A peasant girl travels through time with a hospital, rising to become an empress.

Because Nie Qianqian was delayed outside Jishetang for a while, she ultimately missed the oxcart and had to walk back to Qinghe Village on her short legs.

Before long, it got completely dark. A bright moon rose in the night sky, and we could barely see the road ahead by its light. Walking on village roads is a completely different experience from walking on paved roads. The village roads are bumpy and uneven, and it is very tiring to walk on them.

Nie Qianqian wiped the sweat from her forehead, once again deeply experiencing the hardships of life for the working class. In her previous life, she was fortunate and inevitably became arrogant. On the second day after arriving in this new world, without the support of her family or any accumulated resources, she had to start from scratch. It was not only physically exhausting, but also a process of becoming more mentally resilient.

As Nie Qianqian gazed at the dim yellow light scattered across the village houses in the distance, her resolve strengthened as she resolved to lead her family out of Qinghe Village and into a better life.

When she reached the village entrance, she saw two figures, one large and one small, standing there by the moonlight.

As she approached, she recognized Liu Yan, who looked anxious and longing, and Xiao Tuantuan, who was pouting.

When Xiao Tuantuan saw Nie Qianqian, she let go of Liu Yan's hand and ran towards her with her short legs, hugging her leg tightly and rubbing against her. "Mom, you're finally back. Tuantuan has been waiting for you."

Nie Qianqian put down the basket, squatted down and hugged Tuantuan, "Mother bought a lot of delicious food for Tuantuan today, so I came back late."

Tuantuan pouted, "Tuantuan doesn't want any treats, she just wants Mom to come home early."

Nie Qianqian felt a wave of tenderness in her heart. People say that children from poor families mature early, and Tuantuan, born into the original owner's family, was even more sensible and sensitive.

Liu Yan took the basket from Nie Qianqian and found it very heavy. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears. Had her daughter carried such a heavy load all the way from town to the village today? She was a useless mother, letting her child suffer.

Under the cover of night, Liu Yan concealed her emotions well, and asked softly, "Why are you back so late?"

Nie Qianqian: "After selling the fish, I strolled around the market and bought a lot of things. I missed Grandpa Li's oxcart, and it was too late to walk back. Mom, why didn't you wait at home? It's cool at night, and you should have been enjoying the breeze here."

Liu Yan had brought Tuantuan to the village entrance to wait since before it got dark, and they had been waiting for more than an hour. If she wasn't afraid of missing Qianqian, she would have walked to the town to find her.

Liu Yan sighed, "Mother can't sit still at home. Come home quickly and have dinner."

Nie Qianqian felt a warmth in her heart. Although she was new to this world and inevitably felt lonely and isolated, this family gave her warmth.

The three returned to the old house, which Liu Yan had already heated up. Liu Yan took the water that was warming up on the stove and poured a glass of water for Nie Qianqian, saying, "Hurry up and drink some hot water."

Nie Qianqian took the water and drank it all in one gulp. She then pulled the two children into the house, beaming as she shared, "Come see what I bought today."

In the flickering candlelight, Liu Yan and Tuan Tuan watched as Nie Qianqian magically produced one wonderful thing after another from the basket.

"These are new clothes and shoes for Mom and Tuantuan. We'll wear them tomorrow. Mom, I see your shoes are leaking. They'll get wet when it rains. You can't wear them anymore."

"This is ten catties of white rice and white flour that I bought today. Mother, I know you will say that white rice and white flour are expensive, but the regimental commander is in good health and needs to eat something good. You need to nourish yourself properly."

"This is the pork we bought. We'll stew some meat for dinner tonight." After a day of intense work, Nie Qianqian was starving and really wanted to eat braised pork.

"These are vegetables I bought in town: potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplants, and cabbage."

"These are candies I bought for Tuantuan. Tuantuan can eat a few every day, but not too many, because they're bad for her teeth."

This is····

Liu Yan and Tuan Tuan were completely dumbfounded, staring wide-eyed at Nie Qianqian's "magic trick".

Those three bamboo baskets don't look very big, but they seem like bottomless pits, you can't empty them all.

These good things, even during holidays, are never available to the Nie family; they won't even get a glimpse of them.

When Nie Qianqian finished arranging the things she bought on the earthen bed, both of them stared blankly, speechless for a long time.

After a long pause, Liu Yan stammered, "Qianqian, how much do all these nice things cost? You don't have enough money from selling the fish."

Nie Qianqian had already guessed that Liu Yan would ask this question, and gave the answer she had prepared in advance.

"In the back alley next to the Tiande Bookstore where my husband was copying books, I happened to rescue an old man. The old man seemed to have some kind of anemia and almost fainted in the back alley. I helped him up and took care of him for a long time. The old man was kind-hearted and gave me two taels of silver as a thank you gift after he woke up, which is why I was able to buy so many things."

It was a mix of truth and falsehood, making it difficult for Liu Yan to discern the truth.

Liu Yan thought to herself: This must have helped a wealthy family. She had heard Qianqian's father say that the rich lords in town needed three to five taels of silver to have a meal.

Liu Yan clasped her hands together and said, "God take notice, our Qianqian is a blessed person."

Tuantuan's mouth watered as he looked at the colorful candies in the paper bag. What did the candies taste like? He had never eaten candy since he was born.

Nie Qianqian took out a candy and put it in Tuantuan's mouth. Tuantuan's eyes widened and lit up immediately, then she squinted happily as she savored it. This is candy, so sweet!

She took out another candy and gave it to Liu Yan, and Liu Yan and her granddaughter Tuantuan made the same expression.

Nie Qianqian watched from the sidelines, even happier than if she were eating herself, and burst out laughing. Liu Yan and Tuantuan were a little embarrassed, and followed suit with pursed lips and smiles, which gradually widened until the laughter of the three of them filled the entire old house.

After Liu Yan and Nie Qianqian tidied up all the things they had bought, Liu Yan hurried off to cook.

"Mom, the vendor told me how to cook pork when I went to town to buy it. I'll cook this pork in a bit."

Nie Qianqian studied abroad for many years in her previous life. Unaccustomed to Western food, she learned to cook early on. Although she couldn't compare to a master chef, she made delicious everyday dishes. She was someone who would never mistreat herself, no matter where she was.

Nie Qianqian selected a strip of pork with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, cut it into chunks, and took out the necessary seasonings from her spatial storage and put them into a cloth bag. She blanched the pork, cooked it in a wok, heated oil, and added cinnamon, bay leaves, and star anise. These seasonings were available in this era, but they were usually used as medicinal herbs and not for cooking.

Liu Yan was stewing the fish in a pot when she watched Nie Qianqian cook with great concentration.

"Is this bay leaf? Star anise? Can these be used for cooking?"

"Of course, Mom, smell it, it will smell delicious once it's put in the pan."

"It really is."

After stir-frying the meat, Nie Qianqian added white sugar and salt.

Liu Yan watched from the side and felt a pang of heartache. This was more than a pound of pork, costing several dozen coins, and it also required so much sugar. Sugar was a rare commodity; back then, Old Madam Nie wouldn't even give a bowl of brown sugar water to her sick Qianqian.

Even if he had earned some money today, he shouldn't spend it like this. But when he saw Nie Qianqian's expectant expression, he swallowed back the words he wanted to say to dissuade her.

She wasn't very opinionated, otherwise she wouldn't have been bullied in the Nie family for so many years without knowing how to fight back. After moving out, Nie Qianqian became her pillar of support. When Qianqian was happy, she, as her mother, was happy.

Soon, the fish and meat were stewed, and Liu Yan also stir-fried some greens. Two adults and one child ate three dishes, one fish and one meat, even though this level of food was not common on the village's main table.

The aroma of fish and meat was irresistible, especially to the villagers, who might not eat much meat even once a month. Aunt Wang, whose house was closest to Nie Qianqian's, had already smelled the enticing meaty fragrance.

Aunt Wang teased Uncle Wang sitting on the kang (heated brick bed). "Why does the Nie family's house smell like meat again? Liu Yan came over to borrow a bowl from us yesterday, how come they can buy meat today?"

Grandpa Wang had already finished eating, but now, smelling the aroma of meat, his mouth was watering again. "How was I supposed to know? This meat smells so damn good, it even smells like fish!"

Aunt Wang pursed her lips, "Your nose isn't working properly, how could there be fish? Do you think it might be Liu Yan's older brother from her maternal family coming to help them out?"

Grandpa Wang took a puff of welding smoke. "You mean that laborer who carries heavy loads in town? He can barely make ends meet himself, how could he possibly give them money to buy meat? Besides, I ran into them at the village entrance a few days ago. They said their father-in-law had passed away, and the whole family went back to their mother's village for the funeral. They haven't come back yet."

Meanwhile, Nie Qianqian and her friends were unaware that the fish and meat they had prepared that evening had made the neighbors' mouths water. At that moment, the three of them were holding three bowls of white rice, slurping down their braised pork and stewed fish, focusing on their rice without saying a word.

The braised pork is tender and melts in your mouth, with a rich meaty aroma. Paired with white rice soaked in the sauce, it's simply divine!

With rice grains stuck to his lips, Tuantuan thought to himself: This is the happiest day since he was born.

Liu Yan felt a bittersweet feeling: it turned out that living outside wasn't so difficult after all. There was no oppression from her mother-in-law, no beatings or scoldings from her husband, and she was free and at ease.

As Nie Qianqian ate the fish, she recalled what Liu Yan had told the original owner: before Liu Yan got married, her family was poor, and she had worked as a handyman in the kitchen of a restaurant in town for many years.

She secretly added soy sauce and other modern seasonings to the braised pork, so the taste was naturally excellent. My mother doesn't have that many seasonings, yet the fish was stewed so deliciously. Her cooking skills are truly remarkable. She could consider making a living from this in the future.