Having been here for five or six days, Xiao Luo, following the principle of listening more and speaking less, gradually pieced together some basic information. This place was called the Great Yin Dynasty, and the climate of Wangjia Village in Qingshan Town, Jiangbei Province—where the original owner resided—was somewhat akin to the region north of the Qinling Mountains and Huai River in his previous life.

The original owner's grandfather, the old man who arrived that day, was named Wang Shoufa, already fifty-eight years old. His wife was Madam Tian. The elderly couple had three sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Wang Youliang, was married to a Madam Tian, who was the niece of his mother, Madam Tian. The second son, Wang Youfu, married Madam Yang, who were the original owner's parents. The third son, Wang Youtian, married Madam Zhang. The youngest daughter, Wang Guifang, married into the neighboring Liu family in another village. After the Wang family divided their property, the elderly couple lived with the eldest son's family. The middle-aged man and woman who accompanied the old man that day were the eldest son and daughter-in-law.

As for children of the original owner's generation, there were quite a few. The eldest son of the original owner’s paternal uncle, Wang Youliang, had three sons. The eldest, Wang Qingshan, was eighteen years old and already married to Madam He. The second son, Wang Qingyun, fifteen years old, was the other youth who had helped support the old man that day. The third son, Wang Qingtong, was eleven.

The original owner's father, Wang Youfu, and mother, Madam Yang, had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son was Wang Qinghua, fourteen years old; it was he who called for the grandfather when Wang Youfu was attempting to sell his daughter that day. The second son was the original owner, Wang Qingchen, ten years old. The youngest daughter was Zhang Caiyun, five years old.

The original owner’s third paternal uncle, Wang Youtian, had two daughters and one son. The eldest daughter, Wang Caixia, was thirteen this year; the second daughter, Wang Caidie, was nine; and the third son, Wang Qingyi, was six.

Thinking this over, Xiao Luo once again thanked heaven for granting him a second chance at life. Recalling that in his previous life, he had used many precious medicinal herbs and rare treasures from his spatial artifact, and despite his utmost caution, a single lapse in vigilance had drawn the attention of an ambitious party. His parents had been tricked by his cousin into revealing the existence of the spatial artifact, leading to his own demise. The only consolation was that he had left enough money for his parents' retirement. In this life, Xiao Luo still possessed the space, but he had no intention of telling anyone, nor did he plan to bring out the treasures within, as that would too easily draw unwanted attention—a mistake he regretted from his past life. In this life, Xiao Luo sought not great wealth or high status, but merely a simple, quiet existence, wishing not to be blinded by riches again. This time, he would start anew!

Having stayed up late thinking the night before, Xiao Luo—no, he should call himself Wang Qingchen now—unsurprisingly slept the latest the next day. Wang Qingchen dressed and folded his bedding. He filled a basin with clear water, grabbed the box containing salt, and began his ablutions.

After tidying himself up, he went to the kitchen. The rest of the family had already finished breakfast, leaving two wowo tou (steamed corn buns) for Wang Qingchen. Seeing the wowo tou, Wang Qingchen felt conflicted. It wasn't that he was a picky eater; the difference was simply too vast. In his previous life, when coarse grains were encouraged, he sometimes bought wowo tou and didn't think they tasted that bad, but the ones now were truly hard to swallow. Wang Qingchen reluctantly choked down the wowo tou, acknowledging that this was considered decent food. After days of strictly vegetarian meals, often lacking oil and salt, and never getting rice—the best they had were a few baked flatbreads made from coarse flour.

With a creak, the courtyard gate was pushed open. Caiyun shuffled in, her small face flushed, dragging a basket nearly as large as herself, filled to the brim with wild vegetables. After a few steps, she rested her hands on the basket handle, panting. Wang Qingchen quickly put down his wowo tou and hurried over to take the basket.

"Caiyun, are these vegetables for the pig?"

"Yes, Second Brother, help me pour them into the pigpen. I can't lift it any higher."

"Alright, Caiyun, don't carry the basket yourself next time. Let me do it. This basket is too heavy for you." Wang Qingchen poured the basket of vegetables into the pen. Watching the small pig eagerly devour the greens, he noted that not many families in the village raised pigs; partly because the cost was high—a young piglet cost about one diao of cash—and partly because pigs ate voraciously. Apparently, their family hadn't raised one before, but with things slightly better this year, the couple resolved to buy a piglet on credit—nine hundred and sixty wen. If they raised it until the New Year, they could sell it for two or three diao.

"But when I asked Second Brother to help me carry it before, Second Brother ran off to play with Qingtong Brother and the others," Caiyun whined with a slight grievance.

"Uh, Second Brother won't do that anymore." So, this was the former Wang Qingchen like.

"Second Brother, Mother said if I feed the pig well, we can eat pork by the New Year," she added, swallowing hard, as if on cue.

"Yes, by then Caiyun will get to eat lots of pork," Wang Qingchen said tenderly, stroking Caiyun's head. She was such a little child, having to do so much every day, yet all she thought of was eating pork at the New Year.

"Mmm! Second Brother, next time you go up the mountain with Qingtong Brother and the others, can you take me too? Hongying said there are lots of wild fruits on the mountain!" Caiyun asked with hopeful expectation, her big eyes blinking rapidly. Wang Qingchen immediately found it impossible to refuse. Though only five, and slightly malnourished, with patched, dull clothes, it was clear Caiyun was a budding beauty. In fact, all three of their family's children had inherited Madam Yang's good looks, placing them all above average in appearance.

"Okay, I'll take you next time, but you can't wander off, understand?"

"I promise I won't wander off, Second Brother," Caiyun replied happily. She felt her Second Brother was quite different since recovering from his illness, and she certainly liked the change.

"Right, where did Father and Mother and Big Brother go?"

"Father and Big Brother went to the fields. Mother and Auntie Gui went to town to deliver embroidery. Mother and they should be back soon."

No sooner had Caiyun finished speaking than Madam Yang returned, carrying her basket. Wang Qingchen quickly stepped forward to take it. Seeing her increasingly sensible second son, Madam Yang felt a surge of hidden joy. Since recovering from his illness, her second son was no longer as mischievous as before; he was much more understanding. Coupled with the fact that her youngest daughter hadn't been sold, Madam Yang felt quite content.

"Mother, did you bring me a red hair ribbon?" Caiyun ran up, tugging on Madam Yang's sleeve to ask.

"Oh dear, Mother forgot. Can Mother bring one next time, Caiyun?" Madam Yang soothed.

"Oh, then Mother absolutely must remember next time. Hongying and the others all have red hair ribbons, only I don't," Caiyun complained with a touch of sadness.

"Alright, Caiyun, be good. Mother will definitely bring you one next time." Saying this, she took the embroidery work out of the basket and handed the basket, along with several pounds of coarse flour inside, to Wang Qingchen: "Qingchen, take the flour to the kitchen." She then took the embroidery and went into the room.

Madam Yang tidied up the yard and the area outside before preparing lunch. Lunch consisted of millet rice, a few sheets of flatbread, and a dish of preserved vegetables. After preparing the food, Madam Yang asked Wang Qingchen to call the two men back from the fields to eat. Unsure where their family's field was, Wang Qingchen took Caiyun along. Watching the two children leave the courtyard, Madam Yang couldn't help but let out a deep sigh. Thinking about delivering the embroidery today, because the manager at the Jīnxiù Workshop had changed, embroidery that used to sell for six wen each now only sold for five wen. Madam Yang’s accumulated twenty pieces of embroidery meant a loss of twenty wen in income, so she hadn't been able to buy the red hair ribbon she had intended.

"Sigh..."

At noon, after the family ate lunch, Wang Youfu and Madam Yang went into the main room. Eldest brother Wang Qinghua went for his nap, and little sister Caiyun went to play with her friend Hongying. Wang Qingchen left the main room and went to the central hall, where he overheard his parents talking. It should be noted that Wang Qingchen’s house consisted of three main rooms: the central room was the main hall; the room on the left was where Wang Youfu, Madam Yang, and Caiyun slept; and the room on the right was for Wang Qinghua and Wang Qingchen. To the left of the three main rooms were two attached side rooms: one served as the kitchen, and the other stored grain, farm tools, and various sundries. Behind the main house was a simple pigpen, enclosed by a bamboo fence surrounding the yard.

"Why is the money from selling the embroidery so much less today?" Wang Youfu asked.

"Alas, the manager at Jīnxiù Workshop changed. Each piece now only sells for five wen. Today alone, we lost twenty wen. How many wen will we lose over a year? We still haven't paid the nine hundred and sixty wen for the piglet!" Madam Yang’s sigh echoed from inside the room.

"What? Are they bullying us like that at Jīnxiù Workshop?"

"The manager said that the embroidery Madam Gui and I made was too crude. Then he showed us an example that sells for six wen. Our work truly doesn't compare to theirs!" Madam Yang explained.

"Look at what good use you are, you can't even embroider properly..."

It was no wonder Madam Yang hadn't bought the red hair ribbon for Caiyun today; there was this issue. Remembering how the family lived frugally to pay off the debt for the piglet, Father Wang Youfu had been prepared to sell Caiyun to cover the cost, with the remaining money potentially used to find a wife for Eldest Brother Wang Qinghua, who was already fourteen. While Wang Youfu didn't value his daughter highly, he cared for his two sons, likely considering this—as lineage continuation was one of the ten major concerns in ancient times.

Even though he knew the family was short on money, Wang Qingchen did not impulsively take out items from his space as he had in his previous life. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he was determined not to reveal those treasures. Moreover, since it involved the spatial artifact, Wang Qingchen had to plan carefully, absolutely forbidding a repeat of his past failure.

For a moment, Wang Qingchen couldn't figure out what to do. Although his space was immensely powerful, capable of both cultivation and purification—as crops grew incredibly fast within it—in his previous life, he had primarily focused on growing long-maturing precious medicinal herbs. Later, he discovered the space also had a purification function: ordinary jade stones could gradually be refined into top-grade jade within the space. When he discovered this in his past life, he was overjoyed, completely overlooking the trouble such valuable herbs and supreme jade would inevitably cause. Now that he had decided to live a simple life, he could not repeat his past mistakes; he would not use those precious herbs or top-grade jade.