The more Yu Yangyang browsed, the brighter her eyes became, and the more she looked, the more tempted she was.
The system even sold skincare products!
And judging from the descriptions and ingredients, they looked incredibly effective.
Unfortunately, Yu Yangyang couldn’t afford a single thing in the shop.
Even ordinary rice and millet cost 10 points per jin, let alone the other products.
As for the Nine Heavens Nourishing Pill she desperately needed, it cost a staggering 99,000 points.
Yu Yangyang reluctantly exited the System Shop.
Her gaze then fell upon the lone bottle of Spiritual Spring Water sitting inside her space.
This was probably the most valuable thing she had obtained from the beginner’s gift pack.
In the System Shop, one bottle cost 10,000 points.
Yu Yangyang asked,
“System, what does the Spiritual Spring Water do?”
[Spiritual Spring Water: Strengthens the body, relieves fatigue, heals injuries. A standard item for transmigrators.]
Hearing the words “standard item for transmigrators,” Yu Yangyang thought:
Yeah… that’s pretty fitting.
Her eyes lit up.
“Then can it improve my physical condition too?”
The system replied,
“In theory, yes. However, considering that the host’s physical condition is truly terrible, drinking one bottle of Spiritual Spring Water every day will gradually improve your constitution. In two or three years, you should be able to recover to roughly the physical condition of an ordinary person.”
Two or three years?
The famine would have been over long before then.
And she would need one bottle every day.
She only had this one bottle, which had come from the beginner’s gift pack.
Still, the system had said it would gradually improve her body.
It was better than nothing.
Yu Yangyang took out the bottle of Spiritual Spring Water and drank it all in one go.
The water was sweet.
She wasn’t sure whether it was merely her imagination, but she felt her body gradually becoming warmer.
Because her constitution was so poor, the original owner’s body had always been cold, regardless of the season.
But now, she could actually feel a faint warmth spreading through her limbs.
After eating and drinking her fill, Yu Yangyang lay down on the dry-grass bed and slept for a while.
Yu Yangyang was awakened by the sound of Yu Jin and Bai Lan arguing.
Yu Jin was furious.
“We’re already far behind! If we don’t leave soon, we’ll never catch up with the main group. Do you really think that a bunch of old, weak, sick, and injured people like us can handle anything that happens along the way?!”
Bai Lan lowered her voice.
“Why are you shouting so loudly? Your sister is sick and injured. How can she possibly travel right now?”
Yu Jin angrily grabbed his hair.
“We barely have any food or water left! Staying here is a dead end! If we leave now, we might still be able to catch up with the people from Tupo Village.”
“Mom, as long as we reunite with Uncle’s family, at least we won’t starve to death with Rongrong around!”
Bai Lan’s expression immediately darkened.
“Don’t mention your uncle or Yu Rongrong.”
Yu Rongrong?
Yu Yangyang’s ears immediately caught the key name.
Not because the name was particularly beautiful.
But because Yu Rongrong was the female protagonist of this very famine-escape novel.
In the original story, the heroine Yu Rongrong was gentle and kind without being overly self-sacrificing.
She also possessed an extraordinary lucky constitution and a charismatic, universally adored personality.
During the journey to escape the famine, Yu Rongrong was never short of food or water.
Whenever she went outside, she never returned empty-handed.
When other people couldn’t find even a single wild vegetable, she could discover entire patches of them.
When other people risked their lives hunting, all Yu Rongrong had to do was stand in the forest, and wild chickens, rabbits, and other animals would practically throw themselves at her feet and let her take them home.
Because of her special constitution, she also encountered the male protagonist, a prince from the capital, as well as the second male lead, a young general, and a whole group of other male supporting characters.
She then embarked on a series of sweet romantic relationships.
In the end, the male protagonist won her heart, while the others willingly became her protectors, supporting both her and the male protagonist’s careers and love life.
Yu Rongrong was very intelligent.
In the early stages of the story, she deliberately concealed her lucky constitution.
However, her family knew at least a little about how unusually lucky she was.
Yu Jin only knew that Yu Rongrong had exceptionally good luck and was gentle and generous.
He had no idea just how ridiculously lucky she actually was.
Bai Lan had also always thought Yu Rongrong was a good girl.
After all, because their family had to support Yu Yangyang, their sickly daughter, they had struggled terribly.
By contrast, Yu Rongrong’s family had surplus food and seemed to have a much more promising future.
From time to time, Yu Rongrong would secretly bring them some black steamed buns to help them out.
On rare occasions, she would even bring a few wild duck eggs to improve their meals.
No matter how much Bai Lan loved Yu Yangyang, she was still human.
Yu Yangyang had been spoiled, troublesome, and selfish, while Yu Rongrong was considerate and caring.
Naturally, Bai Lan felt grateful toward Yu Rongrong and had always had a good impression of her.
As for the other members of the second branch of the Yu family, who had already been thoroughly disappointed in the original Yu Yangyang, they naturally liked Yu Rongrong even more.
They had an excellent relationship with her.
Yu Jin looked at his mother in disbelief.
“Mom?!”
Has she gone crazy?
Bai Lan’s expression was cold.
She had indeed thought Yu Rongrong was a good girl before.
But yesterday, she had clearly seen Yu Rongrong secretly stick out her foot and trip Yu Yangyang when Yangyang went to ask the elderly for water.
Otherwise, how could Yangyang have fallen?
Bai Lan wasn’t certain whether Yu Rongrong had done it intentionally.
But that didn’t stop Bai Lan, who was fiercely protective of her daughter, from developing a drastically worse impression of Yu Rongrong.
Her daughter had almost died!
Now that Bai Lan thought about it carefully, she began to feel that perhaps Yu Rongrong’s previous visits to their home hadn’t been as innocent as they had seemed.
Meanwhile, Yu Yangyang, lying on the wooden bed, also found some memories of Yu Rongrong from the original owner’s mind.
Speaking of which, Yu Rongrong had visited their home several times, and the original Yu Yangyang had happened to overhear her conversations with the family.
Yu Rongrong truly lived up to her reputation as a heroine who wasn’t a saint.
In fact, she was rather calculating and had a somewhat fake, sweet demeanor.
She would take black steamed buns that her own family didn’t want and wild duck eggs that they didn’t particularly value, then give them to Yu Yangyang’s family.
The Yu family would naturally be extremely grateful.
Yu Rongrong would then take the opportunity to win over the other members of the second branch.
Her method was basically to occasionally say things that appeared to express concern for the original Yu Yangyang, while actually belittling her and sowing discord.
For example:
“Yangyang’s illness really is pitiful. But I feel even more sorry for Second Aunt. Yangyang has really gone too far sometimes. It’s fortunate that she’s your daughter, Second Aunt. Rongrong honestly envies her. If only I were Second Aunt’s daughter…”
Yu Yangyang: “……”
Look at that.
Just look at that.
Her way with words is truly an art.
She manages to flatter, belittle someone else, play the victim, and sow discord all at the same time.
Impressive.
At that moment, Bai Lan made the final decision.
“Enough. Once your sister’s health improves, we’ll continue on our journey.”
Yu Jin was so angry that his face twisted.
Even his greasy, dirty hair seemed to stand on end.
“Fine! Then while we still have some water, let’s hurry up and wash ourselves.”
Bai Lan was confused.
“Wash ourselves? Why?”
Yu Jin rolled his eyes.
“Wash ourselves clean and wait to become someone’s food.”
“Consider it the last good deed we’ll ever do in this life.”
Bai Lan: “……”
Yu Jin had already waved his sleeve and walked off to sit alone in a corner, sulking.
Bai Lan stood there in a daze for a while.
She wiped her dry, peeling face, which had been reddened by the sun and was beginning to develop spots.
A bitter expression appeared on her face.
She knew that if they delayed leaving any longer, they wouldn’t fare well if they encountered another group of famine refugees.
At best, they would be completely robbed.
At worst, they could encounter starving refugees who had become so desperate that they could no longer distinguish between human beings and food.
They might not even survive.
But asking Bai Lan to abandon Yu Yangyang was something she absolutely could not do.
Yu Shanghua hurriedly comforted his wife.
“All right, don’t be angry. Jin’er is only thinking about the safety of our whole family.”
Bai Lan glared at him.
“You also think we should leave immediately?”
Yu Shanghua: “……”