Chapter 12

Under the moonlight, Yin Xiaoman discovered that the bundle of dried bamboo shoots, which had previously gone missing, was now lying beside her pillow. Even the hemp rope she had untied earlier was in its original state.  

Her heart pounded wildly as images of fine grains, dried vegetables, and seasonings flashed before her eyes.  

Without hesitation, she silently chanted in her mind: “Go to the warehouse!”  

After the familiar wave of dizziness, she found herself once again standing beside the same shelves as before.  

A tidal wave of overwhelming joy surged through her heart!  

This feeling was even more intense than when she had first discovered herself in the small house where she now lived.  

Yin Xiaoman bent down, opened a sack of rice, reached in, and scooped out a handful of millet. She couldn’t resist bringing it to her nose and taking a deep breath.  

Something she had never paid attention to before now carried an intoxicating aroma of rice, so rich it made her mouth water uncontrollably.  

Yin Xiaoman let out a satisfied sigh.  

She wished she could grow a few extra hands to gather all the rice, flour, grain, oil, and even the shelves into her arms!  

With these treasures, she and the children wouldn’t have to worry about food for a long time!  

Although the stockpile in this warehouse wasn’t vast—enough to supply the palace nobles for only two or three days—if it were just for her and the children, and if they were frugal, it would surely last a year or more.  

Besides, they were about to accompany the army soon. No matter what, Shen Qingyun couldn’t possibly let them starve, right?  

At this thought, Yin Xiaoman felt so overjoyed that she wanted to dance. She couldn’t help but think that life like this was simply too blissful!  

To be honest, she was quite content with having transmigrated into this world.  

Aside from the food being a bit lacking, Yin Xiaoman felt that everything else was far better than her previous life.  

In her previous life, although she had some savings and had made early plans for her later years, no matter how much she tried to prepare, she couldn’t escape the fact that she was just an old palace maid who had been released from the palace.

At twenty-five, an old palace maid with no family or relatives, if she didn’t want to settle for just anyone, her future was already destined to be one of loneliness and dying alone.

Even though this outcome had been within Yin Xiaoman’s expectations, she had accepted the reality.

Who wouldn’t want a family? Who would want to live alone for a lifetime?

Now, she had a family.

Though her two adopted children weren’t biological, at least they seemed to have good hearts.

While she had never thought about relying on anyone in the future, having these two little ones around made life more enjoyable.

As for the man Shen Qingyun, whom she had never met—

How could she form any opinion when she had never even seen him?

She would cross that bridge when she came to it.

Thinking of this man, Yin Xiaoman pursed her lips.

Whether he would survive until next year was still uncertain.

It was pointless to think too much about it now.

Years of living in constant fear and anxiety had taught Yin Xiaoman not to worry about things that hadn’t happened yet.

Wouldn’t it be better to just focus on living the present well?

No matter how much resentment the original owner might have had towards this life, Yin Xiaoman was very satisfied with it.

Especially now—  

She now had a whole warehouse full of treasures.  

This time, Yin Xiaoman didn’t just put everything back in its original place temporarily, taking things only when she needed them. Instead, she greedily took as much rice, flour, grain, and oil as she could use.  

The past incidents, where her repeated requests to the Imperial Kitchen had failed, were still fresh in her mind. What if her next request failed again?  

Matters that concerned her future quality of life were something Yin Xiaoman decided it was better to be cautious about.  

She placed the items exactly where she had planned, and by then, the sky was beginning to brighten.  

This time, Yin Xiaoman didn’t let the two children sleep in. Instead, she called them up early.  

“We’ll be leaving in a few days, so today you two help me tidy up the house, clean the rooms. We can’t let it look all messy.”  

She told the two little ones.  

Da Bao and Erniu had just returned from the Military Unit, and they weren’t as eager to go back as Yin Xiaoman was.  

But when their Mom asked them to do something, the little ones were still happy to help.  

So Yin Xiaoman assigned them tasks, telling Erniu to help her pack the clothes in the trunk while sending Da Bao to another room to clean.  

“Remember to clean the kang hole. Don’t let the rats make a nest in there, or the kang might collapse later.”  

Before Da Bao left, Yin Xiaoman made sure to remind him.  

Da Bao nodded and even went to the yard to get a long wooden stick.  

Then, just a few minutes after entering the room, he came running back with loud thuds.

As soon as Da Bao entered the room, he suddenly threw himself onto the kang, grabbed Yin Xiaoman’s foot, and desperately dragged it downward.

At that moment, Yin Xiaoman was kneeling in front of the trunk, pulling out clothes, and she was caught off guard by the sudden pull. With a startled cry: “Ah!”, she nearly fell off the kang.

Seeing her brother like this, Erniu became angry. She crawled over and slapped Da Bao hard on the shoulder.

“Brother, bad! Let go of Mom!”

But Da Bao acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing. His eyes were wide with excitement, his face red as if it were about to catch fire. He completely ignored his sister, pulling harder at Yin Xiaoman’s ankle.

Over and over, he repeated a single word: “Mom! Mom!”

“Alright, alright, let go of me. I’ll get down myself.”

Yin Xiaoman felt a headache coming on.

Of course, she knew that Da Bao had seen the things she had hidden earlier. That was exactly why she hadn’t eaten breakfast and had gotten the children to help clean the house early in the morning. 

But even if he found out, she never expected the little rascal to get this worked up!

Rubbing her ankle, which was nearly dislocated from Da Bao’s tugging, Yin Xiaoman finally got off the kang.

With the little guy pulling her, she stumbled over to the opposite room.

The Yin family, with only a small number of people, had built a rather small house. 

In the center was a main room, with bedrooms on either side. One bedroom was for Yin Xiaoman and her husband, while the other was for Yin Xiaoman. After they moved back, the two children stayed in Yin Xiaoman’s old room, while the parents’ room had remained empty, with only some rarely used items scattered around.

The room Da Bao was asked to clean earlier was the parents’ room.

“Mom! Mom!”

After entering the room, Da Bao finally let go of her hand and ran over to the kang hole, pointing inside. His lips trembled with excitement.

The boy’s speech had improved a lot compared to before, but when he was nervous or overly excited, he still struggled to speak.

This time, Yin Xiaoman didn’t force him but instead moved closer to take a look.

Sure enough, the flour and rice she had hidden inside had been disturbed. Even in the dark hole, she could still make out the shadow of the oil can at the very back.

“Food!”  

Erniu, who had followed her, exclaimed in surprise when she saw this.

Before Yin Xiaoman could stop her, Da Bao quickly covered her mouth.

He pushed his sister aside, gave her a warning glare, and then crouched down beside Yin Xiaoman. Without needing to be told, he began pulling the items out.

“Grandfather, Grandma put it there. Grandfather, Grandma is so good!”  

He had finally calmed down, and his words flowed much more smoothly now.

“Yeah, Grandpa and Grandma are really good.” Yin Xiaoman sighed in agreement.

And it was true.

After all, when the original owner’s parents were alive, they had treated their only daughter like a precious gem.

If it hadn’t been for the relentless illness, the original owner’s fate might not have been so tragic.

“Mom! Mom!”  

After Da Bao had taken out the items one by one, he suddenly called out again.  

Yin Xiaoman snapped out of her thoughts and saw that Da Bao had half of his arm stuck in the kang hole, seemingly searching for something. She couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised.

When she had placed the items there last night, she had made sure to put everything at the very outer edge to make it easier for the little one to find.

“What are you looking for?” she asked, curious.

“A box. ” Da Bao replied, pulling a small box out from the hole and holding it up in front of Yin Xiaoman.

The box wasn’t large, but it was covered in stove ash, making it look dirty and gray, and it was hard to tell its original color.

This wasn’t something Yin Xiaoman had put in there; it must have already been placed in the ash.

“Mom, there’s a lock. ” Da Bao said, frowning and pointing at an old brass lock hanging from the box.

Yin Xiaoman froze for a moment.

Instinctively, she reached up to touch her neck.

At that moment, she was wearing a red string around her neck, with a small square wooden piece tied at the end.

In her memories, before the original owner’s father passed away, he had kept pointing at the red string, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he never spoke it.

This was something the original owner had always been puzzled and regretful about.

When Yin Xiaoman transmigrated into this world, the red string was still around the original owner’s neck.

The red string had been worn for many years, and its original color had almost faded completely.

When she saw the box, Yin Xiaoman instinctively felt it might be related to the small wooden piece, but she couldn’t remember what the connection was.

She untied the red string and examined it from all angles, hoping to find a seam or any clue.

But after searching for a long time, she found nothing. The wooden piece was perfectly square, and no matter how she looked at it, it seemed like a solid block without any hidden compartments.

She pondered for a while but couldn’t make sense of it.

While Yin Xiaoman was focused on the wooden piece, Da Bao and Erniu opened each item of food, poking their hands into them and touching everything, grinning like two silly kids.

Seeing their silly expressions, Yin Xiaoman couldn’t help but feel happy too.

For a moment, she didn’t feel like thinking about the box anymore.

Although she didn’t know what was inside, Yin Xiaoman felt that leaving the box out in the open would eventually cause trouble.

So, while the children weren’t paying attention, she quickly placed the wooden box in her room and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

For breakfast that day, Yin Xiaoman indulged and made scallion pancakes.  

She also cooked white rice porridge, and each of them had a salted duck egg.

Such a lavish breakfast made the little ones’ eyes nearly fall out!

They ate without lifting their heads, and even Erniu, who usually couldn’t stop chattering and was always curious about everything, didn’t ask a single question about the box.

They were simply too absorbed in their meal.