“What is it?” Mother Yan asked, thinking of all the recent misfortunes that had struck the family. What could possibly make her daughter happy?
Yan Sisi said, “The man who came to propose was caught by the police.”
Mother Yan’s eyes widened in surprise, but then she immediately noticed the red marks on her daughter’s neck. Forgetting the news she just heard, she hurried over, wiping her hands as she asked, “What happened to your neck? Who hurt you?”
Yan Sisi, still startled by her neck being mentioned, didn’t immediately realize what had happened. Could it be the marks from earlier when she had been strangled? She quickly covered her neck with her hands and murmured, “It’s nothing.”
Mother Yan gently pulled her daughter’s hands away from her neck and tenderly touched the reddened skin. “Nothing? What happened then?”
Seeing that she couldn’t hide the truth, Yan Sisi explained everything honestly: how she had found a witness and what had happened at Zhou Jiajun’s house and later outside the police station.
After hearing the story, Mother Yan realized that her daughter had been deliberately targeted and even hurt by someone, which made her furious enough to rush out and confront them.
Yan Sisi quickly stopped her, trying to reason, “It’s not worth it for people like that, Mom. Besides, the police have already caught him, he can’t run away.”
Seeing that reasoning wasn’t working, Yan Sisi resorted to feigning weakness. “Mom… my neck and throat hurt so much. Am I… going to lose my voice?”
Mother Yan paused, looking at her daughter’s pale neck turned frighteningly red, and pressed down her anger. She decided she would deal with that family later. Tenderly, she said, “It’s okay, don’t worry. I’ll take you to see a doctor.”
Yan Sisi, afraid her father might see her at the hospital and worry, quickly grabbed her mother’s hand and coquettishly said, “Mom, I’m hungry.”
Mother Yan couldn’t bear to see her beloved daughter hungry, so she let Yan Sisi lie down and rest while she went back to the kitchen to speed up cooking. As she worked, she thought of her daughter’s earlier state and couldn’t help shedding a few tears. That despicable scoundrel, does he have a wolf’s heart?
After a long, busy day, Yan Sisi lay on her bed, her whole body aching, her neck burning with pain. She got up and took a small mirror from the drawer to look at her neck. Her normally pale skin was now covered with large red marks, no wonder everyone had been staring at her strangely earlier.
She wondered if the Spiritual Spring Water would help. Thinking this, she quietly cracked open the door and peeked into the kitchen. Seeing her mother busy, she carefully closed the door again.
The moment the door shut, Yan Sisi wasted no time and entered her secret space. As soon as she stepped inside, she noticed the plants had grown further: the vegetables now had five or six leaves, the vines of the melons and gourds had grown half a meter, and the strawberry seeds had successfully sprouted.
After a quick look around, worried her mother might notice in reality, she hurriedly drank some Spiritual Spring Water. When she exited the space, she pressed her ear against the door, listening to the sounds of cooking in the kitchen. She then quietly cleaned the marks from her body, climbed back into bed, and closed her eyes to rest.
Yan Sisi had unknowingly fallen asleep and woke up again, roused by hunger. At the same time, a cool sensation came from her neck. She reached up and felt a slightly sticky texture, her mother must have applied medicine while she was asleep.
Outside, the sky was completely dark, with only faint moonlight filtering through the window. The entire residential compound seemed to be asleep.
Yan Sisi got up and walked into the living room. After only a few steps, she noticed a note her mother had left on the table:
“Sisi, the food is in the pot. If you’re hungry, heat it on the stove. I’m at the hospital keeping watch over your father. Lock the door while you’re home alone. I’ll come back tomorrow to take you to see the doctor properly.”
She must have slept so deeply that her mother didn’t have the heart to wake her.
Yan Sisi placed the note back on the table, rubbed her hungry stomach, and went to the kitchen. She saw the fish soup and plain steamed buns her mother had left for her, heated them slightly on the stove, and ate a bite of bun followed by a sip of soup to fill her stomach.
After cleaning up, she lay back on her bed, but her mind was racing, reviewing everything that had happened over the past few days.
Injuries, dreams, opening her secret space, being forced into a marriage proposal, one scene after another floated through her mind. Thinking about how smoothly she had resolved the forced proposal today, she felt a wave of relief. Yet she wondered when she might have a chance to properly thank the person who had saved her life.
After all, he had saved her twice, and she hadn’t even properly thanked him, a serious breach of manners.
Her mind kept turning, making it impossible to sleep, so she got up and went into her secret space. The first thing she noticed was that the spinach planted in the soil had already matured. The pale green leaves were plump and tender, looking so fresh and appealing that one could almost squeeze water from them.
Nearby, the mature spinach glowed with healthy green vibrancy. Using her consciousness, Yan Sisi picked one small vegetable, and a faint wisp of green energy floated from it toward the ancient tree.
Eyes wide, she picked several more vegetables with her consciousness. Each one released a small stream of green energy into the tree the moment it was picked. Could this be what the ancient tree needed?
She approached the tree to sense it again, but it only indicated it “needed plants.” Perhaps the green energy was too little. Yan Sisi then began mentally harvesting the mature vegetables one by one until her head ached from the effort.
Using her consciousness this time lasted longer than before. She resolved that next time she would record how many times she could use this ability and for how long.
For the remaining unharvested vegetables, she manually pulled them from the ground, watching ribbons of green energy rise and connect in a line to the ancient tree. She didn’t waste the cleared soil, planting more seeds in the empty spots.
The younger plants were about half a meter tall, and the corn planted on the first day had already grown taller than a person, starting to tassel. It wouldn’t be long before sweet corn could be harvested.
Finally, she watered all the plants with Spiritual Spring Water. After finishing, her back ached from exhaustion, but seeing the piles of spinach and vegetables brought an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
Yan Sisi rested on the spot for a while, then went out to fetch a bamboo basket, filled it with some vegetables and spinach, planning to visit Aunt Chen the next day. After all, the aunt had gotten slightly hurt while helping her earlier, so bringing some fresh produce would ease her mind.
By this time, the sky outside had begun to lighten slightly. Yan Sisi looked at the clock on her desk, it was already 2 a.m., and hurried back to bed to get some sleep.
The next morning, Yan Sisi was woken by her mother. The first thing Mother Yan noticed was her daughter’s neck. “Your injuries… are they healed? There’s not even a trace left?”
Usually, if her daughter got a minor bruise, it would take a long time to fade. Yesterday’s marks had been severe, how could they have disappeared completely?
Yan Sisi took out her small round mirror and examined her neck from different angles. Indeed, the frightening marks were gone. It must have been the effect of the Spiritual Spring Water she drank last night. She said with a sweet smile, “Really, Mom, the medicine you gave me last night worked wonders.”
Mother Yan looked puzzled. She had used this ointment before, so why hadn’t it worked this well in the past?
Seeing the marks gone, Yan Sisi quickly asked, “Mom, have you told Dad about my injury?”
“I was afraid he’d get so upset he’d leave the hospital right away. I’ll tell him after he’s discharged,” her mother replied, placing the freshly bought soy milk and fried dough sticks in front of her. “Eat this first, then I’ll take you to the hospital for a check-up.”
At the hospital, the doctor removed the bandages from Yan Sisi’s head and, seeing how well the wounds had healed, asked Mother Yan in surprise, “What has your daughter been eating at home? Her injuries have healed so well. If you’d come a few days later, it might not even look like she was hurt.”
Yan Sisi obediently sat on the bench, listening to the conversation between her mother and the doctor, silently praising the Spiritual Spring Water in her mind. Truly, the things of immortals were remarkable.
Back in her father’s hospital room, Yan Sisi filled a thermos with hot water, taking the opportunity to add a bit of Spiritual Spring Water.
After chatting with her father for a while, she returned home. Entering her secret space, she was amazed to see the corn beginning to bear fruit. Peppers, tomatoes, and strawberries had all sprouted flower buds, and the vines of the gourds were already covering the ground. Compared to the outside world, the growth was astonishingly fast.
Thinking of how rural crops usually needed support structures, she quickly went to a secluded park, cut some tree branches, and brought them back to her space. Once home, she set up the support frames inside the space.
By the time the frames were finished, it was nearly 10 a.m. Yan Sisi looked at the basket of vegetables that were about to sprout and placed some on the kitchen table. She then went to the supply store to buy some brown sugar, White Rabbit milk candies, and sponge cakes.
After this shopping, her pocket money was down to just one yuan. Lately, she had so many expenses, she still needed to buy more plant seeds for the space and had to figure out a way to earn some money.
While thinking, Yan Sisi walked to Aunt Chen’s house. She immediately saw her in the yard hanging clothes and stepped closer, calling sweetly, “Auntie, I’m here to help you!”
She was about to set down her basket and lend a hand when Aunt Chen, hearing the familiar voice, turned and smiled in surprise. She gently held Yan Sisi’s hands to stop her, saying, “No need, there aren’t that many clothes anyway.”
Then she called inside, “Eldest daughter-in-law, come out and help hang the clothes.”
A loud female voice came from inside the house: “Ah, I’m coming right away!”
Yan Sisi was pulled inside by Aunt Chen and casually set the basket she was carrying on the table. “Auntie, these are vegetables grown by my relatives. I brought them for you to try.”
Although Yan Sisi hadn’t spent much time with Aunt Chen, she could tell that the older woman was warm-hearted. Worried that giving the vegetables directly might make Aunt Chen refuse them, she had deliberately hidden the items she bought from the supply store underneath the vegetables.
“You came here, that’s enough, why are you bringing things too?” Aunt Chen said, picking up the basket to hand it back to Yan Sisi. Life was hard for everyone these days; this much produce would last for several days. Besides, helping someone shouldn’t be about getting something in return.
Li Hong, who had come out of the main room after hearing the commotion, glanced at the contents of the basket and immediately said with a sarcastic tone, “Oh, my mother went out with you yesterday, came back injured, and today you bring only this little bit of vegetables? Are you trying to bribe a beggar or something?”