Volume One, Chapter 9: The Widow Abandoned by Her Sons During the Years of Famine 9 [Expressions]

Inside the space was a layout resembling a farming simulation game. On the left were thirty neatly divided plots of farmland, each growing various crops like rice, wheat, corn, and a variety of fruit trees. Beside the fields stood two warehouses—one green and one blue. The green warehouse was filled with an assortment of meats, vegetables, spices, and fruits. The blue warehouse housed steaming dishes, bowls of porridge, noodles, and pastries, all neatly served on plates and bowls.

Above the farmland hung a virtual screen with only three buttons: one-click harvest, one-click irrigation, and one-click storage. On the right side of the space was a row of ten red warehouses, each containing clothing and bedding from different dynasties, various furniture, farming tools, and an array of weapons. Hundreds of insoles made by Mo Mo were neatly arranged inside a large basket in one of these warehouses.

At the center of the space stood a magnificent, oversized villa with a large pond at its entrance. The villa had two floors. The first floor had no front door but was used for parking a variety of vehicles—sports cars, jeeps, sedans, bicycles, tricycles, and even tractors. The second floor was Mo Mo’s bedroom, where the floor was covered with fluffy white carpets, and purple velvet curtains with golden tassels framed the windows. A large bed measuring three meters by three meters dominated the room. To the left of the headboard was a round button labeled “one-click clean.” Above the bed hung an enormous oil painting of Mo Mo joyfully holding her three little treasures.

Directly opposite the bed was a curved television that nearly covered the entire wall. In one corner were five large chests filled to the brim with gold, silver, and jewels. The bathroom was as spacious as an average living room and equipped with a massage bathtub and a steam room.

Mo Mo flopped onto the bed and rolled around happily. Her three little treasures snuggled into her arms, closing their eyes in contentment. After resting briefly, she got up and fetched three deep blue patterned down quilts along with matching pillows and sheets. She pressed the cleaning button and then left the space.

She handed two sets of quilts, pillowcases, and sheets to her daughter and son, who happily accepted them and ran off to their rooms to change. Mo Mo then turned to the kitchen, where she filled the rice and water containers, neatly arranged soy sauce, vinegar, and chili peppers in the cabinets, and took out several pounds of meat and vegetables.

When only her son A Cai was home, things were quiet. According to the original owner’s memories, her daughter was very diligent when at home and cooked every meal, so the kitchen could never be left empty.

After about fifteen minutes, Mo Mo took out a tray from the space. On it were three bowls of rice, a plate of stir-fried pork, a plate of mapo tofu, a plate of stir-fried greens, and a bowl of tomato and egg soup. The three little treasures, leaning against the wall watching her actions, couldn’t help but laugh aloud. “Haha, Sister Mo, you’re way too lazy. Since coming to this world, you haven’t cooked a single meal yourself. Such a waste of your great cooking skills.”

Mo Mo rolled her eyes. In her previous missions as a devoted female supporting character across different worlds, she had honed her culinary skills to please the male leads. She cooked until she was sick of it—so why not take a break when she could?

She placed the dishes on the dining table in the living room and called the children to eat. The two kids didn’t even look up as they praised, “Mother’s cooking just keeps getting better!” After finishing their meal, they returned to their rooms.

Chen Ling lay in her own bed, snug under the new quilt. The bedding was thick yet light, puffing softly with a gentle shake, warm as if tenderly embraced by her mother. She closed her eyes happily and smiled as she drifted into dreamland.

Outside, the snow had stopped. A bright, full moon hung in the night sky, casting a hazy veil over the earth. A gentle breeze whispered the arrival of spring.

The next morning, upon waking, Mo Mo found that her daughter had already made breakfast and gone to tend the backyard vegetable garden. She gave herself a mental thumbs-up. A Cai had already gone off to play at Huzi’s house.

After breakfast, Mo Mo greeted her daughter and told her she was heading to the county seat to buy some things, preparing to treat the villagers to a meal the next day. Leaving the village, she pulled out a small electric scooter—too lazy to walk the seventeen or eighteen kilometers to town.

She asked the three little treasures to keep watch and, if anyone came close, to immediately store her back in the space. The sight of a beautiful ancient village beauty rushing along the mountain road on a small electric scooter was quite a spectacle. Snap! The three little treasures raised a paw and captured the scene.

“Excellent, Sister Mo’s photo album just got another addition.”

Upon arriving at the county seat, Mo Mo noticed the streets were nearly deserted. Prices of rice and flour had gone up, and many shops were closed. The city gates, once manned by officials collecting entry fees, were now unattended.

“Hmm, strange…” Mo Mo murmured.

She had the three little treasures investigate and discovered that two days prior, the government had issued a notice, which had been posted for only half a day before being torn down.

The announcement came from the Imperial Observatory, observing the sky and noting persistent red clouds that refused to dissipate and abnormal brightness in the firmament. It warned that for the next two to three years there would be no rain and extremely high temperatures, urging all regions to prepare for drought.

Upon receiving the news, some well-off merchants in the city had already closed their shops early and fled south with their families. Others waited until the county magistrate left the next day to follow suit. Ordinary people clung to hope and began stockpiling grain.

Mo Mo was speechless. “Wow, they only posted the notice for half a day and then tore it down. Who are they trying to guard against?”

The three little treasures rested atop her head, flicking their tails. “Villagers rarely come to the county. Those who do and want to inquire can find out easily—it’s just a matter of a few days’ delay. The magistrate fears being stopped when he leaves tomorrow, but still has a conscience. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have posted the notice at all.”

“Right,” Mo Mo replied.

Exiting the city, she once again pulled out her electric scooter. Nearing the village, she stored it in the space, glanced around to ensure no one was watching, and then took out a cart.

She loaded it with a basket of marbled pork, a basket of prepared chicken, and another of duck meat, along with several baskets of vegetables, a tray of tofu, and a few ten-pound jars of Fenjiu liquor. Thinking of fruits that didn’t ripen in spring, she added a basket of starfruit and green jujubes.

Pushing the cart toward the village, she reached the village entrance and spotted a mother and daughter squatting beside a haystack, staring with wide eyes at her.

They were the village chief’s daughter and granddaughter.

Village Chief Chen Qingxiang had a son and a daughter. His eldest son, Chen Youliang, married a woman surnamed Li and had two sons. The second daughter, Chen Youhua, had been childhood friends with the original owner and married Wei Qi, the owner of a county restaurant, bearing a daughter named Wei Nannan.

The two women rose and approached Mo Mo.

“Sister Mo, how come you’re pushing so easily with all those things? Did you take some magic potion or something?” The woman, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, wore a green ruqun dress, her hair pinned up simply with a silver hairpin. She had a full figure, a round face, and a clear, bright voice.

Beside her was a little girl of about ten, dressed in a matching green skirt, with twin buns in her hair. She resembled her mother, with a round, beautiful, and adorable face.