Tang Youyou froze.
In her confusion, a semi-transparent virtual computer screen suddenly appeared before her eyes. She looked nervously toward her sons, only to see them staring back at her with equally puzzled expressions.
"Ahem..." She feigned composure. "It’s nearly dark; we can’t see any wild vegetables now. We’ll go first thing tomorrow morning!"
Her four sons exchanged glances—it was hardly dark yet—but they dared not defy her. They filed out one by one. She let out a sigh of relief; it seemed this voice and the interface were neither audible nor visible to anyone else.
She slowly got off the bed and looked at the chickweed in the basket, muttering to herself, "Could it be that the scientific name for this stuff is Stellaria media?"
[Natural, pollution-free Stellaria media: two wen per jin.]
Her mouth twitched, and she poked at the bamboo basket.
[Ding! One jin of natural, pollution-free Stellaria media, valued at two wen. Sell it?]
[Yes!]
Suddenly, the chickweed in her hand vanished, and two copper coins lay in her palm.
She was stunned beyond belief. Was this, could it be, the legendary cheat?
At that moment, the interface shifted. As she focused, her heart raced with excitement. There were images with prices beneath them, organized by category: Household Goods, Clothing, Food... Was this a System Mall?
Meat buns were two wen, steamed buns one wen.
She tentatively clicked on a steamed bun and selected "Purchase." The single wen in her hand disappeared, replaced by a steaming bun.
Tang Youyou was overjoyed: *Heaven hasn't abandoned me.*
She was truly famished. She devoured the bun in a few quick bites, choking so hard her face turned red. She scrambled to the door, steadying herself against the wall, intending to head to the kitchen for water.
Outside the main room, two of her sons sat on some stones, whispering.
"I keep feeling like Mother is different now."
"I think Mother being this way is great. Before, she wouldn't even dare to move if Grandmother said a word. Today, it felt so satisfying!" The speaker was her second son, Bai Shi.
Bai Xiong pouted and nodded. "Whatever happens, she’s still our mother. From now on, I won’t let the people from the main house bully her!"
Tang Youyou, just stepping out, caught this snippet of conversation and felt a sudden wave of emotion.
"You brat, go fetch me a bowl of water!"
The second son caught sight of his mother, who was clutching her chest and gasping, and took off running toward the kitchen.
"Mother! Drink this, quickly..."
"Gulp, gulp..."
She downed the entire ladle of water and felt as if she had come back to life. Seeing the two young boys staring at her with burning curiosity, she felt a bit self-conscious.
"Wait here!"
She stood up and went back into the room, emerging a moment later with a bun in her hand. She smiled at the two dumbfounded children and broke the bun in two. "Eat."
The boys swallowed hard, shook their heads, and spoke in unison: "Mother, you eat. We aren't hungry!"
She sighed. It was the famine talking. She forced the pieces into their hands. "I've already eaten. You two hurry up and eat!"
She looked at the ground; the rain had lasted for a quarter of an hour and then stopped again.
The children didn't eat the bun. Bai Shi said, "Mother, Eldest Sister-in-law hurt her head. We should save this white flour bun for her to recover."
She ruffled her second son’s hair. "You silly child, a bun won't do much for recovery. Eat it. From now on, our family won't be lacking such things!"
She refused to believe that a modern female executive couldn't make something of herself in the ancient world. With this shopping interface, she had been handed a lifeline in the middle of a blizzard. She stretched, sniffing the air—it was wonderful. The air was so fresh. Since she had been brought to a new place, she might as well start from scratch!
She looked at her two sons. "Finish eating quickly. Xiong'er, you stay and watch the house. Shi'er, grab the carrying basket; you and I are going up the mountain to take a look."
A glint of joy appeared in the boys' eyes. Ever since their father passed, their mother had been despondent, rarely speaking or leaving the house. Had she truly died and been reborn a different person?
"You two brats, what are you standing there for? Hurry, it's nearly dark."
Tang Youyou led the way out of the courtyard; having eaten the bun, she had some strength now. Halfway up the mountain, she panted heavily, leaning against a tree stump to catch her breath.
She scanned the village: there were only two brick houses; the rest were all low, mud-walled shacks. Not far from the village, there were orderly, lush green paddy fields—a pleasant sight, though none of them belonged to her family.
Their family had left with nothing—no fields, no silver, no house.
She couldn't help but curse the original owner of her body: *What a complete fool. Your husband died, and you didn't even know to ask for the pension? You were stubborn enough to drag the children out, but with not even a scrap of chaff to eat, were you trying to starve everyone to death?*
Bai Shi saw the look of resentment on his mother’s face and was startled for a moment. He weakly pulled out the bun. "Mother... are you hungry?"
Tang Youyou turned her head and saw the bun in his hand. She sighed. "Why did you save that? If you aren't eating it, let's go back."
And so, Bai Shi began to eat the bun, bit by bit, clearly reluctant to finish it. She was surprised; she hadn't expected the child to eat with such manners—it seemed his upbringing hadn't been entirely in vain.
[Ding! Found natural, wild Houttuynia cordata. Ten wen per jin.]
She was thrilled. She recognized Houttuynia—it was fish mint! She loved that stuff. Since the System had prompted her, it had to be nearby. She walked around and found some stalks as long as chopsticks inside a thorny thicket. She picked up a thick branch and started hacking away.
"Shi'er, come help me clear these thorns."
The mother and son worked away at the brush.
Bai Shi frowned. "Mother, why do you want this stuff? Even the pigs won't eat it!"
Tang Youyou tapped him on the head. "You silly child, this is edible, and it’s very good for you. Most people don't know that. Pick it quickly, and we'll have vegetables for dinner when we get back."
Bai Shi scratched his head, full of doubt, but still crouched down to help pull it up.
A while later, Tang Youyou pointed at the chickweed on the other side. "Shi'er, let’s pull up that chickweed, and then we’ll go home."
She bundled up the Houttuynia, kept a small portion, and set the rest aside.
[Natural, pollution-free Houttuynia cordata, two jin and six liang, twenty-six wen. Sell it?]
[Yes.]
The pile of Houttuynia vanished, replaced by twenty-six copper coins.
Looking at all those coins—wearing nothing but a thin shirt—she had no place to hide them. She couldn't keep having things appear out of thin air, or she would be in trouble if someone found out.
A flash of inspiration struck her, and she asked, "Can you store items for me? Or is there an inventory space?"
The mechanical voice echoed in her mind again: [Storage incurs a ten percent fee. There is storage space, but you must buy it with silver!]
Tang Youyou’s heart leaped. "How much silver?"
[The space has ten levels. Basic space is one cubic meter, costing one hundred taels of silver; level two is ten cubic meters, costing five hundred taels...]
She automatically tuned out the rest, feeling like a deflated balloon.
It was expensive—too expensive. So damn expensive.
Then, she shook her head. *Nothing in this world is difficult for one who sets their mind to it.* She wasn't worried; anything that could be solved with silver wasn't a real problem!
She deposited twenty wen and clutched the remaining six copper coins.