Zhao Yanjin pinched her little cheek.
“Our Little Seventh has grown up. You actually know how to care about your older brothers and sisters now. You even remembered to save us some tasty treats. Not bad, not bad. Big Sister didn’t spoil you for nothing.”
Zhao Ningshuang had already picked up a pastry and taken a bite.
“The pastries our Little Seventh brought back really are sweet. But I can’t eat too much—I still need to save room for dinner.”
Zhao Shiyu grinned foolishly, clearly delighted.
The moment Zhao Yansong returned from the family school, Zhao Ningshuang dragged him into their room.
She tore off half a sheet of oiled paper and wrapped one piece of each kind of pastry inside before handing it to him.
“Here. This is from our Little Seventh.”
The gift made Zhao Yansong so happy that he immediately reached over and ruffled Zhao Shiyu’s hair into a complete bird’s nest.
At dinner, Zhao Yanjin and Zhao Ningshuang sat on either side of Zhao Shiyu, deliberately sandwiching her between them.
That left Zhao Shiying with no choice but to sit pitifully off to one side.
Seeing her two sisters wink at her, Zhao Shiyu instantly understood.
Madam Jiang had definitely said something to them.
Old Madam Zhao naturally noticed the silent exchange between the children.
But as long as no one caused a scene openly, she pretended to be deaf and blind, acting as if she knew nothing.
After dinner, the two sisters helped Madam Jiang wash the dishes.
Today, cooking duty had fallen to the first and second branches.
Since Madam Jiang hadn’t been home at noon, lunch had been prepared by Wang Shi of the first branch.
Naturally, that meant their people had washed the dishes afterward.
So preparing dinner and cleaning up tonight belonged to the second branch.
The original owner of Zhao Shiyu’s body had never been particularly hardworking.
And since both her sisters doted on her, the most she ever had to do was carry the bowls and chopsticks into the kitchen.
Washing them was never her job.
Back in her room, Zhao Shiyu thought for a moment.
She’d already given pastries to her siblings and grandparents, so there was no reason to leave out her parents.
She tore off another half sheet of oiled paper and picked out two pieces of each kind to bring to them.
At this point, from her original half-jin of pastries, the kind she had the most of had only five pieces left.
The kind she had the least of was down to a single piece.
After all, each pastry had been a different size and weight.
As the couple ate the pastries their youngest daughter had brought them, Madam Jiang quietly told her husband about everything that had happened that day.
Zhao Guanxia naturally gave his wife a few reminders, telling her to help provide cover for their daughter whenever possible.
Madam Jiang readily agreed.
After all, she would be pocketing half the money.
That night, when Zhao Shiyu got up to use the toilet, she saw that both her sisters were sleeping deeply.
Taking the opportunity, she entered her space to take a look.
The moment she did, she was greeted with a pleasant surprise.
First, the lingering smell left behind by the rabbits she had raised there was completely gone.
Second, the ginseng she had planted was growing extremely well.
Of course, she had already noticed that during the day.
But seeing it directly inside the space was far more satisfying.
Still, the space was far too small.
After taking a quick stroll around, there wasn’t much else to look at.
And since she truly had exhausted herself during the day, she exited the space and quickly drifted off to sleep.
Before falling asleep, one thought lingered in her mind.
It was time to seriously start training her body.
The next morning, when Zhao Shiyu prepared to head up the mountain to dig wild vegetables, Madam Jiang indeed helped stall Zhao Shiying.
As for how she stalled her…
It was rather bizarre.
She deliberately provoked Madam Yan of the west branch, causing Zhao Shiying to get scolded by her own mother first thing in the morning.
If Old Madam Zhao hadn’t been standing nearby watching, Madam Yan might even have started hitting her.
With the transmigrated girl tied up, Zhao Shiyu was like a bird released from its cage.
The moment she had the chance, she slung her basket over her back and dashed off.
By the time Zhao Shiying finally found an opportunity to escape her mother’s clutches, Zhao Shiyu was long gone.
Today, Zhao Shiyu still ventured a little deeper into the mountain.
Not too far, of course.
Though she had the space to hide in if danger arose, she still didn’t dare go so deep that she might encounter truly large wild beasts.
And to keep from losing her way, she carefully left markers as she walked.
This naturally slowed her pace.
On top of that, she had to stay alert to every sound around her while keeping an eye on the plants underfoot.
Unfortunately, though she found plenty of scattered medicinal herbs along the way and tossed them into her space, none were the valuable kinds she was hoping for.
As for the common herbs growing near the mountain foot where everyone dug wild vegetables, she ignored them entirely.
Those truly weren’t worth anything.
It wasn’t that she knew the exact market price of medicinal herbs in this world.
It was simply common sense.
Anything growing in the outer mountain regions—easy to gather and plentiful—would never be worth much.
The expensive herbs were always the rare ones hidden deep in the mountains, difficult to find and harvest.
After all, things were precious because they were scarce.
It might not be accurate one hundred percent of the time, but it was close enough.
At the same time, she had to stay alert for anyone following her.
Especially Zhao Shiying.
Zhao Shiyu worried that the transmigrated girl might suddenly wise up, notice the trail markers she’d left, and follow them all the way here.
That was right—
In Zhao Shiyu’s eyes, Zhao Shiying was honestly a little stupid.
Her own disgust toward the girl had already been made painfully obvious.
Yet Zhao Shiying still insisted on sticking to her like glue.
All that did was make Zhao Shiyu dislike her even more and remain even more vigilant.
Besides, if Zhao Shiying were tagging along, the whole trip would be wasted.
To avoid exposing the space, she’d have no choice but to honestly dig wild vegetables the entire time.
She wouldn’t even dare secretly stash anything inside the space.
Still, one thing puzzled her.
Wasn’t Zhao Shiying supposed to be someone who had transmigrated into a novel?
Logically, she should know the plot.
So why had Zhao Shiyu never heard anything in her thoughts about that noble lady?
Surely that scene couldn’t have been omitted from the book she’d read?
Otherwise, how could someone who knew the story not know about such an important plotline?
After all, it involved a considerable amount of silver.
That counted as quite a significant opportunity.
After walking for a while, Zhao Shiyu began to feel hungry.
Her hands were a little dirty, so she drew some water out from her space to wash them.
Then she found a relatively clean patch of ground and sat down cross-legged.
As she nibbled on her white flour bun, she carefully observed her surroundings and listened to every sound around her.
Then her gaze casually swept across a patch of grass.
Something seemed to glint there.
Her heart stirred.
She immediately stood up and walked toward it, using the wooden stick in her hand to part the weeds.
Very quickly, she found what had caught her eye.
A nest of wild pheasant eggs.
There weren’t many.
Only four.
But that wasn’t what mattered.
The important thing was the dried grass beneath the eggs.
As the angle shifted, she caught a faint, multicolored flash hidden within it.
She quickly stored the eggs in her space and carefully pulled apart the dry grass with her hands.
Then she saw the object that had attracted her attention.
Gently pulling it free, she discovered it was a hairpin—
A dangling tassel hairpin.
Its body was golden, set with six gemstones.
Five red gems formed a flower-like circle around the center.
And in the middle was a single stone shimmering with iridescent, rainbow-like light.
Its original material was impossible to identify.