"She said she was a little fairy who could conjure up clothes and food," Li Shuchen said plainly, his tone calm and composed.
"Pfft, hahahaha!" Upon hearing this, Yan Qinghe grabbed the bedhead with one hand and clutched his belly with the other as he guffawed. "Ah Huan sure can spin a tale. Only a fool would believe that!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Li Shuchen's face darkened. He casually flung his shoes to the floor. "Shut up and sleep!"
Startled by his bark, Yan Qinghe thought, why is he so angry?
"Your Highness, I understand now!" At that moment, inspired, Xiu Wen said excitedly, "When you were born, the Imperial Astronomers said that Regulus was moving. You are Regulus, the imperial star, so fortunate people are naturally born with heavenly signs. Miss Qi must have been sent by fate to help you!"
Xiu Wen's reasoning aligned precisely with Qi Huan's claims.
Li Shuchen raised his brows slightly in surprise. He did not deny it as his gaze drifted to the tightly shut door. "Mm," he murmured lightly.
The silly fairy probably didn't know that martial artists have exceptional hearing. Aside from Xiu Wen, the other three people in the room knew she was standing outside.
This confirmation basically proved she was no spy—first, she did not know martial arts, and second, she lacked cunning... The food she makes is pretty tasty too. We might as well take her in for now.
...
Outside, Qi Huan had been feeling downhearted over Xiu Wen's suspicions earlier. As reason returned, she let it go.
Putting herself in their shoes, she understood his prudence.
Fortunately, they had now dismissed their doubts about her. When she took out other items in the future, she needn't worry about how to explain them anymore.
The next day, she got up at the crack of dawn.
She opened a packet of instant noodles obtained yesterday. Adding in lard and soy sauce she had simmered beforehand and other seasonings, she cooked a bowl of Yangchun noodles for everyone.
"Ah Huan's cooking is getting better and better!"
"It's so tasty!"
More heartening than their praises were the system's notifications:
"Doing good +4, points +112."
Adding the cashback points, she now had 114 points.
While the three of them had yet to set off, she quickly took out the hand cream and energy bars she had prepared last night.
"This is hand cream. Twist it open and squeeze some onto your hands and face. Apply a little every day before you head out and after you get back and wash up."
The extreme cold of Mo County easily chapped exposed skin. In her previous life, she would never have smeared hand cream on her face, but lacking better options now, hand cream would at least somewhat moisturize. It would have to do for the time being.
As Qi Huan spoke, she demonstrated the application.
She then passed the hand cream for them to try.
When they were about to leave, she distributed the pre-packed energy bars. "Here, have these as trail snacks."
"Doing good +3, points +12."
Then the system notified her again, as she had done two good deeds for three people.
She obtained 24 points. Qi Huan smiled faintly.
Glancing outward, the weather was unusually sunny today. Sunshine spilled over the snowy ground, cloaking it in a layer of warm radiance.
Turning back, she saw Li Shuchen had started wielding his writing brush, line after line of small characters leaping onto the page.
"Copying books again huh," Qi Huan murmured softly.
Seizing the ample sunlight, she also returned to her own room. Taking wardrobe materials out of her interspatial ring, she followed the manual to assemble it.
After finishing, she eyed the small wooden trunk at the foot of the bed and went into the main chamber.
"Li Shuchen, can you come help me with something?"
Li Shuchen looked up from his writing brush and set it down to follow her in.
"Help me move this wardrobe into your room."
The adjacent room only had one large bed. Pitifully lacking even a cabinet to store clothes, they could only fold and stack them at the bedside. Hence, she decided the boys should use this cabinet.
But Li Shuchen said, "You should keep it."
Qi Huan pointed at the small wooden trunk still containing his clothes. "I don't have much stuff. You can empty that trunk for me to use. The four of you can share this wardrobe."
After convincing Li Shuchen, she grabbed two corners of the wardrobe and laboriously lifted one side off the ground.
"Let go."
When she moved back, Li Shuchen directly hoisted up the entire wardrobe. He carried it into the west side-room and positioned it where Qi Huan indicated.
"Doing good +4, points +112."
Since the cabinet was for four people's use, the points added were four portions.
Qi Huan calculated mentally: 114 + 24 + 112 = ?
250.
Upon obtaining the result, she couldn't help sighing inwardly: Why is it this number again?
"System, exchange express delivery!"
"Understood, Host."
Whoosh whoosh—
Three delivery packages appeared out of thin air.
Unboxing the first large parcel revealed various flavored self-heating hot pots. Picking up a spicy beef one, she plastered it against her cheek. Her stomach rumbled violently, famished worms seemingly crawling out from within.
"No, I can't eat this." She suddenly recalled that the original's parents had both passed away. She was still in mourning and prohibited from meat and wine.
On one hand, she had assumed another girl's body; on the other, ancient people valued filial piety. At the very least before the original's parents' corpses went cold, her gorging on meat would be inappropriate.
Qi Huan pounded her chest in regret. "System, why did you give me this?! What could be more cruel than having it before my eyes yet unable to eat?!"
"Well then, does Host want a seven-day no-questions-asked return?"
"No need." She declined. "Keep it for those four to eat... Let them experience the foods of the celestial realm!"
Unwilling to part with the beef hot pot despite her usual carnivorous habits, she placed it into the box. Discovering several boxes of vegetarian self-heating hot pots at the bottom, she promptly fished them out.
With her mood salvaged, Qi Huan began unboxing the second delivery—a crate of historical biographies.
Most chronicled the life and achievements of outstanding emperors like Qin Shi Huang, Han Wu, Tang Taizong, and Song Taizu.
In this era without cell phones or novels, apart from eating and sleeping, her only option was staring blankly to pass time. But things were different now.
These books were like beams of light brightening her tedious days, illuminating Qi Huan's boring life.
"Spiritual sustenance acquired too. I love you so much, System!"
"Host, please don't say that. People have different paths in life."
"But all paths lead to the same destination."
"...."
After teasing the system for a bit, she unpacked the last delivery—a jump rope.
Qi Huan got to her feet, grasped the jump rope's handles, and hopped into position between its ropes before bouncing up.
Jumping smoothly for the first pass, she then sprang again and again in succession.
She'd heard jumping rope can increase height. Given her current age this life, she still had a chance to struggle a bit more.
Two quarter hours later, panting heavily, she bent over. "Can't...go on."
She mopped her sweat with her sleeve and rested a while longer. Once her breathing evened out, she tossed aside the jump rope and raced into the main chamber.
Stopping before Li Shuchen, she placed her palm atop her own head and slid it horizontally to his chest, mumbling, "Only up to Li Shuchen's shoulder now. If I jump diligently for a month and measure again, let's see if I can grow taller."
This was the first time a woman had gotten so close. Li Shuchen's ears reddened slightly, discomforted. He pushed her away. "Move aside."
"Okay." Qi Huan retreated several steps to clear a path for him, but curiosity compelled her to ask again, "Why are you still going out so late in the morning?"
"To deliver books."
"How much do you charge per copy?"
"Depends on the book's thickness... A hundred wen for this one."
"Then I'll go with you!"
Like a little tail, Qi Huan followed on his heels. After walking for about an hour, they finally arrived at the bookshop.
Seizing the opportunity while he conducted his business, Qi Huan snuck a few peeks at the books' covers on the stand—uniformly the Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, and Mencius.
Qi Huan rubbed her temple as she paced to the shelves, hoping to see something different over there.
But the orderly rows also displayed the Book of Changes, Classic of History, Book of Songs, Book of Rites, and Spring and Autumn Annals.
"It's all the Four Books and Five Classics!"
Moving to the doorstep, leaning against the big door, Qi Huan heaved a long sigh of relief, thinking to herself that with just these books there was not enough variety.
"Oh, I've got it!" She pounded on the door, "I can read my history books to Li Shuchen!"
"What?"
Li Shuchen walked out and handed her a string of copper coins, "Put this away safely."
"Oh okay." She had previously said she would be in charge of the money, and had specifically used her terrible embroidery skills to sew a slightly bigger purse.
After selling the hand-copied books, walking on the stone road, the sky suddenly darkened, clouds covering the sun, wild winds arising.
Against the wind and snow, the two hurried back.
Just as they were about to arrive, Li Shuchen suddenly stopped short.
Qi Huan, crashing into his back, almost fell over. She quickly grabbed his clothes to steady herself.
Glancing down at the ground, Qi Huan's pupils abruptly contracted. She raised a trembling hand, poking Li Shuchen's back at the waist, ".....blood!"
