“Your aunt promises that from now on, she’ll be a good auntie every day, never a bad auntie!”
Lin Shu quickly looked away, trying her best to appear as normal as possible.
The sound of their conversation caught Jiang Jie’s attention.
Previously, her sister-in-law had been the one who disliked her own son the most, always calling him “Little Chubby” this and “Little Chubby” that.
It had even made the child afraid to eat too much.
Lin Shu took her little nephew from one vegetable stall to another, listening as people asked about the prices.
After getting a real sense of the current prices, she decided to take some of her money and stock up on supplies that could be stored for a long time in her space. As for the rest, she would take things one step at a time.
There were too many people buying fresh vegetables, and the aunt and nephew could not squeeze their way in, so they waited at the stall right in front.
“Old lady, the fish has always been this price. Are you getting senile?”
“You’re the senile one! I’m perfectly clear-headed!”
The old lady complained that the meat was too expensive, while the vegetable seller refused to back down. The two of them argued back and forth for quite a while.
Finding it boring to watch, Lin Shu took her nephew outside the market to a flatbread shop to buy some yóuzhàgāo, deep-fried glutinous rice cakes.
Who would have thought that the moment she took the yóuzhàgāo into her hands, Lin Xiaonan spotted his mother.
“Auntie, what do we do? If Mom finds out, she definitely won’t let me eat it~”
Looking at her pitiful little nephew, Lin Shu knew that she was partly to blame for this.
An idea suddenly came to her.
“Give it to Auntie. We’ll hide it and secretly eat it together later.”
He handed the paper bag to his aunt.
Jiang Jie was getting closer and closer to the two of them. Lin Shu simply held the paper bag in her hand and quietly moved that hand behind her back.
Jiang Jie had already seen from a distance that they were hiding something.
“Did you buy him something to eat?”
“No. Since we’re done shopping, let’s just go home.”
“Show me your hand. Xiaonan isn’t allowed to eat anything else.”
“Sister-in-law, really, I didn’t buy him anything.”
She held out her fair hand. The jade bracelet on her wrist naturally slid down toward the end of her palm under its own weight.
Under the sunlight, its luster was dazzling.
Lin Shu realized what had happened and quickly hid it back inside her sleeve. She absolutely could not let anyone see it.
“Good. If you really have nothing, then fine. But if I catch you, I won’t let you off easily.”
Lin Shu nodded and followed her sister-in-law, dragging along a little nephew whose face was filled with shock.
When they returned home, the two of them secretly ran to the backyard and ate the yóuzhàgāo.
“Auntie, you’re amazing!”
“Of course! Your aunt knows magic. But if you tell anyone about Auntie’s magic, it will stop working!”
When Lin Xiaonan heard how serious that sounded, he immediately nodded solemnly and promised that he would not tell anyone.
She patted her little nephew on the head.
“Pinky promise.”
“Auntie, I want to eat more.”
After five years of not being able to properly savor the taste of food, she could finally eat again. Her little nephew had awakened her own craving as well.
“Auntie wants some too, but there’s no more yóuzhàgāo.”
The next second, Lin Shu suddenly felt some weight appear in her hand. What was even more astonishing was that the food was still warm.
“Auntie! You actually hid another one! Give me one, please~”
He clasped his hands together and looked at the fresh yóuzhàgāo in his aunt’s hand, steam still rising from it.
“Fine! I knew it… Little sister, hand it over. Otherwise, eat it yourself. You’re not allowed to give any to Lin Xiaonan!”
Her sister-in-law suddenly appeared with a spatula in her hand.
“Sister-in-law, you eat it. You’ve worked hard cooking for everyone. I’ll go upstairs and teach Nan-Nan how to read.”
Lin Xiaonan followed his aunt upstairs with a dejected expression.
Having reached a certain conclusion, Lin Shu now wanted to experiment again.
“Nan-Nan, don’t be sad. First, copy this line. Once you finish, Auntie will give you another one.”
“Really?”
“Auntie never lies. Hurry up and write.”
Back in the room, Lin Shu carefully locked the door and stood in front of the wardrobe.
With just a thought, a paper bag of yóuzhàgāo appeared on the table, in exactly the same condition as the ones she had just received at the flatbread shop.
This proved that the thing called a “space” could not only replicate objects infinitely, but could also preserve food in its original fresh state.
Thinking of something else, Lin Shu was ecstatic. She took a coat out of the wardrobe.
In the blink of an eye, the coat disappeared.
With another thought, the coat reappeared, followed by another identical one.
Lin Shu immediately put the original coat back where it had been and placed the new one inside the space.
The power of this space was terrifying. If anyone found out about it, it would certainly bring disaster upon her.
From now on, she absolutely could not use the space carelessly outside.
With this, Shen Huai’s bankbook was no longer necessary, which meant she would owe him one less favor.
After putting the bankbook away, she started with the small supplies around her, duplicating each item and putting the copies into the space.
The more things she had in the space, the more secure she felt.
At the very least, once they went to the Great Northwest, her family would not have to go hungry or suffer from the cold.
Conditions in the Great Northwest were harsh, with constant exposure to wind and sun. Having sufficient food and water would be the best backup resource for their entire family.
If possible, once the policies became more relaxed in the future, she could even use the abilities of her space to make a huge fortune.
She was staring intently at the bracelet in her hand when a sudden knock on the door startled her.
“Lin Shu? Can I come in?”
It was Shen Huai. When she checked the time, she realized it was already six in the evening.
“Wait!”
She got out of bed, put on her slippers, and opened the door. The anxious expression on the man’s face had not completely faded yet.
“You’re back.”
“Mm. Sister-in-law said you hadn’t come downstairs all this time, so I came up to check on you.”
“I was just sorting through some clothes I don’t wear anymore. I’m fine.”
Shen Huai stood very close behind her, making Lin Shu unable to ignore the warmth radiating from his body.
“Why do you keep following me?”
“Are you angry with me?”
There was a hint of insecurity in the man’s voice when he asked.
“No. What are you thinking? Didn’t I already say that we should live our lives properly together?”
Hearing this, Shen Huai smiled. His faint smile left Lin Shu staring at him in a daze.
If it weren’t for the circumstances surrounding their families, she might really have fallen for Shen Huai. He was easygoing and wholeheartedly devoted to her.
“Oh, right. I put your bankbook in your drawer. I didn’t touch a single cent.”
“Why didn’t you spend it?”
“Because I don’t need it anymore. I don’t need money now.”
“Then keep it anyway. We’re married now, so you can manage the money.”
“Okay, but I don’t need it for the time being.”
Lin Shu did want to duplicate money and ration coupons, but doing so would be far too risky.
Banknotes, grain and cooking-oil coupons, cloth coupons, and other tickets all had unique identification numbers. Even if she could duplicate them and use them once or twice without being discovered, using them too often would inevitably arouse suspicion. That would only make an already difficult family situation even worse.
“Tomorrow, Staff Officer Wu from the military academy invited us to dinner. He said we should bring our families…”
Lin Shu fell silent for several seconds.
If the surname and position were the same, then this should be the very person who had been the first to oppose Shen Huai marrying her.
He was also the leader who, after Shen Huai had made great contributions, had privately kept urging him to divorce her as soon as possible.
She looked seriously at Shen Huai.
“Okay. But Staff Officer Wu doesn’t mind me going, does he?”
Her sudden question immediately made Shen Huai think that she must have heard something someone had said behind her back.
“Why are you so nervous? Could it be that I guessed correctly? Staff Officer Wu really doesn’t like me? And you still want me to go? Wouldn’t that just mean I have to sit there and endure his displeasure?”
Lin Shu questioned Shen Huai bit by bit, trying to get the answer she wanted.
If he openly expressed his stance in front of her, it would prove that, in his heart, she still had a place.