some money. Still, it was small money compared to what came later. She entrusted the bulk of her earnings to reliable professionals to invest on her behalf. She had been lucky—over there, she made a great deal of money. Money earned, reinvested, and earned again, growing larger and larger. Even this courtyard house had been bought with money she earned herself.
Sigh—no matter how much money she had made, it was all useless now. One transmigration, and everything was gone. Fortunately, she had bought this courtyard house—it had come with her. More importantly, it was the food that really mattered.
In this era, supplies were scarce; people might not get to eat meat more than a few times a year. The original owner worked at the machinery factory, and the welfare there was considered very good. Even so, in terms of food and daily necessities, life was far too harsh for Lin Qianyi. However, the food stored in the space wasn’t abundant either—it probably wouldn’t last very long. Forget it—she would have to be frugal.
Lin Qianyi walked back to the rear courtyard. There was a small pond dug into the yard, and beside it, several stone basins of varying sizes were stacked to form a small water feature. Water dripped down, trickling into the pond below.
Looking at the water feature, Lin Qianyi laughed to herself. “The space is here—couldn’t it come with some kind of spiritual spring too?”
Suddenly, she felt her fingertips grow wet. With a thought, a cup appeared in her hand, and sure enough, she managed to draw out a full cup of water.
Recalling the novels she had read, where drinking spiritual spring water led to obvious changes, Lin Qianyi didn’t gulp it down in one go. She carried the cup into the room, deciding to dilute it first and see what kind of reaction it would produce.
She drank a cup of water with only a single drop of spiritual spring mixed in. As expected, the effect wasn’t very noticeable—just a faint sense of comfort. She added a bit more the next time, and the feeling became slightly more distinct. Lin Qianyi decided to slowly increase the amount over the next few days to observe the changes in her body.
She used the remaining spiritual spring water to wash her face. Oh my—her skin visibly improved, becoming delicate, smooth, and fair to the point of translucence.
She began entering and exiting the space, practicing how to retrieve items. She discovered that she could either do it manually or control it with her thoughts. Lin Qianyi wasn’t in a hurry. Over the next few days, she would slowly practice using the space and take inventory of the supplies inside.
Entering and exiting the space no longer required the jade pendant. For now, she placed the pendant inside the space. She felt that in an era like this, wearing a jade pendant around her neck might not be a good thing—it could easily attract unwanted attention.
Lin Qianyi’s heart gradually settled. With this space, she had gained an extra measure of confidence in life. Still, she didn’t plan to rely entirely on it. The machinery factory was crowded and full of prying eyes—too easy to expose secrets.
She wasn’t someone who couldn’t do anything. First of all, she was a food lover—people who love good food usually enjoy cooking for themselves. Her hands could sew clothes and make accessories, so her manual skills were quite strong. Cooking was no problem for her, not to mention that she also had the original owner’s memories. She wasn’t very adept at housework, but now, with the space, that was easily solved—washing machines and dishwashers were all available.
Feeling reassured, Lin Qianyi began to think seriously about the original owner’s predicament. She couldn’t just sit and wait for things to happen. That county committee—an existence notorious in later times—was something she, a lone orphan girl, truly couldn’t handle.
Even if people sympathized with her now, no one dared to help. Those who had once cried and begged to marry the original owner had all fled as fast as they could. That was understandable—who wouldn’t be afraid of courting trouble?
Zhang Xiuying had advised her to quickly find someone to marry, preferably someone who could stand up to Ma Zhenqiang—someone from the military would be best. But where could she find such a person? Now, no one even dared to marry her. Could it really come down to considering the countryside, just as Zhang Xiuying had suggested?
Lin Qianyi decided to go out and take a look around, to search for some ideas. Staying cooped up at home certainly wouldn’t solve anything. Since she had already decided to take the day off, she wouldn’t go to work at all. She would go out and walk around—if she couldn’t find a solution, at least she could clear her head.
She got up and changed her clothes, braiding her hair into a single loose plait that draped over her shoulder. There were a few yuan and some ration coupons in the drawer. Lin Qianyi took them along just in case. After tidying herself up, she headed out.
There were quite a few people in the residential compound, including many who were home on shift rotations. Everyone already knew about Lin Qianyi’s situation. As soon as she walked out of the building, she drew many gazes—some sympathetic, some gloating, all kinds. A few people greeted her.
Lin Qianyi ignored the stares. When greeted, she responded politely, then continued walking forward at an unhurried pace.
The machinery factory was huge. It took her quite a while to reach the main gate.
“Qianyi, heading out?” A woman riding a bicycle spotted her and stopped.
Lin Qianyi searched her memory—it was Sister Lanxiang from next door.
“Sister, I’m just going out for a walk,” Lin Qianyi nodded.
“That’s perfect—here, I’ll return the bike to you. You can ride it out,” Sister Lanxiang said, pushing the bicycle toward her.
Only then did Lin Qianyi remember that Sister Lanxiang had borrowed the bicycle from the original owner yesterday to visit her parents’ home.
“Oh, it’s fine, Sister, you can keep using it,” Lin Qianyi said.
“I’m done with it. It’s more convenient for you to ride out,” Sister Lanxiang insisted, stuffing the bicycle into her hands and taking the items off the rack.
“Alright then,” Lin Qianyi had no choice but to accept it.
This bicycle of hers was quite nice—a women’s model, not the typical heavy 28-inch frame. It had been specially bought by the original owner’s father for her and her mother to use.
Lin Qianyi herself knew how to ride a bicycle. In her previous life, she would sometimes go cycling as a form of exercise. She said goodbye to Sister Lanxiang, mounted the bicycle, and leisurely rode out of the machinery factory gate, slowly following the road.
The machinery factory was located in a relatively outlying area, some distance from the county center, but it wasn’t desolate at all. Several factories were clustered nearby, with good benefits, and people came and went. It was lively and bustling.