Chapter 3

Damn it.

If only she had arrived a day earlier, she wouldn’t have fallen to the point of selling herself.

These days, everywhere requires an introduction letter. Without any proof or connections, one can only be treated as a wanderer.

After cursing Yama a thousand times in her mind, Gu Qinghuan finally accepted the reality that she couldn’t go back.

Since she was here, she would have to make the best of it.

She had to think carefully about how to get out of her current predicament.

Growl…

Her stomach rumbled with hunger.

Gu Qinghuan suddenly remembered the golden finger Yama had promised to give her. She had no idea where it was, how to access the space, or if she needed to drop blood for it to recognize her as its master.

While thinking about this, she suddenly found herself in a bright space. The hard, stiff kang bed had transformed into a soft and comfortable memory foam mattress.

It was her villa!

Dragging her exhausted body, Gu Qinghuan slowly climbed out of bed.

There was no time to think too much.

She grabbed a bottle of Telunsu, drinking it as she opened the fridge in search of food.

Thanks to her identity as a food blogger, the fridge at home was a large, double-door super refrigerator, and there were three of them.

The fridges were packed with all sorts of fresh ingredients and various samples for her tasting live streams.

Perhaps because this body had been lacking in nutrition for so long, she found herself salivating at the sight of any food.

Especially in the large water tank in the kitchen, there were freshly airlifted Alaskan King Crab, Australian Abalone, Dongxing Grouper, and Botan Shrimp, all still alive. She really wanted to eat them.

But Gu Qinghuan could only covet them for now. Her body was weak, and it wasn’t the right time to indulge in a big feast.

“Wait, once my body gets better, I’ll definitely eat you all up.”

After drinking a bottle of milk, her stomach was somewhat filled, and the burning hunger inside her finally eased.

She had already tested it—most of the appliances and the gas stove in the house were functional.

She wasn’t sure how Yama managed to set everything up, but that didn’t matter now.

Placing the clay pot on the stove, Gu Qinghuan began preparing a pot of white rice porridge for herself.

While the porridge cooked, she took out a steamer and placed two eggs in the water to boil, while also steaming three frozen buns from the fridge.

That was enough for now.

During the waiting time, Gu Qinghuan took the opportunity to figure out everything in the place.

The place Gu Qinghuan was currently in was the Spiritual Spring Space that Yama had given her, and the large villa had been placed inside this space.

The space was quite large, stretching as far as the eye could see.

The Spiritual Spring was located just outside the villa, resembling a steaming hot spring at first glance, like something out of a fairy tale.

Next to the Spiritual Spring stood a giant rock with the inscription: Exorcising Spiritual Spring.

Gu Qinghuan had already tested the effect of the Spiritual Spring herself.

To be cautious, she only took a sip.

Although it didn’t have the miraculous, life-altering effect of reviving the dead or transforming the body, it did help alleviate pain.

Her tired body felt much better after just one sip. The places on her body that had been aching had stopped hurting.

If she drank this Spiritual Spring water regularly, it would certainly heal her old wounds and provide a life without illness or pain, allowing her to live a long life.

However, she hadn’t noticed any exorcising effects, but it seemed like it was more of a mysterious feature. Whatever, she didn’t care much.

The Vending Machine that Yama gave her was located in the villa’s courtyard, with a large, eye-catching screen.

But there was no time to investigate it now.

She suddenly heard the sound of sobbing, and it took her a few seconds to realize it was coming from outside.

Worried about being discovered, she quickly whispered to herself: “I need to go out.”

In an instant, she found herself back in the dark room.

The sobbing grew louder.

Gu Qinghuan then remembered that, besides the madman at home, there were also two little brats.

These two little brats weren’t simple characters. In that book, they would become stepping stones for the male and female leads’ children, serving as tools to highlight the protagonists’ charm.

After the Madman-father died, these two were raised by various families.

To survive, they did many bad things and ended up being killed by the son of the male and female leads, who shot them.

The female lead, Lin Xiaomeng, played a big role in this. After she was reborn, her golden finger was the Fortune Space.

This Fortune Space was somewhat mysterious, with a pool of Fortune Spring Water inside. Anyone who drank from it would have their fortune sucked away by Lin Xiaomeng.

As a result, Lin Xiaomeng became incredibly lucky, her wishes always coming true. Even her husband and son enjoyed good fortune, and they eventually rose to positions of power and wealth, leading happy lives.

These two children were the ones Lin Xiaomeng had used the Fortune Spring Water on, stealing their luck under the guise of eliminating evil.

In the end, they met a miserable fate.

Besides these two children, anyone who opposed the female lead in the book had their luck drained in similar ways, and their endings were all tragic.

Gu Qinghuan felt a deep sense of discomfort as she read this, and recalling it now only made it feel even more cruel.

The book briefly described that the two children had been sent back to their hometown by the Madman before he went mad, to be taken care of by their parents. Their household registration was still under his name, and their true background was unknown.

Seeing that her son sent a monthly allowance, Liu Guifang had at first managed to provide the two children with some food.

But later, when the Madman fell ill and had to retire due to his madness, he lost his source of income and the two children became unwanted, pitiful human.

They went hungry every day, and to survive, they resorted to stealing and robbing.

As for their Madman father, he died in a mysterious way, but since he wasn’t a protagonist, the book didn’t go into detail about it. Gu Qinghuan strongly suspected that his fortune had been drained by the female lead.

The original body’s ending in the book was simply described as dying from overwork, but that wasn’t the worst part.

What was even more tragic was the fate of the family left behind.

The grandmother, upon hearing that the original body had sold herself to the “Madman” family in order to raise money, died suddenly on the street, her heart overwhelmed with grief.

The original mother, unable to bear the series of blows, went insane.

The grandfather, trying to hold on for his sick daughter, didn’t last six months before he passed away as well.

As Gu Qinghuan thought about this, her heart tugged with a faint pain—perhaps it was the original body’s emotions taking over.

The book only had a few short lines, but they told the tragic story of several pitiful lives.

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“Woo… Big Brother, Bei Bei is so hungry…” The soft, childlike voice echoed through the dark night, sounding especially desolate.

The little girl, huddled close to her Big Brother, tried to draw warmth from her Dad’s side.

Although everyone was afraid of this Madman dad, they still depended on him more than anyone else.

If he dies, they would truly have no one to rely on.

Da Bao gently stroked his little sister’s bony back: “Bei Bei, be good, Big Brother will go to the mountains tomorrow morning to find you something to eat. Just bear with it.”

As he spoke, his own stomach growled loudly.

One rumble after another.

Bei Bei knew that her Big Brother was just as hungry, if not more so. He had given all the food he managed to get to her and his Dad, leaving only enough for himself to survive on water.

Realizing this, she stopped crying.

“Okay, Bei Bei will be good and listen to Big Brother.”

In the darkness, a pair of eyes watched the two children, and a tear rolled down the side of her eyes.

Gu Qinghuan, who was listening to the children’s conversation from the next room, couldn’t help but feel deep sorrow.

Children in the twenty-first century were all precious jewel to their parents—they were treated like fragile treasures, protected from harm, and given the best food and care.

No child went hungry.

Although Gu Qinghuan already knew that these two children would eventually become major villains in the future, they were still innocent, pitiful children in the present.

As a new era youth, born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze, Gu Qinghuan found the suffering of these children unbearable.

Whatever, she thought. One step at a time. After all, she was someone with a golden finger. She could definitely feed the two children.

She fumbled through her belongings and pulled out an aluminum lunch box. This was something the original body had used to eat, and it had been collected by the young female intellectuals from the commune.

Maybe because there was nothing useful left in the bag—just tattered clothes—the only aluminum lunch box was patched up, so Liu Guifang hadn’t bothered to use it.

Gu Qinghuan had come to the countryside this year to support her mother and make a living, and she had truly ended up with nothing of value—no decent belongings at all.

She placed the aluminum lunch box into the space and cleaned it carefully, scrubbing it thoroughly.

The white rice porridge in the clay pot had just finished cooking, releasing the fragrant aroma of rice, making it especially tempting. She had cooked a lot, so she filled the lunch box to the brim.

She had thought about adding two buns, but then realized it would be odd to suddenly pull out two steaming buns in the middle of the night. So, she withdrew her hand.