Finally able to sleep in, Cheng Ruyi slept until the sun was high in the sky and so bright that it was blindingly hot before reluctantly getting out of bed.

Looking back on everything that has happened these past few days, it feels like a dream!

The disappearance of children, underground caves, battles with bandits, the White Lotus Sect, quarry rituals, and finally, jumping off a cliff...

It was far too much of a thrill and excitement for her to handle. If things hadn't been so urgent, if she had had more time to think, she would never have made such a choice.

She had always thought of herself as cautious and valuing her life, but was she wrong? Could it be that she actually had an adventurous streak deep down? Impossible... It must be due to the influence of the original owner of this body, hmm! It must be!

Actually, the reason she jumped off the cliff with the wooden box that day was twofold: firstly, there was no better way at the time, as neither Guo Xiaoyu nor the people of Dongming County could save her; and secondly, she suddenly realized that she had actually been to this area before.

That's right, the wild lake we went to when we were catching crabs was at the bend at the bottom of the cliff, which means that this is indeed the upper reaches of the Jinshui River!

Thinking of the water-repelling beads she carried and the outstanding performance of the Crimson Thorn, she chose to trust the system's creation and dared to jump down.

As it turned out, the water-repellent bead performed even better than expected. The moment it hit the water, the barrier bubbles instantly solidified, so it was not damaged by the impact at all, but simply sank slowly and steadily into the water.

Fifteen minutes later, she followed the current to the edge of the woods on the outskirts of the city. When she climbed ashore, she was completely clean, without a drop of water, including the wooden box in her arms.

After resting on the shore for a while, she picked up the wooden box in her hand and had time to examine it carefully for the first time.

The wooden box looks different from ordinary boxes; there's no way to open it. Turns out, it's a mechanical wooden box!

Although Cheng Ruyi had never played it herself, as an internet addict, she had watched many similar explanation videos online and felt that it shouldn't be too difficult.

Using the moonlight and the fluorescent glow of the water-repelling beads, she searched for a while and finally found a small wooden piece that could be pulled out on the side of the box. She then pulled out a grooved wooden block from the opposite side of the wooden piece, and with a skillful pinch, she gently pushed it diagonally, and a small box popped out.

The contents were indeed astonishing, but after reading them, Cheng Ruyi felt no surprise at all.

Similar to her previous guesses, it was nothing more than someone accidentally obtaining the White Lotus Holy Sect's elixir recipe, claiming that by using the blood of boys and girls under the age of ten, along with various strange substances, one could concoct an elixir of immortality. Then, the person behind it all set their sights on Chongzhou Prefecture, which was in chaos after its war with the Western Jin Dynasty...

Although the plot is clichéd, she now truly understands firsthand the blatant exploitation between classes and how those in high positions treat human life as worthless.

A few simple lines of text in a letter could cost thousands of lives in reality...

After resting briefly, she jumped back into the water.

She already knew the pattern of the water-repelling bead when she caught crabs before. Although it would lose its effectiveness after 15 minutes, it could be used again after another 15 minutes. She had not yet found any limit on the number of uses.

Since that's the case, it would be faster and more comfortable to float back with the current than to walk back for several hours.

And so she drifted back to the wasteland outside the north gate of the county town. She didn't reach the town gate until dawn. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long before she met Peng, the registrar, and his group who had brought the child back earlier. To their surprise, she fainted again.

Five days have passed since the incident. Because of her two consecutive injuries and the accidental fall into the water (as others thought), she received unprecedented care and attention from her family and friends. So she took the opportunity to stay in bed for several days and lived the leisurely life she had always dreamed of, where food was served to her and clothes were put on her back.

Not only has my body recovered long ago, but I've even gained several pounds!

During this time, Guo Qinglan and the others visited her several times and asked her how she ended up at the entrance of the county town after falling into the water.

Cheng Ruyi had already prepared her words. The original owner of this body could swim and had even performed heroic deeds of saving people from drowning when she was young, so she was quite good at swimming. She only needed to embellish the story a little and say that she was lucky and found a piece of driftwood after drifting for a short time. Then she drifted along the driftwood to the shore not far from the city gate. The whole process was quite reasonable.

After listening, Guo Qinglan didn't doubt it much. She just thought the girl was very lucky. She then told her about the general progress. She said that after learning about the matter, the governor of Chongzhou, who was far away in the prefectural city, was furious and ordered a thorough investigation. However, due to the wide range of implications, it would probably take some time before there were any results.

Cheng Ruyi knew that what happened next was beyond the control of an ordinary citizen like her. Anyway, she had done all she could and had no regrets.

The system task hadn't given any prompts yet, and she guessed that the final result might have to wait until the government finished handling the case. This was also beyond her control, so she could only put it aside for now and try to live her current life well.

*

On the 26th day of the first lunar month, little chubby Cheng Mande finally turned one year old!

Seeing that Cheng Ruyi was eating and sleeping well every day, the Cheng family knew that her health must have improved a lot. So they spent a lot of money to book a large hall on the second floor of Zhiwei Restaurant to hold a banquet, inviting several tables of relatives and friends to celebrate and bring good luck.

Despite Cheng Ruyi's objections, everyone invited the most famous Taoist temple in the county to perform a ritual, claiming it was to drive away bad luck and protect the peace of their home. It's likely that the recent accidents and injuries to two family members had left them with a great deal of psychological trauma.

Cheng Ruyi stood in the private room, watching the Taoist priests in front of her wielding swords and drawing talismans. At the command of the leading Taoist priest, the talisman instantly caught fire and turned into a cloud of black smoke that drifted out of the window.

Wow, that set of movements was so smooth and impressive! Regardless of whether it was effective or not, the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic!

Hearing the Cheng family members beside her close their eyes and put their hands together, praying for Cheng Ruyi's good health and freedom from misfortune, and for the children to grow up safely... she suddenly understood why people in ancient times were superstitious. They probably just wanted to spend money to buy peace of mind.

With the Taoist priests leaving, the highlight of the first birthday banquet, the "grasping ceremony," was about to officially begin.

This was Cheng Ruyi's first time witnessing the ancient custom of "grasping the baby's head" (a traditional Chinese custom), and she was naturally very curious about these traditional events.

A red silk embroidered with various auspicious patterns was laid on the main table in the hall. On the silk were all sorts of items with special meanings. For example, pens, ink, paper, and inkstones represented that the children would be literate and learned in the future. Copper coins, silver, gold, and an abacus represented that the children would be rich and prosperous. Of course, there were also some exquisite wooden toys made by Cheng Yan and Cheng Yunping, such as small wooden horses, small wooden tables and chairs, which represented that the children would inherit the Cheng family business and carry it forward. There were also candies, snacks, and various auspicious ornaments. In short, no matter what the children picked up, they would say a lot of auspicious words!

Wearing a brand-new cotton-padded jacket, Cheng Mande, who looked even rounder than before, was picked up by his father and placed in the center of the table. Thinking that his father was going to play a game of lifting him up high, he happily slapped the table and laughed. After a few seconds, when he realized that he was not being lifted up high, he looked at Cheng Yunping curiously, as if to say: Why is Daddy not continuing?

Cheng Yunping and Lin Xiaoman, standing to the side, desperately used their eyes and gestures to signal to their son: Go, hurry up and crawl over to get the things!

Little Mande saw his parents making faces at each other and clapped and laughed heartily, drooling all over the place.

This scene caused all the guests to burst into laughter, and the whole hall was filled with a harmonious and joyful atmosphere.

"Oh, Madam Cheng! Congratulations!"

The sudden sound drew everyone's attention, and they all looked towards the entrance of the hall.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Ruyi turned around and saw that it was Huang Youcai. She smiled and returned the greeting, saying, "Thank you, Manager Huang. It's rare that you have taken time out of your busy schedule to come here. If you don't mind, why don't you sit down and have a drink?"

"Haha, you're too kind, Madam Cheng!" Huang Youcai said as he took a box handed to him by a servant, walked to the main table, opened the box, took out a rare ornament and placed it on the table. "This is a gift from our master for his esteemed grandson's first birthday celebration, an eight-treasure golden gourd. We hope Madam Cheng will accept it with pleasure."

In ancient times, the gourd represented "good fortune and prosperity" in Chinese, making it a very common and popular gift. Although the gold gourd in Huang Youcai's hand was only the size of a palm, it was made entirely of pure gold and shone brightly in the sunlight. What was even more ingenious was that the craftsman used openwork techniques to carve another small gourd under the outer gourd, and the small gourd was inlaid with eight gemstones of different shapes and colors. It was truly a masterpiece of ingenuity and craftsmanship!

If copper coins, silver, and gold previously represented great wealth and prosperity, then this eight-treasure golden gourd probably represents wealth that rivals that of a nation.

"This...this is far too precious. We cannot accept such a generous gift without having done anything in return..."

Before Cheng Ruyi could finish speaking, Huang Youcai interrupted her, "Madam Cheng, there's no need to be modest. This gift is not only for your precious grandson, but also represents the gratitude of the parents of the missing children in Huaishan County and the entire Chongzhou Prefecture. Compared to your chivalrous act, this small gift is nothing."

"I have some things to attend to, so I won't bother you any longer. Please feel free to tell our staff if you need anything, and we will certainly do our best. Farewell, everyone, farewell, Madam Cheng!"

After saying that, Huang Youcai turned around and left the hall with a flourish, leaving everyone speechless with surprise.

Cheng Yan was the first to react, looking at Cheng Ruyi and asking, "Ruyi, what do you think we should do?"

"This eight-treasure jade gourd is indeed very valuable, but since it's a token of their goodwill, we might as well accept it!"

Since it was a gift of gratitude from the Zhou family on behalf of the missing child's parents, she could indeed accept it. After all, regardless of the purpose of saving the child, she had indeed put in a lot of effort and almost lost her life.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it, Mande?" Cheng Ruyi held up the golden gourd with both hands and showed it to the chubby boy. Children love shiny things the most. Cheng Mande's eyes lit up, and he crawled forward in a few quick scrambles, trying to pick up the gourd with one hand.

Everyone present gasped, thinking at the same time: Be careful! Please don't fall!

Cheng Mande took the pretty little gourd from his grandmother's hands and happily made a series of strange noises such as "Ya! Ah ah ah! Na na!" Although everyone couldn't understand them, they were relieved to see him holding the gourd tightly and refusing to let go.