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

Nie Qianqian's attention was focused on Gu Xiao's right hand, and she only noticed the money bag that Gu Xiao handed her after a moment of distraction.

She took the money bag, counted it, and found about 60 coins inside.

When Gu Xiaogang was rescued by "Nie Qianqian", he was a sickly man on the verge of death. His right leg and right hand were injured. After marrying "Nie Qianqian", the Nie family had no money to treat his illness properly. The injury on his leg was relatively minor and healed on its own. He would still have a slight limp when walking. However, the injury on his right hand was severe and he was eventually completely disabled.

Old Mrs. Nie knew that Gu Xiao didn't have much time left, and she wanted to keep the jade pendant for herself, so she forced Qianqian to marry him. She didn't expect him to survive. In addition, he was disabled in his right hand and couldn't do heavy farm work. In her eyes, he was a useless person, and she became more and more dissatisfied with him and Nie Qianqian, and kept insulting them.

After Gu Xiao's right hand became completely unusable, Nie Qianqian saw him practicing writing on the ground with a twig in his left hand more than once in her memory. A year later, he managed to develop beautiful handwriting with his left hand and found a job copying books in town. Only then did Grandma Nie's attitude towards him soften. As a result, Nie Erzhuang would beat Liu Yan and Nie Qianqian, but he would not hit Gu Xiao.

Grandma Nie was shrewd. She had Gu Daqiang find out exactly which bookstore Gu Xiao copied books at, how many books he could copy in a day, and how much money he could earn. All the money Gu Xiao earned from copying books over the past six months was confiscated by Grandma Nie. Liu Yan had no idea how much her son-in-law could earn from copying books, and she hadn't even seen a single copper coin.

Although it was only 60 copper coins, Liu Yan hadn't seen so much money in a long time. She silently calculated in her mind that if the three of them and their baby ate seven sweet potatoes a day, this money would be enough to support them for more than a week. Thinking of this, the tightly furrowed brows between her brows relaxed a little, and she said with a slight sob, "Gu Xiao, you've worked hard. This money didn't come easily to you. Mother, thank you."

Sometimes, 60 coins can be a lifesaver.

Gu Xiao shook his head and said slowly to Liu Yan, "This is what I should do."

As Nie Qianqian sorted through her memories, she discovered that in the past three years, the original owner and Gu Xiao had basically had zero interaction, and she hadn't even spoken as much as Liu Yan had to him.

Gu Xiao was definitely disgusted by the Nie family's behavior and did not want to have too much contact with anyone from the Nie family, except for Tuan Tuan.

Gu Xiao knew that Nie Qianqian had been framed, so he didn't hold any resentment towards her, but his attitude was still very distant. The original owner felt guilty towards Gu Xiao, but she was weak by nature and didn't know how to change the established facts, let alone how to get along with Gu Xiao. She could only solve the problem by running away.

Looking at her husband's face, Nie Qianqian sighed inwardly. Although he was incredibly handsome, his life was truly unfortunate, and he was a pitiful person.

Well, they are already husband and wife, and he is the father of their child, so naturally they should get along peacefully.

Whether you're herding one sheep or a flock of sheep, it's all the same.

Since they couldn't be a loving and sweet real couple, he would treat him as a teammate to share life with. Since he was on Nie Qianqian's boat, she had to protect him.

Nie Qianqian weighed the purse in her hand, then smiled and said, "Not bad, not bad, my meals for the next few days are taken care of."

Gu Xiao was stunned by Nie Qianqian's bright smile, and felt that she was different from the past, as if she had become more lively and confident.

It's too late to go to town to buy grain at this hour. Liu Yan thought for a moment and said, "Qianqian, how about this? I'll go to Sister Wang next door and exchange some money for some sweet potatoes and coarse grains."

Nie Qianqian was just worried about not knowing how to take out the things from her space to eat, and now she had a reason to say, "Mom, I'll go to Aunt Wang's to exchange them. You stay home and clean out the usable dishes and gather some firewood to start a fire in the pot."

Tuantuan stood on the ground, clasped her little hands, looked up at Nie Qianqian, and asked timidly, "Mom, what should I do?"

Nie Qianqian squatted down to be level with the little dumpling and said gently, "Tuanzi, you are still young and don't need to do anything. Your most important task right now is to eat your fill and grow fat."

Tuanzi blinked in confusion. Back in the Nie family, her great-grandmother always said that no one in the family could eat for free; if you wanted to eat, you had to do chores. Was it really possible to eat without doing any work?

Nie Qianqian rubbed his head again, stood up to leave, and heard Gu Xiao's voice, "What do you need me to do?"

Nie Qianqian glanced at his right hand. "You don't need to do anything. Just stay home and tidy up your clothes."

Gu Xiao noticed her gaze and frowned imperceptibly. "Then I'll go gather firewood."

Nie Qianqian said, "Okay, then be careful. Just pick up some light branches and don't hurt your hands." After saying that, she took the bamboo basket she brought from the Nie family and went out. Gu Xiao paused when he heard her words, stared at his right hand for a long time, and then followed her out the door.

On her way to Aunt Wang's house, Nie Qianqian wondered how badly her husband's hand was injured, and whether there was any chance of it being healed. She was confident in her medical skills, and it seemed she would have to find an opportunity to examine him later.

And that jade pendant of his—I haven't seen it in ages. Could it really have been forcibly taken by Old Madam Nie...?

Nie Qianqian went to Aunt Wang's house and exchanged 10 sweet potatoes, a small bag of brown rice, and a small bag of white rice.

On the way back, Nie Qianqian found a secluded spot, took out 3 jin of white rice from her spatial storage, and poured it into a rice bag. Modern people are starting to value all-natural, pesticide-free food. Supermarkets sell stalls selling natural wild vegetables, so she took out some water lilies, rolled them on the ground to collect some dust, and then threw them into a basket.

Although the supermarket was filled with countless delicacies, she had just transmigrated and couldn't magically produce so many things all at once.

Back at the old house, wisps of smoke rose from the long-abandoned building. Nie Qianqian handed the basket to Liu Yan, "Mom, tonight we'll have white rice, stir-fried water spinach with eggs, and a few boiled sweet potatoes."

Liu Yan took the basket, rummaged through its contents, and exclaimed with wide eyes, "Qianqian, did you exchange all 60 coins? White rice is so precious, it would have been better to exchange it for some brown rice."

In Liu Yan's mind, being able to eat her fill is the most important thing; taste and other such things are never within her consideration.

Nie Qianqian: "Mom, we didn't exchange them all. I still have some copper coins left. It's been so long since we've had rice. Let's have a good meal today. The wild vegetables were picked on the way back, so they didn't cost any money."

Liu Yan took out the water lily, gently brushed the leaves with her cracked hands, and a smile appeared on her worried face. She said slowly, "I didn't expect to be able to dig up such fresh water lily now."

Gu Xiao, who was adding firewood nearby, glanced at Nie Qianqian upon hearing this. It was already autumn, and all the wild vegetables that could be dug up in the village had long been dug up by the villagers. Even going to the back mountain, it was not guaranteed that you could find many wild vegetables.

Nie Qianqian ignored his gaze. As long as she remained adamant, no matter how suspicious he was, he would never guess that it was all because she carried a large shopping mall with her.

Liu Yan took a small amount of white rice from the rice bag and weighed it in her hand, thinking to herself that she wouldn't waste the rice; this should be enough for three people.

She poured the rice into the chipped earthenware bowl. Because her stomach was empty, her hands trembled involuntarily, and a few grains of rice slipped through her fingers and fell to the ground.

Liu Yan quickly bent down and hurriedly searched for the few grains of white rice on the ground. Her hands trembled slightly as she muttered, "Oh dear, how could I have missed it? What a waste!"

Nie Qianqian happened to walk in and saw this scene, and felt a mix of emotions.

Living in a peaceful era, a few grains of rice were of little value to her. She ignored any spilled rice while cooking, simply sweeping it up and throwing it away.

But for Liu Yan...

Nie Qianqian squatted down and helped Liu Yan pick up the rice. She then grabbed a handful of rice from the rice bag and put it into the ceramic basin. "Mom, the rice you grabbed isn't enough to eat."

Liu Yan looked at the rice already soaking in water with heartache and said in a low voice, "I don't want to eat it, I don't want to eat it, there's too much of this."

Nie Qianqian said while washing the rice, "It's not much at all. I'm still recovering from my serious injuries, the regimental commander is in poor health, my husband has been copying books all day, and you haven't had a proper meal in days. I'm afraid this won't be enough."

Liu Yan listened and, seeing Nie Qianqian's injuries, finally refrained from objecting.

She pulled Qianqian's hand out of the cold water and pushed her out of the kitchen. "Qianqian, your injury hasn't healed yet. Don't help with the cooking. Go and rest. I'll do the cooking."

Nie Qianqian stood at the kitchen door and saw Liu Yan's thin, hunched back, her eyes welling up with tears.

Although Liu Yan and she were not actually related by blood, since she had taken the place of the original owner, she would fulfill her filial duties on her behalf.

Now that I'm here, I'll make sure you never have to live like this again. Nie Qianqian thought to herself.

Liu Yan cooked all the white rice into fragrant rice, made three eggs and stir-fried water spinach, cooked an egg separately for Tuantuan, and also cooked three sweet potatoes.

Except for Nie Qianqian, who ate bread to fill her stomach at noon, everyone else was already starving, and Liu Yan's stomach was already rumbling.

As soon as Liu Yan put the food on the table, Tuantuan stared wide-eyed at the fragrant rice and couldn't help but swallow his saliva. He had hardly ever eaten any white rice at Lao Nie's house.

Looking at the table full of dishes, Liu Yan couldn't help but tear up. She never dared to dream of having such a meal.

She worked like a slave in that household, but hadn't had a proper meal in a long time, let alone such a sumptuous one.

Gu Xiao's emotions were not visible, but his gaze kept falling on Nie Qianqian, intentionally or unintentionally.

Nie Qianqian smiled at the two people and the baby and said, "This is our first meal after moving out, so we should eat happily. Come on, Tuantuan, have an egg, so you can grow fat!"

Tuantuan reached out her little hand, touched the round egg, rolled it on the table, hesitated for a moment, and asked in her childish voice, "Can Tuantuan really eat an egg today?"

Nie Qianqian took the egg, peeled off the shell, and put the round, white egg into Tuantuan's hand. "You have to eat it not only today, but every day from now on."

Liu Yan wiped away the tears that had accidentally rolled down her cheeks, feeling helpless as she wondered if there was really a future for such days.

Even if there is no future, I am content with every day like this.

She sighed silently, picked up the bowl, and said softly, "Eat, eat."

The white rice smells so good! The aroma wafts right into my nose. One bite and it's soft, sticky, and incredibly satisfying.

Tuantuan took a big bite, feeling so happy he felt like he was bubbling with joy.

Liu Yan ate the rice grain by grain, savoring the taste of white rice—a taste she hadn't experienced in so long.

Rice, vegetables, and eggs—such a simple meal, yet Liu Yan and Tuantuan ate with immense happiness.

That night, Nie Qianqian and Liu Yan stayed in the east room, while Gu Xiao and Tuanzi stayed in the west room.

Nie Qianqian stared at the dilapidated roof beams, unable to sleep. A faint starlight shone through the roof, indicating it desperately needed repairs; otherwise, it would turn into a waterfall on rainy days.

The house currently only has some clothes and bedding; even the dishes and chopsticks are incomplete. As autumn approaches and the weather gets brighter, the house must be repaired before late autumn.

Sigh, there are just too many things missing.

Nie Qianqian closed her eyes and sighed deeply in her heart. In her previous life, she was a wealthy woman, but she never expected to become a penniless person after transmigrating.

Alas, what can relieve my worries? Only sudden wealth.