When Shen Meng finally recovered from her shock, she discovered that she was standing inside a villa decorated in a modern Chinese style.
She knew it was a villa because of the traditional-style staircase in the living room leading to the second floor. Through the enormous floor-to-ceiling windows, she could vaguely see the flowers, plants, and trees in the courtyard. There even seemed to be a fish pond, giving the place the appearance of a traditional Chinese courtyard.
“Where is this?”
Shen Meng looked around before finally fixing her gaze on Shang Hong’s eyes.
By then, Shang Hong had already kicked off her high heels, poured herself a glass of red wine, and settled onto a traditional-style daybed in the living room that served as a sofa.
One hand rested on the small table in the middle of the daybed while the other held the stem of her wineglass, gently swirling the wine inside.
She looked both languid and domineering.
“This is my home. Go to the entrance and get yourself a pair of white slippers. While you’re there, bring me those red ones. The entrance is right past that screen.”
Shang Hong spoke as if she were ordering around her own little maid.
Shen Meng swallowed and secretly rolled her eyes, but she still did as she was told.
There were several pairs of red high heels in the shoe cabinet, all in different styles. On the bottom shelf were a pair of red slippers and a pair of white slippers.
Both were traditional-style embroidered shoes that covered only half the foot.
Shen Meng froze for a moment and muttered inwardly:
Shang Hong dresses herself in such a modern and sexy way, but I never would have guessed her home would be decorated in a modern Chinese style. Even her slippers are embroidered shoes. What a strange woman.
“Those white slippers have never been worn. They’re new.”
Shang Hong’s voice wasn’t loud, yet it clearly reached Shen Meng’s ears.
Shen Meng, who had just been muttering about Shang Hong behind her back, jumped in fright.
“Got it!”
She’s an immortal. Maybe she can read minds too.
Shen Meng immediately stopped letting her thoughts run wild and hurriedly put on the white slippers.
She froze again.
They fit perfectly.
Not too big, not too small.
Afraid Shang Hong would urge her to hurry again, Shen Meng didn’t have time to think about it. She grabbed the red slippers, closed the shoe cabinet, and hurried around the screen.
She crossed the enormous living room and placed the slippers beside Shang Hong’s dangling feet.
Then she looked around.
After hesitating for a moment, she sat down in one of the round-backed chairs positioned below the daybed.
There were two round-backed chairs on each side below the daybed, with a small table between them.
The arrangement looked just like the reception hall of a wealthy household in a period drama.
Sitting in such a chair, Shen Meng unconsciously straightened her back.
“This is my home. There’s no one else here, so you don’t have to be so formal. Go to the tea station over by the dining area and get yourself something to drink. There’s all kinds of stuff. Check the cabinets underneath and the refrigerator beside it. You should find something you like.”
Shen Meng hummed in acknowledgment and got up to walk toward the dining area.
The dining area and living room were connected without any partition between them, making the entire space look especially vast.
Actually, it really was huge.
That was why Shen Meng had instinctively raised her voice when she’d spoken at the entrance earlier. The space was simply too large.
The tea station was long, with a whole row of things arranged on top.
There were two glass wellness kettles. One contained warm water kept at a constant forty-five degrees Celsius, while the other held wellness tea kept at the same temperature.
Beside them were two coffee machines, one automatic and one manual grinder, along with several other machines Shen Meng didn’t recognize.
Shen Meng looked at the pot of wellness tea.
The only ingredients she recognized were red dates and goji berries. She had never seen the others before.
After thinking about it, she took a glass from the overhead cabinet and poured herself a cup of warm water.
Sitting in the round-backed chair, Shen Meng silently finished the entire glass of plain water.
“Why was I like a ghost in my original world? I could pass through everything I touched. But here, I’m completely normal?”
Shen Meng looked at the glass in her hand as she asked.
“Because you died in that world. You no longer exist there.”
Shang Hong explained, “The only reason you can still go back right now is because I opened a passage between the two parallel spaces for you. After three days, you won’t be able to return. My authority only lasts for three days.”
“Don’t think about it so much. Go upstairs, wash up, and get some rest. Tomorrow, I’m taking you to watch a great show.”
Shang Hong gave her a mysterious smile.
Shen Meng instinctively stood up.
She had been raised to be an obedient child from a young age. Obedience was practically carved into her bones.
By the time she realized what she’d done, she was already standing at the foot of the stairs.
Shen Meng sighed inwardly.
I’m really hopeless.
She had left home and left Bai Jinxi behind so many years ago, yet she still hadn’t managed to break these bad habits.
Shen Meng pulled back the foot she had already placed on the stairs and turned to look at Shang Hong, who was still sitting on the daybed.
“What exactly are you planning?”
“What’s the rush? You’ll know tomorrow, won’t you?”
“Tomorrow? It’s daytime in my world right now, but it’s nighttime here. When you say tomorrow, which world’s tomorrow do you mean?”
“Tomorrow here.”
“Then which day in my world is tomorrow here?”
Shen Meng walked two more steps toward Shang Hong, looking determined to keep pressing until she got a proper explanation.
“Fine. I’ll explain everything from the beginning.”
Shang Hong began explaining seriously.
“The world you came from has already reported that scientists discovered dark matter and, based on their findings, derived the concept of parallel spaces. You’ve seen that report.”
“Now I’m telling you that all of it is real. We are in a parallel space right now.
“Or rather, both the world you came from and this world are parallel spaces relative to each other.”
“In both your world and this world, everything around us except the air is filled with dark matter. This dark matter is the medium that allows parallel spaces to exist.
“Different worlds overlap and intersect with one another, yet the people within them can’t see each other.”
Shang Hong simply stood up and walked barefoot toward Shen Meng.
Without her high heels, Shang Hong was actually shorter than Shen Meng. The top of her head only reached Shen Meng’s eyebrows.
“Under rare circumstances, the boundary between two spaces—or even multiple spaces—can become visible. People from one space can then fall into another.
“That’s the truth behind the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle.”
“And the passage of time isn’t the same in every space either.
“For example, the difference between this world and yours is enormous. One day here is equivalent to one minute in your world.
“That’s why, when someone mysteriously disappears from your world and then reappears there decades later, they’re still roughly the same age they were when they vanished.
“That’s the reason.”
“One day in Heaven is a year on Earth?”
Shen Meng pondered this.
“So the things in mythology weren’t all made up after all.”
Shang Hong gave her a mysterious smile.
“That’s why you don’t need to worry. Get some rest here. Once you’ve recovered and you’re feeling refreshed tomorrow, I’ll take you back to watch the show.”
“Oh, and this world also uses a twenty-four-hour system.”
Shang Hong added, “It’s the same as yours. Three hundred and sixty-five days in a year, twenty-four hours in a day, sixty minutes in an hour, and sixty seconds in a minute.”
Shen Meng nodded and turned around, continuing upstairs.
“Also, your room is the last one on the right.”
Shang Hong called out from downstairs.
Shen Meng waved her hand to show that she understood.