Chapter 1: A Lucky Treasure at Home

“Waaah!”

Following the cry of a newborn from within the abandoned temple, a clap of thunder roared across the sky, and — after two years of drought — rain finally began to fall over the Central Plains!

After failing her tribulation, the cultivation grandmaster Su Huan felt her soul being thrown by her soul-protecting artifact into the body of a pregnant woman. This woman, however, was malnourished and physically exhausted. She had been in labor since last night, and now, even as dawn approached, the baby had yet to be born — it was almost certainly going to be a difficult labor.

If she didn’t figure out a way to be born soon, Su Huan would perish together with the woman — two lives lost!

Su Huan desperately activated the soul-protecting artifact. Just when Li Sumei, whose strength was nearly depleted, was about to collapse, she suddenly felt a surge of power rising within her body, as if guiding her to give birth. By chance, she met the gaze of the merciful-eyed Bodhisattva statue above her. Clenching her teeth, Li Sumei bore down fiercely, following the guiding force.

A small figure slipped out of her body.

At last — born!

Su Huan gasped for air. Before she could celebrate surviving the ordeal, she realized her airway was blocked by something. She was suffocating, her little baby face quickly turning a purplish blue.

Fortunately, a dry yet powerful large hand picked her up just in time. The hand scooped her mouth and patted her back, causing her to cough up a mouthful of fluid with a loud wail.

It was amniotic fluid.

Having escaped death, Su Huan couldn’t help but hug the large hand in gratitude, letting out weak cries, “Yaah~ Yaah~”

The old Madam Su, laughing merrily, wiped her clean with a piece of coarse cloth, then wrapped her up in a patchwork swaddle made from many scraps of fabric. Overjoyed, she said, “Amazing! After five generations of only sons in our Su family, we finally have a girl! With grandsons and now a granddaughter, together they form the character ‘good’ (好)!”

Old Madam Su cuddled the newborn Su Huan affectionately, then turned to scold the eldest daughter-in-law, who was lazing nearby:
“Stop sitting there doing nothing. Quickly go cook some millet porridge to nourish your sister-in-law and your little niece.”

Jin Yuegui pouted and said, “Mother, who knows if this girl isn’t some kind of misfortune star! Didn’t you see how scary she looked when she was born? Oh my, her face was all purple, like a little ghost!”

Old Madam Su frowned.
“What do you know? The little girl only looked like that because she choked on amniotic fluid. As long as a descendant of the Su family is born safely, that’s good fortune! Whoever dares to gossip about her being a misfortune star, I’ll sew their mouth shut!”

Frightened, Jin Yuegui shrank her neck. Hearing Old Madam Su claim the baby was lucky, she still muttered, “If she’s so lucky, why doesn’t she conjure up some food for us? Then I’ll admit she’s a blessing to the Su family!”

Old Madam Su’s face darkened slightly.
“As for food, I’ll find a way.”

The Su family was large. The eldest son, Su Renli, had gone to the capital years ago for the imperial exams and had disappeared. Now Old Madam Su was leading the second, third, fourth, and fifth sons — along with the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth daughters-in-law, and the grandchildren Su Yanjia, Su Yanhe, Su Yanqi, and Su Yanxing — all fleeing toward the capital to escape the famine.

There were still a thousand miles to go before reaching the capital, and they barely had enough food left to sustain them.

Moreover, because the family had many men, their food consumption was higher than average, and now, even less remained.

Seeing Old Madam Su’s troubled expression, Su Huan wanted to reach out and smooth her wrinkled brow, but her little arms were too short to reach.

Suddenly, she remembered that during her time training among mortals, she had become obsessed with earthly delicacies. After returning to her sect, she had specially developed a mustard seed space within her soul-protecting artifact. In it, she had built animal pens and chicken coops, raising cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, and geese from the mortal world. She had even built a fishpond, planted fields and medicinal herb gardens, and cultivated orchards filled with fruits. Whenever she craved something delicious, she would fetch livestock or produce from her space.

If all that was still there, maybe she could help Old Madam Su!

Li Sumei had given birth to her, and Old Madam Su had saved her life — such great kindness could not go repaid.

She closed her eyes and concentrated her divine sense, entering the mustard seed space.

Meanwhile, Old Madam Su, unable to get Jin Yuegui to move, handed little Su Huan to a delicate-looking woman who was speedily embroidering while seated:
“Fourth daughter-in-law, you watch the baby. I washed her cloth diapers already — they’re in the brown bag. Some people are useless. I’ll go cook millet porridge for the child.”

Liu Yingying hurriedly put down her embroidery.
“Mother, let me do it instead. I don’t know how to take care of babies — I’m afraid I might hold her uncomfortably.”

As she spoke, she gently touched Su Huan’s soft baby hair and smiled shyly.

Old Madam Su forcibly placed Su Huan into her arms.
“You’ve been a mother now. After giving birth, Sumei fainted from exhaustion — she can’t care for the baby. Once your second and third sisters-in-law return, you can hand the baby over to them.”

“Okay…”

Liu Yingying watched Old Madam Su’s capable figure walk off and sighed. She turned to Jin Yuegui, who was lying down like nothing had happened, and advised,
“Big Sister-in-law, you’d better apologize to Mother. Your attitude earlier was really inappropriate.”

Jin Yuegui lazily replied, “What did I say wrong? Our food isn’t enough already, and now we have to feed another useless girl. If you ask me, better to throw her away right now!”

“You—! …Forget it. Keep being this lazy, and you’ll regret it sooner or later.”

Liu Yingying knew there was no reasoning with her. Blushing in anger, she cradled the baby and sat by the doorway. She had intended to continue her embroidery there, taking advantage of the light, but was afraid the needle might prick the child, so she abandoned the thought and simply patted the little one gently to sleep.

Outside, the rain poured down steadily.
Inside the mustard seed space—

Under a bright blue sky, lush green grass spread as far as the eye could see. Once Su Huan’s divine sense entered, she immediately resumed her adult form. The livestock in the pens — cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese — all called out warmly upon seeing her.

Sweeping her gaze around, Su Huan noticed the fields were full of ripe crops — rice, wheat, sorghum, sweet potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cilantro — shining in gold, red, and green, heavy with bounty and stunningly beautiful.

The medicinal herb garden had thriving ginseng, fleeceflower root, gastrodia elata, borneol trees, and snow lotuses, all exuding rich medicinal fragrances.

Not far off in the orchard, red apples, jujubes, golden loquats, red cherries, and golden oranges gleamed enticingly on the trees. The ground was covered with large, dark-striped watermelons and vibrant red strawberries, juicy and luscious.

In the fishpond, vibrant schools of grass carp, crucian carp, blackfish, perch, and yellow catfish jumped and splashed, spraying water over Su Huan’s divine sense.

Seeing all this, Su Huan’s mouth watered.
Unfortunately, she was now a baby and couldn’t eat any of it — she could only drink milk.

Technically, drinking human breast milk would be best, but her mother, Li Sumei, was weak and had insufficient milk. Nursing would only burden her more.

Su Huan headed to the livestock pens and carefully picked out a healthy mother goat that had recently given birth and was lactating. She intended to send the goat out of her space later to rely on it for milk.

Afterward, she selected several plump hens, a clutch of eggs, some fish from the pond, and a variety of grains from the fields. Once she had everything ready, Su Huan withdrew her divine sense and awoke from her slumber.

She immediately pinched Liu Yingying hard to get her attention, then pointed her soft little finger at the old hens that had suddenly appeared outside and cried out loudly,
“Yaah yaah!”