Chapter 26: A Jade in One’s Pocket Invites Trouble

In the Sheng family’s old house, Nan Qiao remained alone in the room after Shen Nian left to watch the commotion.

But it wasn’t long before there was another sound from the back window. Nan Qiao hadn’t closed it, so she immediately asked, “Who is it?”

A quiet voice answered, “It’s me,” and the next moment, someone opened the window and nimbly climbed inside—it was Sheng Yanchuan, who then, without a word, began applying medicine to Nan Qiao.

“Why are you here so early?” Nan Qiao asked as she watched Sheng Yanchuan tend to her injury.

“Most of the villagers have gone to watch the scene, so I figured I’d come a bit earlier,” he replied.

Nan Qiao nodded at his words. Seemed like it was quite the ruckus.

“This is for you,” Sheng Yanchuan said, pulling out a paper package from his chest pocket.

Nan Qiao took it curiously, opening it as she asked, “What is it?”

Inside the paper wrap was a white dress with blue floral prints. Compared to the bright red and green dresses common in this era, it resembled a modern chiffon dress—light, breathable, but not overly flashy.

Nan Qiao’s eyes lit up with joy.

“Where did you get this? It looks amazing,” she said, starry-eyed as she looked at Sheng Yanchuan.

“Sometimes when we go on long-distance runs, we secretly bring back a few southern goods. One of my coworkers just brought this one back today. It looks like it came from Hong Kong. I thought it looked nice, so I brought it for you. Do you like it?”

“I love it!” Nan Qiao held the dress against herself. “Does it look good on me?”

“It looks great,” Sheng Yanchuan said, smiling with satisfaction as he watched her beam over the gift.

“But wasn’t it expensive? I should pay you for it. Earning money isn’t easy for you,” Nan Qiao said as she set the dress down and moved toward the wardrobe.

Seeing her jump off the bed, Sheng Yanchuan rushed forward to steady her, afraid she might fall.

Of course, the money wasn’t actually in the wardrobe. But the wardrobe was big enough to shield her movements as she retrieved something from her hidden space.

“I don’t want money. It’s a gift for you,” Sheng Yanchuan insisted.

“That won’t do. If it really came from Hong Kong, it must’ve cost over a hundred, right?” Nan Qiao estimated. Based on the material and design, it could easily fetch 200 yuan.

She pulled out fifteen “Big Unity” bills (10 yuan each) and handed them to him. “I don’t know the exact price. Here’s 150. If it’s not enough, just consider it my little win.”

She said this with a cheeky grin, but no matter how she tried to hand the money over, Sheng Yanchuan wouldn’t accept it.

“I said I don’t want it! It’s a gift! If you keep insisting, I’m leaving!” he said stubbornly.

Nan Qiao had no choice but to give up. She tucked the money away and, pretending to rummage through the wardrobe again, secretly took out a Longines diving watch from her space—a black and white 1970s model with modern appeal. She had bought it in preparation for entering the book and now it finally came in handy.

“Then take this. It’s waterproof and has a chronograph,” she said, opening the box and handing it to him.

When Sheng Yanchuan tried to refuse again, she pretended to get upset. “If you don’t take it, I won’t take the dress either.”

Worried that she’d really get mad, Sheng Yanchuan gave in and softly asked, “Then… is this like exchanging gifts between us?”

Nan Qiao rolled her eyes, held up the watch, and asked, “Do you want it or not?”

“I do! Help me put it on!” he said eagerly, removing the watch on his wrist and stretching out his arm toward her, eyes full of anticipation.

With a hint of resignation, Nan Qiao propped herself on his arm, hopped onto the bed, and took the watch from the box to fasten it on him. Sheng Yanchuan’s joy was written all over his face as he wore her watch.

“You’re this happy over a watch?” she teased.

“Of course I’m happy. Bridge gave it to me—it’s not the same as anything else.”

Nan Qiao smiled faintly and didn’t say anything more.

As for Sheng Yanchuan, Nan Qiao only felt a bit of fondness right now. She couldn’t say she really liked him yet…

So when it came to the so-called “exchange of gifts,” what truly made her happy was that she liked the dress—not necessarily because he gave it to her.

“Oh right, here’s the pastry Shen Zhiqing asked for. Give it to her later,” Sheng Yanchuan said, placing another package on Nan Qiao’s desk.

“Okay. How much is it? I’ll let her know and send it over tomorrow at lunch.”

“Ten yuan for everything.”

“Got it.”

The two chatted for a while, and just as they heard Shen Nian’s voice outside, Sheng Yanchuan said a quick “Rest early” and slipped out through the window.

“Qiao Qiao, you’re not asleep yet, are you?” Shen Nian called from outside the window.

“Nope, come on in.”

“Qiao Qiao! Let me tell you—it was absolutely wild today!!” Shen Nian said excitedly.

“Go on, tell me.” Nan Qiao grew a bit curious seeing how fired up she was.

“When I got there, the village chief had just arrived too…”

Shen Nian concisely recounted everything to Nan Qiao, ending with a complaint: “I really don’t get how a girl can be that filthy. One of the aunties said they got there early, and even the other female youths dragged them to the doorway just to smell it. The stench was awful. Honestly, she deserved to be kicked out.”

“She’ll probably be completely isolated now,” Nan Qiao commented.

“Isolated? That’s putting it mildly. After this, she’ll be unwelcome even in the whole village. Who’d want to associate with someone who smells like that?” Shen Nian said with clear disgust.

Nan Qiao sighed. She was a little grossed out herself. She couldn’t imagine how the original host ever ended up playing with such a clueless and obnoxious person.

“Oh right, Qiao Qiao, when I went to the youth compound, the leader of the female youths, Sister Jiang, saw me and invited us to join them for a meal on our day off—just a get-together to get to know each other. Is your foot okay for that?”

“Sure. Give me another two or three days. It’s not hurting much anymore.”

“Perfect. She told me she knows about your injury, so we don’t need to rush. Just head over around mealtime.”

Nan Qiao nodded. This Sister Jiang seemed decent enough. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be the leader of the female educated youths.

She was probably just forced to blow up after being pushed too far.

“Then you should rest early. I’m going to bed too,” Shen Nian said, yawning.

“Take the pastries with you. Sheng Yanchuan dropped them off for you just now,” Nan Qiao said, pointing to the package on the table.

“This one? Did he say how much it cost? I’ll bring the money tomorrow.”

“He said ten yuan.”

“Ten yuan? For this huge package?? Did he undercharge me?” Shen Nian stared at the colorful assortment of pastries, doubting that ten yuan was enough…

“Don’t worry about it. If he says ten, then ten it is,” Nan Qiao said nonchalantly. “Besides, we’ve been going to Aunt Xiumei’s house for dinner almost every day, and bringing her plenty each time. No need to fuss over a couple yuan.”

“You’re right. Okay then, I’m off to bed. Goodnight, Qiao Qiao.”

“Goodnight.”

After Shen Nian left, Nan Qiao got out of bed to lock the door, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.

These past few days, Nan Qiao’s routine had been simple: wake Shen Nian up in the morning, eat at Aunt Xiumei’s place, and in the evening, teach Little Peach Blossom German.

Other than that, she mostly kept to herself.

At present, Nan Qiao didn’t lack food or water. There was always plenty of work to do during the day, and she seldom wandered anywhere in the space beyond her courtyard. Because of that, she hadn’t discovered anything particularly unusual about the dimension she had.

She had always assumed the space was just an unmanned replica of the real world—only to realize it was a top-tier unmanned replica…

These days, since she couldn’t go out, she passed the time exploring the space while no one was around.

She even used her willpower to plant vegetables in a plot of land inside. Originally, she was just experimenting—whatever grew, grew. After planting, she wandered off to check out other parts of the space.

And that’s when she discovered something unusual again.

Initially, she thought the only water sources in the space were the tap in the house and the sea and lake outside. But now, she found that the rockery landscape in the backyard, which had previously been dry, was suddenly flowing with clear, sparkling water.

Perhaps it had been accumulating over the past few days, because the small pond at the bottom was now filled with a decent amount of water.

Even in the daylight, one could see the faint glow shimmering from the water—it felt magical.

Below the spout on the rockery was a bowl-sized recess filled with a milky white liquid. It looked like milk, but it shimmered with a faint iridescence.

All the water from the spout flowed through that recess before trickling into the pond below.

“Could this be some sort of spiritual spring?”

“My own space can’t possibly poison me… right?”

As she thought about it, Nan Qiao willed a spoon into existence and scooped up a small amount of the milky liquid to taste.

But the moment the spoon touched her lips, a thunderous tiger’s roar echoed behind her, and in her mind came a boy’s anxious shout: “Qiao Qiao, no!”

The next second, searing pain swept through Nan Qiao’s entire body. She collapsed, writhing on the ground, her ears ringing with the tiger’s roar and the boy’s frantic voice—both of which only intensified her headache.

Nan Qiao’s whole body convulsed from the pain. Her soft lips were now stained with blood.

She had no idea how much time passed. Eventually, when she was completely drained, the pain slowly began to recede.

Exhausted beyond measure, Nan Qiao finally lost consciousness.

When she opened her eyes again, the massive tiger head looming over her startled her so much she instinctively rolled to the side.

“Qiao Qiao, you’re awake!” came a thunderous roar—and to her shock, she actually understood it.

“You… you are?” Nan Qiao asked, her voice trembling. The pressure from the enormous white tiger was overwhelming.

She looked around and confirmed they were still inside her space. So this tiger… was part of it?

“Qiao Qiao, I’m Bai Nan. I’m the companion beast of this space—essentially, its guardian.”

“Then… why are you only showing up now? I’ve had this space for a while,” she asked.

“Normally, after a space is bound, the companion beast takes 1–2 days to hatch. But since we originally bound in the 21st century and were suddenly pulled into this book’s era, the time got scrambled. That’s why I couldn’t manifest right away.”

“The ‘Purity Spring’ only appeared along with my birth. When I sensed you were about to drink from it, I rushed over,” he explained.

“So… this Purity Spring isn’t drinkable?” Nan Qiao felt relieved after Bai Nan’s explanation. Her initial fear had faded.

“You can drink it—but not like that. The Purity Spring cleanses all impurities in the world and has powerful healing properties. But since you were raised on ordinary grains, your body is full of impurities. The white liquid you drank is the essence of the spring, so the pain you felt was intense.”

“Normally, drinking the water from the pond below would be enough—it heals illnesses and flushes out toxins. For most people, that’s already incredibly rare. But you drank the essence, so… well, now you’re good to go. From now on, aside from external injuries, you probably won’t need healing again,” Bai Nan said, nodding as he spoke.

“I see. Sorry, I didn’t know,” Nan Qiao said awkwardly.

“Why are you apologizing to me? Everything in this space belongs to you—including me,” Bai Nan said bashfully, lowering his head and covering his eyes with his large fluffy paw.

Nan Qiao looked at the fluffy white tiger and felt an irresistible urge to pet him.

But as soon as she lifted her hand, she realized something was off.

She stank—worse than Qin Fang.

“Wait a second, I need to shower before we play,” she said and dashed into the bathroom inside the space.

It took a full hour for her to scrub off all the grime and oil from her body.

When she finally stood in front of the mirror afterward, she was completely stunned.

She knew she was good-looking—but not this good!

Her features looked subtly refined, everything about her appearance now balanced to perfection. Her long, black hair flowed down her back with a healthy sheen. Her porcelain-white skin glowed under the light like smooth jade. Her exquisitely defined face was elegant and otherworldly, while the small tear mole at the corner of her eye added a touch of icy allure.

Her already-curvy figure had become tighter and more toned, with a slender waist soft and delicate to the touch.

Looking at herself, Nan Qiao suddenly felt… uncertain.

Could someone who looked like this really live safely in this era?

She changed into a simple dress appropriate for the times, pulled her hair back, and loosely braided it into a scorpion braid before stepping out of the bathroom.

“Bai Nan, where are you?” Nan Qiao called out, looking around. After drinking that spring essence, not only was her foot fully healed—she felt like she could run a marathon.

“Over here!” a tiger’s roar called from the living room.

Nan Qiao followed the sound and found Bai Nan lazily sunbathing on the carpet.

“Bai Nan, tell me… with how I look now, can I really survive in this era?” Nan Qiao sat beside him, leaning on his massive head as she absentmindedly stroked his thick fur.

“Why not?” Bai Nan didn’t understand her doubt.

“A man of no guilt, yet his jade invites trouble. Beauty that stirs greed but can’t be protected—in a turbulent, unstable era like this, can I really stay safe? Sure, I’ve learned some self-defense, but if I meet someone really dangerous, my skills won’t be enough.”

“But you have me. If anything happens, either hide in the space or let me out. Not a problem. Worst case, you’ve still got those hot weapons you stockpiled before you transmigrated—use them!” Bai Nan replied casually.

Nan Qiao had grown up in a society governed by laws. Bai Nan had not. His world was ruled by strength. Might made right.

If something pissed him off—fight it.

“If all that fails, just move into the space and live somewhere else. After a few years, once everyone returns to the cities, it’ll all work out.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ve got such a big cheat now—what am I still so afraid of?” Bai Nan’s words struck a chord in Nan Qiao.

In that moment, Nan Qiao stopped worrying about being a “jade inviting trouble.” She radiated with newfound energy and determination.