When she woke up again, it was already deep into the night.
Xia Youmi felt much lighter, as if she'd shaken off some kind of shackle.
Her mother was asleep beside her. She gazed at her quietly without making a sound, organizing her thoughts.
In front of her, the words "bare and empty" could describe it all.
This should have been a happy, stable household.
But due to frequent wars, the traditional system of farming during peacetime, training in spare seasons, and being conscripted as local soldiers during wartime had collapsed.
The backbone of the family, Xia Youmi's father, Xia Li, had been forcibly retained in the army and hadn't returned for years.
With the military severely understaffed, men were heavily recruited.
To keep the family afloat, her father personally requested the commander to allow her sixteen-year-old older brother, Xia Yunwen, to join him in the army.
The fact that someone underage could be accepted into the army showed not just the chaos of the times and the breakdown of systems,
but also how highly the military valued Xia Li, the sharpshooter.
He was not only skilled in archery and horseback riding, but could shoot accurately with either hand—never missing a shot within a hundred paces. Brave and unmatched.
Under his teaching, the older brother was also young, strong, and an excellent archer.
The army didn't want such talent to be wasted—or sent off blindly as cannon fodder.
And so, with the men gone,
the Xia family was left with three living souls: a resilient woman, a child, and a big yellow dog.
They had to rely on Xia Youmi's maternal relatives, and whatever they could grow in the fields.
But misfortunes never come alone.
The village was located in a strategic area—within a major county right next to the capital, Chang'an. The main road that ran through it was a critical artery in and out of the city.
Naturally, the fertile land was highly coveted.
They'd once had enough to live decently.
But during wartime, as the equal-field system broke down, 80% of their farmland was forcibly seized.
The remaining scraps barely produced any grain.
Fortunately, as a military household, they were exempt from corvée labor and taxes.
Her father and brother managed to save a bit from their pay and sent money back, which allowed the family to scrape by.
However— trouble came anyway.
Two years ago, on a home visit meant for delivering money and supplies, her father also left behind… a child.
The kind that needed ten months of pregnancy and years of raising.
Her father didn't realize that, instead of easing the burden, he'd added three more shares of hardship to her mother's load.
That child—was Xia Youmi.
During her first year, she was muddle-headed, unable to understand the local accent, constantly overwhelmed by physical needs, and mentally just a tiny baby with a cautious, observing soul.
She didn't act rashly or behave in ways that defied the era.
To outsiders, she was just an unusually easy-going baby.
It was only through being passed from arm to arm that she slowly picked up bits of information about her new identity from adults' conversations.
As for things like the military and land systems, those were only briefly touched on in the original novel—Xia Youmi had inferred the details based on her current situation.
Originally, she just wanted to be a carefree baby.
But after learning from the system Niannian yesterday that she was a fabricated existence—though the world's rules would rationalize her presence—causality was already in motion.
Without her, perhaps the family's misfortune wouldn't have worsened.
The age gap within the family was also stark.
Xia Youmi had just turned one, just learning to crawl.
Her mother was already thirty-seven, an age where she could be a grandmother.
Her father was even older—now forty-two. Even if the army wouldn't release him, he would've hit retirement age by the time she turned nineteen.
Her brother was twenty-two. The family had once arranged a marriage for him—with the daughter of Uncle Qing, her father's lifelong friend.
The two had grown up together and shared childhood affection.
But two years ago, when her father came home, he brought news that the situation on the borders was uncertain.
He and his son might be stationed there permanently.
Not wanting to delay the girl, they broke off the engagement and apologized.
Most of the gifts her father had brought home were sent to Uncle Qing's house. Within half a year, the girl married into the Wang family of a nearby village.
That was just the surface.
In truth, a general's daughter at the border had taken a liking to her brother—and a marriage was basically set.
Her mother had been heartbroken upon hearing this.
She had long regarded that first girl as a daughter-in-law, only for everything to fall apart—she pitied her deeply.
Her brother's marriage could not be publicly discussed—not even his own mother could be part of it.
This family teetered on the edge.
And in the timeline created after Xia Youmi entered this world, her very presence would eventually bring about the family's destruction.
Even if she'd done nothing, she would still bear everything passively.
At dawn, a racket could be heard.
"Big Aunt! Big Aunt!"
"We came to see our little cousin!"
"And we brought Wang Dazhu from the village entrance too!"
"Woof woof woof!"
"Big Aunt, good day!"
"My mom sent these wild vegetables and eggs!"
"Come inside, all of you!"
Outside, a few kids were calling loudly as her mother welcomed them into the yard.
The one in front was a familiar face—dark-skinned, bright-eyed, and with a mischievous glint even in his ears.
He was Xia Youmi's cousin,
Wang Shaoyi, the youngest son of her mother's eldest brother, Wang Zhuo. He was seven years old and often came to visit her.
As soon as he saw Xia Youmi, he tried to pick her up.
The second boy looked around nervously—someone unfamiliar.
He wore fine clothes, looked sturdy, and had a bit of a dopey air. About five or six years old.
Behind him came the youngest cousin, entering alongside the big yellow dog.
He was very young but composed, with a kind of precocious air.
He was Wang Shaoyan, the youngest son of her mother's second brother, Wang Jing, and only four years old.
He gently patted Xia Youmi's head, then stroked the yellow dog too.
Her cousins had already come yesterday to celebrate the family's youngest girl turning one.
Even the egg custard yesterday had come from her uncle's household.
Not surprising, really.
Wang Xiu's (her mother's) maiden family lived nearby, in the same village, and shared the same surname. A few generations back, their ancestors had been landowners.
They had once managed estates for nobles in Chang'an, and gained some benefits through the connection.
Unfortunately, in the thirty years of the Datang Dynasty, six emperors had ascended the throne. The ever-changing policies had crushed their backers overnight.
The clan leader made the snap decision to give up all wealth in exchange for survival.
Luckily, the clan was large and united. After some maneuvering, they barely managed to maintain commoner status and stay in their hometown.
They dared not hope for more.
"Ah-Mi!" Xia Youmi was poked on the cheek.
Snapped out of her thoughts, she was already being hugged by her cousin Shaoyi, who called out to her in a high-pitched voice.
"Ah… xi…" Xia Youmi responded with a soft babyish fist.
She wasn't pretending—her speech was truly unclear.
She still wasn't used to the local accent either. The official language here was not the Mandarin she once knew.
It sounded more like a regional dialect from her original world—and with her limited interactions, she couldn't pick it up properly just yet.
"Dazhu, look! This is our little sister!"
Wang Shaoyi lifted the little girl with great effort.
Xia Youmi was presented like a treasure in Wang Dazhu's direction.
But before Dazhu could touch her, she was pulled back. Ignoring her friend's disappointment, Shaoyi just gently patted her head, full of pride.
"Shaoyi, you were right!"
"She really is a little fairy."
Dazhu nodded with admiration, clearly a little envious.