Ordinary observers in fast time travel

Time flew by, and the day for the village chief's feast arrived in the blink of an eye. Shi Jia, unusually, didn't go up the mountain and went to the village chief's house early to join in the fun, helping to pick and wash vegetables.

"The bride is here!" Suddenly, cheers erupted in front of the door, and people who were idly eating melon seeds rushed out.

Shi Jia also squeezed to the front. The bride was fair-skinned and beautiful, wearing a red dress, and her face was full of joy.

This appearance was more vibrant than the one Shi Jia had seen before, and there seemed to be a glimmer of hope in its eyes.

Shi Jia raised an eyebrow but declined to comment.

With the village chief's protection, the bride's life should be pretty good for the next year. As for whether she will regret it or make a different choice a year later, that's another story.

The village chief seemed to value this new bride highly, so he lavishly prepared a banquet with ten tables and a variety of delicious dishes, including fish and meat, making it a very respectable affair.

Shi Jia ate until his belly was round and full without any hesitation before returning home satisfied.

After that day, the temperature began to drop, and Xinghua Village seemed to suddenly become desolate. Seeing that heavy snow was about to fall, Shi Jia hurriedly went to the town again, sold the medicinal herbs, and exchanged them for enough food and warm clothing to get through the winter.

Upon returning, Shi Jia didn't rest. She began repairing the house, tidying the rooms, and stockpiling firewood. Watching the room gradually become clean, tidy, warm, and comfortable, she nodded in satisfaction. Her initial unease slowly disappeared.

That night, a cold wind quietly arrived. Shi Jia shivered in her sleep, then huddled closer to the covers, wrapping herself up like a dumpling before finally falling into a deep sleep.

The next day, Shi Jia was eventually woken up by the cold.

She shivered as she put on her cotton-padded coat, walked to the window, and carefully opened it a crack. A blast of icy air rushed in. She shivered, resisting the urge to close the window, and looked outside, only to see a vast expanse of white.

"Snowing?"

Shi Jia quickly put on another piece of clothing before opening the door and heading towards the kitchen.

She ladled a basin of water into the pot, squatted down, and picked up the matchbox. Pushing the matchbox aside, she took out a match, struck it hard against the side, and with a "sizzle," the match lit. She quickly placed the match under the dry grass, and the flame instantly roared to life.

Shi Jia picked up a smaller piece of firewood and added it to the fire. Once the smaller piece of firewood was burning, he then added a larger piece of wood.

Looking at the roaring flames in the stove, Shi Jia felt very warm and relaxed. She turned and went into the storage room, took out five or six potatoes, and washed them clean with warm water in a pot. Then she put them in the pot to boil.

Shi Jia leisurely finished her breakfast in the kitchen when she suddenly heard a commotion outside. Puzzled, she went out to investigate.

A thin layer of snow covered the ground in the courtyard, making a crunching sound as Shi Jia stepped on it. Reaching the gate, she first removed the large wooden beam supporting the door and set it aside, then slid the latch to the left. With both hands, Shi Jia pulled the door open and saw villagers hurrying past.

"Uncle, what happened?" Shi Jia called out to a passerby.

"Grandma Mu left last night." After saying that, the uncle waved his hand at Shi Jia, "You children should stay at home and not come out."

After he finished speaking, he picked up a load of firewood and hurriedly left.

Shi Jia blinked. She didn't have much of an impression of Granny Mu, but vaguely remembered that she was about the same age as Granny Wu. She guessed that the sudden drop in temperature last night hadn't made it through.

Shi Jia looked at the neighboring courtyard, feeling a little worried about Granny Wu's condition. She wondered how the old lady was doing now.

Thinking of this, Shi Jia hurriedly went home to get the remaining three potatoes and knocked on the door next door.

"Oh? Xiaohua? What's the matter?" The one who opened the door was Granny Wu's granddaughter-in-law, whose name seemed to be Ai Di.

"Has Grandma had breakfast yet?" Shi Jia craned her neck to look inside. "She's eating right now. Come in quickly, it's cold outside." She hurriedly invited Shi Jia in. Shi Jia was led to Grandma Wu's room, which was actually the room right next to the kitchen.

The room was dimly lit and the air wasn't very fresh, but it was very warm.

"Xiao Hua, you're here! Have you had breakfast yet?" Granny Wu waved to Shi Jia.

"Eat it. I also brought you two potatoes." Shi Jia stuffed the potatoes from his arms into Granny Wu's hands.

"Take it back! I have food. Why are you giving me potatoes?" Granny Wu pretended to be angry and tried to stuff the potatoes back.

Shi Jia, of course, had no intention of taking the potato back. Instead, she turned around and gave the remaining potato to her younger brother.

"Here you are, my dear brother and sister-in-law."

"No need." Ai Di naturally wouldn't accept it either, but he couldn't persuade Shi Jia otherwise, so he took it anyway.

Shi Jia chatted with Granny Wu for a while before returning home.

Shi Jia had a peaceful winter, and Xinghua Village was also peaceful. Except for a few older people who did not survive, everyone else got through the winter safely.

But as soon as spring arrived, two explosive news stories emerged.

The household responsibility system and the college entrance examination have resumed!
The former brought cheers from the entire village, while the latter brought cheers from the young people who had gone to the countryside.

Upon hearing this news, Shi Jia was momentarily stunned. According to the main world's history, there was still a year to go. But she quickly realized that this was, after all, a parallel world; how could it possibly develop according to the main world's timeline?
There must have been a branching at some point, otherwise how could parallel worlds have been created?

Regardless of the fact that she was taking the college entrance exam again, Shi Jia accelerated her plans. She went to school to register for the new semester and started sixth grade. She would be able to start junior high school in September.

Busy with her work, Shi Jia was unaware that the village chief's newlywed daughter-in-law was causing trouble at the wedding because of the resumption of the college entrance examination. However, although the daughter-in-law was not very nice, it was a family matter after all, and the people of Xinghua Village, while busy with their farming, only treated it as gossip.

Shi Jia was unaware of this; every day after school, she had to tend to the medicinal herb fields on the back mountain. Indeed, this spring, she was also allocated two mu of land, all of which she chose for the mountainside.

After the spring, she cleared out all two acres of land and planted medicinal herbs. Now, several months later, the herbs are growing very well.

"Knock knock!" Early that morning, Shi Jia was tending her vegetable garden in the yard when she suddenly heard a series of urgent knocks on the door. She opened the door and saw the village chief's new daughter-in-law, Wen Yueyin, whose name she couldn't recall. There was also a girl with two braids named Shu Xiaobai.

In the past few months, the young people who went to the countryside have caused quite a stir in Xinghua Village. Although Shi Jia did not pay special attention, he heard a lot of news from Granny Wu.

"Li Xiaohua, we need to talk to you. Can we come in?"

Shi Jia nodded. "Come in."

Wen Yueyin turned around and closed the door.

"Your yard is so well-maintained," Shu Xiaobai said. It was clean and tidy, unlike the messy, dirty, and chicken-manure-covered homes of other villagers.

Shi Jia smiled and brought out two cups of chrysanthemum tea from the kitchen. The chrysanthemums were picked from the mountain last year, but there weren't many, so she didn't sell them.

"Thank you."

"Please sit down," Shi Jia said, gesturing to the two chairs beside her. (End of Chapter)