“Wife, why are you standing here?”  

Jiang Dazhuang walked back and saw his wife standing in the shadows, feeling somewhat puzzled.  

Hearing his voice, Yang Shulan quickly wiped away her tears and shook her head. “It’s nothing, I was just about to call you back to sleep…”  

Her voice was soft, so Jiang Dazhuang didn’t catch the sob in it.  

“We’re so in sync—I was just coming back!”  

Jiang Dazhuang wrapped an arm around his wife. “When I was out walking just now, I heard the village is planning to build an elementary school in the next couple of years. By then, our kids can go to school right here!”  

School…  

Yang Shulan’s heart ached even more at these words.  

She didn’t know if she’d even live long enough to see her children start school…  

“Come on, let’s go inside and sleep.”  

Jiang Dazhuang led his wife into the house.  

Jiang An’an, who had been about to slip into her space to fetch medicine, was startled and quickly pretended nothing was happening as she climbed onto the kang.  

The Jiang family only had one room, which was really inconvenient. She’d have to figure out a way to move out in the future—coming and going from her space was just too risky otherwise.  

The next morning, they went to work as usual.  

At noon, everyone returned home to rest. Jiang An’an had planned to find an excuse to slip away, but Mother Jiang, worried something might happen to her, kept a close eye on her the entire time.  

Left with no choice, Jiang An’an decided to come clean after some thought.  

“Mom, I’m planning to go into the city to sell some things…”  

“Go into the city to sell things? Sell what?”  

Mother Jiang was stunned. She hadn’t noticed anything extra in the house.  

“Things like pheasants and fish. I’ve hidden them…”  

Jiang An’an had been about to say she’d hidden them in the mountains, but remembering her last incident there, she knew if she said she was going to the mountains to fetch things, Mother Jiang would freak out.  

After a moment’s thought, she lowered her voice. “I hid them in a secluded spot by the river. I’ll grab them and then head into the city to sell them.”  

“Let me go with you.”  

Mother Jiang was worried something might happen to her daughter.  

“No, no, Mom. The more people, the more eyes. What if someone sees where I’ve hidden the stuff? That’d be the end of it, right?”  

And it was true. Everyone was struggling to eat—if they saw food lying around, do you think they’d just pretend not to notice?  

“Then what about your eldest or second brother…”  

Mother Jiang still wasn’t reassured, but Jiang An’an quickly cut her off. “Mom, I’ll go alone. If anyone passes by our house, just tell them I’m sleeping inside. We can’t let anyone know about this, right?  

“And I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. When the time comes, you’ll have to cover for me—say I wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t work in the afternoon. If two of us are ‘sick’ at the same time, wouldn’t that make people suspicious?”  

Jiang An’an’s flood of reasoning left Mother Jiang speechless.  

Of course, a mother wouldn’t want her daughter to take risks again. But ever since the incident in the mountains, she’d realized this daughter of hers was nothing like before—she had her own ideas now.  

“Then be careful. If anything…”  

Mother Jiang was still worried, but Jiang An’an had already seized the moment to dash off.  

Watching her daughter’s retreating figure, Mother Jiang felt a mess of emotions, a vague sense that something might happen.  

Jiang An’an didn’t dare look back, her mind racing about where would be the best place to enter her space.  

According to the original host’s memories, it took over an hour to walk from Sihe Village to the city. As for taking a vehicle—no such luck. There were only three-wheeled carts, and they ran just a few trips a day. It was all down to luck.  

Better to just walk.  

When she reached the entrance of Sihe Village, Jiang An’an glanced around nervously—first, worried Mother Jiang might follow her, and second, afraid other villagers might see her.  

But the sun was blazing, and after a morning of hard work in the fields, no one was out and about.  

Letting out a sigh of relief, she quickened her pace.  

Yet despite all her caution, she never expected that in the shadows, a pair of eyes was watching her intently.  

Eyes full of lust.  

Zhao Eryan.  

Though his sister had told him not to come to Sihe Village, she’d also said Jiang An’an would be his sooner or later.  

Last time, someone had ruined his plans, but he didn’t think he’d be that unlucky again.  

This time, he’d only come to his sister’s place to beg for some meat. But now, running into Jiang An’an at the village entrance—this was fate!  

Heaven itself had decreed that today, he would claim Jiang An’an!  

Rubbing his hands together, he crept after her.

This wasn’t the right place to make a move, but a little further ahead, there was a patch of wild, overgrown land with tall weeds.

If he could just catch Jiang An’an off guard and drag her into that field, she could scream all she wanted—no one would hear her!  

As the wild field drew closer, Jiang An’an noticed it too.  

Her eyes lit up.  

Entering her space anywhere else might risk being seen, but this place? No one would spot her here.  

Maybe she should take out the things she planned to sell in the city right here?  

With that thought, Jiang An’an quickened her pace.  

But then—was it her imagination, or did she hear faint footsteps behind her?  

Pretending to drop her basket, she crouched to pick it up, then suddenly whipped her head around. Sure enough, she caught a glimpse of a man’s figure.  

But he hid too quickly. All she could vaguely make out was a man in black clothes.  

Strangely, he looked somewhat familiar.  

Sneaking after her like this? Definitely up to no good!  

If she kept walking forward, there’d be even fewer people around, not to mention that field full of waist-high weeds.  

“Who’s there?!”  

Gritting her teeth, Jiang An’an turned and charged toward the spot.  

But…  

No one!  

There was actually no one there?!  

She scanned the area in disbelief—oddly enough, not a soul in sight.  

Had she imagined it?  

Well, this place clearly wasn’t safe for entering her space anymore. Better find another spot.  

As she turned to keep walking, her mind drifted to the man on the mountain who had given her the jade pendant. He’d said he’d come back for her, but that was probably never happening.  

Still, he had given her the pendant, and considering she was the one who forced herself on him, he was the one who got the short end of the stick.  

Ahem!

Jiang An’an shook her head.  

Best not to think about that.  

Even if that man really did come back, she wouldn’t know how to face him anyway.  

….

Meanwhile, Zhao Eryan was yanked behind a hidden wall. When he got a good look, he realized the person dragging him away was his sister, Zhao Chunmei.

“You… what are you doing here?” he stammered in surprise.

“Me? What am I doing here? I should be asking you that! Didn’t I tell you not to come to Sihe Village? And now you’re following Jiang An’an—what the hell are you thinking?!”

Zhao Chunmei glared at him.

Zhao Eryan knew he was in the wrong and averted his eyes. “I was just bored at home, so I went for a walk…”

“You expect me to believe that? Zhao Eryan! If you weren’t my brother, I wouldn’t even bother with you!

Do you think I don’t know what you were planning? I told you Jiang An’an would be yours sooner or later—why are you so damn impatient?!

If I hadn’t spotted you and pulled you away, Jiang An’an would’ve seen your face by now! Do you want to get yourself executed?”

Hearing this, Zhao Eryan pouted. “But she didn’t see me. Even if she had, she might not have recognized me.”

“Might not?!”

Zhao Chunmei was so angry she felt dizzy.

“And what if she did? If you’ve got a death wish, I won’t stop you!”

Seeing his sister was genuinely furious, Zhao Eryan quickly changed his tone, afraid she’d stop helping him.

“Sis, I don’t wanna die. Our family’s counting on me to carry on the bloodline, right?

I just saw Jiang An’an sneaking around like she was heading into the city, so I followed her.”

“The city?”

Zhao Chunmei frowned.

That’s right—last time, Jiang An’an had claimed she got food supplies from the city.

“Go home and stay there. I’ll follow her.”

With that, Zhao Chunmei set off in Jiang An’an’s direction.

She was going to find out exactly where Jiang An’an was getting all that food!