The water surface abruptly began to swirl, forming a tiny vortex from which a delicate stream of water emerged.
However, when Bai Bai tried to “pull” the water stream out, she found herself lacking the strength; her mental power simply couldn’t keep up.
With a splash, the vortex dissolved.
Bai Bai stopped trying and stored the water jug back into her space.
Then, she attempted it once more inside the space.
The stream of water quickly condensed, was smoothly drawn out from the jug, and then put right back.
Why did it work inside the space?
Bai Bai thought it over and attributed it to the original host’s spatial micro-manipulation skills—a unique technique forged through extreme exhaustion, designed to avoid moving a muscle whenever possible to save every bit of physical energy.
Otherwise, how could she have found the strength to open that gallon water jug earlier?
As for what failed just now, that was pure water-manipulation superability.
This was a new power, one that required her to polish and practice thousands of times on her own.
Bai Bai composed herself, biting her tongue to keep from putting on a display of ecstatic delight right there on the street.
The duplication ability was real, but she set it aside for the moment.
She didn’t hurry to stand up. Instead, she duplicated two rice balls from her space, took one out, and began gnawing on it.
Only when she was full and hydrated would she have the energy to walk more than two hours back home.
The space couldn’t preserve freshness, so the once-hot rice balls had already turned cold, hard, and choking by now. They were made of steamed grain mixed with chopped wild vegetables, rolled up and squeezed into balls the size of an infant’s fist, costing 20 cents apiece.
Alternating between a mouthful of water and a bite of rice ball, Bai Bai chewed until her cheeks ached, finally managing to swallow two of them.
With food and water in her stomach, six tenths of her physical strength returned.
She stowed her things, pushed herself up off the ground, and headed home.
After nearly three hours of trekking, twilight had fallen by the time she finally returned to the residential complex where the original host rented a place.
This was a batch of low-rent housing rushed to completion during the post-disaster reconstruction project organized by the government. In reality, it followed a tenement-style layout.
The crude, slapdash nature of the rushed construction was clearly visible from the exterior, with exposed brick walls displaying a chaotic mix of black, red, and gray bricks.
Every building stood ten stories high, with twenty units per floor. There were no elevators, and the open-air ground floor housed the public taps and communal toilets.
Being young and single, the original host had been assigned to the tenth floor.
Before heading upstairs, Bai Bai first went to use the communal toilet.
A single trip to the restroom cost 20 cents, which bought two sheets of coarse toilet paper and came with free handwashing.
The handwashing tap produced a stream as thin as cat urine, barely enough to wet one’s hands, and there was no soap for a proper wash.
Bai Bai rinsed her hands, wiped them against her rear, and prepared to go upstairs.
An older woman approached her.
Bai Bai immediately dodged.
The original host’s memories informed her that this woman was the matchmaker of the complex, who had harassed the original host multiple times wanting to play matchmaker for her, every word striking a painful nerve.
“It’s so dangerous living alone; finding a man means having someone to rely on at least.”
“Teaming up with someone to get by is always better than toughing it out on your own.”
“As a woman, why push yourself so hard? Once you’re married, at least you won’t have to worry about someone kicking your door down in the middle of the night.”
These were all the matchmaker’s persuasive tactics.
The original host had never paid her any mind.
Bai Bai naturally had no intention of doing so either, stepping out to leave.
Even without the original host’s memories, she wouldn’t want to engage with her. Water was scarce, so everyone carried a sour stench and bad breath. She could barely tolerate her own smell and certainly didn’t want to catch a whiff of anyone else’s.
No one was to come near her.
“Hey? Hey, hey, hey! Don’t go! I really have a great man available this time!”
The matchmaker reached out to grab Bai Bai, snatching hold of her hem.
Bai Bai immediately flared up with anger.
It just so happened that a neighbor carrying a bundle of thin, dry branches was passing by to head upstairs. Bai Bai yanked one out from the bundle, whirled around, and whipped the matchmaker fiercely.
“Are you looking to die? Let go!”
Seeing the bad turn of events, the matchmaker quickly retracted her hand.
With a sharp whistle through the air, Bai Bai’s strike missed.
“Oh my, don’t be in such a hurry! I’m coming to you with good news!”
The woman was truly thick-skinned. Even after being put in such an awkward position, she still refused to leave, determined to strike up a conversation with Bai Bai.
“Striking you dead first would be the absolute best news.”
Bai Bai took two quick steps forward, raised the branch, and continued swinging.
“We live in the same complex, so stop putting on an act! Playing matchmaker on the surface while acting as a pimp behind closed doors—as long as there’s money to be made, you dare introduce any piece-of-trash rotten person! Do you think no one’s keeping count of how many men and women died after being introduced through your hands? I’ll whip you to death, you damn harbinger of plague!”
This was a secret known to the original host, which had surfaced in Bai Bai’s mind the moment the matchmaker appeared. She immediately shouted it at the top of her lungs, playing the part of someone pushed past her limit who called out the woman’s sinister intentions.
This time, the woman failed to dodge in time and was struck several times. Bloody welts instantly appeared on her face and hands, and she immediately threw herself onto the ground to play the victim.
“You’re spouting nonsense! I didn’t! Everyone come look, a youngster is picking on me!”
“You didn’t?!”
“What about Qiao Lin? What about He Jin? What about Fan Wenfan? What about Zhao Meimei? What about Chen Xue? What about Su Anyue? What about Sun Yan? What about Jin Ning?”
Bai Bai didn’t stop her hands, barking out name after name from her mouth.
Ever since the complex was built and populated, active matchmakers had been making connections everywhere. But the men and women connected by this old hag had one uniform commonality regardless of when they married: every single one of them died within three months of marriage, allowing the surviving spouse to naturally inherit the apartment’s lease eligibility.
These named individuals were all close friends of the original host who had visited each other’s homes, which was how she knew their unit numbers.
“You old hag, now you’ve set your sights on me, haven’t you? Thinking I’m frail and will die quickly? I’ll kill you right now and see who dies faster!”
The surrounding residents who were watching the commotion finally broke into an uproar. A group of people rushed forward, grabbing Bai Bai around the waist and forcibly dragging her to one side.
“Alright, alright, calm down, calm down! The administrators will be here shortly, stop hitting her!”
“Hitting her like this is enough. If you keep going, it won’t end well for you either.”
“Deep breaths, deep breaths! If what you said is true, then she’s done for. Don’t act in haste.”
“I was wondering! That girl named Chen Xue who lived on the same floor as me was doing just fine before marriage. How could she be gone just over a month after getting hitched? Turns out she was murdered?”
Panting heavily, Bai Bai stowed the branch back into her space.
“Anyway, these are the ones I know about. As for whether there are more dead people, you guys can figure that out yourselves.”
“Holy crap!”
“It takes a youngster’s sharp mind to notice these things after all.”
“Getting married is one thing, but why murder people after marriage? Just to steal the housing rights?”
“I’m afraid these spouses weren’t good people to begin with.”
“Could there be a bunch of murderers living among us in our complex?!”
“The administrators are here! The administrators are here!”
Two administrators wearing red armbands rushed over surrounded by the crowd. They glanced at the matchmaker lying on the ground, her face and hands covered in bloody welts, and then at Bai Bai, who was still gasping for air with a pale face.
“Both of you come with us to give a detailed explanation.”
“I’m innocent! Administrators, I’m innocent! I’m just a matchmaker, those things have nothing to do with me!”
The old hag scrambled up rapidly and lunged toward the male administrator closer to her, grabbing onto his leg with all her strength.