Chapter 42 – The Spiritual Spring Emerges

That fool Gu Caihe might get easily fooled by Madam Yuan and Little Jiang-shi, but Gu Qingshan wouldn’t.

Yan Fengru knew this clearly in her heart.

Still, some things weren’t convenient to say to her young daughter.

On one hand, Yan Fengru had always felt that she had suffered greatly growing up, and she didn’t want her daughter to live the same kind of hard life she did.

Perhaps she was compensating for all her own hardships by showering her daughter with love.

And because her child was born prematurely, she took extra care in everything—especially in protecting her child’s innocence and kindness.

Yan Fengru knew very well that only children without love had to do everything they could to arm themselves, to force themselves to become strong.

On the other hand, when she thought of Gu Caihe as a negative example, Yan Fengru couldn’t help but feel more deeply enlightened.

Her daughter was hers to protect. She would never let her suffer any grievances. But at the same time, a child couldn’t grow up knowing nothing just because of their mother’s overprotection—otherwise, she would be easily deceived in the future. After all, no outsider would ever treat her daughter as wholeheartedly as she did. A child who remained too naïve would become a problem when they grew up.

So, after thinking for a while, Yan Fengru said again, “My precious girl is really clever. Gu Qingshan isn’t a fool. Just like you said, he’s sharp—how could he let others take advantage of him?”

Gu Yuzhu hadn’t expected her mother to speak so directly and was momentarily stunned. Then, a sudden stomachache hit her, and her face flushed red.

…

About fifteen minutes later, Gu Yuzhu’s tummy finally returned to normal. It was no longer tight or bloated.

While Yan Fengru had stepped away after “coaxing her to sleep,” Gu Yuzhu snuck into her own space to water the plants.

There was land in her space, but no water—she had to find a water source herself. Because of this, Gu Yuzhu had made a habit of bringing an extra bucket of water to her room every night.

But tonight, the water bucket was missing… She suddenly remembered—because she had been too full to digest and had lain in bed needing care, her mother had probably taken the bucket out…

Gu Yuzhu: “……” So helpless. Madam Yan Fengru really was that considerate!

They were currently living with the Yan family, which had developed quite well over the years. The three Yan brothers had built a new large courtyard. The interesting thing about this courtyard was that it was connected yet separate. On this point, Gu Yuzhu genuinely admired her three uncles—each of the three walls had a small door in between, so the brothers could easily visit each other without going outside. Yet, when the doors were closed, everyone could still maintain their own household.

Gu Yuzhu thought this was a great way for close brothers to coexist. The Yan brothers had even set aside rooms for their two married sisters, in addition to guest rooms, making the place especially spacious. That was why Yan Fengru had thought things through before deciding to return to her maiden home. This way, she didn’t have to see those infuriating people from the Gu family, and her own two children wouldn’t be wronged.

So now that they were living with the Yan family, the mother and her two children each had their own room. The rooms were very spacious. Gu Yuzhu’s own room was a bit smaller but decorated quite warmly, with a pink canopy. During the day, her cousin Yan Meihua had crawled under it several times before being dragged out by her ear by his mother…

Back to the point—how nice would it be if there were a spiritual spring inside her space? Then she wouldn’t have to haul water to water her plants!

The thought was beautiful. But that was all it was—a thought. I mean, wasn’t it already lucky enough to have found a spatial dimension? Wanting even more? That would get you struck by lightning!

Gu Yuzhu sighed heavily—only to suddenly hear a ding-dong, ding-dong sound… the chime echoed in time with her racing heartbeat.

Oh my god, was this the legendary “wish come true” moment?

No way, right? Her luck suddenly turned that good? Gu Yuzhu spun around wildly in her space but just couldn’t find where the spring might be.

The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment—and right now, she was very disappointed.

Just then, the sound seemed to grow louder. Hm? Gu Yuzhu perked up her ears. The sound gradually became clearer—it was coming from the edge of a plot of land she had cultivated. The soil there was moist, as if it had just been watered.

On one side was uncultivated land, dull and gray. Even though it was right before her eyes, it felt as if she had hit some invisible boundary—it was impossible to see clearly. Still, considering she had already experienced a fantasy-like time travel, Gu Yuzhu wasn’t too disheartened. She widened her eyes, rubbed them again, and after a while, the gray mist slowly dispersed, revealing a small patch of damp grass.

Gu Yuzhu’s eyes lit up at once!

She quickly squatted down and dug two handfuls of dirt with her bare hands—and sure enough, a spring of water burst forth beneath.

The strange thing was that the spring only filled the small hole she had dug and didn’t rise any higher.

The water was crystal clear, cool to the touch, and visibly of excellent quality. Gu Yuzhu was beyond satisfied. At this moment, her heart held no other thoughts—just pure joy.

Heaven had not forsaken her!

In her past life, she had little parental love, but the old Daoist had treated her no worse than a biological father. So in this life, even if her relationship with her father wasn’t perfect, the presence of her mother and brother more than made up for it.

And now she had a spatial dimension and a spring. She was practically set for life.

Gu Yuzhu hadn’t had much direction in her past life. The old Daoist cared for her, so she had followed the rules and studied dutifully. As for what she wanted to do with her life, she never gave it much thought. Like most modern young people, she just went with the flow and figured she’d deal with things as they came.

But right now, Gu Yuzhu felt a grand ambition rising in her chest. She was going to develop a career. Whether it was food, farming, or something else—it didn’t matter. She was going to make something of herself. Of course, given the times, if she really wanted to go into business, she’d need someone powerful backing her.

And with that thought, Gu Yuzhu embraced the spirit of A Gui—she’d cross that bridge when she came to it. After all, she was still a little baby right now. What was the point of stressing over it?

…

Meanwhile, Yan Fengru was having a disagreement with her brothers about building a new house.

“Big Sister, you’re already living back home. Who would say anything about that? Why waste the money? Bo’er and Zhu’er are still small. If we all live together, we can help keep an eye on them. Why build a new house now?”

“Exactly, Big Sister. Are you growing distant from us brothers? It’s not like we don’t have space at home.”

“A new house is definitely necessary. Our Bo’er’s house in the future won’t be any worse than anyone else’s in the village. But now’s not the time. He’s going to school, and that’s going to cost a lot.”

The brothers all chimed in, making it clear—they didn’t agree with Yan Fengru’s idea of building a house just yet.

Sister-in-laws Lin-shi and Ying-shi wisely chose to stay silent. If they were to speak honestly, they definitely didn’t want to live long-term with their husband’s elder sister.

As the saying goes, “Distance brings beauty; closeness breeds contempt.” It was human nature. In the short term—or even until Big Sister and her children had their new house—if their husbands helped her, that was only right. After all, their husbands had grown up without parents, and it was thanks to this older sister who sold herself as a servant to raise them.

That kind of bond was different.

Besides, their husbands were capable and didn’t lack this bit of money.

Most importantly, Big Sister wasn’t the kind of person who didn’t know boundaries or liked to freeload.

Still, their way of thinking was traditional. After all, people naturally prioritized their own households. No matter how close Yan Fengru and her children were, to them—as the sisters-in-law—they were still outsiders.

But that was something the sisters-in-law couldn’t say out loud.

So, they chose to say nothing at all.