As expected, Sister Lu sighed with admiration, “That’s truly wonderful! You’re skilled in needlework, educated, and well-versed in manners and etiquette, having come from a prestigious family. Qin Fang is so lucky to have married you—it’s a real blessing for him.”

Indeed, looking at Qin Fang’s wife—beautiful, graceful, and soft-spoken—Sister Lu thought even a woman like her would find her likable.

Surely, Qin Fang must be smitten with her.

Yang Haiyan had the original host’s memories but no real impression of Qin Fang.

The original host had only seen him once—when he lifted her veil after they got married.

At the time, she was filled with disgust and fear, seeing his tall and imposing figure, so she hadn’t looked closely.

Yang Haiyan didn’t have a clear impression of him either.

In the novel, Qin Fang wasn’t given much attention, as the story focused more on the heroine.

All she knew was that he was very tall, probably around 195 cm.

Yang Haiyan replied modestly, “Sister Lu, you flatter me. I’ve only learned a little here and there.”

The two women chatted for a while longer. Sister Lu offered to wash the dishes for her, but Yang Haiyan refused.

Since she was already awake, there was no reason to continue troubling her.

Seeing how insistent she was, Sister Lu didn’t press the matter, but her opinion of Yang Haiyan grew even more favorable.

In this military family housing area, not every household had its own well.

The well was located in a communal spot, so anyone needing water had to fetch and carry it back home.

However, when Yang Haiyan checked the kitchen, apart from two pots, there was nothing else.

The bowls and utensils she had used must have been borrowed from Sister Lu.

Even if she wanted to do something, there wasn’t much she could do at the moment.

After thinking for a bit, she decided to head over to Sister Lu’s house.

Standing at the door, she called out, “Sister Lu…”

Sister Lu answered from inside, “Oh, Xiao Yang, what’s the matter?”

A bit embarrassed, Yang Haiyan blushed and said, “Sister, I… I don’t have any money on me. Could you lend me some? I’ll pay you back when my husband returns. I’d like to buy a few things.”

Sister Lu slapped her thigh in realization. “Ah, my memory! Qin Fang left a silver liang with me before he left, asking me to give it to you when you woke up. I completely forgot!”

Yang Haiyan smiled, relieved, “That’s a big help. Sister, you’ve been so busy with your own matters and taking care of me. It’s no wonder you forgot.” She was sincere in her words.

In the novel, Captain Lu and Qin Fang were good friends, so Sister Lu had initially been very kind to the original host.

However, after the original host’s spoiled behavior, their relationship had soured.

After receiving the liang of silver, Yang Haiyan asked Sister Lu where the market was.

Not wanting her to go alone, Sister Lu decided to accompany her.

On the way, they ran into a few other military wives chatting.

Sister Lu introduced Yang Haiyan and explained the situation, clearing up the misunderstanding about Yang Haiyan allegedly poisoning herself on her wedding night.

Yang Haiyan smiled and addressed them, “Sisters, I sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding. I’m new here, and I wasn’t aware that the medicine I brought from the capital had expired. I’m terribly sorry for worrying everyone. Once Qin Fang returns, we’ll host a dinner at our home to thank you all and warm up the house.”

The women, seeing her polite and well-mannered demeanor, began to dismiss the previous rumors. “Oh, no need to apologize. We’re just glad you’re alright.”

Some of the women were genuinely unconcerned, though most had simply been looking for gossip.

Of course, none of them would admit that.

“Exactly, as long as you’re fine, that’s all that matters. You should focus on recovering.”

“True, traveling all the way from the capital is exhausting. It’s no wonder the medicine expired.”

Yang Haiyan smiled graciously, “Thank you, sisters. I’m new here and still have much to learn. I hope you’ll guide me as I settle in.”

Impressed by her humility, the women found her even more likable.

After a bit more chatting, Yang Haiyan and Sister Lu headed to the market.

Sister Lu explained as they walked, “The market is busiest early in the morning, and the produce is the freshest then. Some farmers stay and sell whatever they didn’t finish in the morning… As for the meat stalls, there are two regular sellers here…”

When they arrived at the butcher’s stall, the pork was already sold out.

All that was left were a few bare bones and two pig trotters.

Yang Haiyan asked, “Boss, how much for the bones and pig trotters?”

The butcher, a skinny man of small stature, though small, had the strength to sell meat, indicating his physical strength.

He replied, “The bones and pig trotters are 10 wen per jin (pound), and they weigh a total of 6 jin. Do you want them? If you buy them separately, the bones would be less than 10 wen, but the trotters, which have meat, would cost more.”

Sister-in-law Lü remarked, “Six jin is a bit much, isn’t it?”

Yang Haiyan said, “I’ll take all of it. Sister-in-law, I plan to make some soup tomorrow and send it to my husband. That way, he’ll know I’ve woken up and won’t worry about me in the military camp.”

Sister-in-law Lu agreed, “That makes sense.”

Even though six jin was a lot, considering it was for her husband and they didn’t have children, they could afford to be a little indulgent.

Next, they went to the grocery store and bought sugar, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, white rice, brown rice—sugar at 13 wen per tael, soy sauce 30 wen per half-jin jug, vinegar 30 wen per jug, oil 120 wen per jug, fine salt 5 wen per tael, coarse salt 3 wen per tael, white rice 6 wen per jin, brown rice 4 wen per jin, and flour 8 wen per jin.

Yang Haiyan bought half a jin each of sugar and fine salt, one jug each of soy sauce, vinegar, and oil, 5 jin of white rice, 5 jin of brown rice, and 5 jin of flour.

Altogether, she spent 360 wen.

Including the 60 wen for the bones and pig trotters, she had spent 420 wen in total. Since she bought a lot, the grocery store offered home delivery.

Next door, they bought a wooden bucket for fetching water and a basket, which cost 45 wen.

They also bought cabbage and radishes for 5 wen.

Compared to the previous items, vegetables were much cheaper.

Finally, they ordered three bundles of firewood, costing 10 wen per bundle, each weighing 100 jin.

Most households used about three bundles per month, which was quite an expense.

For utensils like bowls, chopsticks, spoons, basins, and a large ceramic jar, they spent 100 wen.

When they returned home, Yang Haiyan was quite tired.

The grocery store and firewood delivery hadn’t arrived yet, but she had just spent 600 wen out of the 1 tael of silver, leaving her with 400 wen.

Despite her fatigue, Yang Haiyan began to prepare the ribs and pig trotters.

On her trading platform, ribs were priced at 32 yuan per jin, and pig trotters were 40 yuan per jin.

She put up 1 jin of ribs and 2 jin of pig trotters for sale, keeping the rest for herself.

Having just posted the items, she knew they wouldn’t sell right away.

She checked the platform’s silver prices—5 yuan per gram.

One tael of silver equaled 50 grams, which was worth 250 yuan.

While the ribs and trotters hadn’t sold yet, the delivery from the grocery store arrived.

After storing the oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other items in the kitchen, the once-empty space now felt full.

Once the three bundles of firewood were delivered, the kitchen would have even more of a lived-in feel.

Yang Haiyan wasn’t thinking about whether to stay or leave for now.

She knew it would be easy to survive here, but as a woman in this world, it was also dangerous.

The novel didn’t describe Qin Fang in much detail, so she would need to meet him first before deciding whether to stay.

Of course, if Qin Fang never returned from the military camp, Yang Haiyan figured she could just live here indefinitely.

It was almost noon.

Although she had eaten some rice porridge earlier, she was hungry again.

She planned to make some rib porridge. But before cooking, she needed to fetch a bucket of water.

In ancient times, people fetched water using small wooden buckets, which were heavy on their own.

So, Yang Haiyan could only carry half a bucket of water at a time.

After bringing back half a bucket, she washed the bones and put them in the iron pot, then lit a fire with matches to simmer the porridge.

She made a large batch, intending to have it for both lunch and dinner.

Fortunately, she was familiar with using the stove and was quite skilled in cooking.

As the rib porridge simmered and its rich aroma filled the air, Yang Haiyan checked the trading platform again.

The 1 jin of ribs and 2 jin of pig trotters had sold for 112 yuan. With 110 yuan, she could buy 22 grams of silver.

Since 1 tael of silver equaled 50 grams, worth 1,000 wen, 22 grams of silver equaled 440 wen.

Considering the cost of the 3 jin of ribs and pig trotters was only 30 wen, it was a good profit.

Seeing this, Yang Haiyan decided she would make money by trading ribs and pig trotters.

She would keep the earnings on the platform and buy silver when she needed it.

Meat seemed like a profitable and inconspicuous trade item.

Then, a thought struck her—pig intestines. On the platform, pig intestines sold for 40 yuan per jin, but in this world, they were considered waste and no one wanted them, making them extremely cheap.

Yang Haiyan decided to try buying some pig intestines the next day.

After the rib porridge was done, Yang Haiyan served half of it for dinner and added a few cabbage slices, letting it cook for another five minutes.

She ladled some of the cabbage rib soup into a bowl, put in some cooked rice, and went next door.

“Sister-in-law Lu, are you home?”

Sister-in-law Lü responded, “Yes, I’m here.”

Yang Haiyan said, “I made some soup. Please try my cooking, as a thank-you for taking care of me these past few days.”

Sister-in-law Lu replied, “Oh, you didn’t need to do that. No need, really.”

But inwardly, she was pleased.

Being appreciated made her efforts feel worthwhile.

Yang Haiyan smiled, “Don’t be so polite. Tomorrow at noon, I plan to visit the camp and tell my husband that I’ve woken up so he won’t worry. I’ll need your help to show me the way.”

Sister-in-law Lü agreed readily, “Of course, of course. I won’t be shy about it.”

She figured she could return the favor later, so she happily accepted.

Just then, they heard children calling, “Mom! Mom, we’re back!”

Sister-in-law Lu had just put away the food when her two sons came home.

They were twins, seven years old, and attended school in the town, coming home for lunch.

Yang Haiyan, who had just walked into the courtyard, also heard the children’s voices.

It wasn’t that the walls were thin, but rather that she was outside, and the children were calling from the doorway, so it was easy to hear.

The rib porridge wasn’t ready yet, so Yang Haiyan returned to the trading platform, thinking about what she could sell.

She wasn’t going to bring modern products into the ancient world to make money—the risks were too high.

The dangers were not something she or Qin Fang could handle.

Unlike the easygoing characters in time-travel novels, Yang Haiyan wasn’t the protagonist, and she didn’t have the protagonist’s plot armor.

She had to play it safe.