The jade pendant connects the past and present; the exiled crown prince's wife takes her entire

Sister Liang is in trouble!

There was a clanging and banging sound on the other end of the phone, as if someone was smashing something. Liang Cheng's crying was filled with uncontrollable anger and sorrow, and Jiang Jinning's heart clenched.

She didn't know much about Liang Cheng's family background, only that she was an extremely optimistic and positive woman. When she talked about her parents, she always had a satisfied and happy smile on her face, saying that she had the greatest and best parents in the world.

Could it be that something happened to her parents?

There were several people talking on the other end of the phone; their voices were fierce and menacing.

"All of Liang Chaoyou's assets have been frozen, and his real estate will be auctioned off at a later date. Although this house is registered under your mother's name, she voluntarily put it up for sale. We are just following normal procedures. Please cooperate with our work."

"Cheng'er, let's... go... Your father is gone, there's no point in us staying here..."

"But, but this is our home! How can we sell our home with Daddy?... Mom, we can't do this!"

"Cheng'er! This is your father's wish!"

After the loud noise, there was only endless silence.

Jiang Jinning has been in this world for almost a month now, and she understands many things. It turns out that Liang Cheng's father's business ran into trouble, and he... is gone.

Liang Cheng loves her parents so much, always calling them "Dad" and "Mom," how could she accept her father's departure!

"Sister Liang..."

There was no response from the other end of the phone for a long, long time. Jiang Jinning waited and heard Liang Cheng's suppressed sobs, her wailing, and her heartbreaking cries of "Dad." Only then did she speak in an almost numb voice.

"Jin Ning,"

Liang Cheng across from her seemed to be trying to appear less sad, and her tone was trying to be as cheerful as possible, but she just couldn't manage it.

"I don't have a father anymore."

"Sister Liang..."

Jiang Jinning felt as if a stone was stuck in her throat; she was very sad but didn't know how to comfort her sister from another world who had lost her loved ones.

She never met her mother. Her father and stepmother abandoned her in a desolate little courtyard. As far back as she could remember, it was Granny Qian who took care of her. She was a very, very good person.

But Granny Qian fell ill; she was too sick to get out of bed. She rushed out of the courtyard to the main courtyard and begged her stepmother to fetch a doctor. Her stepmother refused, saying in a cold tone:

"He's just a servant, not even as precious as my little raccoon. So what if he dies?"

Granny Qian eventually died in her arms. She was so heartbroken she wanted to die. She had even bought rat poison, intending to go with Granny Qian. But Granny Qian appeared in her dream, anxiously searching for her and telling her:

"Little Jinning, you must live well and make the most of the days that your mother didn't get to live enough."

Jiang Jinning's eyes welled up with tears, and a relieved smile spread across her face.

"Sister Liang, you must live a good life, and live out all the days your father didn't get to live."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by even more agonizing cries of pain.

After a long while, Liang Cheng seemed to come to her senses, her voice choked with sobs.

"Jin Ning, can you come with me somewhere?"

The place Liang Cheng and she agreed to meet was behind the flea market, where there were rows of shops, all with an antique feel, and the shop decorations even had a style reminiscent of the Great Li Dynasty.

Jiang Jinning only learned later that this place must be in the future, perhaps hundreds of years later. The city is W City, a famous 5A-level scenic spot. This area belongs to an ancient town, said to be a remnant of a certain dynasty, so it tries to restore the ancient and rustic flavor of that time as much as possible.

Standing at the street corner, gazing at the ancient town, Jiang Jinning had a strange feeling of being overwhelmed by its grandeur.

"Jin Ning".

Liang Cheng jogged over and waved to her.

Jiang Jinning glanced at her up and down and found that apart from her eyes being severely swollen and her face being somewhat pale, she was in good spirits, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sister Liang, are you alright?"

Liang Cheng instinctively tried to put on a smile, but found that she couldn't pull it off no matter what she did; she could only manage a half-smile, half-crying expression.

"I'm fine... You wouldn't believe me even if I said I'm fine, but I'm actually very sad. But you're right, I can't give up. I have to live out the days my father didn't get to live."

Liang Cheng wiped away her tears, finally managed a smile, and linked arms with Jiang Jinning as they walked, introducing the place as they went.

"Actually, I wanted to take you to see a shop. My dad's company went bankrupt, and everything... But it's okay, we can still get by. My great-grandmother, my mom's maternal grandmother, left her an old shop. She said it has a history of over 500 years. I think it used to be called Qizhen Pavilion, selling some rare and unusual things. As for me, I can't find any rare and unusual things, but I can sew, and so can my mom. In recent years, with the government supporting the revival of Hanfu, I've been planning to open a small shop selling Hanfu, along with hairpins and bracelets. Like that dress you made for me last time, I searched through all the information but couldn't find out which dynasty it was from. I was just about to ask you about it, but that's not important. What I want to do is bring you along to see what the shop is like."

They hadn't walked far when they arrived at a locked shop. Liang Cheng unlocked it and went inside.

Once inside, I was surprised to find a hidden gem. The small shop outside actually had several floors, all very well maintained, dust-free and spotless.

"I heard that five hundred years ago, this shop sold instant noodles, just like our instant noodles now. They also had towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and even seeds with high yields. Upstairs they sold jewelry and clothes, so it was called the Pavilion of Rare Treasures because they had everything."

A strange feeling suddenly welled up in Jiang Jinning's heart, as if this shop had an inexplicable relationship with her.

"Here's what I'm planning: I love making jewelry, I've dabbled in things like heat shrink, glass, and kingfisher feather inlay. I also know basic sewing, though my mom is better at it than I am. The Hanfu you gave me last time, my mom saw it and said the stitches were so fine that she felt like the clothes were made by hand, not by a sewing machine. So I was thinking if possible, could we ask someone from your family to do the work? Oh, right, the embroidery you gave me, my mom framed it and said it was an intangible cultural heritage, some kind of embroidery, but I don't really understand it anyway."

Here's what I'm thinking: if it's inconvenient for your family to come to the shop, you can do it at home. It's priced by piece, and custom orders will definitely be more expensive. The same goes for your wrapping flowers; it's priced by piece. Also, at the end of the year, you'll receive a share of the profits based on your technical expertise, so it won't affect your ability to set up a stall or anything like that.

Oh, I'm planning to start a live stream account, and sometimes I might need to film some everyday moments. It would be even better if you could participate. How about you discuss it with your family?

Jiang Jinning knew about that; she said it was called something like VLOG.

There were other ways to make money, plus dividends, which was like a windfall. Jiang Jinning agreed without hesitation.

However, I still need to inform my family about this.

"Sister Liang, I have no objection to this, but my mother does the embroidery and sewing, so I need to ask her about it. I also have a younger sister who makes excellent purses; if you need them, I can bring them to you another day."

"That's exactly what I want! I'm short on cash!"

After exchanging a few more words with Liang Cheng and seeing that she was in much better spirits than before, Jiang Jinning felt relieved and went back home.

At this moment, over on the other side of Dali, the village chief of Xiejiao Village was rubbing his hands together and discussing something with Zheng Jiechai.

"We agreed on five coins a night for a thatched hut and two coins a night for a large shed, but now you're raising the price again, saying a thatched hut will cost fifteen coins. Do you think I'm a sucker?"

The village chief's eyes flashed with a sharp light, then he suddenly put on a mournful face and cried out, "Oh dear, sir, you don't know how hard it is for us farmers who toil in the fields. This year's harvest was bad, and we've also been hit by increased taxes. We're barely surviving. You officials are blessed with long life and good fortune, and you're clearly kind-hearted people. Please, have mercy on us poor folks."

Increase taxes?

Zheng Jiechai sensed something fishy was going on and wanted to investigate and gather evidence of the corrupt officials in the village to present as a reward, but the village chief just kept crying, which made him impatient.

"What does your pity have to do with me? If you're going to pity me, go find the county magistrate. I don't owe you anything. Five coins is five coins, no more!"