“Thank you, Mister,” Mo Jianian and Mo Jiayue thanked the security guard who had helped keep an eye on their little cart.
Da Long smiled, then casually pulled open a drawer, intending to grab a handful of candy for the two children.
Just then, a voice came through the intercom, and the expressions of the security guards changed at the same time.
Mo Fei heard it clearly. It was Xiao Chen’s voice. A resident had taken their dog out for a walk, but for some unknown reason, the dog had suddenly gone berserk and pounced on its owner. The owner had been bitten until they were covered in blood and torn flesh, screaming and crawling toward the property management office. Unfortunately, only Xiao Chen and an older woman were there at the time. The dog bit anyone it saw, but Xiao Chen had reacted quickly enough to lock it inside the property management office.
The children had obviously heard it as well. Their faces turned pale one after another as they each grabbed hold of Mo Fei’s hand. Mo Fei quietly comforted them.
The security guards hurried over.
Meanwhile, Mo Fei placed everything she had bought onto the little cart before leading the children toward Block D. Block D was still seven or eight hundred meters away from the property management office, so there was no immediate danger.
The little cart could be locked downstairs, but everything on it had to be carried upstairs one item at a time.
After confirming that she had pushed the cart into a blind spot beyond the surveillance cameras, Mo Fei stopped and called out to the two little ones, who were about to start carrying things upstairs.
“Mom wants to tell you something.” Mo Fei’s expression became serious. “A lot of bad things have happened recently. You should have seen them on TV.”
Mo Jiayue only watched cartoons and never paid attention to the news, so she looked at her brother in confusion. Mo Jianian parted his lips. He did watch the news, especially the half hour national evening news broadcast every night, as well as the local news. Recently, there had been more and more reports about disasters across the country, and the number of casualties had risen dramatically.
Especially those bizarre gigantic ground fissures, which had appeared in almost every city across the country.
Even now, the expert teams had failed to determine what they actually were. They could not even measure the true depth of the fissures.
When Mo Jianian had still been attending school, he and his classmates had even discussed whether some kind of monster might crawl out from beneath the fissures. Children’s imaginations were undoubtedly the richest.
“Mom, what are you trying to say?” Mo Jianian looked at her solemnly.
Mo Fei spoke frankly. She felt that the signs of the coming natural disasters were becoming increasingly obvious, and the two children needed to know something. “I’ve gained a superpower, or more accurately, an ability.”
With both pairs of eyes fixed on her, Mo Fei placed her hand directly on the cart in front of her.
In the blink of an eye, the cart disappeared from before their eyes.
“!!!” Both children involuntarily opened their mouths wide.
Children thought very simply. Their first reaction was not that it was strange, but admiration.
Mom was amazing!
Mo Fei waved her hand again, and the cart that had been stored inside her space instantly reappeared on the ground. Lowering her voice, she said, “This is Mom’s ability.”
“Is it magic?” Mo Jiayue looked at her with complete admiration.
Mo Jianian was equally excited and thrilled, his eyes fixed intently on Mo Fei’s hand.
“More or less. No matter how heavy something is, I can hide it and carry it with me. Whenever I need it, I can bring it back out.” Mo Fei explained in the simplest way possible. “Danger is coming soon, so that’s why I received this special ability. Maybe it’s the only way the three of us can survive what’s ahead. That’s why Mom has been buying so much food, clothing, and supplies to hide away. You must remember this. No matter who it is, you can’t tell anyone. If other people find out, not only will they steal all our things, they might even take me away.”
“We won’t tell.” Both children immediately covered their mouths, feeling as though they now shared a great secret with Mo Fei.
A weight in Mo Jianian’s heart finally lifted. Although he had never said anything, he had always been troubled by what had happened that night, when Mo Fei had suddenly disappeared and reappeared in the kitchen. He had secretly harboured his doubts ever since. Now it all made sense. Mom had gained a superpower.
Mom was still his mom!
“Let’s go.” Since Mo Fei had already come clean to the two of them, she no longer had any reservations about using her space. With a wave of her hand, she stored everything inside it.
The family of three went upstairs with ease.
After going out with Mo Fei to run the food stall and then shopping at the supermarket that evening, the children were both exhausted. As soon as they finished their baths, they went straight to bed.
As Mo Fei looked at the many pieces of furniture around the house, a new idea came to mind.
Half an hour later, Mo Fei had stored every piece of furniture and every appliance in the apartment into her space, except for those in Jianian and Jiayue’s bedroom. The items that took up the most space were the bed in her master bedroom, the sofa, the large television, and the dining table in the living room. She had originally wanted to move the bathtub from the master bathroom into the space as well, but it had been permanently fixed in place, making it impossible to store. Only then did Mo Fei give up.
Even so, everything else was enough to completely fill the space.
Mo Fei returned to her now completely empty bedroom, and just as expected, the familiar voice sounded beside her ear once again.
[Upgrade requirements detected. Conditions for upgrading the space have been met. Upgrade commencing now. Estimated upgrade time: 10 minutes.]
Previously, upgrading from Level 1 to Level 2 had taken one minute. Now, upgrading from Level 2 to Level 3 would take ten minutes?
She also noticed that while the space was upgrading, she could neither enter it nor store or retrieve anything from it. Fortunately, ten minutes was not long. Mo Fei could wait.
Ten minutes passed quickly, and the original 200 cubic meter space completed its upgrade.
The voice continued.
Space Level: Level 3.
Storage Capacity: 2,000 cubic meters.
Basic Functions: Permanent preservation of freshness and temperature. Automatic categorisation by item type. Multiple storage shelves.
New Function: Soil and water source.
“Enter.”
The instant she heard the upgrade results, Mo Fei silently gave the command.
The Level 3 space unfolded before her eyes.
The 2,000 cubic meter space contained countless storage shelves stretching high into the sky. A winding path had appeared across the ground, and at the end of the path was a shallow stream.
Mo Fei crouched beside the stream.
The water emitted a faint blue glow and was crystal clear. It seemed to have neither a source nor an end.
She reached out and dipped her hand into it. The water felt cool, but not painfully cold. Her intuition told her that the stream was not poisonous. On the contrary, it seemed to contain some kind of mysterious energy. Unable to resist, Mo Fei lowered her head, scooped up a handful of water, and brought it to her mouth.
As expected, it tasted sweet and refreshing, just like mountain spring water. Mo Fei could not help drinking several more handfuls, completely unable to stop until her stomach finally felt full. It felt as though she had never experienced such complete refreshment in her entire life.
If this water could flow endlessly, then the problem of securing water after the natural disasters would already be solved. There would be no need to stockpile huge amounts of bottled water, although she still needed to prepare a water purification system. After all, she could not guarantee that the stream inside the space would not suddenly dry up one day.
After the space had finished upgrading, the completely satisfied Mo Fei returned all the furniture and appliances to their original places around the house before lying down on the bed and going to sleep.
Mo Fei slept exceptionally well that night. When she woke the next morning, she felt completely refreshed. Even when she pulled open the curtains and sunlight streamed into the room, she found the blazing sunshine pleasantly warm and comfortable.
A thought crossed Mo Fei’s mind.
Could this stream water have sun protection and heat insulation effects?
For breakfast, she made potato and egg pancakes for the children, while the soy milk was freshly prepared using the soy milk maker. She also added some of the stream water from her space.
As for herself, she ate very casually, simply having a slice of whole wheat bread and a cup of instant coffee.
“Hello, is this Teacher Liu? I’m Jianian and Jiayue’s mother. The two children seem to have come down with the flu recently, so I’d like to request one week’s leave for them.”
Mo Fei called the teacher to request leave for both children.
Unexpectedly, she learned that quite a few parents from the class had already called to request leave as well.
Some had fevers and colds, while others had sore throats.
Mo Fei immediately became alert.
The warning had said that the evolutionary phase of the disaster creatures was about to begin, and survival conditions would become extremely harsh. The frequent disasters and those mysterious ground fissures were already signs of what was coming. But perhaps those signs also included the sudden outbreak of various illnesses.
After thinking it over, Mo Fei directly extended the children’s leave to half a month, which was also the longest period their homeroom teacher was authorised to approve.
Fortunately, the third grade curriculum was not especially demanding. Mo Fei also promised that she would supervise the children at home, making sure they completed their homework and attended their online lessons. After hesitating for a moment, Teacher Liu readily agreed.
After telling the children that she had requested leave for them, Mo Fei picked up her things and left the house.
She had arranged to meet her mother through WeChat at nine o’clock that morning, at Lotus Park near her parents’ home.
As soon as she entered Lotus Park, Mo Fei spotted a woman in her fifties or sixties sitting in a pavilion not far away.
The woman’s gaze rested on the lotus pond, and from time to time she glanced at the time on her phone.
Mo Fei felt her heartbeat quicken, but she still forced herself to walk over.
“Mom.”
The word came awkwardly from Mo Fei’s lips.
She had never called anyone that before.
To her surprise, the moment the woman turned around, several streams of tears rolled down the weathered face that bore a slight resemblance to Mo Fei’s.
“Feifei.” Mo Fei’s mother, Song Yi, called out as she embraced her daughter. After standing there in stunned silence for a few seconds, she began crying uncontrollably.
Affected by those emotions, Mo Fei’s own eyes reddened.
Using the original owner’s body, she embraced the original owner’s mother, whom she had not seen in eight years. She could actually feel a bond of blood between them, leaving Mo Fei’s heart filled with sorrow as well.
Normally, Song Yi only dared to send occasional WeChat messages. She was even afraid to make a phone call, worried that her husband would find out.
But what Song Yi did not know was that mother and daughter had already been separated by life and death.
Inside the body standing before her was now the soul of someone from another world.
Mo Fei gently patted Song Yi’s back, handed her a tissue, then imitated the original owner’s manner of speaking.
“Mom, don’t cry. You look the prettiest when you smile.”
You look the prettiest when you smile…
It had been the sentence the original owner had said to her mother more often than anything else.
Song Yi barely managed to stop crying. She carefully looked Mo Fei up and down before reaching out to stroke her face. “Feifei, just how much have you suffered? How did you become so thin? And look at your hair, you’ve lost so much of it.”
In her memories, her daughter had possessed long, thick, glossy black hair that flowed beautifully over her shoulders.
But now, Mo Fei wore shoulder length hair that looked sparse and dry, with a yellowish tint.
Mo Fei gave a bitter smile and did not deny it.
From ancient times until now, being a single mother had always been one of the greatest and most difficult roles in the world.
They had to shoulder the responsibilities of both parents by themselves. They had to work while raising children, and it was only natural that they aged faster than others their age.
“Mom, let’s not talk about that anymore. Look, I brought you a present. The sales assistant told me this silk quilt is very comfortable to sleep under, and it even helps improve sleep.” Afraid that Song Yi would only become sadder if the conversation continued, Mo Fei quickly changed the subject.
Mo Fei had already removed the price tag from the silk quilt, but Song Yi still said, “You’re raising two children by yourself now. Why are you spending money on something so expensive for me? If you really care about your mother, then take good care of yourself. You care about your children, and I care about mine.”
Mo Fei was deeply moved by those words. She softly replied, “Mm,” before adding, “Mom, I’ve already bought it. It would just go to waste otherwise.”
Putting everything else aside, even though the original owner had always stretched every penny as far as it could go, after she found stable work, she would send Song Yi a red packet every Mother’s Day, on her birthday, and during the Lunar New Year.
But Song Yi never accepted any of them. Instead, she would always ask someone to deliver things to Mo Fei’s home.
None of the things she sent were particularly expensive, but they were always the necessities every household needed most, such as rice, flour, cooking oil, supermarket shopping cards, and sometimes even clothes and schoolbags for the children.
“If your father hadn’t been so hot tempered back then, and if you had only softened your attitude a little, then now…” As Song Yi spoke, she became heartbroken once more. Caught between her husband and her daughter, she had always been the one who suffered the most and had the hardest position.
She had not thought much of it before, but now that she had retired, all of her relatives, former colleagues, and friends were surrounded by children and grandchildren, with homes full of laughter and joy.
But whenever she returned home, there were only herself and Mo Zhicheng, sitting there facing each other in silence.
So much loneliness, so much desolation.
“Yes. If I hadn’t been so stubborn back then, if I hadn’t been so afraid of Dad all these years, if I hadn’t cared so much about saving face and had just kept visiting him instead, maybe Dad would have forgiven me.” Mo Fei said.
Those were not words she herself had thought of.
They were words the original owner had repeated to herself countless times.
Mo Fei spoke them aloud on her behalf.
Back then, for the sake of her so called true love, the original owner had saved every bit of her living expenses to create a so called “marriage fund.” Then she dropped out of school, abandoned her parents, and devoted herself entirely to giving birth to the child and being with her “true love.”
But the reality was that as her pregnancy advanced, her “true love” took all her money, blocked every way of contacting him, and vanished without a trace.
His name, educational background, occupation, family, every single thing about him had been fabricated to deceive her.
It was as though such a person had never existed in the world, leaving Mo Fei with nowhere to even begin searching.
Yet she refused to give up. She believed that once the baby was born, the man she loved would become a father, change his mind, and come back to find her.
But after all these years, the original owner had finally realized just how terribly wrong she had been.
By then, however, regret had come far too late.
From a young age, the original owner had been raised under the strict father, kind mother style of parenting. Because of that, she had never dared to return home with her children and admit her mistakes to her father. Instead, she had chosen to struggle and suffer on her own.
Song Yi was astonished. She had never imagined that one day she would hear such words come from her daughter’s mouth.
All at once, her sadness disappeared. Holding her daughter’s hand, she said, “Feifei, your dad went fishing this morning. Why don’t you come home with Mom for a while?”
Mo Fei had not expected Song Yi to say that and was completely unprepared.
“You bought me such a big silk quilt. I’m getting old, I can’t carry it,” Song Yi added.
In truth, everyone knew a silk quilt was soft and light. There was no way Song Yi could not carry it.
“Dad really isn’t home?” Mo Fei hesitated for a moment.
“He really isn’t. Come on, come on. What would you like to eat? Mom will cook for you. We still have pork ribs and pig’s trotters in the fridge. You used to love my spicy pork ribs the most.” Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Song Yi happily took her daughter’s hand.
Without giving it much thought, Mo Fei picked up the silk quilt and tea leaves and followed Song Yi toward the residential complex.
It was Monday, a working day. Young people were all busy with work, and hardly anyone could be seen around the neighbourhood.
Mo Fei followed Song Yi all the way, both hands full of things to carry, sweating from the heat.
It was only after stepping out of the blazing sun and into the apartment building that she finally felt a trace of coolness.
She noticed that Song Yi was also drenched in sweat. Even her silk short sleeved blouse was nearly soaked through.
Who would believe this was May weather?
The home Mo Fei had not returned to in eight years had now become part of an old residential complex, its corridors covered with all kinds of small advertisements.
The entrance door downstairs had long since broken and no one had repaired it. Not only was there no lift, but the lights in the stairwell had also been broken for a long time. Trash was piled in the corners, and when she looked up, she could even see spider webs.
When they reached the door on the third floor, Song Yi quickly unlocked it and went inside. “We still have chilled watermelon at home. I’ll get some for you.”
Mo Fei followed behind her, closed the door, and placed everything she was carrying onto the dining table by the entrance.
The home was almost exactly the same as it had been in the original owner’s memories, except that the passage of time had left it looking more worn and dated.
The wall by the entrance was still covered with every certificate of achievement the original owner had received from primary school through high school, filling the entire wall.
It was obvious that many of them had fallen off at some point and had later been carefully reattached. Every edge had been smoothed down with meticulous care.
Mo Fei was deeply shaken by that wall.
Because in the original owner’s memories, on the day she had argued with her father, every certificate on that wall had been torn down in a fit of anger.
How much time must it have taken to paste every single one back?
“Feifei, Mom will make you a glass of fresh watermelon juice too,” Song Yi called from the kitchen, her voice overflowing with happiness.
Mo Fei responded, but then heard footsteps coming from the master bedroom.
Turning her head, she saw an elderly man, about sixty years old, standing in the bedroom doorway watching her.
Mo Fei froze.
The man was none other than Mo Fei’s father, Mo Zhicheng.
Compared to eight years ago, he had aged considerably. Back then, only a little of his hair had turned white. Now it was completely white.
When Mo Zhicheng saw the daughter he had not seen in eight years, he did not fly into a rage as Mo Fei had imagined. Instead, his expression remained cold and indifferent.
Mo Fei stood there silently.
She might still be able to find something to say to her warm and affectionate mother, but faced with this angry elderly father, Mo Fei had no idea what she should do.
Should she pour him a glass of water?
That thought crossed Mo Fei’s mind.
Mo Zhicheng silently sat down on the sofa in the living room. Suddenly, he picked up the air conditioner remote and pressed a button.
The air conditioner hummed to life, and a cool breeze slowly began to blow.
When Mo Fei did not respond, Song Yi came out carrying a plate of watermelon cut into small pieces and a freshly made glass of watermelon juice.
Naturally, she also saw her husband sitting in the living room.
“You’re back…” Song Yi awkwardly smiled as she handed the watermelon juice to Mo Fei.
She then placed the plate of sliced watermelon onto the coffee table in the living room.
“Dad,” Mo Fei finally said after a long pause.
In her own world, she had never called anyone Dad or Mom. She had not expected to use both words in a single day.
Mo Zhicheng responded with a simple “Mm,” then pulled a newspaper over in front of him, as though he did not want to look at Mo Fei at all.
Mo Fei caught the look Song Yi gave her.
Its meaning was obvious. Since Mo Zhicheng had not immediately driven Mo Fei out, there was still hope.
Having grown up in an orphanage, Mo Fei had long been skilled at reading people’s expressions. How could she fail to understand what Song Yi meant?
At this moment, it seemed to be the best opportunity for the original owner to repair her relationship with her parents.
Holding the tea leaves she had bought for Mo Zhicheng, she sat about two steps away from him and began speaking on her own.
“Dad, I bought these tea leaves for you. I’m not very good at choosing things, so I don’t know whether they’ll suit your taste. I know I was wrong back then. I was only twenty years old, and my head was full of immature ideas. I actually made the two of you so heartbroken over an outsider. I’m not saying all this to make you sympathise with me or pity me, and I’m not asking you for anything. It wasn’t until I became a mother myself that I finally understood how deeply you were both hurt. Now that you’re getting older and your health isn’t as good as it used to be, I don’t even ask for your forgiveness. I only hope you’ll let me come and visit you from time to time, so I can fulfil my duty as your daughter.”
After saying all that, Mo Fei picked up the watermelon juice and drank it in one go.
Seeing that Mo Zhicheng was still reading the newspaper, she continued, “I’ll head back now. I’ll come visit you again another day.”
Song Yi was so touched by her daughter’s words that she almost started crying again. Seeing her daughter walking toward the door, she wanted to stop her.
But her husband remained motionless on the sofa without saying a word. There was not the slightest sign that he wanted to keep her.
In the end, Song Yi walked Mo Fei all the way to the entrance of the residential complex.
“Feifei, don’t pay attention to your dad’s attitude. He actually misses you very much. You know that the two of us only have you. Your dad loves you and treasures you even more than I do,” Song Yi explained.
Mo Fei nodded. “I know, Mom. Look, today was already a really good start. At least Dad didn’t scold me or tell me to get out. I’ll come visit you again in a couple of days and bring you something delicious.”
Song Yi was overjoyed. “Good. Then call me before you come. I’ll start stewing the ribs ahead of time.”
Unlike when she had warned other people that the natural disasters were coming, Mo Fei did not give her parents any warning.
Judging from Mo Zhicheng’s current physical condition, if the elderly couple had to face the disasters on their own, they probably would not survive for very long.
Mo Fei had already made up her mind to continue repairing their relationship and, when the time came, bring them over to live with her.
What she needed to do now was play the role of a devoted and filial daughter.
When Song Yi returned home, she happened to see Mo Zhicheng examining the box of tea leaves in his hands.
She was instantly furious and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
“What are you doing?” Mo Zhicheng jumped in surprise.
“I should be asking you that. You secretly took my phone and sent our daughter a WeChat message to arrange this meeting. Then you had me put on this whole act just to lure her home. She came back, brought us gifts, apologised, and yet you sat there with that stiff face without saying a single word. What exactly are you thinking?” Song Yi demanded angrily.
Mo Zhicheng put the tea leaves into a locked cabinet.
“Hmph. How could I forgive her that quickly? Besides, it’s only right that she buys things for you and me.”
Inside the locked cabinet were all the gifts Mo Fei had given him over the years.
There were inexpensive greeting cards, toys from gift shops, a fountain pen, a men’s wallet, and an electric shaver.
“Yes, yes, it’s always about your pride. Everyone else can set theirs aside except you.” Song Yi let out a cold laugh. “Our daughter said she’ll come see me again in a couple of days and bring me something delicious. It’s for me, not for you.”
“How can you be like this?” Mo Zhicheng was so angry he nearly exploded.
“I can’t be bothered with you.”