Time flew by during the mountain climb, and before long the sun was high in the sky.
The midday sun finally made the temperature less bitingly cold.
After walking for half a day, Liang Qiaoqiao was beginning to break a sweat.
As she approached the mountaintop, her stomach started growling with hunger.
“I miscalculated—I actually forgot to bring any food up the mountain.”
Unlike other time-travelers who might have hunting skills, she naturally couldn’t catch any game to roast.
Plus, during this season, there were no edible wild berries on the mountain, so she had no choice but to endure the hunger.
Looking down from the summit, the long trail she had climbed immediately daunted Liang Qiaoqiao: “Oh my, that’s such a long path! Do I still have the strength to walk back?”
Her legs felt terribly weak, and she deeply regretted having exerted herself so much during the ascent, making the descent now extremely difficult.
In this era of severe scarcity, compounded by her vegetarian diet during the mourning period, her stomach was truly prone to hunger.
Moreover, the original owner seemed to have low blood sugar—when she got too hungry, she would feel dizzy and break out in a cold sweat.
At this critical moment, earning points was no longer her priority; solving her hunger problem and preserving her life were clearly more important.
Liang Qiaoqiao didn’t dare delay any further and promptly turned around to hurry down the mountain.
Just before her legs became completely weak, she finally made it back to Wutong Village.
As soon as she approached the village’s end, she spotted a familiar figure pacing in front of her house from afar.
Liang Qiaoqiao quickly rushed over, calling out cheerfully, “Village Chief Grandpa, what brings you here?”
The Old Village Chief was in his fifties, and according to Chen Ziming’s generation, she ought to address him as Grandpa.
The gray-haired old man glanced at her: “Child, where have you been all morning? I came by several times but couldn’t find you.”
Liang Qiaoqiao obediently smiled apologetically: “It’s just that we’re out of firewood and food at home, so I went up the mountain to look for some.”
“Aren’t you about to take the college entrance exam? Shouldn’t you be at home studying peacefully instead of climbing mountains? If you need anything, just tell Grandpa, and I’ll have someone bring it to you later.”
“No need, Grandpa. It’s not like I’m missing any limbs—how could I trouble you with such trivial matters?”
There was a village custom: households with recent bereavements shouldn’t visit others’ homes within the first three days after the funeral, for fear of bringing bad luck.
Therefore, Liang Qiaoqiao couldn’t appropriately visit other homes during these three days, though villagers were allowed to come to hers.
But who would willingly visit a house where someone had just died to invite bad luck?
Coincidentally, Liang Qiaoqiao was also afraid her body-snatching secret might be exposed, so she was quite content with the peace and quiet of having no visitors.
The Old Village Chief, who had finally waited for her, didn’t enter the house. Instead, he handed her a bamboo basket right outside the courtyard gate: “This is the material that Battalion Commander Mu, who visited yesterday, asked the county’s armed forces department to find for you. They delivered it first thing this morning but didn’t find you home. I urged them to leave since I didn’t want to delay their important work by making them wait too long.”
“Thank you, Village Chief Grandpa.” Surprised that she had had such an early visitor, Liang Qiaoqiao promptly thanked him with a bright smile.
Battalion Commander Mu had only mentioned yesterday that he would send someone with the materials today, but she never expected them to arrive so early in the morning.
The military certainly acted with efficiency and decisiveness.
Liang Qiaoqiao’s favorable impression of this era’s soldiers instantly skyrocketed…
After seeing off the Old Village Chief with utmost courtesy, she turned and entered her own courtyard carrying a basket of books.
Since crossing over, Liang Qiaoqiao had been constantly busy and hadn’t managed to read a single page until now.
With study materials delivered right to her doorstep, it was time to schedule her review sessions.
After a simple lunch, Liang Qiaoqiao spent the entire afternoon reviewing.
She retained most of the original host’s memories, so the review process felt quite familiar.
Thanks to the high intelligence inherited from both parents, the original host’s learning ability was quite good.
Had it not been for the special circumstances preventing her from taking the college entrance exams, the original host would likely have been admitted to university based on her academic performance.
Now, Liang Qiaoqiao—already a top student herself—found it quite convenient to have inherited most of these memories.
Back in her room, she picked up the materials Battalion Commander Mu had sent over, skimmed through them briefly, and selected a Chinese language exercise book to start practicing.
Having just completed her undergraduate degree before crossing over and considering graduate school, she was quite adept at drilling through practice questions.
Moreover, the study materials in this era were far less numerous and complicated than those in later times. A mere set of reference materials was nothing challenging for her.
Time flew by while she immersed herself in the sea of exercises.
When Liang Qiaoqiao finally looked up after finishing the Chinese question set, she noticed the sky outside the window had gradually darkened.
It was time again to deliver fire and meals up the mountain.
Liang Qiaoqiao busied herself in the kitchen before heading out with a food basket in one hand and a torch in the other.
Along the way, all the plants that needed identification had already been examined and collected.
So she didn’t stop again, focusing solely on making her way.
On her return trip, she once again spotted that Little White-Eyed Wolf from Chen Laoer’s family at the alley entrance.
His narrow, triangular eyes—identical to Chen Laoer’s—glared at her with their usual malice.
As Liang Qiaoqiao glanced over, he was still cursing foully: “Plague-ridden bitch, why aren’t you dead yet?”
Furious for a moment—just a moment—Liang Qiaoqiao retorted grimly: “White-eyed wolf with rotten heart, liver, and lungs, I’m waiting to see your family get their retribution!”
At that moment, she had made up her mind.
Whether heaven would arrange punishment or not, she certainly wouldn’t let this white-eyed wolf off.
Originally, she had thought that since the adults in this family were already imprisoned, she wouldn’t pursue the matter with the remaining five or six children.
But who told this little white-eyed wolf to keep coming around to trouble her? She wasn’t some spineless clay figure who would let him off easily.
From today onward, she would make him understand that even without heavenly intervention, she would be their family’s retribution!
Oblivious to the danger, the little white-eyed wolf continued cursing behind her: “Bitch, just wait until my grandparents and parents come back—you’ll get what’s coming to you!”
He still believed the adults in his family would only be detained by the police for a couple of days at most, and would return after maybe getting scolded.
Even many households in the village didn’t grasp the seriousness of the situation.
But from the moment Mu Yang decided to intervene, he never intended to let those six family members have another chance to return to the village and bother the only relative of his martyred comrade.
The fate awaiting Chen Laoer’s brood would either be execution by firing squad or being sent to remote labor reform farms for rehabilitation.
If the little white-eyed wolf ever wanted to see his family members again in this lifetime, it would only be through prison visits or joining them behind bars.
Liang Qiaoqiao turned her back, a sinister sneer exclusive to villain shots in film and television curling at the corners of her lips, the malice on her face completely unconcealed.
Little White-Eyed Wolf, you’d better sleep soundly tonight—just you wait!