Jiang Cheng and the pregnant woman, Du Yun, walked out of the compound one after the other and stood facing each other in an inconspicuous corner.

“Sister Yun, have you made up your mind?”

Jiang Cheng spoke first. Du Yun, who was being questioned, looked at Jiang Cheng, whose face was partially obscured by her hair, and thought about her confrontation with the Lin family in the yard.

“I’ve made up my mind.”

Du Yun said with determination, “Tomorrow morning, we’ll go handle the formalities. During the two months of my maternity leave, you’ll temporarily take over my job. When I return…”

“Sister Yun, don’t worry. If you tell me to leave at nine, I’ll be gone by one minute past nine. I won’t delay a second.”

Jiang Cheng’s tactfulness put Du Yun at ease.

After settling on the time, Du Yun, supporting her lower back, walked ahead. Jiang Cheng leaned against the wall, one foot propped up behind her, and looked up at the sky.

“Once I solve the housing issue, things will be temporarily stable.”

Jiang Cheng had never considered returning to the village. Her parents were deceased, and she didn’t know how to farm. However, staying in the city during this era wasn’t something one could do just by wanting to.

She had approached Du Yun because Du Yun was nine months pregnant.

Once, by chance, Jiang Cheng overheard Du Yun’s mother-in-law urging Du Yun to temporarily transfer her job to her sister-in-law during her maternity leave.

Du Yun wasn’t foolish. She was afraid that once the job was transferred to her sister-in-law, she wouldn’t be able to get it back. So, Jiang Cheng seized the opportunity and straightforwardly offered to take over for two months.

At first, Du Yun didn’t believe Jiang Cheng could break free from the Lin family—until today.

Jiang Cheng straightened her posture, her previously hunched back now replaced by an upright spine.

She was still the same person, but her energy and spirit were different.

Jiang Cheng returned to the compound.

In the yard, thick black smoke billowed from the direction of the Lin family.

Jiang Cheng: Has heaven finally opened its eyes?

Upon closer inspection, Jiang Cheng felt a slight disappointment. It turned out that Mother Lin was cooking under the eaves.

Somehow, there was no flame to be seen, but smoke filled the entire yard.

Jiang Cheng’s lips curled into a smile. Mother Lin hadn’t touched kitchen work in three years.

“Cough, cough—Old Mrs. Lin, are you fumigating mosquitoes? This smoke… my roof beams are getting seasoned by it!”

Jiang Cheng stood openly to the side, watching the Lin family’s commotion.

The speaker was the eldest daughter-in-law of the Zhou family from the front courtyard, who had always been at odds with Mother Lin.

Mother Lin, crouching to tend the fire, had her face, which had been pampered for three years, now smeared with black and gray soot. She wanted to retort but couldn’t open her mouth or eyes due to the smoke. Jiang Cheng’s heart and eyes were filled with joy.

Well, she was just being honest.

“Jiang Cheng!”

Lin Jiaojiao, standing at the doorway, covered her nose with one hand and spotted Jiang Cheng, who had just returned.

She stomped over and reached out to grab Jiang Cheng.

“You go start the fire!”

Jiang Cheng didn’t move, sidestepping and raising a hand behind her, causing Lin Jiaojiao to grab at air.

“Shameless and stupid as a pig.”

After delivering this critique, Jiang Cheng turned and walked to the Shen family’s door in the east wing.

Lin Jiaojiao’s eyes burned with anger, but before she could speak, Mother Lin loudly called her back.

Lin Jiaojiao reluctantly returned, receiving several glares from Mother Lin.

For the first time, Mother Lin agreed with Jiang Cheng’s words—she really was stupid!
After just having a fight, what good would it do to approach her now? Even if they had plans, they should wait for things to cool down first.

“Serves you right!”

The Zhou family’s eldest daughter-in-law, who loved stirring up trouble, gave Mother Lin a smug look before happily returning home.

Jiang Cheng had no time to pay attention to the Lin family’s pitiful fire-starting saga. She was having a pleasant conversation with Grandma Shen.

“Grandma Shen, here’s this month’s rent, three yuan and fifty cents. Please count it.”

“I also need to borrow some things and would like to share a few meals with you. I won’t eat and drink for free.”

Grandma Shen, sitting across from Jiang Cheng at the Eight Immortals table in the living room, counted the money in front of her. Her wrinkled face smiled kindly as she said, “It’s just right. I’ll take it.”

After speaking, Grandma Shen stood up and led Jiang Cheng to the south-facing bedroom.

The bedroom was about fifteen square meters. A double bed was against the wall, and a desk by the window was accompanied by two chairs. Opposite the window was a wall with a double-door wardrobe and two stacked willow wood chests.

Grandma Shen walked ahead and took out a set of bedding from the wardrobe.

“This is the bedding of the children’s mother. If you don’t mind…”

Jiang Cheng stepped forward with a smile, taking the bedding from Grandma Shen’s hands.

“The stitching is so fine. You can tell it was made with care and skill.”

Jiang Cheng’s words brought a nostalgic smile to Grandma Shen’s face, her wrinkled hand resting on the bedding.

“Yes, my niece-in-law was the most skilled.”

Grandma Shen withdrew her hand and said, “You can tidy up yourself. Come out later, and we’ll eat together.”

“Alright, I’ve been wanting to taste Grandma Shen’s cooking for a long time. You don’t know how often I secretly smell the aroma when you cook.”

Jiang Cheng’s playful tone made Grandma Shen’s smile widen.

Grandma Shen left, carefully closing the door behind her.

Jiang Cheng spread the bedding on the bed without any hesitation.

The niece-in-law Grandma Shen mentioned was the mistress of the Shen family, who had passed away three months ago due to an accident at the factory.

Mr. Shen had died of illness years ago, and the eldest son of the Shen family had been serving in the military for many years. Currently, only the two children and Grandma Shen, their great-aunt, were left to take care of the household.

Jiang Cheng chose to rent here because she was already familiar with the compound, and she had secretly observed the character of Grandma Shen and the two children—it was good.

As a single woman with some money and striking looks, renting a place on her own in this era would be troublesome and unsafe.

After careful consideration, the Shen family was a good choice.

In her previous life, she had been an earthquake orphan, rescued by PLA soldiers after nearly twenty hours of digging.

A bright student, she had skipped grades and become a translator fluent in five languages, accompanying leaders to international summits.

If it weren’t for the car accident, she wouldn’t have ended up in this era of scarcity and infinite possibilities.

Fortunately, she had her space.

A large Jeep had transformed into a space and followed her here. The trunk contained her long-prepared earthquake kit, fire kit, first aid kit, and other “survival” equipment.

In addition, she had been away from home for two months, so she bought a lot of things from the supermarket.

Rice, flour, grains, seasonings, sugar, vinegar, oil, salt, fruits, snacks, dried fruits, fresh meat, cooked food, sausages, and, of course, plenty of hygiene and cleaning products.

Most importantly, the items in the space could replenish infinitely.

This meant that whenever she took something out, the space would automatically replace it.

This bug gave Jiang Cheng a great sense of security.

Collecting her thoughts, Jiang Cheng first stored the six hundred yuan she had taken from the Lin family.

Six hundred yuan in large bills, thick stacks of them, had been kept in her green “Serve the People” backpack. Now, she transferred them to her space for safekeeping.

Just as she finished securing the money, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

“Knock, knock—knock.”

“Sister Jiang Cheng, my great-aunt asked me to call you for dinner.”

At the door, Shen Yue’s little face was puffed up as she hesitated whether to call again.

With a creak, the door opened from inside.

“Hello there, Comrade Shen Yue.”