The Market Inside the Jade Pendant

When Zhou Wanniang was on the verge of starving to death, she discovered the secret of the jade pendant her mother had left behind: every night, she could enter a brightly lit "market" and trade old things for food. Starting with a handful of red dates and a bag of salt, she gathered wild mushrooms in the mountains, made pickled vegetables, and opened a shop. Through sheer determination, she cured her mother-in-law's illness, raised her younger brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and made sure her daughter had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear. But the jade pendant could wear out, and people could grow greedy. As one crisis followed another, she finally clenched the broken jade and understood: a cheat can help in an emergency, but it cannot lift you out of poverty. A good life has to be earned, inch by inch, with your own two hands.