This place is good.

Qiao Jiuru felt greatly reassured in her heart.

Suddenly, all her worries and unease vanished.

With this place and the pharmacy, she instantly felt confident.

After leaving the pharmacy, she immediately went to check the other rooms.

She found that two of them were bedrooms, one was a large study, then there was a kitchen, a washroom, and a tool room.

The beds and bedding in the two bedrooms were all complete, styled in an antique fashion, and everything inside was very valuable.

The study and the pharmacy were the same size, with three walls covered by tall bookshelves, packed full of all kinds of books, already sorted by category.

From astronomy to geography, history, medicine, literature, and agriculture—even books on physical fitness and martial arts—there was a dazzling variety.

Qiao Jiuru loved this study almost as much as the pharmacy.

If she weren’t still worried about Su Huaiyuan and concerned about spending too much time inside, she would have wanted to live there.

In the kitchen, besides the stove, water buckets, water jars, bowls, chopsticks, knives, and cutting boards, there was sadly not a single grain of food or any seasoning—spotlessly clean.

Although there was no food, Qiao Jiuru wasn’t disappointed at all.

No grain was fine, because she had money.

Even without ration coupons, that didn’t matter; she could use money to buy expensive grain on the black market.

The tool room had farming tools, general tools, even fishing gear—fully equipped.

Qiao Jiuru only took a quick look around this western compound before hurriedly leaving.

She didn’t know if it was her physical self that had entered, or just her consciousness, nor did she know how to get out.

Just as she was thinking about how to leave, her vision blurred, and suddenly she saw her husband’s anxious and worried face.

“Aru, you suddenly disappeared in front of me just now.”

Su Huaiyuan, seeing his wife suddenly reappear from nowhere, let out a sigh of relief, but his curiosity made him whisper softly.

“I went to a very beautiful place… If I hadn’t worried about spending too much time inside, I would have liked to explore it properly.”

Qiao Jiuru was also excited to see her husband, and quickly whispered a description of the western compound and the green mountains and clear waters inside, though she still felt a little regretful.

“Aru, you were only in there for less than five minutes.”

Su Huaiyuan told her with a puzzled look that although he was worried to death, feeling like a lifetime had passed, he didn’t sense that she had been inside for very long.

“Ah?! Really?! No way?!”

She had spent more than half an hour exploring that place—the pharmacy itself took about ten or twenty minutes to look over roughly, then about ten minutes in each bedroom, more than ten minutes in the study, and another ten or so looking over the kitchen, tool room, and washroom.

“It’s true…”

“Huaiyuan, that’s wonderful.”

Before Su Huaiyuan could prove his point, Qiao Jiuru already exclaimed with joy.

How could she not be happy?!

If the time inside that place didn’t match real-world time, then she could do a lot of things in there—no time wasted and less chance of being discovered.

“Huaiyuan, I don’t know how I got in there just now. I want to try again, and see if I can bring you in with me.”

When Qiao Jiuru came back, she noticed the ink bracelet had already disappeared from where it was, but that was better—otherwise, she wouldn’t know how to keep it safe.

Su Huaiyuan also wanted to see the place his wife described.

That place was very important to their family.

The couple tightly held each other’s hands.

Qiao Jiuru silently recited the phrase “enter…”

After a dizzying whirl, the couple opened their eyes again and found themselves no longer in the servant’s room.

“Huaiyuan, you can come in too.”

“Aru, this place is really beautiful.”

At this moment, the couple was deeply moved, exchanging glances, their smiles filled with tears.

Qiao Jiuru was a bit more familiar with the place than her husband, so she took the lead to tour the western compound, explaining her plans as they walked.

After touring the compound and getting a preliminary understanding, the couple went outside.

“Aru, there’s so much land here. We can grow our own grain to eat. If we really get sent down, as long as these fields have grain, we won’t have to worry about food.”

Like his wife, Su Huaiyuan felt much less anxious and worried after seeing the medicines in the pharmacy. His mind was filled with ideas and plans.

“Yes, Huaiyuan, you’re right. Besides grain, we can raise chickens, plant vegetables, and grow fruit trees. And isn’t there a river over there? We can also raise fish and shrimp to eat.”

Two heads are better than one—Qiao Jiuru’s thoughts were immediately inspired.

“Also, we can buy grain now and store it here, taking it out when needed.”

“That’s right. Besides grain, we should buy daily necessities—more salt, oil, spices, eggs, brown sugar, biscuits, and other non-perishable items.”

“Aru, I think we can also put our gold bars, jewelry, paintings, and antiques in here. At least they’ll be safer than outside.”

“Yes, yes, yes, let’s go get them now.”

…

Having another person to help plan made a big difference.

Soon they had their stockpiling and farming plans arranged clearly.

Since they had thought of it, they acted immediately.

Qiao Jiuru and Su Huaiyuan left the space and went to another servant’s room to take out twenty gold bars. Then, in inconspicuous places around the small courtyard’s kitchen, washroom, bedroom, and toilet, they dug out gold bars, jewelry, and house deeds and put them into the ink bracelet.

Unfortunately, it was getting late, and they had to hurry to the hospital to take over their shifts.

Otherwise, the couple planned to dig up more treasures of the Su and Qiao families and put them in the ink bracelet.

An hour later, Qiao Jiuru and Su Huaiyuan rushed back to the hospital, only to find their eldest son Su Ze had arrived.

“Mom, Dad, where have you been?!”

Su Ze had waited anxiously at home for his wife, and when she didn’t return, he got worried and came to the hospital.

But neither of his parents were there either, and no one knew where they had gone.

He had been there for almost an hour.

“To the black market.”

Before Su Huaiyuan could think of an excuse, Qiao Jiuru quickly lowered her voice and lied to their son.

Fortunately, the hospital room had no other patients or visitors—only their family.

Also, their voices were low, so no one outside could overhear clearly.

As soon as Su Ze heard “black market,” he didn’t ask further.

He knew the seriousness and exactly what kind of place that was.

“You and Xiao Wan go back. Tonight your dad and I will stay here to keep watch. Tomorrow Xiao Wan doesn’t need to come to work; your dad got me an extra day off.”

“Yes, Uncle Zhang also said the kids should be discharged tomorrow. You can come pick them up at noon.”

They sent the young couple back to rest. After all, the ward had three beds—one for each child, and one extra for an adult to sleep.