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First Pharmaceutical Factory.
Lin Wanjun trailed behind Li Guanyu, glancing curiously in every direction—so much so that she nearly bumped into people several times.
“Watch it!”
Li Guanyu, her cousin-in-law, reminded her just in time. He’d been quite attentive and considerate toward her.
A few days ago, he had received a call from his younger cousin Song Zhanjin. After hearing what it was about, he had been both surprised and amused.
Who didn’t know what kind of temper Song Zhanjin had? That guy was famously stubborn and proud, always gritting his teeth and handling everything himself, never asking anyone for help.
And yet now, for the sake of a wife who had just entered the household, Song Zhanjin was actually humbling himself and asking a favor.
“I thought you’d go your whole life without ever bending your back. Tsk tsk.”
On the other end of the line, Song Zhanjin had only responded with a tone of helpless resignation.
“You think I want to ask you? She’s way too much to handle—I really can’t deal with her. Brother, consider this a favor I owe you. I’ll pay it back someday, I swear!”
Li Guanyu had studied abroad in his early years and was ten years older than Song Zhanjin. He had just celebrated his thirty-fourth birthday, with two sons and a daughter at home, and a very close relationship with his wife.
He was currently serving as the deputy director of the pharmaceutical factory—a young, accomplished man with a bright future ahead of him.
“Sister-in-law,” Li Guanyu began, “here’s what I’m thinking. The work in the production workshop is physically demanding—it might not suit you. Fortunately, the office is short one material clerk. I was planning to assign you—”
“Cousin, can I take a look at the warehouse?” Lin Wanjun interrupted, eyes gleaming. “I… I’d like to be a warehouse manager.”
Warehouse manager? That’s no easy job!
Li Guanyu paused, clearly surprised, then gave a small nod and led Lin Wanjun to the storage room where the finished medicines were kept.
Lin Wanjun followed behind him, staring at his upright figure, and couldn’t help but feel a pang as she recalled his tragic end in the original plot.
In the original story, Li Guanyu died.
He died while on the way to deliver life-saving medicine to Li Yuetang—and the one who caused his death was none other than her, the vicious supporting character.
Li Yuetang never received the medicine her nephew had promised to send. What came instead was the devastating news of his death. Heartbroken beyond repair, she followed him in death. It was nothing short of a human tragedy.
So it made perfect sense that Dong Yingying, who carried memories from her past life, would hate her to the bone. Who wouldn’t?
Lin Wanjun remembered the name of that life-saving medicine from the original plot. It was a type of corticosteroid known for its powerful anti-inflammatory effects.
The moment she stepped into the warehouse, Lin Wanjun began scanning the shelves. Soon, on the highest rack, she spotted boxes of the exact medicine.
Just then, someone came over asking Li Guanyu for a signature. While he was distracted, Lin Wanjun fixed her eyes on the boxes and muttered silently to herself.
In an instant, one box vanished from the shelf.
The once neatly organized storage now had an obvious gap.
Since she’d already made a move, Lin Wanjun decided she might as well go all in. She swiftly transferred the entire row of medicine-filled boxes into her spatial ring.
Whatever the drugs were for—just take them first and figure it out later!
During her tour of the warehouse, Lin Wanjun took the opportunity to quietly select a few more medications—penicillin, antihypertensives, and so on.
At that moment, she felt immensely grateful to be living in an era that was still relatively backward and conservative.
There were no ubiquitous surveillance cameras, no anti-theft barcodes or magnetic tags. Even if the factory later discovered missing stock during inventory, it wouldn’t be easy to trace.
By then, she’d probably already be far away, having followed the Song family to some remote, desolate outpost on the Gobi Desert.
Just before leaving, Lin Wanjun placed the five thousand yuan she had prepared in advance on the top shelf of the rack.
Whether it’s enough or not—that’s all I’ve got. Sorry, Cousin.
At the factory gates, the security staff conducted a thorough search of Lin Wanjun, not even sparing her shoes, making absolutely sure she wasn’t smuggling out so much as a single pill.
Li Guanyu looked a little embarrassed and explained, “Nothing I can do. There’ve been too many cases of people stealing medicine from the factory and reselling it on the black market—it’s had a terrible impact. This is the only way.”
Lin Wanjun cooperated fully and said with a smile, “The search is necessary. If anything does go missing, I can clear my name right away, can’t I?”
She returned to the military courtyard as fast as she could, headed upstairs, locked the bedroom door behind her, and slipped into the spatial realm.
There, inside the opulent reception hall of the White House, over a dozen boxes were now stacked neatly—it looked absolutely ridiculous.
Who would’ve imagined that in this particular space, Lin Wanjun had single-handedly “liberated” the so-called beautiful country… and was now using their presidential residence as a warehouse?
Truly, this was absurdity opening the door to even more absurdity—utterly, completely, ridiculously absurd.
Opening the boxes, Lin Wanjun was greeted with an unexpected surprise.
In addition to the medications she had specifically planned to acquire, there were many other practical supplies.
Cold medicine. Chilblain ointment. Hemostatics…
And in one inconspicuous box, Lin Wanjun discovered a brand-new, unopened surgical kit—along with syringes, IV tubing, and other disposable medical supplies.
These were treasures you couldn’t even dream of finding on the black market!
Lin Wanjun had read plenty of time-travel and spatial novels—most of the protagonists in those stories acquired their supplies through underground channels like the black market.
That’s why, a few days ago, she’d already scouted out the location of the local black market and made a secret trip.
Yes, it was possible to buy a few things there—but the selection and quantities were extremely limited.
A single box of penicillin. A single pack of cigarettes…
Stockpiling supplies little by little like this was far too slow. Lin Wanjun didn’t have the luxury of time—she simply couldn’t afford to drag things out.
So she came up with a quicker, more direct method of sourcing goods—crude, but effective. It was the very tactic the vicious supporting character had used repeatedly in the original plot: stealing.
Though the act was shameful by most standards, when weighed against the value of countless lives—especially that of Li Yuetang, who loved her like a daughter—Lin Wanjun figured her moral boundaries could stand to be lowered just a bit more.
As the pages of the calendar were torn away one by one, the date of the Song family’s downfall crept ever closer.
Lin Wanjun didn’t dare slack off. Every day, she was out gathering supplies. Of course, she wasn’t just taking things for free—that was one fundamental difference between her and the original villainess.
After taking something, she always left behind the equivalent amount of money. You could think of it as a kind of self-service shopping, just without a cashier.
Yes, someone might report it to the authorities. But with no surveillance and no leads, solving the case would be near impossible.
And since the “thief” left payment behind and caused no real loss, the matter usually ended with no further action taken.
On this day, the Song family’s matriarch, Jiang Ronghua, was celebrating her 80th birthday. Relatives and friends gathered in full force—but Lin Wanjun sat heavy-hearted.
In the original storyline, a unit of soldiers had arrived during this very banquet to escort Song Mingcheng and Song Zhanjin away. Not long after, came the formal notice of their re-education placement.
The Song family was even forced to move out of the Little Red Mansion they had lived in for decades, their situation becoming incredibly difficult.
“Here, you all take some of this back home with you,” Li Yuetang said, as was the custom each year. “There aren’t many of us at home—no way we can finish it all!”
Following tradition, she divided the leftover fruits, pastries, cigarettes, alcohol, and tea from the birthday celebration into more than a dozen portions, ready to give to the relatives who had come to help.
In a time of material scarcity, these were considered real treasures.
But before any of the relatives could even speak, Lin Wanjun—who had been sitting dazed on the couch—suddenly shot to her feet and swept all the items into her arms in one go.
“Why should we give it to them? These things belong to our family. We’re keeping them—I’ll eat them!”
Sure, these items might not mean much to the Song family right now, but what about when they were sent down to that desolate re-education farm with barely enough food or clothing? Wouldn’t these come in handy? Wouldn’t they taste even better then?
The relatives, who had just been beaming with delight at the unexpected gifts, now looked thoroughly displeased after being so rudely cut off by Lin Wanjun.
“Oh my, the new wife sure is something. Just married in and already trying to climb over her mother-in-law to take charge?”
One of the relatives sneered, their words dripping with sarcasm.
“Yuetang, it’s not that we don’t want to speak well of her, but as the old saying goes—‘a good wife is beaten into shape like good dough is kneaded.’ This daughter-in-law of yours… still needs some proper discipline!”
Li Yuetang felt a bit embarrassed too, but she still stepped in to smooth things over for Lin Wanjun, allowing her “unruly” daughter-in-law to carry all the goods back into the utility room without saying a word.
After Lin Wanjun left, the utility room—which had been piled high just moments before—was now completely empty, not even a candy wrapper left behind.
That’s right. She had stashed everything in the White House.
She wasn’t the least bit worried about being found out by Li Yuetang—because the Song family was about to face disaster very soon.
Not long after, the birthday banquet officially began. Three banquet tables were set up in the Song family’s courtyard. Guests laughed and drank merrily, offering blessings and toasts—the atmosphere was warm and festive.
Only Lin Wanjun was nowhere to be seen. No one knew what she was doing inside the house. Song Zhanjin called for her several times, but she never came out.
“I’ll go check on her.”
Putting down his wine cup, Song Zhanjin rose to his feet and headed toward the house—only to see a squad of armed soldiers burst through the courtyard gates in a sweeping formation…
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