Every day, Serena used her mind to drink a sip of spiritual spring water. Her body was getting stronger, her hands and feet full of energy!
She couldn't do other kinds of exercise, so she would stretch her arms daily, move her legs and feet constantly, hoping to make them stronger.
She wished she could start speaking and walk soon — but that could only stay as a wish.
Hazel felt that having many children, daughters were the easiest to raise — truly the family's little cotton-padded jackets. Since birth, Serena had never fallen ill, never caused trouble, never even messed herself randomly. Such a well-behaved child was a blessing!
That same year, other women in the village also gave birth to sons and daughters. Without comparison, there'd be no harm — those who lived deep in the mountains had to wash diapers in limited water, leaving the babies stinky and dirty, often getting sick.
And they couldn't go down the mountain to see a doctor — they could only boil herbs from the wild.
Sometimes, Serena would mysteriously receive praise points again. Later, she realized that her good health was what earned her those points!
When she grew a little older, she could eat minced meat in a light soup — and finally tasted the flavor of salt.
Serena couldn't help but sigh. For the past few months as a baby, even though she had milk, she constantly craved meat. Just one sip of savory meat broth made her eyes squint in satisfaction!
The wild game here tasted far better than the meat from her previous life — the kind raised with feed and additives. The flavor was pure and delicious.
There were no fancy seasonings — just a few wild leaves picked from the mountain to remove any smell. Yet the taste was perfect.
Wisdom could truly be found everywhere here!
Gradually, Serena could sit up and even crawl. Her mother had to block her path with things, or she'd crawl far away.
When Serena was a little over five months old, Tanner couldn't stay up in the mountains any longer. Life there was getting harder — without going down, they'd even run out of salt!
When the sea receded, Tanner gathered the men and led them down the mountain to rebuild their homes. The situation was dire. The women had to stay behind to care for the elderly and children — they couldn't endure that kind of hardship.
The places the seawater had flooded needed to be disinfected.
Without boats, Tanner and the strong men cut down bamboo and made bamboo rafts.
They were skilled on the sea — those rafts could cross the waters.
When they fled earlier, they had crossed to the other side of the sea, since the area near their village was no longer livable.
The nearest large mountain was already overcrowded with other villages' refugees — everyone had fled there.
Too many people in one place meant no food to find.
At that time, they had still had boats — so when the waves first started rising, they'd risked everything to cross the sea.
The eight brothers heard that their father was going down the mountain and all wanted to go with him. Other children also begged to follow their fathers or uncles.
But they were all refused.
From her parents' conversations, Serena learned that her father was leading a small group down the mountain to buy food. Once they got it, they'd send supplies back up.
Rebuilding a home was never easy.
From their mountain vantage point, they could see the coastline — all the houses had collapsed.
When her father went down the mountain, Serena was both worried and helpless — she was still too young!
She had a golden finger but couldn't use it.
Her Pagoda Space could store supplies, but what could a baby who couldn't even walk do?
Sometimes her mother would carry her down the slopes to pick wild vegetables, and then she could secretly store some into her space.
Once, when her father went hunting, a wild pheasant flew right beside her. When no one was looking, she quietly collected it into her space!
That time was frightening — there were wild boars and wolves fighting nearby, and their clash had startled the pheasant.
That was the only time Tanner had taken his daughter hunting — and when they returned, Hazel found out and tugged his ear in anger!
Serena had considered telling her parents about the space, but what could a baby who couldn't speak or write possibly explain?
In frustration, she could only hope her space would accumulate enough praise points to unlock new features — and, more than anything, she longed for the system to help her find Lily Snow.
Ever since arriving in this chaotic world, she still didn't know if Lily Snow was truly the male lead from the novel — her future husband.
After Tanner went down the mountain, the remaining villagers dared not hunt far. They only set simple traps, hoping to catch something.
When they caught nothing, even meat soup disappeared — only wild greens and bark were left to eat.
Serena still had milk to drink, but Hazel often had to survive on rice water, going hungry more often than not. Serena felt that if it weren't for the spiritual spring water, she'd already be malnourished and skinny.
Her eight brothers had already cleared out all the bird nests in the nearby mountains, leaving no corner untouched!
Those half-grown boys were so hungry they could barely move, yet whenever they got a bit of meat, they'd jump with joy.
After her husband went down the mountain, Hazel personally led a group of women to search for food around the mountain.
Some edible leaves were found and fed to their horses.
Now, even people had to chew leaves to survive.
With no strong men left to hunt and wild beasts threatening to attack at night, everyone was on edge — even in the daytime, they dared not go far.
No one lit fires in the dark; when hunger became unbearable, they soaked and boiled dried vegetables to eat.
Serena watched her suffering family, her heart aching with hunger too...
Though life in her previous world had been hard at first, once she and her husband had money, eating well was never a problem. They'd lived frugally but decently.
Now, even with both her parents alive, these days of hardship were worse than her orphanage days — at least back then, life was safe under law and order.
Watching her brothers cry from hunger every day made her heart ache unbearably.
Their family had once been wealthy — her grandfather was a factory director, and they had property.
But now, disaster had struck. The nearby villages were all flooded, and they weren't the only ones hiding in the mountains.
They'd thought about going farther, maybe finding food to buy — but during the flood, they couldn't move carriages, wagons, or even bicycles.
Tanner had assigned others to move communal property up to nearby hills. The robots they had couldn't be moved — they were too heavy.
When Hazel led the women to boil vegetable soup, she always carried Serena on her back. Secretly, Serena would add a few drops of spiritual spring water into the pot.
She had no other choice — she hadn't grown up yet, but she didn't want to lose her mother, her family, or these lovely people.
Sometimes, when the younger siblings cried, Hazel would scold them harshly, afraid their cries would attract locusts.
She'd then hold up her baby daughter as an example for the rest.
"You boys look at your sister — she hasn't cried once! Be real men!"
"Mom, that's because our little sister has milk to drink — and rice water too!"
"That's right, that's right! We want milk too!"
The boys protested, their faces full of envy, wiping the drool from their mouths.
Right now, the one they envied most was their baby sister.
How they wished they could be babies again — to be held in their mother's arms every day.
Hazel sighed deeply…
Serena could only blink her round eyes…
Locusts, floods, and drought had brought swarms of insects.
No one knew where they had come from — or where they would fly next.
It was all the work of natural disasters.
(End of Chapter)