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Old Lady Ye felt a wave of anxiety as she heard that a good match must be found for her daughter within three months.
But she also understood that she had no choice but to do this.
Old Lady Ye forced a smile and said, “Let’s stop here for today. It’s already getting dark. Second daughter-in-law, hurry and go make dinner!”
Ye Caiping quickly responded, “Wait, Zhao… Zhao… Di and Laidi are still at home. I need to bring them back. They’re my daughters, and they need to stay with me.”
The names of her two daughters felt so awkward to say, and Ye Caiping felt a strong sense of embarrassment rise in her heart.
Old Man Ye and the others looked at Ye Caiping in shock.
Although the two girls were Ye Caiping’s biological daughters, she did not like them. She often complained that they were not boys, which made it hard for her to hold her head up high and led to the loss of her family’s legacy.
Memories of those painful times rushed into Ye Caiping’s mind, and she awkwardly said, “Only after we separated did I realize how much I missed them.”
Although Old Lady Ye and the others felt that Ye Caiping had changed, they didn’t suspect anything, assuming it was because she had gone through some setbacks or difficult situations.
“After all, they are your biological daughters. But they’re from the Li family. Can you just take them away?”
“That’s why we have to snatch them!” A cold light flashed in Ye Caiping’s eyes.
Old Man Ye pondered for a moment. Though he felt the chances were slim, he was still willing to try. “Daquan, go find the village chief and tell him we’ll go to Li Family village tomorrow.”
Ye Daquan quickly ran out.
“Alright, everyone disperse. Go on with what you need to do,” Old Man Ye said as he finally put down his pipe.
In the corner of the room, a thin young man stood up.
He was about fifteen or so, his clothes faded from washing but still clean, with a blank expression on his face.
This was Ye Daquan’s second son, Ye Xuan—the one whose studies had been ruined by the original owner of the body.
Old Man Ye also noticed him and walked over to him. “Xuan’er, I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you.”
Ye Xuan gave a bitter smile. “I don’t blame you, Grandpa. I only blame myself for not having the fate to study.”
Ye Caiping walked over and said, “If I earn money within these three months, I will definitely hire a teacher for you!”
Ye Xuan’s eyes flashed with mockery. “Aunt, you should worry about yourself first! Next time, don’t marry a scholar. We can’t afford it.”
With that, he turned and left.
Not far off, Du Shi sneered. “This whole ‘wait and see what happens in the future’ nonsense, acting like you’ll be the one to benefit—just hearing it makes my ears hurt.”
She scoffed and turned to leave as well.
Old Man Ye watched their backs and sighed lightly. “Don’t blame your sister-in-law.”
Ye Caiping nodded. “I don’t blame her. I just hope she won’t blame me! I’m a bit tired, so I’ll go rest for now.”
Old Man Ye stared blankly at his daughter’s retreating figure. She seemed to have changed—perhaps she had become a bit more understanding of others.
But old habits die hard, and nature is difficult to change. How long could she keep up this kindness? Old Man Ye didn’t hold out much hope.
Ye Caiping returned to her room and lay down to rest.
The room was relatively tidy, with a cupboard, a bed, and quilts. The mud walls were adorned with yellowed, coarse cloth.
As she lay in bed, she didn’t rest idly. In her mind, she was organizing the situation of her body and her relationships with others.
This was the Great Zhou Dynasty, an alternate world that had no place in history.
The original owner’s father, Old Man Ye, was named Ye Youtian. His wife, Old Lady Ye, was named Yan Fang.
The couple had two sons and one daughter.
When Old Lady Ye was pregnant with the original owner, Old Man Ye got into a fight over irrigation issues with someone and accidentally pushed Old Lady Ye, causing her to have a premature birth.
In the end, Old Lady Ye barely survived and gave birth to a little girl who was so weak that she couldn’t even cry, appearing like a child who couldn’t survive.
The couple was so worried that they wept daily.
Later, they spent money to hire a fortune-teller to give the little girl a name. She was named Caiyi, meaning “to gather peace.” Since her Five Elements lacked wood, they changed her name to Caiping.
It was unclear whether the name played a role, but the daughter eventually survived, though she remained frail and often ill.
Old Man Ye and his wife naturally prioritized their daughter in everything, indulging her without limits, and even taught their two sons that they should always let their sister have her way.
To their surprise, the two sons spoiled her even more than they did, and they would have tied their sister to their waist if they could. If she walked even one more step, the brothers would feel heartbroken for half a day.
The eldest son, Ye Daquan, married Du Shi and had two sons and a daughter.
The eldest grandson, Ye Yong, was already 19 years old, but due to the family’s poverty, he had not yet found a wife.
The second son, Ye Xuan, was 16, and had always loved reading, but his studies had been cut short due to the original owner’s unreasonable interference.
The youngest daughter was named Ye Jinhua, and she was 14.
The second brother, Ye Erquan, married Wei Shi and had a son and a daughter.
The son was named Ye Peng, 15 years old. The daughter, Ye Yinhua, was 11 years old.
The household wasn’t large, and Ye Caiping quickly memorized the names.
Ye Caiping felt a dull pain on her forehead. After all, that was the injury that had caused the original owner’s death, so how could it not hurt?
Relying on her memory, she reached toward the five-drawer cabinet beside the bed, found a box of Jin chuang yao (golden wound medicine), and took it out.
[Ding, discovered that the efficacy of the golden wound medicine is surprisingly poor, priced at 3 wen per box. Would the customer like to sell it?]
A mechanical, emotionless voice sounded in her mind.
Ye Caiping was startled and almost jumped up. Then, a light blue panel appeared in front of her. This familiar platform…
Ye Caiping froze for a moment, then her eyes reddened. This was the trading platform her company had developed, focused on agricultural products and various traditional handicrafts.
It had followed her here! The only change was that the unit of currency had shifted from yuan to wen. And she could freely buy and sell!
Ye Caiping, feeling excited, decided to test the platform’s function and clicked the “Yes” option.
Immediately, the golden wound medicine in her hand vanished, and in its place, she now held 3 copper coins.
It really worked!
With this, she felt much more confident about living here.
However… Ye Caiping looked at the 3 wen in her hand… She had a feeling she had made a loss!
In the original owner’s memory, the golden wound medicine was expensive, costing 200 wen for a small box.
It couldn’t be!
Ye Caiping continued to scroll through the screen, and soon her mind settled.
On the recommended page, rice was priced at 3 wen per pound, and cola was 3 wen per bottle.
Clearly, the prices in the mall were calculated based on modern values, meaning 1 wen equaled 1 yuan.
The golden wound medicine she had just sold was considered expensive here. However, in modern times, due to its poor efficacy, it naturally couldn’t fetch a high price, so it was indeed worth only 3 wen.
Ye Caiping tried to buy the golden wound medicine back, only to find that the price had increased. It was now being sold for 5 wen!
Ye Caiping was speechless for a moment, before deciding to spend 3 wen to buy a bottle of iodine.
After applying the medicine to herself, she was unsure where to hide the items when the mechanical voice sounded again in her mind:
[Detected an item to store. Would the customer like to store the item in the storage space?]
Ye Caiping immediately clicked “Yes,” and the iodine disappeared, while a small space, about the size of a box, appeared on the screen.
[This is the system’s initial storage space, 0.1 cubic meters. It can be expanded by 1 cubic meter for 10 taels of silver, or by 5 cubic meters for 100 taels.]
There was no information about how much it would cost to continue expanding, and it was clear that only when she reached 5 cubic meters would she receive further prompts.
Ye Caiping didn’t feel the price was too high. After all, it was a life-saving tool, so the cost was justified.
When she woke up again, it was already the next morning.
Old Lady Ye brought over a bowl of white porridge and pickled vegetables. “You fell asleep yesterday, so we didn’t get you dinner.”
Ye Caiping was extremely hungry and quickly finished the meal. “Let’s go to Li’s village right away!”
“Your eldest brother has already gone to see your Uncle, the village head. Here, drink this bowl of medicine.”
Ye Caiping pinched her nose and drank the medicine, her face nearly contorting from the bitterness. “How much more of this medicine do we have?”
“There’s still tonight’s dose. After you finish it, we can prepare more.”
“No… no need! Look at me, I’m full of energy now! See, I can walk and run just fine. Just keep the rest for later.”
Seeing that Ye Caiping seemed to be in good spirits, Old Lady Ye nodded.
Ye Caiping put on a slightly worn outer coat and headed to the main room. Old Man Ye and Ye Erquan were standing with their hands held together, looking somewhat anxious.
Before long, Ye Daquan entered with two elderly men in their seventies and four women.
Ye Caiping, relying on the original owner’s memory, began to recognize each one.
The leader was Ye Lizheng, who was somewhat plump with a graying beard.
Ye Lizheng was a close relative of their family. Looking back four generations, they were blood brothers.
The other elderly man was Old Man Ye’s younger brother, her second uncle.
The four women who came were, one was Ye Lizheng’s wife, one was her second aunt, and the other two were the village’s most outspoken young women, only two or three years older than her.
“Uncle Lizheng, Second Uncle, thank you for coming to help me,” Ye Caiping said.
Ye Lizheng sighed lightly. “We’re all family, no need for thanks. But to be honest, when we tried to seek justice for you yesterday, we didn’t win. Today, it’s even harder.”
Second Uncle Ye sighed. “Zhaodi, and Laidi are from the Li family. I’ve never heard of any girl being… cough cough, taken away and still carrying children.”
“Enough, enough, stop saying such ominous things,” Ye Liren’s wife interjected. “Whether it’s possible or not, we’ll only know after we try.”
“Thank you, everyone,” Ye Caiping said.
She had already made plans. Even if she went alone, she could still bring the two children back. After all, as the saying goes, “it’s not about losing the person, it’s about not losing the battle.” The more people supporting her, the better.
“It’s getting late. Let’s head out!” Old Man Ye said, then turned back and added, “Erquan, you go along. Daquan, stay home.”
Ye Daquan had an impulsive personality, and they were worried he might ruin things.
Ye Daquan was just rolling up his sleeves, ready to go to the Li family and make a big scene, when Ye Caiping shot him a glare.
Ye Daquan immediately fell silent.
Note:
Characters
Other Characters
Places:
Qinghe Village: FL’s Village
Li Family Village
Great Zhou Dynasty