To avoid wasting time going back and forth, everyone had brought some coarse-grain flatbreads and wild vegetable dumplings for lunch before heading up the mountain.
But for Yun Yixuan, eating them was nothing short of torture.
The moment she took her first bite of the coarse-grain flatbread, its dry, rough texture made her throat feel as though it were being scraped with sandpaper. Every swallow was painfully difficult.
Then she tried the wild vegetable dumpling.
Aside from a faint grassy taste, it was practically flavorless. There was absolutely nothing enjoyable about it.
At that moment, Yun Yixuan felt as though fifty thousand alpacas were stampeding through her heart.
Her mind immediately filled with images of all the delicious food stored inside her space: soft and fluffy steamed buns, chewy meat jerky, all kinds of fragrant cooked dishes, and even simple instant noodles.
Right now, every single one of them seemed like an irresistible delicacy.
The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to cry.
All that delicious food was so close, yet completely out of reach. She could only savor the memory of it in her imagination.
Unfortunately, the hunger gnawing at her stomach refused to be ignored.
With no other choice, Yun Yixuan viciously bit into the coarse-grain flatbread as though she were fighting a personal battle against the miserable thing.
She chewed slowly and painfully, every bite filled with longing for delicious food and helpless frustration at her current situation.
Finally, she stretched her neck and forced herself to swallow.
Even afterward, the dry, scratchy pain lingered in her throat.
The sun gradually sank toward the horizon, its light becoming softer as it draped the entire mountain forest in a thin veil of gold.
Everyone had been busy gathering firewood on the mountain all day, and by now, they had collected almost enough.
After carefully estimating their supplies, they figured that one more trip up the mountain should provide enough firewood for cooking and heating throughout the entire winter.
The educated youths gradually stopped working and began helping one another neatly bundle the scattered firewood.
The male educated youths were stronger and worked quickly. In just a few movements, they tightly secured the thick branches with rope.
The female educated youths were no less hardworking. They carefully arranged the thinner branches, making sure every bundle was compact and firmly tied.
Once everything was ready, each person carried a bundle of firewood on their back, while the men also carried half-filled sacks of dried goods they had gathered from the mountain.
Looking at their abundant harvest, everyone’s face was filled with simple satisfaction.
By the time the group returned to the educated youth compound, only a brilliant streak of sunset remained along the horizon. The sun was almost completely gone.
As soon as everyone put down their things, they immediately began preparing dinner in an orderly manner.
Everyone had a clear task.
Some skillfully started the fire. The dry wood crackled inside the stove, and the warm golden flames illuminated their youthful faces.
Others gathered around basins of water to carefully wash the mushrooms they had collected on the mountain. Their hands moved constantly through the water, cleaning away dirt and debris.
Several others concentrated on making coarse-grain flatbreads, repeatedly kneading the rough flour in their hands in an attempt to make the finished flatbreads taste a little better.
The entire educated youth compound bustled with activity.
People chatted in small groups, their laughter and conversations blending together. Surrounded by the lively warmth of cooking and companionship, the exhaustion of the day seemed to gradually disappear.
Before long, steaming food was placed on the only table in the courtyard.
But the moment Yun Yixuan saw the watery mushroom and wild vegetable soup alongside the unappetizing coarse-grain flatbreads, she instantly lost her appetite.
Only a few mushrooms floated among the wild vegetable leaves.
The broth was so clear that one could practically see their reflection in it, and there wasn’t even a trace of oil floating on the surface.
The coarse-grain flatbreads were dry and dull in color. One glance was enough to tell how rough they would taste.
Yun Yixuan forced herself to eat a few bites of flatbread and picked at several pieces of mushroom, but after that, she simply couldn’t swallow another mouthful.
She groaned inwardly.
She really couldn’t handle food like this.
If she continued living at the educated youth compound and eating like this every day, her body wouldn’t be able to endure it. She would probably become nothing but skin and bones.
Without a healthy body, how could she possibly climb mountains to gather medicinal herbs, make money, and carry out all her plans?
Her determination to find a separate place to live became even stronger.
She could only hope that when she visited the brigade leader’s home that evening to ask about renting a house, she would receive some good news.
While everyone was crowded inside the small kitchen eating and chatting noisily, Yun Yixuan quietly took advantage of the opportunity to slip away.
The sounds of cheerful conversation and clattering bowls and chopsticks covered her movements, giving her a brief chance to be alone.
She silently returned to the room.
The light inside was somewhat dim, and the quietness stood in stark contrast to the lively atmosphere outside.
Standing beside the kang, Yun Yixuan instinctively reached behind her ear and pressed the peach blossom mark.
Normally, the moment she touched it, a clear image of everything inside her space would immediately appear in her mind.
But this time, nothing happened.
Her mind was completely blank.
“Could something have happened to my space?”
The thought flashed through her mind, and fear and anxiety immediately surged through her like a tidal wave.
No!
That absolutely couldn’t happen!
She had stored countless valuable supplies inside the space. She had been counting on those resources to live comfortably in this unfamiliar era and accomplish great things.
If something had gone wrong with her space, all her plans would be ruined.
Her heart suddenly began pounding.
Her breathing grew rapid, panic and unease filling her eyes. Even her hands began trembling uncontrollably.
Just as her thoughts descended into chaos, a powerful wave of dizziness struck her.
The entire world seemed to spin around her.
Her body swayed uncontrollably, and her legs became so weak that it felt as though she were standing on cotton.
Then everything went black.
When Yun Yixuan regained consciousness, she found herself in a completely unfamiliar place.
Gentle sunlight spilled across the ground while a soft breeze brushed past her, bringing with it a soothing sense of comfort.
The weather was beautiful and peaceful, a stark contrast to the panic she had experienced moments earlier.
Looking around, she saw an endless expanse of black soil stretching in every direction.
The earth appeared incredibly fertile, as though it contained limitless vitality.
On one side of the land stood an ancient well.
It looked old and simple, with green moss covering its stone rim as though silently telling stories of countless passing years.
Yun Yixuan stared at it thoughtfully.
Could the well contain the legendary spiritual spring water that often appeared inside magical spaces in novels?
She still had things to do today, so she couldn’t test it right now.
Next time, however, she definitely had to find out whether she had received that kind of miraculous golden finger as well.
What shocked Yun Yixuan even more was the beautiful two-story modern villa standing on the right side of the space.
The villa had a simple yet stylish design, with clean white exterior walls and enormous floor-to-ceiling windows that gleamed brilliantly beneath the sunlight.
Beside the villa stood neat rows of warehouses.
With a mixture of nervousness and excitement, Yun Yixuan hurried toward them and opened the doors one after another.
What she saw inside filled her with overwhelming joy.
Everything was arranged neatly, and all the supplies she had brought from the future were still there.
There were all kinds of daily necessities, mountains of delicious food, and numerous advanced tools.
Behind the warehouses were the electric vehicles, cars, and helicopter Yun Yixuan had purchased before transmigrating into the novel.
Their surfaces were spotless, gleaming with a metallic sheen beneath the sunlight.
Unable to contain her excitement, Yun Yixuan turned and hurried toward the other side of the villa.
There, she discovered an operating room, a traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy, and two storage rooms filled with Western medicine.
When she entered the medicine storage rooms, she saw shelves packed neatly with every kind of medication imaginable.
From ordinary cold medicine to various emergency drugs, everything she could possibly need was there.
The operating room was even more impressive.
It contained the most advanced and complete surgical equipment from her original era. Every instrument had been polished until it gleamed, giving off the cold metallic shine of cutting-edge medical technology.
“So that’s what happened!”
Realization suddenly dawned on Yun Yixuan.
“My space upgraded!”
Her face immediately lit up with uncontrollable joy, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
She eagerly wandered around this incredible new world, unable to stop herself from exclaiming in amazement every now and then.
This upgraded space was simply incredible!