Grandfather said this technique is a Taoist practice that harnesses the energy of the heavens and earth to adjust the body. It originates from Taoism.

Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and from Three comes all things. Everything has a form. Through cultivating energy, matter, form, color, spirit, and sound, one can correct one’s appearance, refine one’s temperament, and stimulate energy, ultimately reaching a state of harmony between body and mind.

Although Grandfather didn’t specify what the final result of mastering the technique would be, it seemed clear that it was effective for promoting health, beauty, and physical strength.

Recalling the method Grandfather had taught, Dai Qing sat cross-legged on her bed, entered a meditative state, inhaling and exhaling, guiding her energy down to her dantian. When she opened her eyes, two hours had passed, but her dantian remained still after so long without practice.

At 9:00 p.m., she went to bed on time.

When she opened her eyes, it was exactly 7:00 a.m. the next morning.

Looking at the small alarm clock on the table, bitterness flickered in Dai Qing’s eyes. In her previous life, she woke up at 5:30 a.m. every day to prepare breakfast for everyone. After bustling around until they all went to work, she finally had a chance to sit down and eat whatever was left. Then, she’d start washing the family’s clothes.

The clothes were made of rough, thick fabric, and when wet, they became stiff and hard to clean—especially those stained with oil. She’d scrub until her arms went numb.

After spacing out for a while, Dai Qing got up, washed up, and went out to buy breakfast: two sticks of fried dough for three cents and a bowl of soy milk for two cents. In total, her breakfast cost five cents.

It was just the beginning of the 1990s, and many people were barely making ends meet, so prices were generally low. Even so, after marrying into the Liu family, she was always the one cooking breakfast—steamed buns, flower rolls, and vegetable buns, rotating between them. Only when Liu Ming specifically asked for fried dough or sugar cakes would her mother-in-law go out to buy them, and even then, everyone got one piece except for her.

After breakfast, she began tidying up the house, cleaning, and organizing items, especially her grandfather’s room. She packed his belongings into boxes and locked them away in the cabinet.

Grandfather had worked as a gatekeeper at a recycling plant, collecting various old jars and bottles. She’d heard they were quite valuable, but she had never paid much attention to them. Now, she couldn’t really tell if they were worth anything.

She wondered if, after Liu Min took over the house, she had thrown all of them away.

Knock, knock, knock~

“Xiao Qing, are you home?” The anxious voice of Aunt Wang startled Dai Qing.

Opening the door, she was surprised to see Aunt Wang standing there with her left hand wrapped in bandages and holding a mesh bag with three or four apples in her right hand.

When Aunt Wang saw the door open, her eyes lit up.

“Xiao Qing, I never thought you’d be right! I should’ve listened to you and not gotten involved…”

As Dai Qing had predicted, Aunt Wang hadn’t heeded her warning and carried on with her usual activities. After breakfast, she went to report to the community center as usual. Upon arriving, she found two people in a heated argument, faces flushed with anger, all over a stray cat. The cat’s owner wanted to take it home, but the person who found the cat didn’t want to give it back, leading to a tug-of-war.

Aunt Wang tried to break up the fight, but neither person was willing to back down. In the midst of it, the frightened cat lashed out, scratching Aunt Wang across the back of her hand, leaving three deep gashes that exposed the bone.

Seeing the harm they caused, the two immediately stopped fighting and left the scene. Aunt Wang went to the clinic to have her wound cleaned, and the doctor suggested she get a rabies shot due to the severity of the injury.

After dealing with all that, she had barely sat down on her sofa before jumping up and running straight to Dai Qing’s place.

“Xiao Qing, you’ve got to tell me what to watch out for next time! Do you know how expensive rabies shots are? It costs enough to buy several pounds of pork!”

Hearing Aunt Wang’s distressed tone, Dai Qing couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t worry, Aunt Wang, nothing else will happen anytime soon.”