The group chat system's announcements never ceased. The scene was frozen, without even a breeze.
In the eyes of Lin Xi and Zhong Shuyan, Liu Chenger vanished into thin air for an instant, then reappeared. The expression on her face was vastly different from before. Previously, her demeanor had been seductive.
Now, her expression carried an indescribable gentleness.
A massive screen materialized before Lin Xi's eyes.
On the screen, Liu Chenger was returned to her original dimension. She woke up in a small, dilapidated hut. After waking, she looked at her own bony, flat-chested, and flat-bottomed figure, then examined her rough hands and sallow skin, worn from years of labor, and completely lost it.
She went berserk, smashing things in the room. The faint sounds of music and revelry drifted through layers of courtyards to her ears, driving her to scream and shout in fury. Ever since being bound by the "Color System," Liu Chenger hadn't had such a meltdown in a long time.
But now, the system had been forcibly stripped from her. She had called out to the system many times, but there was never a response. With no answer, Liu Chenger finally gave up hope.
Sitting on the wooden plank bed, smelling the slightly moldy quilt, she began to calm down. She started thinking about why she had been discovered.
She finally remembered—it was after that girl named Lin Xi arrived! Before Lin Xi came, she was the ruler of that world. She could do whatever she wanted, and no one could ever stop her!
And that "Transmigrator Group Chat System" that sent her back, what on earth was that thing? How could it just send her back directly?
Ahhhhh, that bitch, that bitch!!! Liu Chenger started smashing things again.
The gatekeeper servant nearby arrived. Lexi, wearing clothes that were blackened and shiny with grime, kicked open Liu Chenger's door with a stick in hand: "What madness are you up to now?"
Amidst the shattered debris on the floor, Liu Chenger looked at the servant. Her gaze unconsciously turned seductive.
Liu Chenger remembered this servant. He was her first man. In her previous life, also on this day, at this time, she was bound by the Collection System. The first thing she did was sleep with this servant, whom she normally wouldn't give a second glance.
But in those circumstances, this servant was the only man she could get close to!
Looking at the servant's unremarkable appearance and short stature, an uncontrollable longing rose in Liu Chenger's heart—what if the Collection System hadn't left? Even if there was only a sliver of hope, Liu Chenger wanted to try.
Just like in her previous life, she swayed gracefully towards the servant, placed her hand on his chest, and drew circles. The servant's eyes lit up, and he pushed her onto the moldy bed.
Then the screen went black, with a few words appearing about suspected illegal content.
Lin Xi: ...She could understand. After all, the system realm had started a "clean-up campaign," and all "Color Systems" were gone. It made sense that this would involve illegal content.
She could also understand Liu Chenger's actions. Those accustomed to taking shortcuts cannot walk the normal path. She had obtained a cheat, used it to live a life she could never have imagined, and then had it suddenly ripped away. It was possible she just couldn't accept it.
However, without the enhancement of the Color System, it was impossible for Liu Chenger to walk the path she did before. That Color System, if nothing else, was good at applying makeup for Liu Chenger. After all, it was a sort of beauty filter effect. With that makeup on her face, her attractiveness was instantly boosted several levels.
Moreover, that Color System was also adept at drugging people. Without needing to watch further, Lin Xi could imagine Liu Chenger's fate from here on out.
The floating screen dissipated into the air.
[Ding. Transmigrator Chat Group System Announcement: All affected individuals in the current world have been restored. Memories of the majority have been erased. This restoration is complete.]
The card flew back into Lin Xi's hand. The frozen time rapidly rewound. Sun Xiaoyun and her sister-in-law retreated behind Eldest Brother Lu and Fourth Brother Lu.
Lin Xi heard a snap. Birds that had been frozen mid-flight flapped their wings and continued on their way. Cuckoos in the mountains began calling "cuckoo, cuckoo" again. Old Man Lu and the Lu brothers were still in a standoff.
Only the reason for their standoff had been altered. It was now because Old Man Lu wanted to drain the family's resources to send Third Brother Lu to study at the academy.
Second Brother Lu led the village elders and the village chief into the Lu family courtyard.
Old Man Lu didn't feel anything was amiss at all.
Eldest Brother Lu stood with Fourth Brother Lu, faces dark, confronting Old Man Lu.
The Lu clan elders arrived. Eldest Brother Lu courteously welcomed the village chief and elders inside. Because Eldest Brother Lu, Second Brother Lu, and Fourth Brother Lu insisted on dividing the family, and Zhong Shuyan wanted to live with the three brothers,
the division proceeded smoothly. Both farmland and property were divided among the three brothers. Since each parent was assigned to a different son, the elderly couple's share of land was split in two—one part for Zhong Shuyan, one part for Old Man Lu.
After pressing their fingerprints on the division document, Old Man Lu's face remained dark. The three Lu brothers went together to the mountains, soon returning with plenty of materials for a fence, which they erected along the division line.
The Lu family had three main rooms and six side rooms in total (three east, three west). The kitchen was a makeshift shed attached to the side of the east wing.
With the house divided, the east wing went to Eldest Brother Lu, the west wing to Second Brother Lu. The extra small room on Second Brother Lu's side was given to Fourth Brother Lu to live in.
The fence was placed right by the windows, leaving only a passageway about one or two meters wide.
Zhong Shuyan's matter was settled for now, but to make the act convincing, Lin Xi needed to stay at the Lu house for a night or two.
Liu Chenger had stayed in her room the whole time. It wasn't until the three Lu brothers finished putting up the fence that she finally came out.
Her face was deathly pale. From the moment she woke up until now, she had been in a daze. Her memories from the past month or so were blurry, as if veiled by a soft gauze, hazy and utterly unreal.
Third Brother Lu had emerged during the division. He had no objections to it; he was aware of his brothers' dissatisfaction with him.
But so what? No matter how much they resented him, when he needed money, they would still have to obediently fork it over.
After all, they shared glory and loss. Having a scholar like him in the family was an honor for the entire clan. When the time came, he wouldn't even need to step forward himself; the clan elders who came today to oversee the division could pressure them into contributing for him.
After discussing matters with his father, he returned to the west room. Liu Chenger was sitting on the bed holding Lu Panpan, tears streaming down her face. She didn't even know why she was crying, but seeing Lu Panpan filled her heart with an unstoppable sadness.
Lu Panpan nestled obediently in Liu Chenger's arms, feeling utterly at peace.
When Third Brother Lu returned and saw the mother and daughter weeping, his brow furrowed tightly. Thinking of Liu Chenger's father, he suppressed his impatience.
"What's wrong? Homesick? Didn't we agree before coming back that we'd only stay at home for a while before returning?" Third Brother Lu softened his voice, sat down beside Liu Chenger, and put his arm around her.
Liu Chenger sprang up instantly. Looking at Third Brother Lu's handsome face, which she had once adored, she now found it utterly revolting. She actually turned around and retched.
Her reaction made Third Brother Lu's eyes light up instantly.
"Fourth Lady, are you... with child?" Although Liu Chenger's parents only had her, a daughter, the family ranked children together. Her uncle had three daughters, so she was the fourth. "Fourth Lady" was an intimate name between the couple.
Liu Chenger turned her head, looked at Third Brother Lu, and a cold sneer appeared at the corner of her mouth. "Me, pregnant? With what? You've been day and night with Widow Zhang from the east of the city, you've probably forgotten how long it's been since you last stepped onto my bed, right?"
Tears welled in Liu Chenger's eyes. Widow Zhang was beautiful and skilled at putting on an act. At some point, Third Brother Lu had gotten involved with her.
Why had they come back? Wasn't it precisely because his affair with Widow Zhang had been exposed, and he was afraid of retaliation or blackmail from Widow Zhang's in-laws, that they had fled back here?
Liu Chenger had originally intended to swallow this grievance. Men were all fickle; even her own father had three or four concubines. At least Third Brother Lu hadn't brought that woman home.
But now, looking at Third Brother Lu's face, she felt nothing but disgust. "If I really were pregnant, would you dare let me have it?"
Liu Chenger took Lu Panpan and left. She went straight to find her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. They were all gathered in Eldest Girl Lu's room in the west wing.
Lin Xi was examining Sun Xiaoyun and Zhang Xiaocao's needlework. Their embroidery was excellent; the flowers they embroidered were incredibly beautiful.
On a piece of black silk, Lin Xi even saw double-sided embroidery.
This astonished Lin Xi. "Second sister-in-law, you figured this out yourself? That's amazing!"
In all her life, except for when she gave birth to the twins, Zhang Xiaocao had never been praised like this. Being praised for having twins hadn't stirred much emotion in her heart.
But embroidery was different. It was something Zhang Xiaocao had loved since childhood. Faced with Lin Xi's direct and intense praise, a shy smile appeared on her face, and the tips of her ears turned red.
"Previously, when the county magistrate's mother celebrated her fiftieth birthday, the embroidery shop we sell to brought in a finished embroidered Buddha image from out of town. It had patterns on both sides. I stood and looked at it for a very, very long time. On the way back, I started thinking about how I could embroider something like that."
"I'm not good enough yet," Zhang Xiaocao said honestly. She truly felt she was still far, far from matching that Buddha image.
"No, it's already very, very good." Looking at the double-sided peony embroidery, an idea formed in Lin Xi's mind.
Her homestay was well-decorated, and now even tourists came specifically to stay. Many guests had asked to buy the decorations in the rooms.
Those decorations were specially embroidered by artisans Xu Huanhuan had found; each piece was a work of art. Selling them too expensive made the tourists reluctant, but selling them too cheap felt like a loss.
What Sun Xiaoyun and Zhang Xiaocao embroidered was different. Although their embroidery might not match the artisans Xu Huanhuan hired, it was already much better than modern machine embroidery. No matter how beautiful machine embroidery was, it always carried a certain stiffness. The flowers Sun Xiaoyun and Zhang Xiaocao embroidered had a natural liveliness to them.
She pulled Zhong Shuyan aside to discuss business.
It was at this moment that Liu Chenger arrived. Her eyes red, she greeted everyone after entering the room, then sat on the bed in a daze.
After being restored by the world, Lu Panpan had regained her former clever and lively nature. Looking at her, Lin Xi thought of the life ruined by the "color novel" female lead in her previous existence. She secretly took a piece of rock sugar from her space and slipped it into the child's mouth.
This child had suffered too much in her past life; Lin Xi hoped she would have a smoother journey this time. Seeing Eldest Girl Lu beside her, Lin Xi grabbed another handful and placed it in her hand.
"Go share it with your younger brothers and sisters," Lin Xi said, stroking her hair.
Eldest Girl Lu was twelve years old. Being treated like a child made her a bit shy, but inwardly she was overjoyed. She took Lu Panpan's hand, and they ran out together.
Lin Xi and Zhong Shuyan moved closer to Sun Xiaoyun and the others, watching them embroider. Lin Xi took out her phone to contact Lu Shenzhi.
Soon after, Lu Shenzhi sent over the plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum patterns he had sketched in his spare time.
"Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law, do you think you can embroider these patterns?" Lin Xi handed the patterns to the sisters-in-law.
Looking at the vivid patterns, they were entranced. Education wasn't widespread in ancient times, and even fewer people could paint. The patterns Sun Xiaoyun and her sister-in-law knew were common ones. No matter how well they embroidered, it was hard to achieve great distinction. Beautiful patterns like plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum were usually only embroidered by professional artisans in embroidery workshops.
It wasn't that they couldn't embroider them. First, they lacked good fabric. Second, they lacked good embroidery thread. Third, their hands weren't smooth enough to avoid snagging the silk.
When it came to something she loved, Zhang Xiaocao was no longer shy. She voiced all her thoughts.
Lin Xi said, "Those aren't problems. As long as you can embroider them, I'll take care of the threads and everything else. From today on, you just need to take good care of your hands. I'll bring special hand cream later; you just need to apply it regularly."
Sun Xiaoyun and Zhang Xiaocao looked at each other. Zhong Shuyan directly made the decision.
At this point, Liu Chenger finally snapped out of her daze. Looking at Sun Xiaoyun and the others, she finally made a major decision.
She wanted a divorce from Third Brother Lu. Her uncle served as a county magistrate in Yunnan Province. After divorcing, she could take her daughter and live there; her uncle wouldn't object.
Her parents only had her, one daughter, and always indulged her. Just like when she insisted on marrying Third Brother Lu—her father had a thousand, ten thousand objections to Third Brother Lu, but in the end, he still let her marry him.
That night, Lin Xi and Zhong Shuyan shared a bed. Liu Chenger also did not return to Third Brother Lu's room.
Third Brother Lu had his own pride. Since Liu Chenger didn't return, he didn't come to call for her either.
Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Zhong Shuyan had already seen Lin Xi off to the village entrance.
Just as she was about to click to return, a system message popped up.
[System Message: Detected that the ancient female physician Chu Yi is in mortal danger. Proceed to rescue? Yes/No?]
[System Message: Welcome, ancient female physician Chu Yi, to the group chat.]
