Chapter 1: Countdown to Transmigration—One

"Mom, the second baby is hungry and crying badly. Could you give me a handful of millet? I'll cook some rice soup for him." The little boy carried a wailing infant on his back, his dirty little hands nervously rubbing together.

"Endure it! Cry, cry, cry—crying all day long. Take him out, don't bother me. Both of you are nothing but trouble." The woman impatiently shouted a couple of times, then turned away to continue sleeping.

Tears streamed down the boy's cheeks as he silently carried his wailing brother, struggling to open the door and leave.

Li Qingyun jolted awake, sitting up abruptly. Why was she having this dream again? It was so vivid, as if she had lived it herself, painfully real. Was it truly just a dream?

Could it be a sign she was about to transmigrate? As a fan of novels, she had read plenty of stories about time travel and rebirth, often imagining how she would act if it happened to her. But she never expected that one day, such things might actually happen.

Three days ago, Li Qingyun accidentally broke the jade pendant her grandmother had left her, and unexpectedly gained a space. From that day onward, she had nightly dreams about the boy—never enough to eat, never warm enough, endless chores, and a mother worse than any stepmother. Life was bitterer than gall.

She wore tattered clothes, her face never clean, and though she herself went hungry, she still saved food for her brother.

Li Qingyun was furious, itching to rush into her dream and give that woman a good beating. Was this really a mother? If she didn’t want to raise them, she shouldn’t have given birth. To bear children and not care for them was worse than animals.

Calming herself, Li Qingyun decided she had to do something. This string of events made her feel deeply insecure. If, by some accident, she really transmigrated to the era of her dreams, she’d be utterly helpless.

Judging by the dream, it was likely the 1970s or 1980s, as depicted in period novels. The woman slept on a large northern kang bed, the house was low and shabby, and the boy’s clothes were so gray and patched that their original color was indiscernible.

Li Qingyun’s jade pendant space wasn’t very large—about the size of a fifty-square-meter room. She had already tested it: food could be stored and kept fresh, but nothing else was special. Essentially, she had a portable warehouse.

Lost in thought, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed in her mind.

"Countdown: 24 hours."

Hearing this, Li Qingyun could no longer sit still. She sprang to her feet.

She found pen and paper and began drafting a plan. The funds she could use totaled about 180,000 yuan. This was the sum she had scrimped and saved over three years since graduating college, working numerous jobs.

Her original plan was to save up 200,000 yuan for a down payment and buy a home—her lifelong dream for over twenty years.

Now it seemed buying a house was out of the question, and who knew what lay ahead? She had to fill her space to the brim with this 180,000 yuan. If she truly ended up in the circumstances of her dream, at least she wouldn’t starve.

She began listing the supplies she needed, focusing first on food, clothing, shelter, and transport. Food was paramount—being able to eat well and stay warm was happiness in the 70s and 80s. Didn’t the boy in her dream long desperately for a handful of millet?

She divided her needs into staple foods, seasonings, meat, beverages, vegetables, fruits, various seeds, medical supplies, household items, personal goods, and other daily necessities.

Organizing her thoughts, Li Qingyun quickly tidied herself, then went downstairs to rent a temporary warehouse on a street corner and noted its precise location.

Next, she hopped onto her electric scooter and began her grand shopping spree, her first stop a nearby large food wholesale market.

Though she was from the north and loved noodles, her years at university in the south had influenced her, and now she preferred rice with dishes. Rice, flour, assorted grains, and beans were indispensable.

She entered the largest wholesale shop, where the owner welcomed her warmly. After inquiring about prices, Li Qingyun directly stated her order: five thousand jin of Wuchang rice, three thousand jin of wheat flour, five hundred jin of self-rising flour, five hundred jin of cornmeal, three hundred jin of whole wheat flour, two hundred jin each of rye and buckwheat flour, two hundred jin of dried noodles, and assorted grains and beans, each a hundred jin.

Staples, sorted.

The shop owner was stunned by the quantities. She eyed the girl, who rode an electric scooter and looked ordinary, yet turned out to be a major client.

Worried Li Qingyun might be joking, the owner probed about the purpose of such a large purchase. Li Qingyun replied that she was buying for a large company’s kitchen, which settled the matter.

The owner took out pen and paper, jotting down the order while quoting prices.

Li Qingyun noticed various oils in the store and approached, saying, "A hundred liters each of peanut oil, corn oil, and olive oil. Three hundred liters each of soybean oil, blended oil, and rapeseed oil."

From the spice section, she ordered two hundred packs of salt, a hundred packs of sugar, fifty packs of rock sugar, a hundred packs of brown sugar, thirty jars of honey, fifty liters of light soy sauce, twenty liters of dark soy sauce, thirty liters of vinegar, twenty liters of oyster sauce, and assorted spices and braising seasonings.

The owner tallied it all up, tapping away at the calculator, and gave her a total: 53,750 yuan.

Li Qingyun did a quick mental calculation—it was about right. Five thousand jin of top-quality Wuchang rice alone cost nearly 20,000 yuan, three thousand jin of flour nearly 10,000, the oils came to about 16,000-17,000, and she hadn’t even factored in the assorted grains, beans, and spices.

But a good buyer always bargains hard.

"Boss, since I’m buying so much at once, I’m a big client, right? Give me your best price—I’ll come again next time," Li Qingyun said with a smile.

"You’re from the north too, aren’t you? I can tell by your accent. Let’s call ourselves half-countrymen. I’ll round it down for you: 50,000. But you must come back next time and support my business," the owner replied.

"Can’t you go a bit lower, sister? If I buy at this price, my boss will have my head," Li Qingyun pleaded.

"No lower, big girl. But I’ll throw in a bag of sweet potato starch and a bag of glutinous rice flour, each a hundred jin. That’s my best offer, deal?"

Li Qingyun felt that was fair—no need to squeeze out every penny, and the owner seemed honest. She paid a deposit of 20,000 yuan, left the warehouse address, and arranged for delivery in an hour, to pay the remaining 30,000 upon arrival.

After paying, Li Qingyun felt a pang—money vanished too quickly. She’d hardly bought anything, and nearly a third of her funds was gone.

With staples sorted, she headed to the meat wholesale area. Chicken, duck, fish, beef, lamb, and pork were all essentials. Unlike grains, she couldn’t buy all from one shop, which was troublesome.

She visited six different stores, ordering thirty chickens, thirty ducks, thirty fish of various kinds, fifty jin of beef, two lamb legs, and for pork, she directly ordered two whole pigs, plus thirty jin of frozen shrimp.

With her silver tongue, she managed to spend a total of 9,000 yuan.

Having spent so much on grains, she had to budget the rest for other necessities, so she started with these quantities.

Passing the seafood section while buying shrimp, she was tempted to buy some seafood for storage, but economic constraints made her postpone it for now—maybe later, if funds allowed.

Eggs were a hot commodity in the 70s and 80s, so she bought extra. With the space keeping them fresh, she didn't worry about spoilage.

She ordered 1,000 chicken eggs, 500 duck eggs, and 300 goose eggs—for a total of over 3,000 yuan, and after haggling, settled at 3,000.

In the fruit section, she waved her hand grandly, ordering 100 jin each of apples and pears, 50 jin of peaches, 50 jin of cherries, 100 jin of lychees, 20 jin of mangoes, 200 jin of tangerines, 100 jin of oranges, 20 watermelons, 50 jin of dried persimmons, and 100 jin of grapes.

Her little treasury shrank by another 4,000 yuan.