Reading at the Fragrant Study Room and binge-following updates had never felt this satisfying before.
This was the enviable, jealousy-inducing law of being the female lead.
Too bad she was only the female lead’s family member.
Once the family split up in the future, they wouldn’t even count as immediate family anymore—just relatives. The benefits she could share would be very limited.
By the time she returned carrying half a basket of wild vegetables, she could already smell the rich aroma of stewed meat from far away. Only after getting home did she learn that tonight’s dinner was wild chicken stew.
And that wild chicken had actually been caught by Zhao Shiyu.
What a pity she hadn’t managed to run into her all afternoon. Otherwise, if they had come back together, she could’ve at least claimed a bit of credit.
Even if it was only helping the female lead carry the basket.
Sadly, she had missed the chance in the end. She didn’t even know which path Zhao Shiyu had taken down the mountain—otherwise she would’ve seen her.
But that wasn’t the most important thing.
The most important thing was that on her way back, she had already heard the female lead’s latest gossip around the village—fighting someone and stabbing them in the butt with a stick.
This female lead was ruthless!
But after thinking about it, it actually made sense.
The female lead was only eight years old right now, skinny and weak-looking, while that Zhao Yangshi was huge and burly. Even if she didn’t weigh two hundred pounds, she was at least one-eighty. If the female lead hadn’t used some dirty trick, she probably would’ve suffered badly.
But this wasn’t the heroine of some tragic abuse novel.
This was the heroine of a power fantasy story.
How could she possibly be the one suffering?
Since the female lead couldn’t lose, then naturally the only ones who could suffer were other people.
Watching everyone eat without even lifting their heads, she had no doubt that if the Zhao family didn’t follow the rule of “no talking while eating or sleeping,” Zhao Shiyu would already be drowning in praise and gratitude by now.
Originally, she had planned to sit next to Zhao Shiyu today.
Unfortunately, Zhao Yanjin and Zhao Ningshuang sat down on either side of her first.
After dinner, everyone carried the bowls, plates, and chopsticks into the kitchen. Zhao Shiying was once again dragged off by her mother to help wash dishes and scrub pots.
By the time she finished and came back out, everyone had already returned to their own rooms.
Even though the sky wasn’t completely dark yet, everyone had worked hard all day and was genuinely exhausted.
Still…
Inside every room, people were secretly whispering among themselves.
Those who had returned late all heard about Zhao Shiyu’s “great achievements” today. While they felt deeply satisfied, they also worried a little about Zhao Shiyu’s reputation.
The satisfaction naturally came from how hateful Yang Huahua was. Hearing that she had embarrassed herself so thoroughly was incredibly gratifying.
As for worrying about Zhao Shiyu’s reputation, aside from worrying for her personally, they were more worried it would affect their own children’s marriage prospects.
After all, no matter what, they were all brothers and sisters from the same family.
One person’s glory was shared by all; one person’s disgrace affected everyone.
But since the old madam who had witnessed the whole thing hadn’t said anything, they could only gossip about it behind closed doors.
Although Zhao Yanjin and Zhao Ningshuang hadn’t gone to the fields today, their trip to town had exhausted them enough.
Going there had been fine—they got to ride an ox cart.
But on the way back, they couldn’t find a ride, so the three of them walked all the way home.
The moment they lay down on the bed, both girls fell asleep within minutes.
Especially Zhao Ningshuang, who had even started lightly snoring.
Zhao Shiyu was tired too, but because she kept thinking about her spatial realm, she couldn’t fall asleep no matter what.
Only after confirming both of her sisters were sound asleep did she hurriedly enter the space.
The rabbits occupied one side, while the medicinal herbs she gathered occupied the other.
Maybe because the grass inside was so lush and delicious, the two rabbits showed absolutely no intention of escaping.
But the once fresh-smelling space now carried an unpleasant odor.
Originally, Zhao Shiyu had wanted to see whether she could raise rabbits inside after catching the two of them.
Now she immediately gave up on the idea.
Better to plant crops instead.
At least plants wouldn’t produce this awful stinky, musky smell.
She planned to kill the two rabbits.
But when the moment actually came, she realized she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
The little rabbits looked especially cute while eating grass, their tiny mouths twitching nonstop.
More importantly, she didn’t even have any tools right now.
Maybe tomorrow she could hand the rabbits over to her bargain-bin grandmother?
But she felt somewhat unwilling.
Besides, “a liter of rice earns gratitude, but a whole bucket earns resentment.”
Taking out too many things too frequently wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
After thinking it over again and again, she finally decided to ask the original owner’s mother, Madam Jiang, for help.
First, she was too young. According to the memories she inherited, the original owner had only gone to town two or three times, and the memories were blurry.
The original owner’s memories only remembered fun things and tasty food.
In other words, if Zhao Shiyu had to go to town alone now, she was afraid she’d end up getting herself lost.
Second, the town was pretty far away. A round trip would waste most of the day.
She needed someone in the family to help cover for her.
Her cheap mother was undoubtedly the perfect candidate.
Besides, she felt she couldn’t afford to wait any longer.
She still didn’t know whether her space could preserve freshness.
If she killed the rabbits but couldn’t sell them in town quickly enough, then if the space couldn’t preserve them, the dead rabbits would definitely rot and stink.
And most likely, the space really couldn’t preserve things.
Because the medicinal herbs she gathered this afternoon already looked slightly wilted.
But if she kept the rabbits alive…
The smell inside this sealed hundred-square-meter space was simply unbearable.
As for releasing the rabbits?
Yeah right.
She had worked hard to catch them.
Based on what she knew about her father Zhao Guanxia, if she went directly to him, there was a high chance the rabbits would immediately become public family property.
So asking her mother was the better choice.
From the memories she inherited, her mother was someone with plenty of little schemes of her own.
Her relationships with the other sisters-in-law were only superficial politeness. Behind their backs, she constantly gossiped about them.
But now obviously wasn’t a good time to look for her.
The couple had already gone to sleep.
Zhao Shiyu could only suppress her impatience, quickly organize the medicinal herbs she had collected today, then leave the space.
Now that she had nothing weighing on her mind anymore, she quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, she woke up early.
Partly because her two older sisters had gotten up very early and called her to wake up together with them.
And partly because Zhao Shiyu still had things on her mind.
Finding an opportunity, she secretly pulled Madam Jiang aside. Standing on tiptoe, she whispered into her ear:
“Mom, yesterday I didn’t just catch that wild chicken. I also caught two live rabbits. I hid them in the mountains, along with the medicinal herbs I gathered. Mom, can you take me to town today to sell them? We’ll split the money fifty-fifty.”
Madam Jiang’s eyes instantly widened.
“Are you telling the truth?”
“Mom, keep your voice down. Don’t let anyone hear.”
Madam Jiang coughed lightly, and the expression on her face immediately returned to calm composure.
“Wait here. I’ll go talk to your grandmother.”
Zhao Shiyu’s eyes curved into a happy smile.
Her first income was finally about to arrive.
She watched Madam Jiang enter the old madam’s room.
But when she turned her head, she suddenly saw Zhao Shiying staring at her from not far away, her eyes full of suspicion and scrutiny.
Zhao Shiyu’s heart skipped a beat, and the smile on her face disappeared.
How had she forgotten there was still this annoying person constantly watching her?
But she quickly relaxed again.
At worst, she could just let Madam Jiang go to town alone while she stayed behind to keep Zhao Shiying occupied.