Lin Ruxia found a doctor at the clinic. After examining her, the doctor looked at her with a serious expression and said, “Your body is indeed quite depleted, and you’re pregnant as well. What’s strange is that the embryo hasn’t been affected at all—it’s very stable. But I still advise you to take good care of your health. With a body like this, problems will surface sooner or later. How about I prescribe some mild tonics for you?”
Lin Ruxia had already expected this—there was no way someone could go through repeated childbirth without harm. The fact that her body hadn’t deformed was already fortunate. As for the stable pregnancy, it was probably due to the novel’s plot—after all, the original owner existed mainly to highlight another branch of the family.
“Mom! How did your body become so weak?” Dabao had followed her in and grew anxious upon hearing the doctor’s words. Even though the original owner hadn’t treated them well, in their hearts, Lin Ruxia was still their mother.
“This weakness is probably due to overwork or not recovering properly after childbirth,” the doctor explained upon seeing the children’s concern.
“Mm, I understand. Please prescribe the medicine,” Lin Ruxia said, then turned to comfort the children. “Don’t worry. It’s probably because of having children. After I give birth this time, I won’t have any more. My body will recover naturally.”
The doctor could tell she was lying, but it was a kind lie, so he said nothing.
After taking the medicine, Lin Ruxia wandered around, looking for a secluded place. Eventually, she found a large, abandoned courtyard far from the town center—about two to three thousand square meters, comparable to a small estate in the village. It was overgrown with weeds.
After asking around, she learned that the original owners had left the country. At first, people had gone there to look for valuables, but after a death occurred and rumors of hauntings spread, everyone avoided the place. It had been abandoned for two or three years.
Checking the time—it was nearly noon—she looked at the children, whose hands were full of things.
“Let’s go eat first,” she said.
“Great! I want to eat!” Sanbao cheered. Thinking about the delicious noodles from the morning made him hungry again. “Mom, are we going back to the state-run restaurant?”
“Yes,” Lin Ruxia replied. In her memory, there were only two places to eat: the state-run restaurant and Liu Shengnan’s home—and that wasn’t free either.
Before leaving, she memorized the location of the courtyard, planning to return later to unload the rice.
When they entered the restaurant, it was much busier than before. The customers were neatly dressed, and when they saw the ragged-looking children behind Lin Ruxia, they began whispering. Dabao and the others felt very uncomfortable.
Lin Ruxia didn’t intervene. In her view, living in society meant facing others’ judgments. Only by accepting them could one improve.
Still, to let the children eat comfortably, she decided to take the food to-go.
“One portion of pig’s trotters, one fish, one stir-fried pork liver with celery, one pickled cabbage with bamboo shoots, and four servings of rice,” she told the cashier.
“You’re sure?” the cashier asked, recognizing them from the morning.
“Yes. Please pack them,” Lin Ruxia said.
“Food containers require industrial coupons—two coupons and three yuan per container.”
Lin Ruxia was surprised. She didn’t expect industrial coupons to be so widely used.
“Excuse me, comrades—does anyone have industrial coupons?” she asked a nearby table.
Several men immediately searched their pockets upon seeing her delicate appearance. But a woman at the table glared at her and said, “You look pretty, but you’re shameless—trying to get things for free!”
Lin Ruxia understood instantly but didn’t want trouble.
“I’m sorry to disturb you. I’m not asking for free—I’ll exchange with other coupons,” she said, taking out grain, milk, and oil coupons.
“Enough, Xiaomei,” a man in a white shirt said sternly. “Comrade, how many do you need?”
“Eight,” Lin Ruxia replied.
“How will you exchange them?”
“I have ten jin of national grain coupons, one jin of milk coupons, and two jin of oil coupons. Is that enough?”
“…Yes,” the man said, handing over the coupons.
Lin Ruxia quickly completed the purchase. The containers were large, so each person carried one as they headed back to Yu Minzhi’s house.
After eating, it was nearly 1 PM. Lin Ruxia asked the children to stay behind again and headed to meet Brother Qi.
He was already waiting with two others.
“Have you eaten?” she greeted.
“Yes,” he replied. “Shall we go now?”
“Did you bring the goods?” she asked.
“Yes.” He pointed to a sack.
“Follow me.”
She led them to the abandoned courtyard and asked them to wait while she checked inside.
Once alone, she used her ability to transfer rice from her “mall” into the yard—ten thousand jin, filling the space completely. Each sack weighed fifty jin, for a total of two hundred sacks.
She even created a path leading to the road.
When she returned, she said, “The goods are ready.”
Brother Qi rushed in and was stunned at the sight.
“Each sack is fifty jin—two hundred sacks total. Do you want to count them?”
“No need. I trust you,” he said, handing over the payment.
“Alright, I’ll leave this to you,” Lin Ruxia said, taking the sack of money without counting it.
After leaving, she entered her space again and gathered supplies—cloth, rice, toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels—filling another large sack.
But when she placed it outside Yu Minzhi’s house, she realized… she couldn’t lift it.
Awkward.
She quickly went inside to call the children for help.
“Comrade Lin… how are you planning to carry this back?” Yu Minzhi asked, looking at the sack weighing over 200 jin.
“…We’ll carry it together later,” Lin Ruxia said helplessly. Her strength was simply too weak.