Xu Chuan’s business was thriving, and every day he was either heading out early or coming back late.
After several days of this, it inevitably caught Jiang Yulan’s attention.
She had been mulling it over at home for days, working herself into a restless state. She didn’t dare tell her husband, afraid he might let it slip while chatting during his chess games. Nor could she tell her eldest son.
Her two sons were as different as night and day. Xu Chuan was clever and smooth, while Xu He was rigid and upright. If Xu He found out that Xu Chuan might be involved in anything illegal, he would likely grab a stick and break his younger brother’s legs.
Back when Xu Chuan was in primary school, Xu Feng had led him into gambling once. Before their parents even had the chance to scold him, Xu He had already whipped his hands with a bamboo switch until they were swollen.
That incident had truly frightened Jiang Yulan. Ever since, she had repeatedly warned Xu Chuan to never cross his elder brother.
Sitting by the stove, she thought it over again and again, but found no one she could confide in. The only person she could discuss things with was her daughter, who was in the army, and this sort of matter could not be written in a letter.
After a moment’s thought, she picked up the eggs she had saved for Xu Chuan’s household and headed toward the end of the village.
The weather was nice today.
Cheng Baozhu had gotten up early. Holding the clay pot Xu Chuan had brought back the night before, she stood by the water jar and carefully washed it several times.
From now on, this would be her personal medicine pot.
“Baozhu, are you home?”
Someone called from outside the courtyard. Before leaving, Xu Chuan always reminded Cheng Baozhu to close the gate, making their house the odd one out in Laokeng Village. No one else kept their courtyard door shut during the day.
“I am!”
Cheng Baozhu carefully set the pot aside, wiped her hands, and went to open the door.
“Mom, why are you here?” she asked curiously.
Jiang Yulan sighed. “Chuanzi’s been running around all day, and I never see you either, so of course I had to come check what’s going on.”
This young couple truly gave her no peace of mind. Who knew what they were up to?
As she stepped into the courtyard, she saw how clean and tidy it was. The floor inside the house was even cleaner than her own, which made her nod inwardly.
Lazy though Baozhu might be, she clearly liked things clean. She must spend plenty of time keeping the place in order.
Jiang Yulan set down half a basket of eggs on the table, then pulled Cheng Baozhu aside and glanced toward the door before asking quietly, “Baozhu, tell me honestly, what’s Xu Chuan been going to the county for every day?”
Uh…
Cheng Baozhu thought, how could I possibly tell you?
But she was terrible at lying and lacked the quick wit to make something up on the spot.
So she played it safe and answered as if she knew nothing at all.
Xu Chuan had told her that if anyone came asking questions, she should just pretend to be clueless.
Jiang Yulan pressed her lips together. There really was something going on.
They said a mother knew her son best. She knew exactly what kind of person Xu Chuan was and could vaguely guess what he was doing in the county.
Baozhu might not speak, but her thoughts were written all over her face. Others might be fooled, but Jiang Yulan, as Xu Chuan’s mother, felt that Baozhu’s reactions only confirmed her suspicions.
The young couple didn’t go to the fields to earn work points, yet they lacked for nothing in food and clothing. They even ate better than the rest of the family. So where was the money coming from?
People in the village all assumed she and her husband were supporting them. When others probed her, she gave vague answers, leading everyone to believe they were indeed subsidizing their youngest son.
But she knew the truth. Xu Chuan would never use Baozhu’s money, so the only possibility was that he had earned it himself through some questionable means.
“Chuanzi’s doing speculation and profiteering, isn’t he?” Jiang Yulan whispered. “Don’t try to hide it from me. It’s only been a few days and I’ve already guessed. If this keeps up, in less than two months the whole village will know.”
Cheng Baozhu widened her eyes and covered her mouth. “Mom, don’t try to trick me into talking. I really don’t know.”
Jiang Yulan was momentarily speechless.
This girl usually seemed foolish, but at critical moments she was unexpectedly sharp.
What she didn’t know was that Cheng Baozhu herself was panicking inside. She was asking the system where Xu Chuan was and how long it would take him to return.
[Still at Ban Ming’s house in the county.]
Her heart pounded. Why was he taking so long?
Distracted, she could only respond to Jiang Yulan absentmindedly.
Jiang Yulan felt completely stumped.
No matter how she tried to probe, Baozhu either claimed ignorance, saw through her tricks, or simply nodded along without truly engaging. How was she supposed to get any information out of her?
With another sigh, she said, “I don’t like interfering in your affairs, but some things are better left alone. You’re young and don’t understand. There’s a farm near Shanggang Village, and I reckon the people there are all those who’ve made mistakes.”
Cheng Baozhu listened obediently, nodding as she went.
“You should at least try to persuade Xu Chuan. You’re husband and wife, he’ll listen to you. If he dares give you attitude, come find me, I’ll deal with him.”
Cheng Baozhu nodded again, though she thought to herself: he’s my husband, not my three-year-old son. If even you can’t control him, how could I?
“You young people should focus on working properly. The harvest’s been good lately, and if you work hard for a year, you can save a few dozen yuan. Once you have money, fix up the house. When you have children, they can’t keep living cramped like this.”
Cheng Baozhu kept nodding. Work a whole year for just a few dozen yuan…
She had several hundred. She could coast for years.
Jiang Yulan had no idea Baozhu had two sides to her and only thought her youngest daughter-in-law was obedient and sensible.
So who was the unreasonable one?
Clearly her youngest son.
Jiang Yulan had come during a break from cooking, and after finishing her advice, she hurried back home.
As soon as she left, the system reported that Xu Chuan had set off for home, carrying twenty yuan.
“Wow,” Cheng Baozhu exclaimed. “He’ll be smug for days again.”
Then she entered her space.
The reason she didn’t feel bored staying at home was because whenever she had nothing to do, she would come here to study.
The system felt gratified by her diligence. Upgrading the consciousness relaxation device has been worth it. She clearly enjoyed being inside it now.
And it was true. After the upgrade, being inside felt much better than before.
“Clatter—”
Another five points gone.
In the previous lesson she had learned about medicinal properties; now she was studying compatibility principles.
“The main treatment is called the ‘emperor,’ assisting it is the ‘minister,’ supporting the minister is the ‘assistant,’ and harmonizing them is the ‘courier.’ These form the principles of compatibility in medicinal cuisine…”
From this lesson onward, Cheng Baozhu officially began learning how to make medicinal dishes.
The space transformed into a fully equipped apothecary. Ingredients appeared on the long table as the intelligent teacher instructed her to formulate combinations. The memorization she had been forced to do earlier was now put to use.
The teacher did not require rigid formulas but instead had her select ingredients according to principles and classify them.
There were single applications, mutual reinforcement, mutual assistance, and mutual restraint.
Cheng Baozhu had heard some of this from her grandmother as a child, but now she was studying it in depth.
Yet faced with the seemingly endless array of ingredients on the table, she felt like crying and couldn’t bring herself to start.
How long was this going to take?
She had no idea how long she worked. Just when she thought she was nearly done, more ingredients would appear.
After this repeated a few times, she realized the system was deliberately messing with her.
The system replied unapologetically: [I just want you to get your money’s worth.]
Yeah right!
She knew it was trying to trap her inside longer. When she saw through it, the system simply refilled the table and went silent.
Cheng Baozhu stomped her feet in frustration.
After what felt like forever, she finally finished classifying everything. Only after the teacher reviewed her work did she pass.
Time in the space was different. No matter how long she stayed, nothing outside changed.
Each time she came out, she felt a satisfying sense of fullness from the knowledge she had gained.
The system really was something good, she thought.
Outside, birds chirped. Sitting at the table, Cheng Baozhu wrote furiously.
When she saw the birds gathering on the persimmon tree again, she grabbed a long bamboo pole and started swatting at the branches.
The persimmons were almost ripe. She couldn’t let the birds eat them all first.
“Creak—”
Xu Chuan pushed the door open, barely suppressing his excitement. “Guess how much I made today.”
“Twenty.” Cheng Baozhu didn’t even look up as she continued swinging the pole.
“Tch, that’s no fun,” Xu Chuan sighed. He knew she must have asked the system again.
“I didn’t!” she protested quickly. “I only asked because your mom came and I needed to find you urgently.”
“My mom came?”
Xu Chuan thought for a moment and nodded. That made sense.
Cheng Baozhu pushed him to wash his hands and repeated everything Jiang Yulan had said.
Xu Chuan chuckled and flicked water onto her face. “Silly, she was just trying to scare you.”
Cheng Baozhu wiped her face and pouted. “Stop flicking water at me.”
Then she added, “And I’m not stupid. I didn’t let her trick me. I just nodded along, though she did scare me a bit.”
Xu Chuan praised her. “That’s right. If she comes again, just do the same. Don’t worry, no one will find what’s in that little box.”
He always took secluded paths, and after reaching three hundred points, he had given up on buying a whisk and chickens, instead exchanging for a one-cubic-meter storage space.
The system admired his foresight and decisiveness.
Xu Chuan, unaware of being labeled uneducated and short-sighted, would have cursed for days if he knew.
Though his points were now depleted, the purchase was worth it. He didn’t dare store money inside in case the system disappeared, but it was incredibly convenient for transporting goods.
Reassured, Cheng Baozhu returned to her room to copy down her notes.
Just like Xu Chuan worried the system might vanish, she felt the same.
Her father had always said that resources must be firmly in your own hands. Once they passed through others, you would be at their mercy.
To her, the system was merely a middleman of knowledge. If it disappeared, what would she do?
So while it still existed, she wrote everything down. With nothing else to do, she wrote whenever she had time, and had already filled more than half a notebook.
She had bought the notebook from the system store. It was as thick as a brick. Unfortunately, the system didn’t sell books.
She sighed and mentally cursed it again.
Useless! The system remained silent.
Apparently, both husband and wife thought the same of it.
The weather gradually turned colder, and before long it was December.
This was no longer the mild chill of late autumn but a cold that seeped into one’s bones.
After Minor Snow, Cheng Baozhu woke up later each day. Xu Chuan was no different.
He often complained that the worst part of his day was getting up early to steam Zenggao, then braving the cold wind to deliver it to the county.
When he returned, he would crawl back into the warm bed for another nap.
He had once tried to convince Cheng Baozhu to help start the fire since he prepared everything the night before.
But although she was willing, her fire-starting skills were disastrous.
He still remembered the day he woke up choking on smoke, leaping out of bed without even putting on shoes.
From then on, he never let her near the stove again.
One day, Xu Chuan entered the space with excitement.
“System, open the store.”
Seeing his nearly two hundred points, he rubbed his hands eagerly and finally bought the whisk he had long wanted.
This model didn’t require electricity and could last half a year on one battery. Recharging cost ten points.
With it, he could start making sponge cake, though first he needed to build a clay oven.
The next day was sunny again.
When Cheng Baozhu heard he planned to build an oven, she raised her hand eagerly. “I know how!”
Xu Chuan glanced at her. “Focus on your notes.”
“I’m serious,” she insisted. “I really do.”
She had seen videos before, but more importantly, the original owner had actually built one.
“Remember the stove at my house? My third brother and I made it,” she said.
Xu Chuan recalled it. “Why did you build it?”
“To dry mushrooms.”
Her third brother had a remarkable skill for growing mushrooms. While others relied on luck in the mountains, he could cultivate them on logs, producing fresh batches daily.
He also knew to dry and store them for later use.
Xu Chuan was impressed. “Where did he learn that?”
“From helping at a kiln factory.” Xu Chuan was amazed.
Originally, he planned to follow the system’s blueprint, but now that he knew Cheng Sanming could do it, he decided to ask for help.
The sooner it was done, the sooner he could make money.
With enough savings already to repay debts, he even dreamed of building a new house before the New Year.
Filled with excitement, he grabbed two pieces of Zenggao and said, “I’m going to Chengjia Village to find your third brother. Coming?”
“Of course!”
Cheng Baozhu jumped up, quickly changed clothes, braided her hair, and ran over.
“Let’s go!” Xu Chuan was puzzled by her enthusiasm.
What was so exciting about Chengjia Village?
They walked for half an hour under the winter sun.
As they crossed into the village, memories surfaced in Cheng Baozhu’s mind.
“That’s where my parents are buried,” she said softly.
Xu Chuan squeezed her hand. “I’ll bring some rice wine next time.”
She nodded.
After a moment, her sadness faded, replaced by embarrassment as villagers stared at them curiously.
Just then, a familiar voice called out.
“Baozhu? Is that you?”
It was her eldest sister-in-law. After some greetings, they were led home.
“You haven’t come back in so long,” her sister-in-law said jokingly. “I thought you forgot your family.”
“I’ll come back more often,” Cheng Baozhu replied seriously.
Her sister-in-law froze.
Back home, Cheng Sanming nearly dropped his son in shock upon seeing them.
“What are you doing here?”
“We need your help,” Xu Chuan said warmly.
Suspicious, Cheng Sanming listened as Xu Chuan explained about building an oven.
“For Baozhu’s sake,” Xu Chuan added.
Cheng Sanming sighed sympathetically.
“Alright, I’ll help, but you need to prepare the bricks.”
“Already done, can you come today?”
With little room to refuse, Cheng Sanming agreed.
Meanwhile, Cheng Baozhu had quietly slipped away to the water jar.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t move it.
The water jar was as heavy as a thousand jin. She almost cried.