Chapter 5

Li Hehua entered the kitchen and found the old woman from earlier scooping white rice flour, clearly preparing lunch.

She didn’t know who this woman was, but she guessed she was Zhang Tieshan’s mother. To test her theory, Li Hehua tentatively called out, “Mother.”

Zhang Linshi glanced up at Li Hehua before quickly averting her gaze, her tone sharp. “Don’t call me ‘Mother.’ I don’t deserve that title from you.”

Li Hehua knew she’d guessed correctly. This woman was indeed Zhang Tieshan’s mother. Though she claimed not to deserve the title, Li Hehua felt she should still use it, at least while she was staying here.

Li Hehua stepped forward and took the bowl from her hand. “Mother, let me handle this. You should rest.”

But the hand she extended was slapped away with a sharp crack. “No need for you to put on airs here. Weren’t you so high and mighty before? Why pretend to be a good daughter-in-law now? Our family wouldn’t dare trouble you.”

Li Hehua stared at her stinging hand and sighed inwardly.

Another person who utterly despises me.

Fine, if she doesn’t want my help, I’ll leave her be. No point in provoking her further.

It seemed the kitchen was no longer a place Li Hehua could stay. She picked up her water bucket and went to fetch more water. She needed to find something to do; sitting idle would only make her feel more awkward.

When she reached the well, she didn’t encounter anyone else drawing water this time. Still, she lingered for a while, gazing at the distant mountains in a daze. Estimating that enough time had passed, she finally lifted the bucket and headed home.

Upon returning, she found the other four members of the household gathered around the table, eating. They glanced at her briefly before returning to their meal.

Li Hehua forced a smile and carried the water back to the kitchen. After emptying the bucket into the water vat, she collapsed onto a small stool, panting.

Once she had rested enough, she rubbed her rumbling stomach and went to serve herself some rice. But the pot was empty—every last grain had been taken.

Not a single bite had been left for her.

Li Hehua felt a pang of resentment, but she had no right to complain. She had insisted on staying here, and now she had to endure whatever treatment came her way without protest. Otherwise, she’d be kicked out.

Why did she have to live such a miserable life? After much contemplation, Li Hehua realized it was all because of the original owner of her body—she was bearing the consequences of someone else’s actions.

After a moment of silent grief, Li Hehua rallied her spirits and decided to make some brown rice porridge to fill her stomach. She longed to cook something with proper rice or wheat flour, but she couldn’t risk angering the others and being kicked out. For now, she would stick to the humble porridge.

She needed to find a way to earn money quickly, buy her own food, and secure a proper place to live. Only then would she escape this wretched existence.

Li Hehua cooked the porridge, ate it in the kitchen, washed her dishes, and finally returned to her room.

But the room she had just finished cleaning was already occupied with luggage, and the bed was neatly made with fresh sheets. It seemed someone else was moving in.

This was the room she had painstakingly scrubbed clean, enduring aching hands. Now, it was being taken away from her. She desperately wanted to declare it as hers, but she had no right to speak up. Perhaps the others were hoping she would give up and leave. But she couldn’t falter now. She had to endure until she found her own place.

At that moment, Zhang Linshi entered the room. Seeing Li Hehua, she said with disdain, “I’ll be staying in this room from now on. Don’t let me see you around here.”

If her son hadn’t insisted on letting Li Hehua stay a little longer, she would have thrown this wicked woman out immediately. She could barely contain her anger, forced to tolerate her presence.

Li Hehua took a deep breath, said nothing, and left the room to inspect the others.

The house had three rooms in total. Zhang Tieshan’s mother had already claimed one. Li Hehua checked the remaining two, only to find luggage in each, clearly indicating they were taken. In other words, there was no room for her.

Li Hehua froze. Where was she supposed to stay? Sleep in the courtyard?

This was beyond endurance. Li Hehua marched straight to Zhang Tieshan, who was splitting firewood in the yard.

“Zhang Tieshan, there are only three rooms in the house. Your mother has taken my original room, and the other two have luggage in them. Are you planning to stay here? Could you spare one for me?”

Li Hehua finished speaking, but Zhang Tieshan acted as if he hadn’t heard a word. He continued splitting firewood until he was done. Noticing Li Hehua still standing nearby, he gave her a cold glance, grabbed his axe, and strode into the house.

Li Hehua bit her lip and followed him, saying, “Zhang Tieshan, I don’t have a room. Can’t you spare one for me?”

Zhang Tieshan didn’t break his stride. “There are no spare rooms,” he said without turning around. “If you don’t like it, leave. No one’s stopping you.”

Li Hehua froze, staring at his towering figure ahead. She was so angry she wanted to scratch his back.

This is outrageous! Doesn’t he have a shred of chivalry? How can he just leave a beautiful woman like me without a place to stay?

She glanced down at her disheveled appearance. Well, “beautiful” might be a stretch now. And chivalry… that’s definitely not something I deserve in my current state.

Forget it. I’m at his mercy for now. But once I find my own place, I’ll never give this man another glance. I’ll never have to grovel like this again.

Li Hehua circled the house and finally discovered a small woodshed. It was crammed with firewood and miscellaneous items.

Though the place was far from ideal, at least it offered shelter from the elements. With no other options, she resigned herself to staying there. With a thorough cleaning, she could at least manage to get some sleep.

Without hesitation, Li Hehua plunged into the woodshed. She stacked the bulky firewood into neat piles, shoved the clutter into corners where it wouldn’t be in the way, and cleared a space for sleeping. Then, using flat pieces of firewood, she built a simple platform bed about ten centimeters above the ground.

It took over two hours to whip the woodshed into shape. Li Hehua was so exhausted she wanted to collapse on the floor, but she forced herself to stand and rest briefly before retrieving a spare quilt from her original room.

Despite Mother Zhang’s disapproving glares, Li Hehua stubbornly took the quilt. Just as the bedsheets and pillowcases drying in the courtyard were ready, she gathered them and carried everything back to the woodshed.

The wooden bed was so uncomfortable that Li Hehua couldn’t sleep directly on it. She remembered the haystacks in the yard. A layer of dry grass would soften the surface.

She ran to the haystacks, frantically pulled out armfuls of grass, and carried them back to the woodshed to spread out. She repeated this until dusk, finally creating a makeshift bed that was barely tolerable.

Looking at her “new room,” Li Hehua recited a passage to herself with a wry smile: “When Heaven is about to assign a great task to a person, it must first harden their resolve, strain their muscles and bones, starve their body, leave them destitute, and thwart their endeavors. Only then, through such trials, will their heart be moved to endurance and their capabilities expanded.”

After reciting the passage, Li Hehua chuckled, feeling a little less sorry for herself.

That evening, Zhang Linshi once again excluded Li Hehua from dinner. Unfazed, Li Hehua cooked herself a bowl of coarse rice porridge.

She told herself it was a diet. If she ate like this every day, combined with her current level of physical activity, she’d surely lose weight within a month. Refined rice and wheat flour would never achieve the same result.

After dinner, Li Hehua retreated to the woodshed. Only after everyone else had finished washing up did she return to the kitchen to heat water for her own ablutions. Finally, she dragged her aching body back to her makeshift bed.

Though her body ached with exhaustion, Li Hehua couldn’t fall asleep. Staring into the pitch-black space, she began to ponder how to earn money.

What could she do to make money quickly?

In her previous life, she had majored in foreign languages in university, but that knowledge was utterly useless here. Her only marketable skill seemed to be her culinary expertise.

Her family was a veritable dynasty of culinary gods, their conglomerate dominating half of China’s food industry. Her grandfather was a world-renowned master chef, his meals worth a fortune, while her father was a top-tier culinary researcher specializing in gourmet cuisine. Her mother managed the family’s business empire.

By her generation, her elder brother had demonstrated exceptional managerial talent, taking over the Li Group at eighteen and propelling it to new heights. However, this left him little time for culinary pursuits. Grandpa, in turn, poured all his energy into nurturing her, imparting his life’s knowledge with the hope that the Li Family’s culinary legacy would endure.

Grandpa used to say she was a culinary prodigy, a once-in-a-generation talent. He poured all his efforts into nurturing her, but she, in her youthful ignorance, felt stifled and yearned for freedom.

Defying his plans, she rented a shop in the university district to sell street food, infuriating him to the point where he refused to speak to her for six months. Yet Grandpa, who loved her most dearly, eventually relented and supported her decision.

Looking back, she realized how truly blessed she had been then: blessed by her family’s love, blessed by Grandpa’s guidance, and blessed with top-tier culinary skills that made her fearless wherever she went.

Perhaps, even here, she could use her culinary talents to create the life she desired.

However, if she wanted to make a living from her cooking, she needed a solid plan. After all, she knew nothing about this place and had no idea what kind of business would thrive. She needed to do some research first.

It seemed she needed to visit the market to assess the local prices.

……

The next morning, Li Hehua woke up early, washed up, and headed straight out.

She didn’t know where the market was, but she figured villagers would be heading there at this hour. All she had to do was follow them. Sure enough, she spotted several women carrying various goods and chatting as they walked out of the village—clearly on their way to the market. Li Hehua quickly and discreetly followed behind.

The village wasn’t far from town, about an hour’s walk. The main street bustled with vendors hawking their wares, creating a lively atmosphere.

Li Hehua strolled along the street, mostly eyeing the food stalls. After circling the market, she noticed the limited variety. Most stalls sold noodles, steamed buns, or flatbreads. Other types of food vendors were scarce.

Li Hehua observed the street stalls carefully for a while. She noticed they were doing decent business, with many people buying snacks. This suggested the overall standard of living in the country was fairly good, or at least the economic situation in her area was.

This was advantageous for her. If the people had money, she could sell her food. The limited variety of snacks available made it even easier for her to establish a food stall. With her culinary skills, she wouldn’t lack customers once she got started.

However, starting a business required capital. Pots, pans, tables, and chairs all cost money. She had only found thirty-odd copper coins on the original owner’s person, meaning that was her entire fortune. Even without knowing the exact prices of this era, she could tell that thirty-odd coins were nowhere near enough to open a small food stall.

Borrowing money was out of the question. Given the original owner’s poor reputation, it would be a miracle if anyone lent her money. So, borrowing was off the table. She would have to find a way to earn money herself to start her food stall.

But what kind of work could she do without any initial investment?