The scorching sun blazed fiercely, and the villagers of Qiao Village were all working in the fields. Although their hands moved nimbly through the tasks, their mouths gossiped about the recent affairs of Old Village Chief Qiao’s family.
“I heard that lazy daughter from Qiao San’s family is going to marry into the city!”
“Yeah, it’s some childhood betrothal. The other family are all big shots in the military!”
“Oh my! That little daughter of Qiao San’s family really has good fortune! To marry into such a fine family.”
“But that’s not right. This isn’t the old feudal society anymore. Who still does childhood betrothals? If the guy is really that impressive, why would he marry a lazy country girl?”
“Could it be that there’s something wrong with the guy…?”
…
Although the villagers of Qiao Village chatted in low voices, this was an open field with no walls to muffle the sound, so He Meijun not far away faintly overheard their words.
The hot-tempered He Meijun had been about to rush over and scold those long-tongued women for their nonsense, but before she could reach the group of villagers, all the voices around her suddenly fell silent.
The fields, which had been noisy with many voices, instantly lost all human sound in that moment.
The only sounds in her ears were the chirping of cicadas and croaking of frogs, along with a light, soft footsteps.
“Daughter?!”
He Meijun then noticed that her precious little daughter was walking along the field path under the blazing sun. Once she realized she’d been seen, a faint smile appeared on her fair and beautiful face.
“Mom~”
Qiao Shu’s eyes curved as she smiled sweetly at her mother, but she didn’t know how many people were so stunned by her beauty that they forgot the passage of time, simply staring at her in a daze.
Qiao Chang, who was working, saw his little daughter arrive and immediately set down his tools. “Daughter, why are you here?”
“Mom, Dad, I came to bring you some water~!”
Qiao Shu shook the water jug in her hand and said with a smile as radiant as flowers.
The girl’s smile was exceedingly beautiful, brighter and more dazzling than the sun in the sky, so stunning that people dared not look directly at it.
And the girl’s voice was like heavenly music, pleasant and melodious. Just listening to it felt like drinking clear, sweet mountain spring water, refreshing the body and mind, making even the intense heat feel less oppressive.
“You child, what are you doing running around in this sweltering heat? Where’s Qiao Hui? Isn’t it usually her who brings the water?”
He Meijun frowned, speaking displeased.
Qiao Shu, who had crossed over some time ago, understood that her mother seemed fierce and aggressive on the surface but was actually someone with a sharp tongue and a soft heart.
She especially doted on her children, protecting them like the core of her life.
So although she seemed to be scolding her now, she was actually concerned.
“Mom, Second Cousin Sister went to the county to buy things, so I’m the one delivering water today.”
Qiao Shu said with a smile. She had no objection to Qiao Hui dumping the chore meant for her onto her—in fact, she gladly accepted it.
After all, ever since she crossed over, her family had been worried about her recent illness and poor health, so they kept her at home to recuperate. She actually felt quite embarrassed.
After all, everyone in the family worked every day, while she alone idled at home, eating without contributing.
Although… she couldn’t stomach the Qiao Family’s food and ate very little each time, mostly just fruits grown in her own space.
“It’s not a holiday or festival. What did she go to the county to buy? And where did she get the money from?”
When He Meijun heard that Qiao Hui had dumped her work onto her own daughter and then silently run off to the county, she grew even angrier.
“I don’t know.”
Qiao Shu gently shook her head. She didn’t take Qiao Hui’s trip to the county to heart. After all, whatever this rebirth girl wanted to do had nothing to do with her.
Besides, once she married and left home, she’d have even less to do with Qiao Hui.
So even though she noticed something off about Qiao Hui regarding the county trip, she didn’t ask further.
“Mom, Dad, never mind Second Cousin Sister. Come drink some water.”
With that, Qiao Shu took out the enamel cups from her bag, poured a cup of water, and handed it to her mother.
After taking the enamel cup from Qiao Shu’s hand, He Meijun was surprised to discover—
“This water is ice-cold?!”
“Yeah, it’s so hot today, so I specially put the boiled cooled water in the well to chill it.”
Hearing their little daughter say this, He Meijun and Qiao Chang were both gratified by how thoughtful their daughter was.
Their daughter had grown up and become sensible, knowing how to care for others.
“You girl, why go to such trouble? Don’t do this next time.”
Although He Meijun complained with her mouth, her face broke into a flower-like smile.
After He Meijun drank a sip of the ice-cold water, she was shocked again.
“Daughter, did you put sugar in the water?!”
The usually tepid and tasteless cooled boiled water now felt ice-cold and sweet in her mouth, with a hint of sweetness—exceptionally delicious.
“Yeah, just a little bit.”
Qiao Shu blinked, nodding obediently. Although she said that, this jug of water wasn’t cooled boiled water with sugar.
It was… spiritual spring water from her space.
Of course, diluted spiritual spring water.
Compared to the spiritual spring water from her previous life, the effects after crossing over were completely different.
The previous life’s spiritual spring water had been pale gold; now it was silver, with a dimmer glow.
And the spiritual spring water that couldn’t be taken out of the Spirit Spring Space in her previous life could now be removed.
Precisely because of this, she could take spiritual spring water from the Spirit Spring Space and experiment with its effects on other plants and animals.
After several experiments and patient observations, Qiao Shu could confidently say that this life’s spiritual spring water no longer made people increasingly frail like in her previous life.
Although it didn’t wash the meridians and cut the marrow as described in most novels, it should still extend life and promote health.
After all, whether used on animals or plants, they all grew robust.
Small animals on the brink of death gradually recovered after she fed them some spiritual spring water.
Wilted wildflowers perked up after she watered them with spiritual spring water.
After a period of observation, the plants and animals that drank her spiritual spring water three times a day all became exceptionally sturdy under her care.
She herself had used some and found that although she couldn’t suppress her body becoming increasingly frail each day, it did slow her frail constitution somewhat.
Moreover, she was astonished to discover that after consuming the now pale silver spiritual spring water, the body she inhabited had become much healthier inside.
The body weakened by heatstroke had long since recovered.
In a sense, she now appeared exceedingly delicate and fragile on the outside, but her physical constitution was very healthy.
Although in the future, her body would still become as frail and sensitive as the Pea Princess like in her previous life.
But she herself was healthy! Free of illness and pain!
Realizing this, Qiao Shu’s heart immediately settled.
Even if her body was frail and sensitive beyond measure, as long as she was healthy, it was fine! Health was more important than anything!
So now, Qiao Shu no longer rejected the Spirit Spring Space as she had in her previous life.
After confirming the spiritual spring water had no bad side effects, she proactively took it out for her loving family to drink.
Of course, she had just finished experimenting and this was the first time sharing it with her family.
After all, having been tricked by the Spirit Spring Space before, she was now extremely cautious.
And… she was clear about her affections. Today, Qiao Hui—the one she disliked with her many petty schemes—was conveniently not home, so she decided to share the spiritual spring water with the Qiao Family.
If Qiao Hui had been home, she wouldn’t have taken it out.
She wasn’t a saint. Why give the now beneficial spiritual spring water to someone hostile who wanted to harm her?
Thus, Qiao Shu decided to take advantage of not yet marrying away and Qiao Hui’s absence to feed her family the spiritual spring water a few more times, making their bodies healthier.
“You, you girl! This is too wasteful!”
He Meijun ached terribly upon learning her daughter had put sugar in the cooled boiled water!
They usually only added the precious household sugar to water for honored guests.
But her daughter had used the family’s precious sugar just to bring them water once!
“Alright, alright, our daughter is being thoughtful. It’s added, so be it—just this once.”
Compared to He Meijun’s distress, Qiao Chang chuckled happily.
He felt their precious daughter had truly grown sensible. She, who was usually so possessive of food, had even added sugar to their water.
“You’ve spoiled our daughter rotten! You just protect her every day!”
Although He Meijun scolded Qiao Chang, she handed him the enamel cup.
“Here, your daughter poured you sugar water. Drink it and sweeten your mouth.”
Qiao Chang didn’t refuse. He took the ‘sugar water’ from He Meijun, took a delightful sip, squinted his eyes in bliss, and said.
“Heh heh heh, the water my daughter brings is the best! Wife, have some more.”
“Enough, I just drank a lot. You drink it.”
…
Qiao Shu watched her parents from this life, who loved their children and respected each other in marriage, and once again raised the corners of her mouth in a brilliant smile.
At this moment, she felt that crossing into this era of material scarcity in the 1980s, without computers, phones, or internet, wasn’t necessarily an unbearable bad thing.
After all, she had the fatherly and motherly love she had always craved, and a wonderful family…
After delivering water to all the Qiao Family members, Qiao Shu took her water jug and left the fields, returning to the Qiao Family home.
Once she left, the villagers who had been stunned into a daze by Qiao Shu’s unreasonably beautiful appearance finally came back to their senses.
“Oh my! My goodness! That girl as pretty as a fairy from heaven—is she Qiao Laosan’s lazy daughter? When did she become so stunning?!”