After a whole day of being on edge, He Run was utterly exhausted, and sleepiness had long overtaken him. But He Ze kept talking, so he forced himself to stay awake.
Lin Zhi didn’t care whether he agreed or not; she still had a huge pile of work to do and no time to fuss over their minor complaints.
“Hurry up and sleep. If you don’t, I’ll go back to your side,” she warned.
Their bedding had all been thrown into the yard. The beds were impossible to sleep on. Even though He Ze was young, he knew there was no going back.
He curled up under the blanket, expressing his stance with his actions.
Once Lin Zhi left, he peeked his head out and glanced at his nearly sleeping brother, sighing with an old-man-like maturity.
“I don’t know what got into her brain… suddenly being so nice to us. I wish her mind would stay like this forever,” he muttered.
Getting no response from He Run, he didn’t mind. Inhaling the lingering scent of soap, a genuine childlike expression finally appeared on his small face.
“Brother, I smell so nice! Come smell me!” he said.
Even half-asleep, He Run turned his head, closed his eyes, sniffed, and gave a tiny nod.
He Ze sighed again. That woman had indeed been deeply stimulated today—not only had she given them precious eggs and plain rice porridge, she even let them use the soap.
He had washed himself three times with it, and it felt like he was soaking in it. Who knew when he’d get the next chance? He wished he had rubbed a little more.
Lin Zhi, however, had no idea what He Ze was thinking. She was busy rolling up her sleeves and heading to another room.
She had one commendable trait: once she started, she went all the way. If she didn’t finish, she wouldn’t stop.
Of course, this “all-out” approach came from the fact that if she paused, she might not continue for days.
After cleaning several rooms and swapping everything that could be swapped, only the huge pile of clothes and bedding remained.
Among those, only a small portion belonged to the twins; the rest were hers. While sorting, she found three or four “Bragi” dresses.
In this era, Bragi fabric dresses were very expensive. One dress could buy a family of four a month’s worth of grain.
The original owner had been excessively extravagant. Her priciest clothes back then were under 200 yuan. A short-sleeve shirt worn for six years, almost translucent from washing, was still kept as sleepwear.
As expected, one shouldn’t treat themselves too badly—now comes the payback: after suffering through hardship, the rewards haven’t yet been enjoyed, and she had to start over again.
Ancient wisdom is true: if you’re willing to endure hardship, endless suffering will come.
The twins’ clothes were already tattered beyond repair. Even if cleaned, they were unwearable; cutting them for rags barely helped.
Her grocery store had dozens of clothes. She had once noticed some wall space and thought it would be better to stock elderly clothes for sale—maybe someone would actually buy them.
She also brought in a few rolls of fabric. Though gray and drab, they matched the era perfectly.
Nothing was flashy, so she confidently took them out.
She could wear the elderly clothes herself—slightly old-fashioned, but she only needed them for a day or two. Once the freshly washed clothes were dry, she could change.
For the kids, she could modify adult clothes. Her tailoring skills weren’t great, but turning large clothes into smaller sizes was doable—they could at least wear them.
After two hours, she finished two sets of clothes, brought them into the room, and stood by the bed, looking at the two little “radishes” (the twins) hugging each other while sleeping, grinning foolishly.
“Hahaha, these are my kids! Free of charge, ready to eat and manage themselves—what a steal!” she laughed.
She placed the clothes by the bedside and went out to continue the endless task of washing.
The clothes and bedding were filthy, and she lost count of how many times she changed the water. In the end, she was too weak to wring them out.
The front yard was too small to dry everything, so she moved it to the back yard. Too exhausted to set up racks, she stacked firewood in a pile and laid the clothes and bedding on top.
Speaking of firewood, she had to praise a certain man she had never met. Though he hated the original owner, he had prepared enough firewood for six months before a mission—such foresight was admirable.
After washing all the clothes and bedding and cleaning the yard, the sky had begun to lighten. Lin Zhi had worked all night; her shoulders ached, arms were sore, and her hands trembled, barely able to grip anything.
She went into the kitchen, filled the cabinets with oil, salt, sauces, vinegar, and grain, and even placed dozens of eggs in a basket. Only then did she drag her aching body to take a shower.
With hot water and soap, she washed thoroughly, scrubbing herself over and over, and emerged feeling several pounds lighter.
She rinsed some millet and cooked porridge. Finally, she had a chance to rest. Only then did she take out a mirror to see her current appearance.
The book said the original owner was very pretty, and Lin Zhi agreed. The person in the mirror resembled her previous-life self about 70%.
Her previous self had been perfect except for a slightly large nose; this body’s nose was delicate, paired with her eyes and mouth, making her a true beauty.
Of course, what others thought of her appearance didn’t matter—she thought she looked good.
While eating millet porridge, she also steamed two bowls of egg custard. Once cooked, she left them in the pot to keep warm, wrapped her still-damp hair in a cloth, and went to take a nap.
After a night of work, she was more exhausted than after finishing a small project. If she didn’t sleep, she felt she might collapse at any moment.
The twins had gone to bed early and were already awake at dawn. Hearing her enter, they didn’t make a sound. Startled when she slipped under the covers, they instinctively curled up together under the blanket.
Noticing their movement, Lin Zhi glanced at them but ignored it.
“Your clothes are by the bed, and food is in the pot. Eat yourselves. I’m going to sleep. Don’t disturb me.”
Without waiting for a response, she closed her eyes and was asleep within seconds.
The twins stared at her for a long time. Seeing that she really was asleep, they finally began to move.
When they saw the new clothes by the bedside, both wore identical expressions—she had actually gotten them new clothes?
The soft fabric felt incredible. He Ze touched it, still in disbelief.
“Brother, do you think she’s possessed?” he whispered. Without waiting for an answer, he nodded to himself. “Possessed is good. I wish she stayed possessed all the time.”
Yesterday they had eggs and plain rice porridge; today they got new clothes and hadn’t been scolded or beaten. Such days didn’t exist in his memory.
With He Ting away from home, the twins’ toothbrushes broken and nobody to replace them, it would be a few days before they even remembered washing their faces or brushing teeth.
After getting up, they ran straight to the kitchen. Seeing the egg custard and millet porridge, He Ze silently wished that Lin Zhi’s “possession” would last even longer.