Beneath the flower-shaped ornament hung three tassels.
At the end of each golden chain dangled a round red gemstone, and as they swayed under the light, they released a dazzling, brilliant glow.
Though Zhao Shiyu didn’t know much about jewelry in this world, just from its appearance alone, she could tell that even if it wasn’t priceless, it was definitely worth a fortune.
After all, this was an ancient world.
There was no modern technology for synthetic gemstones or elaborate counterfeiting.
That meant the gems embedded in this golden hairpin were almost certainly real.
“I’m rich! I’m rich!”
Zhao Shiyu beamed as she held the hairpin, turning it over and over in her hands, unable to put it down.
She had always loved jingling ornaments like this, and this hairpin’s design was exactly to her taste.
She admired it repeatedly for quite some time before suddenly realizing something.
This definitely wasn’t an item that had appeared in the original plot.
If it had been, Zhao Shiying—the transmigrated girl—would have known about it.
At the very least, Zhao Shiyu would have heard mention of it in her inner thoughts.
And if even Zhao Shiying didn’t know, then that reborn man, who knew even less, definitely wouldn’t either.
After playing with it for a while longer, she reluctantly stored it away in her space and continued searching for wild vegetables and medicinal herbs.
Then, as if her luck had truly turned, she spotted a small patch of Paris polyphylla in the distance.
Her eyes lit up.
She hurried over and immediately started digging.
Because she needed to keep the herbs fresh, her plan was to transplant everything she found directly into her space.
That meant she had to carefully dig out the entire root system.
To maximize their survival rate after replanting, she even had to remove the surrounding soil along with the roots.
That small patch of Paris polyphylla took her nearly an hour to fully dig up and transfer into her space.
Straightening her back, she glanced around to make sure no one was nearby.
Then, with a thought, she flashed into her space.
She needed to plant them quickly.
The moment she entered, Zhao Shiyu froze.
Her space had upgraded.
Its original one hundred square meters had doubled in size.
But that wasn’t even what shocked her the most.
The real surprise was that the newly expanded area contained two thatched cottages.
Her delight instantly doubled.
She had originally been planning to build a shed or even a small house inside the space herself someday.
She simply hadn’t gotten around to it yet.
And now the upgrade had directly gifted her two ready-made structures.
But the surprises weren’t over.
When she entered the cottages, she discovered that the two huts had actually been divided into three smaller rooms.
The middle section was a sitting room.
The room on the left was a bedroom.
Inside was not only a bed, but also a table, chairs, and a small wardrobe placed against the wall.
The bed was still completely bare.
No bedding, no blankets, nothing.
But Zhao Shiyu was already more than satisfied.
She could always slowly acquire bedding later.
After all, not only had the space saved her the trouble of building a house, it had even thoughtfully provided furniture.
Though the furnishings were basic, they were more than enough for now.
She reached out and ran her hand across the bed.
It was spotless.
Not a speck of dust.
Unable to contain her excitement, she threw herself onto the bare wooden bed.
She didn’t mind the hard boards digging into her at all.
This was infinitely better than lying on grass.
At least she wouldn’t have to worry about ants or bugs.
She rolled around on the stiff wooden surface several times before finally climbing back up to inspect the other room.
The moment she pushed open the door, a stream of information entered her mind.
It was a storage room.
And not just any storage room—
Time inside it was completely frozen.
That meant any food she stored there would never spoil.
Even hot meals could remain steaming forever.
The problem that had been bothering her this entire time was finally solved.
The space had even thoughtfully installed shelves all along the western wall of the storage room.
Without hesitation, she moved all the food she hadn’t finished eating into storage.
Then, carrying her shovel, she happily went outside to plant her herbs.
They said that when people experienced joyous events, their spirits naturally soared.
And that saying was absolutely true.
Even after planting every herb she had gathered that day, Zhao Shiyu didn’t feel tired at all.
She remained in an excited, energized state the entire time.
Only after leaving the space did a delayed thought finally strike her.
How had the space upgraded?
What exactly had triggered it?
Almost instinctively, she thought of the golden hairpin she had just found.
With a flicker of thought, the hairpin appeared in her hand.
But the moment she saw it, she froze.
The settings where the gemstones had once been embedded were now completely empty.
Every single gem was gone.
Zhao Shiyu stared blankly at the hairpin, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
What had once been an extremely valuable treasure was now little more than a half-finished ornament.
Without the gemstones, its worth had dropped drastically.
For someone desperately short on money, it was painful to look at.
But at the same time, she finally understood the condition for upgrading the space.
Gemstones.
That was what it needed.
The only question was—
Would jade work too?
Still, even without the gems, the hairpin itself was made of solid gold.
It was still worth quite a lot.
This unexpected windfall filled Zhao Shiyu with renewed determination.
She was so motivated that she didn’t even go home for lunch that day.
When hungry, she simply ate the white flour flatbread she’d stored in the space.
When tired, she lay down on the hard wooden bed to rest.
Today, she intended to gather as many herbs as possible.
After all, now that she’d already found Paris polyphylla, she planned to head to the far end of the mountain path every day to test her luck.
As the story’s heroine, surely her opportunities were greater than those of mere passersby, side characters, or cannon fodder.
That Fu Yasong wanted to steal her destined opportunities?
That might not be so easy.
Especially now that she had heard his inner thoughts and was fully prepared.
Meanwhile, Zhao Shiying was practically furious enough to explode.
For some reason, her Second Aunt had gone crazy that morning.
Bright and early, she had latched onto Madam Yan and showered her with mocking, sarcastic barbs.
Madam Yan had been so enraged that she blamed Zhao Shiying for disgracing her and grabbed her for a brutal scolding.
By the time Zhao Shiying finally managed to escape, Zhao Shiyu had already disappeared.
Panicked, she grabbed her basket and rushed out to search.
But there was no trace of Zhao Shiyu anywhere.
When she reached the familiar hillside where everyone usually dug wild vegetables, she ran across every inch of it.
She searched every corner, every crevice.
And still found nothing.
That made Zhao Shiying start to suspect something.
Could Zhao Shiyu have discovered something?
Was that why she was deliberately avoiding her?
And once that seed of suspicion was planted, it took root instantly.
After that, there was no stopping it.
The more Zhao Shiying thought about it, the more convinced she became.
Zhao Shiyu definitely knew something.
Her deliberate avoidance was simply too obvious.
If Zhao Shiying couldn’t even notice that, then her intelligence would truly be in question.
But then…
How had Zhao Shiyu figured it out?
Surely it couldn’t be because she’d accidentally revealed some flaw in her words or behavior?