Chapter 2: The Eldest Daughter of the Xu Family in Another World

As the deliveries gradually arrived, Xu Nian placed each item into the space one by one. Since she wasn’t sure if the space would experience rain or snow, she bought a large military-style tent and set it up inside, just in case her supplies got wet.

To keep things neat and organized, she also purchased several storage racks and installed them inside the tent. This way, everything was easy to find at a glance.

While arranging her belongings, she also planted the seeds she had bought in a designated plot of land. After half a month of busy work, she looked at the corn that had already grown ears and the fruit trees covered in blossoms, feeling overjoyed—she would never starve with self-sufficiency!

That night, after making a final inspection of all her supplies, Xu Nian lay in bed, too excited to sleep at the thought of returning to her hometown the next day.

As she tossed and turned in bed, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her, and she felt the entire room shaking. Just as she started to think it might be an earthquake, something heavy struck her. Before she could react, her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.

When Xu Nian opened her eyes again, a dull pain throbbed in her head. She instinctively reached up to touch it—only to freeze in shock.

She stiffly turned her head to look at her raised hand. This… wasn’t her hand. How could her 28-year-old hands be this small?

She tried to sit up and assess her surroundings, but before she could, she heard footsteps approaching outside. Quickly, she shut her eyes and pretended to be unconscious.

Concentrating on the sounds around her, she heard someone enter the room, walk up to the bed, and touch her forehead. A voice sighed in relief, “Thank goodness, the fever has finally gone down.”

Xu Nian’s heart pounded wildly. Everything felt so chaotic. What was going on? Had she… traveled through time?

Then again, if she already possessed something as fantastical as a personal space, time travel didn’t seem all that impossible.

But if she had truly transmigrated, shouldn’t she have received the original owner’s memories? Her mind was completely blank—she had no idea who she was supposed to be in this world. How was she supposed to survive like this?

As Xu Nian struggled to make sense of everything, the person in the room left. Taking the opportunity, she cautiously opened her eyes and sat up.

The room bore some resemblance to her old home in the countryside, except the windows were covered with paper instead of glass. She lifted the blanket and examined herself—this was definitely not her body. It was much smaller than before.

Looking down at her clothes, they resembled the Hanfu that her former colleagues used to wear for traditional events. Xu Nian realized with certainty—she hadn’t just transmigrated, she had traveled back to ancient times.

Lost in thought, she failed to notice a small child pushing the door open. It wasn’t until a sharp, excited voice rang out, “Big Sister is awake!” that she snapped out of her daze.

A moment later, a crowd of people rushed into the room. Before Xu Nian could react, a woman scooped her into a tight embrace and began sobbing.

It had been a long time since Xu Nian had been this physically close to anyone, and she instinctively stiffened.

“Oh no, Sister-in-law! Why does Big Sister look so dazed? Could she have hit her head and turned stupid?” a woman with a dark, round face shrieked in alarm.

“You, second daughter-in-law, if you don’t know how to speak properly, just shut your mouth!” an elderly, short woman scolded her.

Despite her sharp tone, the old woman also felt something was off with her eldest granddaughter. She quickly pulled the crying woman aside and examined Xu Nian herself.

“Big girl, tell Grandma—how are you feeling?”

Looking at the elderly woman, who bore a seventy-percent resemblance to her grandmother from her previous life, Xu Nian couldn’t stop her tears from falling. Choking back sobs, she wailed, “Grandma, I thought I’d never see you again!”

The old woman held her crying granddaughter tightly, feeling an ache in her heart. She must have suffered terribly… When had my eldest granddaughter ever been this affectionate before?

When Xu Nian finally stopped crying and, between sniffles, said she couldn’t remember anything, everyone except the elderly woman was stunned.

The reason the old woman could still smile was that she had always thought her eldest granddaughter was quiet and reserved. She never expected that, deep down, the girl’s closest bond was with her, the old grandmother. After all, even though she had forgotten everything else, she still remembered her.

When the family called for a doctor to examine Xu Nian, the man was equally stunned. He was just a mediocre physician barely scraping by in the village—where had he ever encountered a case like this?

Under the expectant gazes of a dozen people, he had no choice but to say, “She will recover naturally over time. The exact duration depends on her condition.”

Ever since the doctor’s visit, Xu Nian’s mother, Tian Shi, had been in tears nonstop. Xu Nian feared that if her mother cried any more, she might go blind. If that happened, she would truly feel guilty.

Over the next two days, through the chatter of the little children and the people around her, Xu Nian managed to piece together the identity and family structure of her new life.

The Xu family was a large household with a total of fifteen members. The head of the family, Xu Ren, who was also the grandfather of her new body, was already forty-eight years old.

Together with his wife, Wang Zhen, he had five sons and one daughter, though only four of the sons survived. In an ancient rural society with poor medical conditions, this was quite rare. Because of this, Wang Zhen held a strong position, both in the village and within the family.

Xu Ren had spent two years traveling with a merchant caravan in his youth, earning a decent amount of silver before returning to the village to marry and settle down. Later, he started working at a fabric shop in town, rising from an apprentice to a shopkeeper.

Thanks to the old man’s capabilities, the Xu family was considered one of the wealthiest in Dahe Village. This allowed them to afford to send their eldest son, Xu Yaozu, who was Xu Nian’s father, to study.

However, even with their wealth, they could only afford to educate one son. As a result, the second son, Xu Fugui, and the third son, Xu Youliang, had to stay home and work the land. Meanwhile, the youngest son, Xu Weian, was sent by Wang Zhen to apprentice as a craftsman under a relative.

Now, all three elder sons of the Xu family were married with children, except for fifteen-year-old Xu Weian, who was still unmarried.

Xu Yaozu and his wife, Tian Qiao’er, had one son and one daughter: twelve-year-old Xu Nian and nine-year-old Xu Ji.

Xu Fugui and his wife, Zheng Chunzhi, had two sons and one daughter: nine-year-old twin boys, Xu Kang and Xu Jian, and seven-year-old Xu Ling.

Xu Youliang and his wife, Wang Zhaodi, had one son—the small child Xu Nian had seen when she first woke up—five-year-old Xu Cai.

Before Xu Nian could fully process all this information, her younger brother, Xu Ji, came over to call her for dinner.

Walking behind his sister, Xu Ji sighed. Ever since his eldest sister had fallen down the hill and regained consciousness, she had been dazed and absent-minded. The villagers all said she had hit her head too hard and become slow-witted.

Before their father left for the prefectural capital to take the imperial exam, he had specifically told Xu Ji to take care of their mother and sister. But he had failed.

Xu Nian, oblivious to her little brother’s worries, was too focused on filling her empty stomach.

Who would have thought that one of the wealthiest households in the village only had two meals a day—thin porridge with a few stir-fried greens, without even a trace of meat?

Xu Nian didn’t dare imagine what ordinary families were eating.

As she entered the main hall, the dining table was already full. Xu Nian took her seat and waited for her grandmother, Wang Zhen, to distribute the food.

The thickest porridge was given to the head of the family, Xu Ren, followed by the two eldest sons.

Since Xu Nian had been sick, she was the first among the grandchildren to receive food, so her bowl of porridge was still somewhat thick.

Next, the boys among the grandchildren were served, followed by the girls, and lastly, the women of the household.

Even Wang Zhen, the matriarch who stood at the top of the family hierarchy, only served herself a bowl of porridge that was more water than rice.