After leaving the main hall, Lin Ruxia returned to her room and entered the marketplace space. She found a section that sold washing machines and noticed two that were already installed—likely display models.
She stuffed the dirty clothes into one of them, added detergent, and started a quick wash cycle. Then she wandered around. When she reached the food section, a thought occurred to her: since the washing machines could run, this space clearly wasn’t frozen in time—so why was the food here still kept warm? It didn’t make sense.
But then she remembered—she had transmigrated into a novel, had access to a marketplace, a spirit spring, and rare herbs. None of that made sense either. Compared to that, this was nothing worth overthinking.
As long as she didn’t have to do anything against her principles, it was fine. The space didn’t seem to require anything in exchange for using its contents. Maybe it was compensation for her transmigration. Thinking back to when she first arrived—if she hadn’t had this space, she might really have died.
About twenty minutes later, she returned to the washing machine section. The clothes were already clean. She placed them into a wooden basin, covered it, and headed toward the river.
It was around noon. The village was quiet—people were either napping or working. She didn’t run into anyone along the way. At the riverbank, she took out the clothes, rinsed them a few times for show, then sat down to rest.
The water was clear, the sunlight bright, shimmering across the surface. Cicadas chirped nonstop. Everything felt peaceful. She took off her shoes and dipped her fair feet into the water—it was cool and refreshing.
But she didn’t dare stay long. After a few minutes, she dried her feet, put her shoes back on, glanced around to make sure no one was nearby, then packed up and headed home.
Once back, she hung the clothes to dry and returned to her room to rest.
At one in the afternoon, everyone else went back to work. Lin Ruxia came out and asked Father Song if he could shave the children’s heads after work. He was hesitant. Lice spread easily, especially in the village—shaving their heads wouldn’t solve the root problem unless they stayed bald forever. But Lin Ruxia insisted, and he finally agreed.
She knew shaving wouldn’t completely solve it. Only by moving to the farmhouse later and maintaining strict hygiene—bathing often, keeping distance from infected children—could they truly deal with the problem.
Si Bao and the others prepared to go cut pig fodder, carrying baskets on their backs. Lin Ruxia grabbed one too and followed. Since Si Bao and Wu Bao were being punished, they couldn’t bring the younger children along. Lin Ruxia asked Liu Bao and Qi Bao to stay home and watch them, giving each of them two candies before leaving.
The village was very safe—any stranger entering would be known by everyone almost instantly. News spread faster than the internet.
At the gathering point near the end of the village, Lin Ruxia saw the team leader lecturing the children who had arrived. Si Bao and Wu Bao didn’t dare approach.
“Zhi Cheng’s wife, why are you here? Didn’t I say no one is allowed to help them cut pig fodder?” the team leader asked after finishing.
“I’m not here to help them,” Lin Ruxia replied. “I just want to go up the mountain to look for some herbs. Those two children lost a lot of blood today. My father scolded me when I got home, and I’ve realized my mistake. I want to find some blood-tonifying herbs as compensation.”
(The “mistake” didn’t exist—but she needed to maintain her reputation in the village. She didn’t know how long she’d stay here, at least until her unborn twins were born. With so many children, village life was safer and easier.)
The team leader understood. If those children didn’t survive, it would seriously affect her reputation.
“You know how to identify herbs?” he asked skeptically.
“I once found a herbal guidebook at a recycling station. It had pictures—I’ve memorized them,” she lied nervously.
He didn’t press further, only warning her not to enter the deep mountains.
“Si Bao, you go ahead first,” she said after walking for a while.
She had overestimated her stamina. Before even reaching halfway up the mountain, she was already exhausted and out of breath. Not wanting the children to look down on her, she pretended to search for herbs and let them go ahead.
“Mom, there aren’t any herbs here. Even the village doctor doesn’t look here,” Wu Bao reminded her.
“Maybe that’s why—no one’s looked carefully,” she insisted.
Eventually, the children left.
As soon as they were out of sight, Lin Ruxia sat down on a rock.
“This body is too weak…” she sighed. “It looks fine on the outside, but the moment I exert myself, it shows. Good thing I have the marketplace to support these children—otherwise I’d have to work in the fields. I wonder if the spirit spring can help improve my health.”
She sat quietly, looking at the distant farmers working like ants in the fields. The sky was blue, the air fresh. She took a deep breath. “The air here is so good—unlike the polluted future where only deep mountains have air like this.”
After resting, she continued upward. At the outer edge of the mountain, she saw the children cutting pig fodder. Everyone’s bundles looked different. She didn’t dare ask such a basic question—she’d be seen as ignorant.
Instead, she went searching for herbs. There were plenty here—aside from the doctor, few people collected them.
Soon, she found many beauty-related herbs like Bai Zhi and Poria. Unable to resist, she kept going deeper into the forest.
Meanwhile, Wu Bao had been keeping an eye on her. When he noticed she hadn’t come out for a long time, he became worried and told Si Bao.
Si Bao panicked and wanted to go search for her, but Wu Bao stopped him. The deep forest was dangerous—wild boars and even tigers lived there.
Wu Bao suggested Si Bao go find adults. Si Bao ran down the mountain and found Father Song working in the fields.
“Grandpa, something’s wrong! Mom went into the deep mountains—go save her!” he shouted.
“What? Why would she go in there?” Father Song dropped everything and rushed over.
Back in the forest, Lin Ruxia had gotten into trouble. She had been so focused on collecting herbs that she didn’t realize she had entered the deep mountains. When she tried to turn back, she got lost.
Fortunately, she had a compass from the marketplace. Using the sun’s position, she managed to find her way out. She didn’t encounter any dangerous animals—only wild chickens and rabbits, which were too fast to catch. However, she managed to gather half a basket of wild eggs.
Just as she was nearing the outer edge, she heard voices calling her.
“I’m here!” she shouted. “I’m coming out!”
When she emerged, she saw Father Song, the team leader, and several villagers.
“Why did you come?” she asked, surprised.
“Why did you go into the deep mountains?” the team leader demanded. “Didn’t I warn you?”
“Exactly! What were you thinking?” Father Song said, still shaken. “That place is full of dangerous beasts. Even grown men might not come back—let alone you, pregnant!”
“Mom… we were so scared…” Si Bao cried. “What if a tiger took you away? Then we’d be like orphaned children…”
“Alright, don’t cry. I’m fine,” Lin Ruxia comforted him.
Then she turned to the others and bowed deeply. “I’m very sorry for troubling everyone, and thank you for coming to help me.”
The villagers were stunned. They knew her as a proud person—seeing her bow like this shocked them. Their earlier complaints disappeared.
“No need to thank us,” they said.
“Be more careful next time,” the team leader said.
“As thanks, I collected some wild eggs. Please take two each,” Lin Ruxia said, distributing them.
There were eight people total, and she gave out sixteen eggs.
Her basket finally felt lighter. Carrying it earlier had been exhausting—over ten kilograms with the herbs included.
The villagers happily accepted the eggs, thanked her, and followed the team leader back down the mountain.