Chapter 1
Yucheng.
Summer rain always comes and goes suddenly. A sudden downpour draped the northern hills outside the city in a misty veil.
In the quiet forest, there was a rustling sound—growing closer and closer…
A pair of white canvas shoes, dirt-stained and damp, suddenly stepped into view, and a bright, lively face broke the silence.
A slender girl, carrying a backpack almost half her height, leaned against a tree trunk, her chest rising and falling slightly with each breath.
She looked around, her eyes full of curiosity. Although her clothes were smeared with grass stains and mud from the journey, she looked thrilled—clearly very pleased with the scenery before her.
“Woof!” A flash of yellow streaked low across the ground. When it reached a stone, it leapt gracefully and landed effortlessly on the slippery surface.
“Chouba~” Xu Xiaozhi was instantly touched by the golden retriever’s goofy smile. She lifted the backpack on her shoulders a bit higher, and in an instant, her energy returned.
【You will reach Taoyuan Farmhouse in 300 meters.】A stiff mechanical voice suddenly rang out in Xu Xiaozhi’s mind.
There wasn’t the slightest surprise on her face. Instead, she continued forward with steady steps, following the voice’s guidance.
“Whoosh!”
Brushing aside the shoulder-high bushes, she heard the sound of flowing water. A courtyard came into view.
It was somewhat different from the rundown image she had imagined. Xu Xiaozhi crossed a wooden bridge built over the stream, and ahead was a neatly maintained fence.
The fence enclosed a wooden house, and the gate was made of two thick logs.
Two wisteria vines were planted at the entrance, their dark brown twisted branches coiling up the logs. Looking up, a cascade of purple flowers poured down like a waterfall, each delicate strand swaying gracefully in the breeze.
Only when standing beneath the blossoms could one catch the faint, pleasant fragrance—drifting gently with the wind, gradually spreading through the air…
A large signboard hanging high above was half-covered by the wildly growing wisteria, but the words “Peach Blossom Farmhouse” carved into it could still be vaguely seen.
The courtyard gate wasn’t very tall, a bit lower than the surrounding fence, and it hung slightly ajar. Through the gap, one could see a yard paved with bluestone slabs.
At the center of the yard, an elm tree stretched out its limbs and grew freely, its branches reaching toward the sky, nearly covering the entire courtyard in shade.
Beneath the tree, strings of cured meat hung from a wooden rack. The white fat glistened under the sunlight—translucent and glossy. The slabs of preserved meat, with red and white marbling, looked mouthwatering.
Looking more closely, strings of bright red chili peppers and salted fish also hung under the eaves. In the corner, several farming tools were neatly placed.
Not long after, an elderly woman in simple clothing came out of the main house, holding a round bamboo basket. She kept turning the contents under the sun while muttering to herself,
“This weather, tsk… it’s about to roast people alive. With this kind of sun, that old man still hasn’t come back early.”
Recently, the weather in Yucheng had been extremely hot—reaching the highest temperatures in recorded history.
However, this Farmhouse site was nestled deep in the outskirts, surrounded by forest. Even the path leading here was overgrown with weeds.
Shaded by dense trees and accompanied by flowing spring water, it was already much cooler than the city.
It must have been around noon—the sun at its peak—and those who had gone out were likely on their way back. Just as the old woman finished muttering, a stern voice suddenly rang out from behind Xu Xiaozhi.
“Who’s there?!”
The abrupt shout startled Xu Xiaozhi, making her flinch. She looked helplessly at the golden retriever sitting obediently in front of her, tongue out and head tilted, with a completely innocent expression.
“What use are you even!”
The elderly woman also heard the shout and immediately hurried toward the gate, her expression tense when she saw what was happening outside.
Xu Xiaozhi quickly put some distance between herself and the person behind her. She turned around at once—and just as expected—there stood an old man, skinny and vigilant, raising a hoe in warning.
He looked entirely prepared to swing if she made one wrong move.
“Please don’t misunderstand! It’s a misunderstanding!” Xu Xiaozhi quickly raised both hands in a calm, non-threatening gesture.
She decisively chose to appear harmless and composed, and greeted them confidently,
“Hello, let me introduce myself—I’m the new owner of Peach Blossom Farmhouse!”
Although… to be honest, this Farmhouse place was nothing like what she had imagined.
—
Chouba bounced ahead, tail wagging wildly, occasionally brushing against the old woman’s leg, making Xu Xiaozhi break out in a cold sweat for it.
But the old woman didn’t seem to mind. After exchanging a glance with the old man at the gate, she smiled kindly and began leading the way for Xu Xiaozhi.
Her steps were unsteady, and the wrinkles on her face revealed that she was around sixty or seventy years old.
As they walked, Xu Xiaozhi’s mind was spinning, frantically trying to figure out how to convince this elderly couple to accept her—an empty-handed, inexperienced, and merely nominal “boss.”
A week ago…
Xu Xiaozhi had still been a force to be reckoned with in the workplace, hailed by her colleagues as a flawless work machine.
Just one year after graduating and entering the workforce, she was exceptionally promoted thanks to her outstanding capabilities.
But despite sailing smoothly through school and now excelling at work, she always felt like something was missing from her life.
Other than cuddling pets after work to comfort herself, Xu Xiaozhi, young as she was, felt like she could already see the rest of her life laid out in front of her—and it was too predictable.
Until that day…
A lawyer showed up holding a document for inheritance, and from that moment, everything started to spiral into absurdity.
First, the lawyer announced that her long-missing uncle had officially been declared dead.
Then he raised the document in his hand and said, “Miss Xu, congratulations. According to your uncle’s will, you have inherited all of his property and assets!”
Thinking back to that moment, Xu Xiaozhi wished she could go back in time and slap her foolish self awake. How could she have skipped the anti-fraud education class back then with her classmates?
Just look at that lawyer—so self-righteous on the outside, but the sly smile he gave when she signed the papers was full of deceit. Even her three-year-old nephew knew not to trust strangers!
But sadly, Xu Xiaozhi hadn’t seen through the lawyer’s lies.
She had calmly accepted the news of her uncle being declared dead. After all, he had been missing for years, and the family had long expected the court to reach this conclusion.
However, what she didn’t expect was that her uncle had actually left all of his property to her—including a Farmhouse!
At that thought, Xu Xiaozhi lost her composure. In her mind, she pictured herself lying on a deck chair in the courtyard of the inn, leisurely fanning herself, enjoying the fragrance of blooming flowers, and sipping tea brewed with mountain spring water—a paradise on earth.
To her, having a legitimate excuse that even her overly critical mother couldn’t nitpick, allowing her to escape her current life…
It was like someone handing her a pillow just when she was getting sleepy—absolutely perfect timing!
And so, Miss Xu, without hesitation, boldly signed her name on the spot.
What followed next was the heavy price paid by the ignorant.
As soon as the lawyer cheerfully put the papers away, it was like he became a completely different person. “Miss Xu, according to the inheritance laws of our country, the heir must repay the deceased’s debts within the scope of the inherited estate.”
“Your uncle didn’t just leave you the ‘Peach Blossom Farmhouse’ inn—he also had hundreds of thousands in bank loans. Since you’ve chosen to accept the inheritance, you’ll also need to take on the debts.”
!!!!!!
Xu Xiaozhi wondered if her lack of sleep over the past two days was making her hallucinate.
Was this lawyer actually some old man who usually rummaged through trash downstairs pretending to be legit??
If not, then why did it sound like the biggest joke of the century?
Seriously—is there no justice left in this world?!
—
Despite the scorching sun above, Xu Xiaozhi felt a deep chill in her heart as she walked out of the bank.
Que Yan lightly patted her on the shoulder twice. “It’s okay. Just think of it as spending money to avoid disaster. To be honest, this is already the best possible outcome. Want me to lend you some for now?” he asked, pulling out his phone to transfer money to her.
“Forget it, forget it. Brother, you better keep those few pennies for your mortgage,” Xu Xiaozhi replied jokingly.
Come on, her friend had already been running around helping her take care of everything—how could she shamelessly ask for more?
However, when Que Yan tried to look into things for her, he discovered that no matter what he did, he couldn’t get in touch with that scammer of a lawyer—not even the law firm listed on the documents was real, it was just a name with no actual office behind it.
“You dummy… sigh, it’s fine. It’s just a bit of savings, right? You’ll make it back eventually if you keep pulling all-nighters,” he tried to comfort her.
Hearing that, Xu Xiaozhi closed her eyes.
Hmph!
She was afraid her tears might start falling uncontrollably!
She didn’t even know what expression to wear.
“I… already quit my job…” she said.
Que Yan was shocked. “What? Why would you quit such a good job?”
Why else?
It was all because of her archenemy at work, who somehow found out about her embarrassing situation.
That person actually went so far as to custom-make a banner that read “Take me as a warning—Beware of fraud!” and had it delivered by a courier right in the middle of Monday’s weekly meeting.
He basically slapped her across the face in front of everyone—how could she possibly tolerate that??
At the time, she was already broke and struggling with whether to quit immediately. That moment made the decision for her.
As a fire-sign personality who believes “I won’t mess with you unless you mess with me—but if you do, I’ll pay you back threefold,” Xu Xiaozhi flipped the table on the spot.
Not only did she expose that enemy for leaking company secrets to a competitor, she also pulled surveillance footage showing him in a very questionable situation with the HR director.
She picked the clips carefully—just enough to suggest an inappropriate relationship without crossing any lines or violating their privacy. Then she compiled the evidence and sent it to every single employee in the company via email.
The first part ruined her enemy’s reputation in the industry.
The second? Once the HR director’s husband found out, he beat that guy black and blue—the scene was tch tch tch, something else.
—
As for herself, despite the management’s repeated attempts to keep her, she still went ahead and resigned.
After returning home, she spent an entire day packing up all her worldly belongings along with her pets: the golden retriever Chouba, the short-legged shorthair cat Miaomiao, the long-haired golden Syrian hamster Doudou, and the curly-feathered Meimei.
She then found a pet courier service with a decent reputation and a rather “lovely” price.
Except for Chouba, who was too heavy and got rejected for shipping, the rest of the pets successfully set off on their journey—right after Xu Xiaozhi maxed out the last few cents on her bank card.
“Phew—” Xu Xiaozhi rolled her neck and turned to glance at her now completely empty home.
In just a week, her life had flipped over and over again, one twist after another.
Oh well. Since things have come to this, she might as well go with the flow. Maybe this would actually turn out to be a good thing.
Ever since she started living a rigid, step-by-step life, it had been a long time since she last felt this sense of not knowing what would happen next.
Strangely enough, it didn’t feel bad—this uncertainty, this unpredictability—it gave her a faint, secret sense of excitement.
Thinking about how she’d be reunited with her pets tomorrow, and with the sound of Chouba’s snores under the bed, Xu Xiaozhi drifted into a deep sleep.
Outside, under a starry sky, the window curtain fluttered gently in the breeze—and the documents still lying on the coffee table suddenly began flipping rapidly for some unknown reason…