When Lin Qingtang woke up, it was already dark outside.
Lin Shaoan rose from behind his desk, his phone still in his hand as though he had just finished a call.
He walked over, crouched beside the sofa, and gently placed a hand on his daughter’s forehead.
“No fever.” He smiled faintly. “Hungry? I can have the restaurant downstairs send something up.”
“Dad.” She set her cup down. “Can I move back home? I want to take a few days off from school.”
“Of course.” Lin Shaoan ruffled her hair. “I’ll have Old Zhang handle the leave request. Come on, let’s go home.”
…
The black sedan glided through the city beneath the glow of the night skyline.
Leaning against the window, Lin Qingtang watched the colorful neon lights blur past along with crowds of people hurrying through their evening routines.
Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the necklace resting against her chest.
The pendant was a tiny jasmine flower.
At its center was a moonstone no larger than a grain of rice.
It had been her mother’s keepsake.
She had worn it since childhood and had never once taken it off.
But now…
The pendant was warm.
Not painfully hot, only warm enough for her to clearly notice.
She frowned.
What’s happening?
The necklace continued to radiate gentle heat within her palm.
It felt as though something hidden inside it was slowly awakening…
Trying to communicate with her.
…
After returning home, Lin Qingtang showered and lay down on her bed, holding the pendant up toward the light.
She turned onto her side, wrapped her fingers around it, and slowly closed her eyes.
Mom…
Are you there?
Sometimes she had whispered those words before going to sleep when she was younger.
She could barely remember her mother’s face anymore.
Only a handful of blurry memories remained.
Suddenly…
A brilliant white light flashed before her eyes.
The softness of her mattress vanished.
Hard ground met her feet instead.
Lin Qingtang’s eyes snapped open.
Where…
Was she?
She stood on a narrow dirt path dividing endless fields of golden rice.
A gentle breeze rolled across the crops, causing the heavy ears of grain to sway like waves beneath the sun.
Every stalk was thick and full, ready for harvest.
Beyond the rice fields stretched rows of vegetables.
Chinese cabbage.
Spinach.
Lettuce.
Green peppers.
Tomatoes.
Cucumbers.
Each one looked larger and healthier than anything sold in stores.
Farther away lay an orchard.
She could make out apple trees and orange trees, their branches bending beneath the weight of abundant fruit.
A crystal-clear river flowed nearby, filled with fish.
Beside it stood a small wooden cottage.
In front of the cottage bloomed a cluster of jasmine flowers.
Their fragrance drifted gently through the air.
It smelled exactly like her mother.
The scent buried deep within her childhood memories.
Beyond the cottage stood several greenhouses and livestock sheds.
Chickens, ducks, and geese wandered lazily beneath the fruit trees.
A calico cat slept on the cottage windowsill.
Several rabbits poked their heads out of the grass to curiously watch her.
The entire place looked astonishingly similar to the old photographs of her mother’s hometown.
Suddenly…
A large white dog came sprinting from behind the cottage.
Its snow-white fur shimmered beneath the sunlight.
Its tail wagged so enthusiastically it looked like a spinning propeller.
When it stood on its hind legs, it was taller than Lin Qingtang’s waist.
It placed both front paws on her shoulders and sniffed her face excitedly, letting out soft, emotional whines.
On its forehead…
Was a patch of golden fur shaped like a heart.
“…Abai.”
She dropped to her knees and wrapped both arms around the dog’s neck.
Its fur was thick.
Soft.
Still carrying the comforting warmth of sunshine.
Abai suddenly wriggled free.
It trotted several steps toward the wooden cottage before stopping to look back at her, happily wagging its tail.
It was clearly telling her…
Follow me.
…
She pushed open the cottage door.
A framed photograph rested quietly on the table.
Inside the frame, a young woman stood smiling before the jasmine bushes while hugging a white dog.
Mom…
Lin Qingtang picked up the photograph.
Her fingertips gently traced the woman’s face.
“Mom…”
Her trembling voice echoed through the empty cottage.
“Mom! Where are you?”
“Mom!”
No one answered.
Abai quietly followed her inside.
Watching her slowly collapse into tears, it walked over and rested its head gently upon her knees.
Wrapping her arms around the dog’s neck, she sobbed.
“Abai…”
“If you’re here…”
“Where’s Mom?”
“Where did she go?”
The dog slowly lifted its head.
It looked toward the sky.
Then barked several times.
When it finished, it tilted its head and quietly gazed at her.
Its eyes were calm.
Gentle.
Lin Qingtang followed its gaze.
The sky held nothing but blue heavens and drifting white clouds.
Warm sunlight poured down across the land.
Yet somehow…
She understood.
Her mother was watching them from above.
She had always been watching.
The necklace.
This space.
Abai.
They were all gifts her mother had left behind.
“Mom…”
She buried her face deep within Abai’s soft fur.
“I’ll live well.”
“I’ll protect Dad.”
“I’ll protect myself.”
“You left me something so precious…”
“I won’t waste it.”
Abai gently licked the back of her hand.
“Abai…”
“How do I leave this place?”
The instant she spoke…
The scenery blurred.
…
She was lying in her bedroom again.
The jasmine pendant rested quietly within her palm.
Its warmth had faded back to its usual gentle temperature.
Outside the window, it was still the middle of the night.
The bedside lamp remained on.
Nothing had changed.
Lin Qingtang slowly sat up.
She looked down at the jasmine pendant.
Then she thought of her mother.
Thought of the mysterious space.
Silently, she wished,
I want to go back.
In the next instant…
She stood once more upon the dirt path.
Abai sat beside her feet, lazily sweeping its tail across the ground as though asking,
Back already?
She tried again.
Out.
Back in.
Out.
Back in.
By the third time she returned to her bedroom, her heart was pounding wildly.
She couldn’t stop smiling.
This…
This was exactly like the storage spaces described in novels.
A private dimension.
A place where she could store supplies.
Carry everything with her.
A place that no one could ever steal.
…
The next morning, the first thing Lin Qingtang did after opening her eyes was touch the necklace around her neck.
The pendant rested warmly against her skin.
No longer hot.
Yet she knew that whenever she wished…
The rice fields…
The cottage…
And Abai…
Would all be waiting for her in another dimension.
She didn’t go to school.
Thursday’s class schedule still glowed on her phone.
Twenty minutes earlier, Long Juanli had sent her a message.
Qingtang, are you coming today? I saved you a seat.
She ignored it.
A second message quickly followed.
You looked really pale yesterday. Are you sick? Do you want me to bring you some medicine?
The message sounded as caring as ever.
It even included a cute sticker expressing concern.
Looking at it, Lin Qingtang felt her stomach churn.
In her previous life…
This gentle concern had slowly wrapped itself around her like invisible chains.
…
Lin Shaoan was in the middle of a departmental meeting.
More than twenty senior managers sat around the conference table.
The projector displayed page after page of financial reports while the Marketing Director gave a presentation.
Lin Shaoan sat at the head of the table, listening with his usual serious expression.
Then…
The conference room door opened.
“Dad.”
“I need to talk to you.”
He immediately stood.
Buttoning his suit jacket, he calmly interrupted the meeting.
“We’ll stop here.”
“We’ll continue this afternoon.”
Without another word, he walked to the door, placed an arm around his daughter’s shoulders, and led her away.
…
Inside his office, Lin Shaoan locked the door.
He guided her onto the sofa before pouring her a cup of warm water.
“All right.”
“No one’s going to interrupt us now.”
“Tell me.”
Lin Qingtang accepted the cup with both hands.
She looked at her father.
Then took a deep breath.
“Dad…”
“Do you believe the apocalypse is real?”
Lin Shaoan blinked.
Then smiled.
It was the indulgent smile of a father humoring his beloved daughter.
Leaning casually against his desk, he chuckled.
“Did that nightmare scare you that badly?”
“We’re living in peaceful times.”
“Where would an apocalypse come from?”
“Even if one did…”
He reached over and gently ruffled her hair.
“Dad would protect you.”
“Then how do you explain the people I asked you to investigate yesterday?”
His smile faded.
“I’ve never had any connection with them.”
“So how did I know their names?”
“How did I know what they looked like?”
Her words came rapidly, as though she feared she would lose the courage to continue.
“Because…”
“They hurt me in my previous life.”
“Long Juanli kept trying to set me up with her brother because she wanted him to inherit the Lin family’s fortune.”
“Then the apocalypse came.”
“Zhao Hongbin took a liking to me.”
“To curry favor with him…”
“Long Juanli tried to send me to Zhao Hongbin’s bed.”
“I escaped.”
“I hit him with a rock.”
“Then the zombies appeared.”
“They pushed me into the zombie horde.”
She stared directly into her father’s eyes.
She watched his expression change.
The warm amusement disappeared.
Shock replaced it.
Then…
His face hardened in a way she had never seen before.
The relaxed lines around his jaw tightened into something sharp.
“Long Juanli pushed you?”
His voice had changed.
Gone was the gentle warmth.
What remained was restrained fury.
“Your best friend?”
“Her…”
“And her brother?”
“It was her.”
Lin Qingtang’s lips trembled.
“The person I trusted more than anyone…”
“Personally pushed me into the zombies.”
Lin Shaoan remained silent.
He slowly straightened and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling windows.
He had witnessed countless storms throughout his life.
Never…
Anything this unbelievable.
Yet…
He remembered the way his daughter had cried herself unconscious in his arms the day before.
The terror in her eyes when she’d spoken those names.
It had been real.
Far too real to ignore.
…
Lin Qingtang walked over to him.
She removed the jasmine necklace and placed it into his palm.
Then she closed his hand around it.
“Dad.”
“Close your eyes.”
“Think about Mom.”
“Leave the rest to me.”
Meeting the seriousness in his daughter’s eyes, Lin Shaoan slowly closed his own.
Warmth spread across his palm.
The solid office floor beneath his feet…
Suddenly became soft earth.
He opened his eyes.
His pupils contracted sharply.
“What is…”
His words were interrupted by a familiar whine.
Not an ordinary bark.
A soft, emotional whimper.
Lin Shaoan slowly crouched.
His trembling hand reached forward.
“…Abai?”
The white dog barked happily before rubbing its head against his palm.
His fingers shook.
He stroked Abai’s head.
Its ears.
Its neck.
His fingertips sank into thick white fur.
It was real.
Not a dream.
Not an illusion.
He suddenly stood.
Then began searching frantically.
From the cottage…
To the river…
Across the fields…
Toward the foot of the hills…
His desperate eyes searched every corner.
“Jing’er?”
No answer.
“Jing’er!”
“Where are you?”
“Abai’s here!”
“Jing’er!”
“Where are you?”
“My Jing’er…”
His anxious voice gradually became hoarse.
Then broke into sobs.
He searched every inch of the space.
She was nowhere.
Finally…
He returned to the cottage.
Stopping beside the blooming jasmine bushes.
The white blossoms swayed gently in the breeze.
Just like the smile she used to wear.
“Dad.”
Lin Qingtang walked over and gently rested her forehead against his trembling back.
“Abai told me…”
“Mom’s watching us from heaven.”
“I think…”
“She left all of this for us.”
For a long while, neither of them spoke.
Finally, Lin Shaoan straightened.
He wiped the tears from his face.
His eyes were still red.
But his voice had regained its usual steadiness.
“Qingtang.”
“Yes?”
“We’ve got less than a month.”
He took a deep breath while gazing across the endless sea of golden rice.
“We need to make a proper plan.”