In the blink of an eye, the snowflake cream truly disappeared from the table!
It really could store items!
This was amazing!
Su Xiaowan immediately went to Zhang Meiju and said she wanted to make a trip to the town.
But she didn’t know the way at all.
Ever since coming to the countryside, the original self had initially worked alongside other educated youth.
Later, after marrying Lu Hanzhou, she stayed home all day and rarely went out.
Then Bai Fulin came along, and she spent all her time following him around.
She had never gone to the distant town alone.
She didn’t even know which way to go. All she remembered was that the town seemed quite far away.
Hearing this, Zhang Meiju quickly said, “Xiaoxiao, the town is about five kilometers from here—not close at all. You’ll need to go to the village entrance and find Feng Jianguo; he can take you there with his donkey cart. But I really can’t be at ease sending you alone. Why don’t you wait for Hanzhou? He can get up early tomorrow and go with you.”
Su Xiaowan shook her head immediately. “No need to trouble him, Mom. I can go by myself. I’m old enough—I know the way.”
Zhang Meiju frowned, still worried. “Are you sure? I can come with you instead.”
Su Xiaowan quickly stopped her. “Mom, why won’t you listen? You’ve only just started recovering—you should rest more at home.”
Seeing her mother-in-law so concerned, Su Xiaowan felt a little touched—like she was being treated as a child.
But she really didn’t need anyone accompanying her—if someone went along, how could she secretly take things out of her space?
Finally, Zhang Meiju didn’t insist.
“All right, wait a moment,” she said, going inside to pack five eggs into a cloth bag and handing it to Su Xiaowan. “Give this to Feng Jianguo—consider it your fare.”
“Okay,” Su Xiaowan accepted the eggs.
She understood that in these times, money was scarce, so villagers often repaid favors with food or goods.
Holding the eggs, she went to the village entrance and found Feng Jianguo, explaining she wanted to go to town and handing him the eggs.
“All right, young lady, sit tight!” Feng Jianguo took the eggs home to put them away, lit his dry tobacco, and climbed onto the donkey cart.
A few years ago, he had weak health and couldn’t do heavy work. Now he earned a bit of extra food by taking villagers to town with his donkey cart.
The village had assigned him light work: raising chickens and ducks in his yard, and occasionally delivering villagers to town.
This way, it was convenient for everyone, and he could collect some eggs or grain as payment to help support his household.
Su Xiaowan got on the cart, and the donkey slowly made its way toward the town.
Along the way, the countryside scenery unfolded before her.
There were no tall buildings, no cars, and the roads were bumpy dirt paths.
In the distance were vast, neatly planted green fields, with many villagers busy at work.
The environment was excellent, and the air felt especially fresh—just one deep breath was soothing.
The afternoon sun was strong, so fortunately she had worn a straw hat before leaving.
She pressed it down and took out a silk scarf the original self had, wrapping her face and neck tightly.
She looked rather sneaky in this outfit—but that made sense. She was about to do something that required discretion.
After all, when buying from the black market, one had to be careful.
Su Xiaowan leaned toward Feng Jianguo and quietly slipped him a coin.
“Uncle Feng, can I ask you something? Where’s the black market?”
Feng Jianguo was momentarily taken aback. “Where are you going?”
Su Xiaowan nodded.
Zhang Meiju had mentioned before that Feng Jianguo was reliable and had good relations with the Lu family, so asking him for help would definitely work.
“You have to be careful,” Feng Jianguo said in a low voice. “I’ll take you to the alley. Once you buy what you need, come back quickly.”
Even though restrictions weren’t as strict as in previous years, she still couldn’t be too conspicuous.
Feng Jianguo took Su Xiaowan to a small alley. Peering in, he saw people quietly making trades.
Su Xiaowan, her face and neck tightly wrapped, walked inside.
Not far in, she spotted a meat stall.
“Miss, want some pork? Home-slaughtered, super fresh!” the seller called.
This meat didn’t require ration tickets, and the price was cheaper than the supply store.
Su Xiaowan immediately said, “I’ll take it all.”
She needed to buy something first as a cover before she could properly take items out of her space.
The pork in the seller’s hands looked to weigh about ten jin (roughly 5 kilograms).
The seller was a little surprised: “You really want all of it?”
“Yes, all of it,” Su Xiaowan said, handing over the money.
He quickly packaged the pork and handed her the change.
The onlookers were impressed, thinking she was incredibly generous.
Most people would only buy a small portion, but she bought ten jin in one go.
After buying the meat, Su Xiaowan wandered the black market some more, looking for medicinal herbs.
She was lucky—someone was selling traditional Chinese herbs.
She picked up some Angelica (Dang Gui), Ligusticum (Chuanxiong), and Safflower (Hong Hua)—these could be used to make medicinal wine to improve circulation.
She also bought some red dates and goji berries for brewing tea or as snacks.
Additionally, she bought flour, glutinous rice flour, and sugar. She already had red beans at home and planned to make green rice cakes.
Once she had enough supplies, she packed everything into a black bag and placed it on the donkey cart.
Everything looked manageable and not too heavy.
On the way back, Feng Jianguo kindly reminded her to keep the items hidden and inconspicuous.
Su Xiaowan thought this uncle was quite reliable.
Looking at him, she asked, “Uncle Feng, is your condition arthritis?”
“Yes, an old problem. The doctor said it can’t be cured,” he replied.
“If you trust me, I can help relieve the pain. I can’t promise a cure, but easing it should be possible,” Su Xiaowan offered.
Feng Jianguo was pleasantly surprised. “You know medicine?”
“Yes, a little,” Su Xiaowan nodded.
“That’s great! I’ll definitely ask you to help me sometime,” Feng Jianguo quickly agreed.
Back home, Su Xiaowan put the purchased items in the kitchen and immediately got to work.
She first took a jar and began steeping the snake and herbs in wine.
Then, she took some pork out of her space and mixed it with what she had just bought.
Next, she started preparing mugwort: she divided it into two portions—one fresh for making green rice cakes, and the other dried for storage, later to be used for foot baths for Zhang Meiju and Lu Hanzhou.
She washed the fresh mugwort, boiled it, then cooled it in water.
After mashing it with water, she filtered out the vibrant green mugwort juice for later use.
While boiling red beans, she started mixing dough, gradually adding the mugwort juice and kneading it until it was evenly green.
Hearing movement in the kitchen, Zhang Meiju walked in and saw Su Xiaowan kneading dough. She hurried over, “Xiaoxiao, what are you doing? Let me do it.”
“Mom, don’t worry. I want to make something nice for you and everyone,” Su Xiaowan smiled at her. “Go rest outside.”
“But…” Zhang Meiju was a bit uneasy—she had never seen her daughter-in-law cook before. “Xiaoxiao, don’t tire yourself. I’ve already been treated by you; I can handle the housework from now on.”
“Mom, you haven’t fully recovered yet. You need more rest,” Su Xiaowan said earnestly. “I’m the doctor—you have to follow my instructions.”
Seeing her insistence, Zhang Meiju didn’t want to upset her and turned to leave, though still feeling a bit guilty.
Previously, she hadn’t minded that her daughter-in-law didn’t do housework—after all, she was a city girl who had married into this mountain village. It was already rare and shouldn’t be made difficult for her.