Chapter 23: Missing

The Zhang family’s money had been gone for over half a month.

Time had passed, and the winter solstice had come and gone. Heavy snow had begun to fall.

The northwestern wind howled fiercely.

The Liu couple had been remarkably resourceful, collecting unsold dihuang (a type of root vegetable) from farming households in the village.

At 0.2 yuan per jin, they had managed to gather over 700 jin in just a week.

Jing Xi took some time to go into town with Zhang Rui again, where they bought ten large vats. The shop owner personally delivered them back using a tractor.

Each vat could hold about 30 to 40 jin of dihuang, and it took only four days to pickle a full vat. Even if they couldn’t finish eating it right away, it wouldn’t spoil; in fact, the longer it was pickled, the more flavorful it became. This was a profitable business.

Throughout the winter, supplying pickled dihuang to the power plant cafeteria provided a stable and continuous source of income, which was a great opportunity.

Moreover, a thermal power company near the power plant heard about the pickled vegetables and reached out to Liu Jianchang, asking if they could get a weekly delivery for their breakfast service.

Business was practically falling from the sky.

Jing Xi did a quick calculation—700 jin of dihuang would earn her a commission of 75 yuan after deducting costs.

However, 700 jin was far from enough. Since they had committed to supplying both the power plant and the thermal power company cafeterias, they needed to ensure stable, high-quality, and sufficient supply.

After discussing with the Liu couple, they decided to continue collecting as much dihuang as possible—whatever amount they could find.

There were still a few households in the village that hadn’t sold theirs, which would likely amount to another 200 jin.

When spring arrived, they could find ways to make and sell other types of pickled vegetables.

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The ground was covered in thick, white snow.

The collected dihuang was washed and packed into vats at the Liu family’s house. Jing Xi prepared and mixed the pickling brine before sealing the vats.

Zhang Qiang stood at the entrance, smoking a cigarette while watching people from all directions pushing carts and carrying shoulder poles loaded with dihuang, delivering them to the Liu family.

Curious, he called out to someone passing by.

“Hey, Uncle Zhao, where are you taking that dihuang?”

“Oh, to Liu Jianchang’s house. Selling it to them.”

“You’re selling it?”

“Yeah, 0.2 yuan per jin. If we leave it at home, it’ll just rot, so we might as well sell it.”

“What are they buying it for?”

“Pickling it, making salted vegetables. Gotta go, I’ve got several more trips to make.”

Zhang Qiang nodded but couldn’t suppress his curiosity. He followed at a distance and watched from outside the Liu family’s courtyard.

Inside, there were ten large vats. Everyone had their own role—some were weighing the vegetables, others were paying, some were packing them into vats, and others were washing them. Even the two daughters of the Liu family, who were on break, were helping.

Wait a minute—what was Jing Xi doing here?

Zhang Qiang narrowed his eyes and took a deep drag of his cigarette before turning to leave.

“Hmph, this isn’t the Northeast. Who’s gonna buy pickled vegetables here? I’m not selling mine. I’ll just feed our dihuang to the pigs!”

With that, he dumped a whole basket of dihuang into the pigsty. “Eat up! If people won’t eat it, you can!”

Just then, Wang Cuihua, who was on her way to the latrine, saw what he was doing. “Why are you feeding that to the pigs?! That stuff is expensive!”

“If I don’t feed it to them, who else is gonna eat it? You can’t stir-fry it, and you can’t cook porridge with it!” Zhang Qiang muttered. “I just saw people taking theirs to Liu Jianchang’s place. They’re buying it at 0.2 yuan per jin to make pickled vegetables.”

“Pickled vegetables?” Wang Cuihua’s eyes flickered with interest. “I’m gonna go take a look.”

“Don’t bother. I just went. They’ve got ten huge vats in the courtyard.”

“That many? What if it all spoils?”

“I don’t know, but…”

“But what?”

Zhang Qiang glanced at Wang Cuihua and hesitated before saying, “I saw Jing Xi there—she’s the one handling the payments. Do you think… maybe the Liu family brought her in to make money together?”

Wang Cuihua snorted. “What? Just because she didn’t agree to be your little concubine, she’s not allowed to earn money and buy herself some meat?”

“You—! Are you looking for a fight?!”

Wang Cuihua, however, remained unfazed. “I’ve been thinking these past few days. Why should I even be mad at that girl? Does my anger change anything? The lost money is still missing. This whole year was wasted. There’s still a ton of dihuang in the storage shed that we can’t sell. So why should I waste my time worrying about her?

“From now on, I don’t care who you mess around with. I can’t stop you, anyway! Fighting every day just makes me angrier for no reason!”

After saying her piece, Wang Cuihua turned and went back into the house, leaving Zhang Qiang standing by the pigsty, wanting to curse but not knowing what to say.

In the end, he stomped his foot and went back inside, climbing onto the heated brick bed to sit.

The quieter it was, the more he thought about what Old Man Xia had told him.

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Meanwhile, inside the mysterious space.

The dihuang she had planted had already matured—big, plump, and pristine white. Jing Xi was overjoyed.

She had also planted potatoes, rice, and garlic.

The foundation for her house inside the space had been completely built. Every time she entered, she could see the construction progress—bit by bit, it was coming together.

Based on this timeline, in about a month, the house would be completed.

She was in an exceptionally good mood today.

All the Chinese artichokes she had collected had been fully paid for, washed, and prepared for pickling. Tomorrow was the day Liu Jianchang would deliver another batch of Chinese artichokes, meaning she would receive another payment. Finally, she wouldn’t have to survive on porridge for every meal.

Next spring, she planned to give the seeds she had cultivated to the Liu and Wang families for a trial planting. This way, not only would the yield increase, but the quality of the crops would also be excellent, as the seeds from her space were superior. As long as they were careful during the harvest and didn’t damage them, it would be a great success.

Jing Xi envisioned a bright future and, without realizing it, fell asleep inside her space.

She woke up in the middle of the night, starving.

Taking out the pork she had stored in her space, she placed a pan on the stove and let the meat sizzle. Paired with freshly steamed white rice and a sprinkle of salt, it made for a delicious midnight snack.

While the rest of the village slept soundly, she was at home—cooking, washing clothes, taking a bath, and even applying the glycerin she had bought.

Her face was fair, smooth, and youthful, full of collagen.

Jing Xi never felt that coming to this era was a bad thing.

Compared to her previous life, she finally felt hopeful about the future.

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Time passed swiftly like a galloping horse, and in the blink of an eye, it was New Year’s Day of 1985.

On the first day of the new year, Jing Xi wore the new clothes she had bought and washed last time. She even learned from Zhang Rui how to make a pair of new cotton shoes for herself.

Today also marked the beginning of the winter break for high school students.

At the Liu household, the couple was making dumplings, waiting for their daughters, Liu Yan and Liu Chun, to return home from school.

But even after waiting until the last bus at 6 p.m., only Liu Yan came home—Liu Chun was nowhere to be seen.

Liu Yan had waited for Liu Chun at school all day but never saw her. She assumed Liu Chun had left ahead of her, but upon returning home, she found that Liu Chun was still missing.

Zhang Rui quickly went to ask Liu Chun’s classmates, but none of them had seen her that day.

A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl, not returning home after school, this late at night, and with the school already closed—Liu Chun’s parents were frantic. They immediately grabbed their bicycles and prepared to search for her in town.

When Jing Xi arrived to bring them some snacks, she ran into the distressed Liu couple as they were heading out.

Hearing that Liu Chun was missing, Jing Xi had a sudden bad feeling.

“Auntie, let me go with you! Wait for me to borrow a bicycle from Aunt Wang. The more people we have, the better. Let Liu Yan stay home and watch the house!”

The worried couple had no objections and agreed immediately.

Jing Xi borrowed a bicycle and set off with them toward town.

The three of them rode for a long time, the cold freezing Jing Xi’s hands stiff before they finally arrived at Liu Chun’s school, First Middle School.

There was still someone in the security office.

“Sir, are there any students left on campus? I’m the guardian of Liu Chun from Class 3, Grade 10. She hasn’t come home yet, so we’re here to check what happened!”

“Oh, all the students have already gone home. The school has been cleared! I just finished checking the premises.”

“Could you please check the dormitories one more time?”

The security guard hesitated. Seeing this, Jing Xi quickly took a one-yuan bill from her pocket and discreetly pressed it into his hand.

“Sir, please help us out. A young girl is missing, and her parents are worried sick. We just want to check. If she’s not here, we’ll leave immediately. We won’t cause you any trouble!”

The guard looked at the money in his palm, then reluctantly nodded.

“Alright, but be quick. I’ll take you there!”