The Old Madam was no longer worried. With her granddaughter’s fighting prowess, someone like Chi Wu would surely be thrashed and wouldn't dare cause her undue distress. "Then he's just being greedy. Hold on; your mother will be back in a couple of days."

With that, she pulled her granddaughter away from the chicken coop. "Grandma will fry an egg for you; it’s just the same, okay?"

She tugged Cheng Ying away as if coaxing a child.

Cheng Ying looked at her grandmother; all her anger evaporated. Fine, I won't eat it then. I can't make things hard for Grandma. She decided to simply ignore her uncle from now on.

Cheng Ying leaned in conspiratorially, "Grandma, what have you been doing at home these past few days?"

The Old Madam replied, "Winter is coming soon, isn't it? I have to get all the padded jackets and trousers made for the whole family."

Cheng Ying offered, "Grandma, let me help you."

The Old Madam scoffed, "I wouldn't dare use you. Your handiwork..."

Her tone dripped with disdain for Cheng Ying's skills.

The Old Madam fell silent. Cheng Ying truly lacked any talent for needlework; it was simply not presentable.

Cheng Ying felt helpless. Yes, we’ve been reborn, but that doesn't mean we’re omnipotent. Handling a needle and thread with these hands was like asking a scholar to sharpen a knife—utterly awkward.

Cheng Ying complained wistfully, "Grandma, I’ll cook tonight; you just wait and eat. Afterward, I’ll try to thread a needle for you."

The Old Madam, seeing her granddaughter so intent on helping, felt too awkward to say, My eyes aren't failing.

Cheng Ying grabbed the fish basket and headed out. She was determined that their family must have meat today.

This was a silent contest against her uncle.

Cheng Ying placed the fish basket in the water grass thicket by the riverbank, then went to the wide river flats alone to collect stones.

Cheng Ying adored beautiful stones. When the big river washed things down, all sorts of specimens appeared.

Sometimes, just looking at the patterns, Cheng Ying found them more beautiful than anything else.

Certainly more beautiful than the flowers in her spatial dimension.

Cheng Ying felt she was cultivating her character—more importantly, giving her eyes a rest.

Constantly looking at flowers left her mentally exhausted; she craved a higher level of spiritual engagement.

Whenever she saw a beautiful stone, she stashed it away in her dimension.

When she had time and space, Cheng Ying dreamed of creating some kind of stone display or miniature landscape.

By evening, Cheng Ying’s basket was still empty. Unwilling to accept defeat, she walked toward the livelier part of the riverbank.

She wouldn't be the only one playing by the river. Cheng Ying traded her own ten eggs for a large grass carp weighing over three catties.

She happily led the child home.

When Cheng Ying brought out a dozen or so eggs from the room, the Old Madam nearly had a heart attack. "You little rascal, you’re doing this on purpose! Why must you insist on fish?"

Cheng Ying replied brightly, "Didn't you say you were going to fry eggs for me? I’m just switching up the flavor."

The Old Madam looked at the huge fish. "How many eggs does frying take? Look at this thing; it won't last. You've wasted my eggs!"

Cheng Ying countered, "Why keep them? I’m stewing it right now."

The Old Madam sighed, looking at her granddaughter. "Keep making trouble. You clearly don't know how to manage the household."

Ignoring her grandmother's words, Cheng Ying started building a fire to cook the fish stew, utilizing both stove fires.

The Old Madam peeked through the crack in the door at her busy granddaughter and muttered that she wouldn't believe she wasn't provoked.

She's definitely competing with someone, she thought, shaking her head as she continued sewing a small floral padded jacket for her granddaughter.

At dinnertime, Cheng Ying placed a large basin of stewed fish on the table, accompanied by golden millet rice.

Grass carp truly was a good fish; it didn't have many bones. Cheng Ying gave her grandmother a choice piece of fish meat. "Grandma, how is it?"

The Old Madam mixed it with rice and ate it. "Satisfied."

Cheng Ying beamed. "As long as you eat well, I'm satisfied. Grandma, I may not learn much else, but I’ll definitely master the skills around the stove so I can cook just for you."

With such a sweet-talking granddaughter, the Old Madam would have to be unreasonable to be unhappy. "Go on, flatter me. But I must say, our Yingzi’s cooking is quite good."

The two of them weren't big eaters, and they didn't even finish half the fish.

The Old Madam lamented, "What a waste. If your mother and the others were home, we wouldn't have to be so frugal."

Cheng Ying said, "When Mom and they come back, I'll go get more fish."

The Old Madam said, "That’s enough. Stop wasting my eggs. Every egg is fifty cents now, you know."

Cheng Ying asked innocently, "Grandma, did you sell all our eggs?"

The Old Madam countered, "What use would they be if I didn't sell them? Can we eat them all?"

Cheng Ying was momentarily speechless. So, her grandmother was quite the savvy money-maker!

Before they could clear the table, someone arrived from outside. Cheng Ying got down to open the door. Cheng Ming stood there holding a bowl: beneath was coarse cornmeal gruel, topped with vermicelli and two pieces of meat.

Cheng Ming’s face was flushed. Compared to Cheng Ying’s generosity, Cheng Ming felt too embarrassed to approach. "Grandma, Mom told me to bring this to you."

Cheng Ming’s face was red, and he didn't dare look at Cheng Ying. His own mother had deliberately left out sending anything for Cheng Ying.

Cheng Ying looked at the bowl of food and happily exclaimed, "Grandma, Uncle brought you something!"

Cheng Ming tried to leave.

Cheng Ying stopped him. "Why the rush? I’ll clear a space for your bowl." Saying this, Cheng Ying quickly got down and cleared the large bowl for Cheng Ming.

As she did so, she swiftly slipped the half-eaten fish into the bowl. "Have a taste. Grandma stewed it."

Cheng Ming felt even more awkward now; he brought something over only to receive more in return.

Cheng Ying said cheerfully, "Why are you being so polite?" She escorted Cheng Ming to the door, and on her way back, she gave the fish bones to their second dog, Er Ya.

The Old Madam sighed, looking at the bowl of food and the two pieces of meat.

Cheng Ying walked back in. "Grandma, Uncle still cares about you."

The Old Madam looked at her granddaughter and uttered only the second word of satisfaction she’d spoken that night: "Satisfied."

Cheng Ying replied, "As long as Uncle cares about you, that’s what matters. I’ll take care of my grandmother myself; I don’t have any other demands. But as a son, Uncle should strive to make you happy, right?"

The Old Madam looked at her granddaughter. "I don't know where you get all these ideas. Tidy up now."

The mother and daughter worked late into the night. It wasn't until Cheng Ying was sitting on the kang that the Old Madam finally presented the finished padded jacket for her granddaughter to try on. "Mmm, good. You look much livelier."

Cheng Ying kept a straight face. Regardless of the color or pattern, in terms of fit and warmth, the padded jacket was quite good.

Cheng Ying looked down at her clothes. Enduring the winter in these would be tough. If only the pattern wasn't so loud.

Unfortunately, there was no place to complain.

After tidying up, the Old Madam lay down on the kang with her granddaughter. "Yingzi, don't worry too much about your uncle's family. Things will change as time passes. Grandma admits she did some things wrong, but compared to the years when we couldn't even survive, as long as they are all living well, fed, and warmly clothed, Grandma is content."

Cheng Ying leaned against her grandmother. This was hardly the same Old Madam who stood with her hands on her hips, yelling earlier.

Cheng Ying’s heart ached. "Grandma, you have me now."

The Old Madam patted her granddaughter as they drifted off to sleep. For the sake of her third son's bloodline, the Old Madam had offended her eldest and second sons.

She would stay here with her granddaughter; she owed at least one son that much.

Cheng Ying indulged in her sentimental mood all evening, but the next day, she headed up the mountain as usual.

Of course, Cheng Ming escorted her. The unlucky boy needed to go to school after finishing the harvest.

Cheng Ying thought it was perfect timing that she had returned just now. Cheng Ying considered herself lucky.

Up on the mountain, Cheng Ying saw that the small saplings had already sprouted several branches.

The ginseng seedlings with just one or two leaves also looked promising. It would have been even better if Er Ya didn't wander around the mountain so much.

She had stepped on and killed several seedlings already—it was heartbreaking! Before outsiders could cause harm, her own Er Ya had done the damage.

Cheng Ying still carefully dug up a ginseng seedling with just one leaf from her spatial dimension and began planting it in large patches across their mountain field.

It's fine that we step on some; we have plenty of seedlings in the space! As long as a small fraction survived, Cheng Ying would be content.

She happened upon a small patch of mushrooms and collected them; they would be perfect for chicken stew when Chi Wu and the others returned.

Cheng Ying watered these ginseng seedlings with spatial water and then watered the five or six acres of tree saplings as well.

When Cheng Ying detoured to their own mountain plot, near the existing Red Pine trees, she noticed a distinct difference.

She had frequently given this particular tree a bit of spatial water before, and there hadn't been any noticeable change then.

But now, it looked like the tree had thickened by a full circle.

It was probably too big for Chi Wu and the others to hug around now, even working together.

Cheng Ying was slightly excited. This was like cheating! Although the change wasn't huge, it was still a tangible result.

She began watering the large tree generously, almost chanting an incantation.

Cheng Ying was delighted. Next time she visited the mountain field, she planned to water every single tree individually.

Over time, there would definitely be a reward. Hahaha, Sister is just waiting to count the money.

Essentially, to keep herself motivated, Cheng Ying counted one ginseng seedling and a few large red-edged ones.

Working like this gave her momentum, and she didn't even feel tired.

Another major reason was that Cheng Ying really wanted to buy a television. Otherwise, how would she know the country's latest movements? Living in society, one couldn't be ignorant of the news.

This was actually urgent. She couldn't keep going to the village chief's house to listen to their radio drama!

Besides, she and the Third Madam couldn't appreciate the same things. Their level of appreciation was too highbrow.

Cheng Ying couldn't follow the whiny, high-pitched singing; she’d fall asleep instantly.

She’d rather listen to a few chapters of storytelling.

Cheng Ying settled into a routine of just going between home and the mountain. Sometimes, if she came home early, she would help the Old Madam with the padded clothing.

However, Cheng Ying mostly caused trouble. She hated seeing her grandmother work so hard.

But before Cheng Ying could figure out a workaround, her grandmother had already finished a huge stack of padded coats.

This speed was beyond anything Cheng Ying could match—it was too fast!

Cheng Ying stared at the towering pile of clothes, all made by hand. "Grandma, aren't you tired? So many clothes, and you finished them in just a few days?"

The Old Madam looked at her granddaughter with disdain. "You call this work?" Then she got up to start cooking.

Cheng Ying’s mouth hung open for a moment. My Old Madam is a genius! If this isn't work, what is? Cheng Ying wouldn't do it even if threatened with death; she couldn't manage it.

She just didn't have those deft hands. However, while accompanying her grandmother, Cheng Ying didn't let her own hands stay idle.

Cheng Ying took out her own sheep's wool, having already finished attaching the sleeves to her grandmother's vest.

She looked at the balls of yarn and started knitting a pair of wool trousers for the Old Madam.

Cheng Ying was quite happy, and the Old Madam was pleased too—her granddaughter cared for her.

Cheng Ying thought that before it froze over, she could finish a full set for Chi Wu.

In those years, without much entertainment, the evenings felt exceptionally long. Knitting wool trousers was at least some form of diversion.