Chapter 4

She scooped a spoonful of lard, smeared it around the iron pan, and waited for the white lard to slowly melt.

“Sit back a little, it might splatter on you.”

Xie Chen: Thanks, but I’m really not that fragile.

But in the end, he still scooted back, since he was in the way.

Jiang Tian shredded half a basin of potatoes, figuring that should be enough for a meal.

She placed the shredded potatoes into the pan in a crescent shape, leaving a small hollow in the middle, cracked an egg into it, and waited for the pancake to set before flipping it with a spatula.

Once it turned golden, it was ready to eat.

She covered the pancake with a basin after cooking it, then used the boiling water in the pan to cook porridge.

Soon, the kitchen was filled with fragrance, and Jiang Er, who had woken up, sniffed the air and ran out.

“Sis, did you make something tasty?”

Since there was no work in the fields, the villagers had gone down to two meals a day. Jiang Er could now sleep in during the mornings, only heading out when the sun was up and it was warmer, to gather some firewood.

When Jiang Tian saw that the porridge was almost done, she called the two of them over to wash their faces and hands for the meal.

Yesterday, she had noticed that their table was too small and didn’t match the benches. She wanted to ask a carpenter to make a proper one.

For now, the three of them sat in a row near the stove. It was fine since they only had pancakes and porridge—if they’d had side dishes, they would’ve had to stand up and stretch to reach with their chopsticks.

While they ate, Jiang Tian shared her plan.

“As for me not being stupid anymore, let’s keep it a secret. Hide it as long as we can.”

Both Xie Chen and Jiang Er agreed.

Jiang Er took a sip of porridge and said seriously, “Sis, whatever you want to do, just tell me. I’ll handle it outside.”

“We’ll talk about outside matters later,” she replied.

“As for you, Xie Chen, just stay home and rest properly. Once you’re recovered, the heavy work will all be yours.”

Xie Chen gave a quiet “mm” and lowered his head to eat his pancake.

After the meal, Jiang Er wanted to head up the mountain to gather firewood.

Although they already had plenty stacked in the shed, it was always better to stock up more.

But Jiang Tian stopped him. “We’ll go together in the evening, or wake up earlier tomorrow morning. We’ll go up the mountain and hunt.”

The mention of hunting made Jiang Er’s mouth water—he hadn’t had meat in a long time. But he was still rational enough to hesitate.

“Sis… are you sure you can handle it?”

Hearing this, Xie Chen also looked up, doubt in his eyes.

Jiang Tian snorted. Back in the 21st century, though she had inherited billions, she had also learned plenty of survival skills during her free time, including wilderness survival.

“I can. A woman should never say she can’t.”

Xie Chen couldn’t help but smile at her slightly arrogant, proud expression.

Jiang Tian caught him smiling and pouted. “What are you looking at? Hurry back to bed.”

Helpless, Xie Chen went back to lie down.

Worried he’d be bored, Jiang Tian remembered that the original owner had some children’s books from her childhood. She rummaged in the cabinet and handed them to him.

“Here, you can read these.”

Xie Chen was a bit surprised to receive the small stack of books.

She explained, “My father bought them for me. You can read them if you’re bored.”

Xie Chen had heard about her family’s past: her father was a well-known carpenter in the village who had married a woman from the city. Unfortunately…

•  

After giving him the books, Jiang Tian went out and soon returned with a cup of spiritual spring water from her space.

“Drink this.”

Xie Chen took a sip, realizing it was the same water as yesterday. He gulped it all down.

“Rest properly on the kang. Don’t wander around, got it?”

When he nodded, Jiang Tian finally went to the west room.

“Little Ears, how much money do we still have?”

Because Jiang Tian was often cheated out of money when she was still “silly,” Jiang Er had been the one to manage their money and ration tickets.

He didn’t move right away, eyes full of suspicion. “Sis, what are you planning?”

Jiang Tian sat down beside him with a grin. “Check if we have enough to buy a few chicks. We’ll raise them at home first. By New Year, maybe we can have braised chicken, right?”

Jiang Er was tempted—he had wanted to raise chickens before.

Jiang Tian blinked playfully. “You’re tempted too, right? I can’t show my face, but you can go ask around to see who has chicks to sell. Just say your brother-in-law is watching the house.”

“Everyone knows he’s sickly and can’t work anyway. It’s the perfect excuse for him to stay home and take care of the chicks.”

At that, Jiang Er went to a corner and pulled out a tin box.

Inside were their savings, including some left by their father.

Jiang Tian hadn’t expected that there was still money left from him.

Then Jiang Er pulled out a small cloth pouch with ten yuan inside.

“This is the money from selling that man.”

Jiang Tian rolled her eyes. “Alright, stop calling him ‘that man.’ He’s your brother-in-law, got it?”

But Jiang Er didn’t intend to change. He looked at her seriously.

“Sis, since you’ve recovered, all this money is yours. I won’t hold any back. From now on, you’re in charge of the family—but you can’t give the money to outsiders.”

Jiang Tian rubbed his head affectionately. “Got it. But your brother-in-law isn’t an outsider. Once he recovers, our family will live a good life.”

Jiang Er nodded and pulled out two one-yuan bills, waving them in front of her.

“Then I’ll go ask around the village aunties. You stay home and don’t let anyone find out.”

“Alright.”

With a small basket on his back, Jiang Er went out. Jiang Tian went to the kitchen to tidy up, then strolled around the yard.

She had to admit, their house was really good. The walls were almost two meters high.

Unlike other people who traveled back in time and had to build houses, she didn’t need to. It saved a lot of effort. And it would be convenient later if she wanted to raise or grow something inside the yard.

After a short walk, she hurried back inside—it was too cold with the wind blowing.

Back indoors, Jiang Tian busied herself in the kitchen and inside her space, eventually making a small wooden box.

It would be used for keeping the chicks. She lined it with straw for easy cleaning.

She planned to cover it with a few firewood planks to stop the chicks from escaping.

She set the box near the kitchen stove so it would stay warm.

After that, she went to the backyard, chose a long, slightly curved piece of wood, and decided to make a bow.

Back inside, she shaved down the inner curve of the wood at the thicker end, cutting notches to tie a string.

For the bowstring, she used hemp thread. For arrows, she picked straight sticks, sharpening the tips and carving small notches at the back ends for the string.

With that, a simple bow and arrows were ready. She then picked several more straight sticks and repeated the process to make more arrows.