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

These past few days, the liveliest place in the village has been in front of Nie Qianqian's house. Liu Yan has been busy running around, as Nie Qianqian has assigned her a task: to settle wages for the workers each day based on the number of workers and the time they spend at work.

Liu Yan had never done this kind of work before. She handled nearly half a tael of silver every day and was afraid of making a mistake. At first, she kept refusing, but Nie Qianqian wanted to train her mother and insisted that she do it. She had no choice but to bite the bullet and agree. Her mind was full of guarding the wages and keeping an eye on who was working and who wasn't.

My hands were shaking when I handed out the money on the first day. I counted each worker's wages three times before giving them to them. People who didn't know the situation thought the money was stolen. It wasn't until the second and third days that I gradually got used to it.

Huang Zhenzhu encouraged her a lot. In Huang Zhenzhu's words, if her family had built such a big brick house, she would be strutting around with pride when she received her paycheck. Unlike Liu Yan, who couldn't even stand up straight. She always advised her to be composed and not to embarrass Nie Qianqian.

These words hit Liu Yan's sore spot. She didn't care what others thought of her, but she couldn't let her daughter lose face because of her performance. So she mustered her courage and worked with Liu Xiong every day to supervise the work and settle wages, working with great enthusiasm.

Huang Zhenzhu's feelings for Liu Yan were not particularly deep; she felt mostly sympathy. Knowing that Liu Yan was living a hard life, she turned a blind eye when Liu Xiong helped her, thinking that it was enough for the relationship between the two families to remain superficial.

But things are different now. After narrowly escaping death, Nie Qianqian's mind is noticeably sharper. She has her own opinions and ideas. Now that she has money and knows the powerful officials in the county, she might have great prospects in the future. Gu Xiao can even take her son Tiedan to school, so she is eager to get along well with Liu Yan's family.

Liu Yan was oblivious to this and didn't notice much change in her sister-in-law's attitude towards her, but Nie Qianqian saw everything.

However, she felt this was normal; that's how it is in society. People are only willing to befriend you if you have value. Otherwise, no matter how humble you are or how kind you are, it's useless.

Three days later, when it was time to give the county magistrate a reply on whether they would go to the academy, Nie Qianqian and Gu Xiao prepared to visit Magistrate Tang in the county.

After Lord Tang helped Liu Yan get a divorce that day and recommended Gu Xiao to study at Tiande Academy for free, in Liu Yan's heart Lord Tang was a living bodhisattva who saved her from suffering, a god-like existence. She often said that Lord Tang was a really good official, and she was just short of setting up an altar for him and burning incense at home.

Nie Qianqian was equally grateful to Lord Tang; she was a person of strong likes and dislikes. If someone treated her badly, she would remember it and repay them tenfold; if someone helped her, she would remember it and repay them with kindness.

Nie Qianqian wanted to give Lord Tang a gift to express her gratitude. Gift-giving is an art; different gifts are appropriate for different people, and the gift must touch the recipient's heart. Lord Tang certainly wouldn't accept money or valuables, and the white rice and flour that the villagers love would be inappropriate.

After thinking it over, Nie Qianqian took out a powder for treating anemia from her space, removed the packaging, and put it in an exquisite porcelain bottle. This bottle of medicine could significantly improve mild anemia.

She then discussed with Liu Yan about personally preparing a meal for Lord Tang. When Nie Qianqian first met Tang Jincheng, she examined him and knew that Tang Jincheng's anemia was caused by poor diet and excessive worry.

Nie Qianqian provided the recipes, and Liu Yan cooked, making a dish called "pig-killing stew," which included stir-fried celery with pig liver, cold black fungus salad, glutinous rice and red date porridge, and seaweed and egg drop soup—all appetizing and blood-nourishing dishes.

Liu Yan's cooking skills are much better than Nie Qianqian's. With the recipes provided by Nie Qianqian, she has a more refined grasp of the heat and the addition of seasonings, making the dishes more delicious than those made by Nie Qianqian.

Nie Qianqian discovered that Liu Yan was indeed interested in and attentive to cooking. Nie Qianqian told Liu Yan the recipes, and after Liu Yan carefully memorized them, she would even use a charcoal pencil to mark and draw in her little notebook. She couldn't read, so she could only memorize through images. Nie Qianqian looked at the recipe book full of circles and crosses and was completely baffled. It seemed that only Liu Yan could understand this "wordless book," but she wasn't worried about others learning it.

The three of them got up early to prepare. Nie Qianqian and Liu Yan were busy cooking, while Gu Xiao packed the things he needed to study at the academy.

Because he was going to study in the county, Nie Qianqian changed Gu Xiao's entire outfit from head to toe. He wore a wide, light blue robe, not made of silk but of fine cotton. His hair was neatly styled in a bun, adorned with a newly bought jade hairpin. Paired with his tall, slender figure and sculpted features, he was as elegant and refined as a jade tree, his demeanor outstanding, like a piece of jade unveiled, radiating a luminous glow.

As expected, clothes make the man. Nie Qianqian looked at the completely transformed Gu Xiao and couldn't help but swoon for a few seconds, immersing herself in her husband's good looks.

Gu Xiao felt a little uncomfortable being stared at, but he also wanted her gaze to linger a little longer.

After everything was prepared, Nie Qianqian and Gu Xiao drove the oxcart and quickly arrived at the county seat. They presented their visiting cards to the county magistrate at the county government office. The yamen runners had a deep impression of Nie Qianqian and, without asking too many questions, announced her arrival, allowing the two to meet Tang Jincheng without any trouble.

Tang Jincheng was very happy to learn that Gu Xiao had decided to study at the academy. He handed the two of them a letter of recommendation that he had written earlier. "The dean of Tiande Academy is not in the academy recently. I have already spoken with Vice Dean Li. Take the letter of recommendation to him and he will arrange the relevant matters for your enrollment."

Gu Xiao bowed respectfully to Tang Jincheng, "Gu Xiao thanks you for your recommendation, sir."

"No need to thank me. I value talent and can see that you are a promising student. I cannot bear to see such a gem go to waste. I hope you will not disappoint me."

Gu Xiao bowed again, and said calmly, "I will never let Lord Tang down."

Tang Jincheng's opinion of Gu Xiao rose even higher. In addition to talent and hard work, confidence and ambition are indispensable for studying. The road to the imperial examination is arduous and difficult. Without confidence and the ambition to be the best, one cannot persevere.

Nie Qianqian took out the prepared medicine and food and presented them to Tang Jincheng. "Lord Tang, my mother and my husband have all been very kind to you. This is a gift that my mother and I prepared to express our gratitude. Please accept it, sir."

Tang Jinben was about to refuse, but then he saw Nie Qianqian smiling and saying, "Lord Tang, why don't you take a look at what it is first?"

Tang Jincheng opened the food box and found that it contained only some food, with a white porcelain bottle at the bottom.

Nie Qianqian: "This meal was cooked by my mother, and the medicine was prepared by myself. It will help treat your anemia. Please accept it, otherwise my mother and I will be unable to eat or sleep properly."

Since that's what he said, Tang Jincheng accepted it with a smile.

Fearing they might disturb the official duties, Nie Qianqian and Gu Xiao took their leave without lingering.

After the two left, Tang Jincheng threw himself back into his official duties until Afu snapped him out of his tedious work.

"Sir, it's noon, you should have lunch."

Tang Jincheng had been dealing with official business all morning, his head was buzzing, and he had no appetite. "Let's not eat, I have no appetite."

Ah Fu pleaded with a pained expression, "Sir, you can't keep skipping meals. Didn't Madam Nie bring you some food? You should at least eat something."

His family members tend to get like this when they're busy, which is why he developed dizziness. Although his condition has improved recently, if he continues with this diet, he might relapse in the future.

Tang Jincheng remembered the food box that Nie Qianqian had brought. Since he couldn't refuse to eat it, he reluctantly said, "Then heat it up and bring it back."

Afu replied, "Okay," and then happily went to heat up the food.

Regardless of how much Tang Jincheng can eat, it's good enough that he's willing to eat lunch.

Afu brought the food up and then left. Half an hour later, guessing that his master should have finished eating, he went into the study to take away the food box. But when he got closer, he found that the five dishes that Nie Qianqian had brought had been eaten clean by his master. The plates were so clean that they could be used as mirrors.

Afu stared in shock, his mouth agape wide enough to fit an egg. "Sir, you actually ate so much?"

In the past, Ah Fu would burn incense to pray for the few bites he could take from each dish.

Tang Jincheng burped, tears streaming down his face. He didn't want to eat so much either; his stomach was so full it hurt.

But it's so delicious!!!

Having lived for so many years, he had never tasted such delicious food before, and he really couldn't control himself!