"Alas, truly a prime example of not listening to elders.
But to not get a single thing right on top of that!"
After reviewing the original host's memories, Ding Yun couldn't exactly say 'serves her right,' but she didn't feel much sympathy either. After all, the paths were her own choosing. As the ancients said, good words are hard to persuade a damned ghost, so what can be done if they don't listen?
After a moment of reflection, she calmly opened the memories of Zhu Lingyun, transmitted by the main system.
Her memories were quite brief.
Even though she was quite old, she only provided the parts Ding Yun needed to complete her mission.
Broadly speaking, she was born in Zhu Family Village, with an older brother named Zhu Linglong and a younger brother named Zhu Linghu. Her mother was named Wang Caihua, and the main target of the mission was her mother, Wang Caihua.
The cause was the hardship of the 1960s. Her mother often did the heaviest work but ate the least food, saving the rest for her three children. Over time, her mother's health deteriorated, and by 1970, she was even spitting blood.
The local old Chinese physician felt her pulse and diagnosed it as 'ye ge' (choking blockage).
Late stage, incurable, go home.
Back then, they didn't quite understand what illness their mother had, only that it was terminal. It wasn't until Zhu Lingyun studied medicine later that she realized the 'ye ge' described by traditional Chinese medicine was actually stomach cancer. She even figured out that her mother likely developed stomach cancer due to frequent hunger, constant work, and extremely irregular eating habits – a cancer caused by long-term accumulation.
And then, she decided to focus on cancer.
And finally, decades later, successfully researched a special medicine that could treat most cancers.
The whole story seemed quite inspiring, even quite moving, but after reading it, Ding Yun felt a chill down her spine and her scalp tingle:
"Jin Xinxin, you damned well tricked me!
Zhu Lingyun decided to focus on cancer because her mother died of cancer. If I help her and her mother doesn't die of cancer, who knows if she'll still focus on cancer? It's even questionable if she'll go to medical university!"
Ding Yun remembered very clearly that Zhu Lingyun's mission requirement was not to significantly distort the future trajectory. The idea of treating cancer and researching the special medicine was the core of her life's path. Her mother's death from late-stage stomach cancer could even be considered the very origin of everything.
Now, she had to change the origin of events without altering the future trajectory. Wasn't that making things difficult for her, Fatty Tiger?
It seemed like an impossible mission to even think about.
So, Ding Yun immediately went numb.
Numb with shock.
Perhaps there was even a faint trace of regret in her heart.
Just as she was feeling a bit lost due to this discovery, a continuous, piercing cry suddenly came from outside. It was clearly a child's cry.
"Oh no, I forgot the original host had a child!"
Hearing the cry, Ding Yun immediately cast aside other thoughts in her mind and ran out barefoot, without even putting on shoes, to see what was wrong with the child.
In the living room, the original host's child, Zhu Xingyun, who was just under two years old, was crying by the playpen. The pen was bought by the original host from a pet store. Its original purpose was to prevent pets from running around, acting like a cage. However, the original host felt it was quite effective for preventing a child from running around as well.
She didn't have the energy to constantly watch the child, and her part-time job required focus. But if she let the child roam freely, a child of two or three years old was curious about the world and you never knew where they might toddle off to.
Or climb onto what.
So, she had to confine the child to a safe area, giving herself some time to work her part-time job and also preventing the child from running off and accidentally getting into trouble. Many things that were not dangerous to adults could be extremely dangerous to children. It was better to be safe than sorry. Without any other way to watch the child.
The original host could only do this.
As she approached, Ding Yun realized why the child was crying. Her hand had somehow gotten stuck in a gap in the playpen, and she was still clenching her fist tightly.
She couldn't pull it out.
She was now stubbornly trying to get free from the playpen.
Seeing this, Ding Yun of course hurried over, gently patting the child's back to soothe her, while trying to pry open her little fist to let her release her hand and take it out. Then, she picked the child up from the playpen and, following the original host's established experience and habits.
She began to gently comfort the child.
As expected, the original host's two years of motherhood had not been in vain.
Before long, the child calmed down.
But then there were many more things to do, such as taking the child to the toilet, feeding the child, preparing complementary food, and so on. By the time these tasks were finished, nearly two more hours had passed. Fortunately, the child was quite sensible and not a picky eater. After eating, she could quietly watch early childhood education cartoons, allowing Ding Yun some time to do other things.
And the first thing she did was.
To quickly activate her trial golden finger.
That is, the Trans-dimensional Second-hand Trading Device.
As the device opened, the first thing Ding Yun saw was an exquisite and simple light orange page.
The page had only two buttons.
One was "Sell Second-hand," and the other was "Buy Valuables."
"It feels a bit like an ancient pawn shop.
Selling is for second-hand items, worn-out clothes; buying is for exquisite treasures, good items at special prices. I wonder what kind of energy this thing consumes. Traveling through time and space must consume a lot of energy, right? Never mind, let's take a look first!"
Muttering a few words, Ding Yun clicked the "Sell Second-hand" button. A new page then appeared, with buttons for uploading second-hand items, automatic system appraisal, and setting your own price.
After a brief look, without uploading any second-hand items, Ding Yun clicked the "Buy Valuables" button.
This time, more items appeared.
Used bowls and plates, unfinished spirit beast meat, undepleted pills, clothes worn a few times, used appliances, and even nearly-scrap vehicles.
In addition, there was a search button.
It could be used to search for items or people.
Searching for items was easy to understand; all trading platforms had this function. The difference was just that some trading platforms had higher accuracy, while others had lower accuracy.
Searching for people had two options: one was to directly search for users who also owned the trading device, and the other was to search for someone without the trading device but whom you wished to trade with.
For the former, you only needed to know their username.
Even a nickname would suffice.
For the latter, you must have the target's soul aura, establish a stable connection using the soul aura, and grant them a sub-device of the trading device before communication and trading could commence.
The so-called sub-device of the trading device refers to a small program differentiated from Ding Yun's trading device. Ding Yun's trading device could contact people from many different timelines to buy or sell things. However, the sub-device could only establish a one-way connection with Ding Yun, meaning it could only buy from Ding Yun or sell to Ding Yun.
Clearly, she needed to rely on this function to fulfill Zhu Lingyun's wish.