Two tubes of potato chips—one barbecue-flavored, one tomato-flavored.
After opening one, she took out a chip and popped it into her mouth. It was so crispy and crunchy with a satisfying crackle.
This familiar recipe!
This familiar taste!
She bought another bottle of cola, twisted open the cap, and took a sip. The fizzy, refreshing sensation rushed straight to her head!
Su Qinghe didn’t finish the two tubes of chips or the cola, so she could put them directly into her space.
Time was completely frozen inside this space; whatever state things were in when they went in was exactly how they would be when taken out.
This was simply an indispensable cheat for transmigrators!
Having eaten and drunk her fill, and with nothing else to do, Su Qinghe began browsing the system mall again.
This time, she didn’t just look at food; Su Qinghe also checked out clothing and daily necessities.
Inside the entire system space, everything from food and clothing to travel essentials was readily available, and the prices were quite cheap.
Su Qinghe picked out several sets of simple, plain underwear for herself.
The underwear of this era was made very loose and wasn’t aesthetically pleasing; Su Qinghe only found them uncomfortable to wear.
A set of underwear cost five nurture point, and they were sold as a package, which was much more expensive than food!
Su Qinghe bought three sets, which cost her fifteen nurture point, making her heart ache for several seconds!
But no matter how much it pained her, she still had to buy what was necessary!
Looking at the brand-new underwear, Su Qinghe took them to the bathroom to wash them right away.
It was currently summer, and mid-afternoon was the hottest time of the day.
In less than an hour, these clothes would be dry.
After hanging up the clothes to dry, Su Qinghe glanced at the tightly shut doors and windows of the east wing.
Ever since Qin Wang went inside, he hadn’t come out. She had no idea what he was doing in there.
Su Qinghe had never been a stepmother before and didn’t know how to strike up a conversation, so she decided not to disturb him and went back to her room to take a nap.
Since transmigrating, her nerves had been constantly frayed, with one event happening right after another.
Now that she finally had some free time, she could finally get some proper rest.
Su Qinghe had originally only intended to take a short nap, but by the time she woke up, the room had already grown dark.
She didn’t have a watch and didn’t know the time, so she could only get out of bed and go to the living room to check.
There was a mantel clock in the living room. It looked very vintage and was likely an antique.
The time was clearly displayed on it—it was already almost six in the afternoon!
Su Qinghe’s pupils dilated in shock. She had actually slept until now?
She had slept right through to dinner time!
That little guy Qin Wang was at an age where he was still growing; he was probably starving by now, wasn’t he?
Su Qinghe hurriedly went back to her room, slung her crossbody bag over her shoulder, and rushed toward the east wing.
The doors and windows of the east wing were still tightly shut.
Su Qinghe knocked on the door. “Qin Wang, are you in there? Are you hungry? Let me take you out to eat!”
She called out twice in a row, but there was no sound from inside.
This struck Su Qinghe as a bit strange.
Could it be that no one was inside?
Su Qinghe tried pushing the door, and to her surprise, it actually opened!
The room was somewhat dim, but she could still clearly see that there was no one inside!
If he wasn’t in the room, where could he be?
Could he have gotten hungry and gone out to look for food on his own?
Su Qinghe closed the door and went to the kitchen.
But there was no one in the kitchen either, and the pots and pans didn’t look like they had been touched.
Now Su Qinghe was starting to panic.
Before Qin Yu left, he had entrusted Qin Wang to her!
If something happened to him, how would she explain it to Qin Yu?
Not to mention explaining it to him, she wouldn’t even be able to get past her own conscience!
Su Qinghe didn’t dare delay for a second and quickly ran toward the main gate.
Rounding the screen wall, she saw that the front gate was indeed left ajar.
Qin Wang had opened the gate and run out on his own!
At this moment, Su Qinghe clearly realized that an eight-year-old child was not like the cats and dogs she had raised in her past life; they wouldn’t just stay put simply because the doors were closed.
This kind of situation absolutely must not happen again!
Su Qinghe told herself this as she opened the gate and stepped outside.
Just as she stepped out, she saw quite a few people standing in front of the house diagonally across from theirs!
A crowd had gathered in a circle, and Su Qinghe couldn’t see what was happening inside.
However, the shrill, biting voice of an old woman cursing and shouting carried clearly into Su Qinghe’s ears.
“You little bastard, you mother-born, fatherless piece of trash!”
“Did you really think that just because Director Qin adopted you and let you call him ‘Dad’, you’re actually his son?”
“You unwanted little beast! You’re rotten to the core!”
“You ungrateful wretch! Director Qin was kind enough to adopt you, yet you actually stood in his way and wouldn’t let him get married!”
“If it weren’t for you little bastard causing trouble, my daughter and Director Qin’s child would already be old enough to run errands!”
“Just you wait! You can stop him once or twice, but you can’t stop him ten or eight times. Director Qin will get married sooner or later. When he brings back a shrew of a wife, she’ll make you kneel on a washboard every day and starve you! When that time comes, you’ll know what regret feels like!”
The old woman not only had a shrill voice, but she also spoke at an exceptionally fast pace.
Su Qinghe had rushed over the moment she heard the first insult. By the time she finally squeezed through the crowd, the old woman had already finished a long tirade and was catching her breath with her hands on her hips, a smug look plastered across her face.
Qin Wang stood not far from the old woman, his hands clenched into fists and his head lowered. Yet, his eyes were raised, bloodshot, and staring death glares at her.
The old woman sneered, “Glaring at me? What are you glaring at me for? Am I wrong?”
“Even if you tell Director Qin, I’m not afraid! You little bastard, stealing the dried sweet potatoes I laid out to dry! You’re nothing but a thief!”
“Just you wait, I’m going to report you to the police today and have them drag you away!”
“If you become a thief, Director Qin will be a thief’s father. Not only are you preventing Director Qin from getting a wife, but you’re also dragging down his reputation, and he might even lose his job. You’re nothing but a burden! If I were you, I’d have bashed my head against a wall and died already, rather than being a drag on others!”
Hearing the old woman’s words grow more and more foul, Su Qinghe could no longer hold back and charged straight in.
“You dead old hag, did you eat shit? Your mouth is so foul!”
“Other people watch what they say to accumulate good karma, but here you are lacking any shred of decency, aren’t you?”
“To speak so maliciously, has everyone in your family died out? Are you planning to skip reincarnation in your next life?”
“Pointing and cursing at a child like this, isn’t it just because your daughter failed to marry Qin Yu? Just how desperate is your daughter to get married that you have to vent your frustration on a child?”
“With how utterly wicked you are, watch out that you don’t fall straight into the pit next time you use the outhouse at night and get a mouthful of manure! Go wash your filthy mouth!”
Su Qinghe was young, in great shape, and had an exceptionally loud voice.
With her hands on her hips, she hopped and bounced as she spoke, looking like a fluttering butterfly.
Under the golden sunset, her entire body seemed to be bathed in a warm, golden glow.
Qin Wang raised his head in astonishment, staring at Su Qinghe. He had never expected that she would actually stand up for him!
This woman… why?
Wang Dahua was completely stunned by Su Qinghe’s scolding, and it took her a good moment to recover. “Y-y-you… Who are you? What does this have to do with you?”
“Who am I?”
Su Qinghe sneered.
“I am Qin Wang’s stepmother! Qin Yu’s wife!”