As soon as Su Jiaojiao returned to her room, she locked the door tightly and opened her hand to reveal the money and jade pendant. Rubbing the pendant with her thumb, she wondered, “If this Mutton Fat Jade Pendant contains a space, how do I activate it?”
After a moment’s thought, she murmured, “Should I try dripping blood on it?”
She remembered Shen Qingyu saying that the space had been accidentally activated when her blood dripped onto the pendant.
Su Jiaojiao immediately found a needle from an iron box in the storage cabinet. Closing her eyes, she pricked her left thumb.
She was afraid of pain. Even though she had lived in hardship and poverty for the last thirty years of her previous life, and even during her final month before death when she was beaten and kicked daily by those two security guards, she couldn’t change her inherent fear of pain.
A drop of fresh blood immediately fell onto the jade pendant.
Su Jiaojiao cautiously opened one eye, then both eyes widened in astonishment.
The blooddrop disappeared almost instantly upon touching the pendant, and the jade’s luster became noticeably brighter.
“What… what’s happening?” Su Jiaojiao exclaimed in surprise. “Is this blood recognition binding?”
“But how do I open the space?”
Suddenly, her gaze fell upon an enamel cup on the table. “Get in?” she said tentatively.
Then, the enamel cup vanished.
Amazed, Su Jiaojiao waved her hand at other items on the table, commanding “Get in” – and they all disappeared.
“This is incredible,” she said excitedly. “This jade pendant can actually store things.”
In her excitement and joy, she carelessly stored everything in the room into the space.
When she came to her senses, the entire room was left with nothing but four bare white walls.
Su Jiaojiao: “…”
Then another thought occurred to her. “I wonder if people can enter too?”
As soon as she spoke these words, she found herself in a completely different place.
Surrounded by low hills, there was an open area in the center filled with wildflowers and grass, giving the impression of boundless space.
All the items she had just stored were arranged exactly as they had been.
Su Jiaojiao found herself standing in a pavilion.
Beside the pavilion stood a small hill with a cascading waterfall pouring into a pool below.
Stepping out of the pavilion, Su Jiaojiao walked to the edge of the pool and scooped up some water with her hands to drink.
“Wow, this water tastes amazing. Drinking it makes my whole body feel wonderful.”
After spending a short while in the space, not daring to stay too long, she returned to the real world.
As soon as she emerged, Su Jiaojiao waved her hand, and all the items from the space reappeared in the room in their exact original positions.
Clutching the jade pendant, Su Jiaojiao was so excited she wanted to laugh out loud, but she restrained herself. “Perfect! With this treasure in hand, I’m not afraid I can’t take everything from Shen Jianguo and Liu Dongmei.”
After all, Su Jiaojiao wasn’t truly the 18-year-old Jiaojiao anymore.
Her current soul, thoughts, and life experiences were those of a forty-eight-year-old woman from her previous life.
In her past life, Shen Jianguo’s family of three had used this very space to transport and carry the Su Family’s antiques and paintings to escape to Hong Kong City.
At this thought, Su Jiaojiao’s anger surged again.
So everything from her Su Family had become stepping stones for Shen Jianguo’s family of three to live a life of wealth and luxury.
Sitting on the stool, her eyes shifted thoughtfully as she glanced at the jade pendant, already formulating how to take revenge on Shen Jianguo, Liu Dongmei, and Shen Qingyu.
Didn’t those three want to take all her Su Family’s wealth and leave Hu City to live well elsewhere?
Then she would shatter that beautiful dream.
Some shattered dreams are particularly cruel.
It’s the kind where you once had it all, only to lose everything in the blink of an eye.
Su Jiaojiao changed her clothes, tied her hair into a high ponytail, put on the jade pendant, and went out.
Before leaving, she made a point of saying goodbye to Shen Jianguo and Liu Dongmei, who were still in the living room.
“Dad, Stepmom, I’m going to the mall. I’ll have lunch at the State-Run Restaurant, so don’t prepare any food for me, Stepmom.”
Liu Dongmei stared fixedly at the jade pendant around her neck but forced a gentle smile and said, “Alright, it’s rare for you to eat out. Make sure to order a couple of good dishes and don’t hold back.”
“Mm, I know.”
As soon as Su Jiaojiao was out of sight, their expressions immediately darkened.
“Eat, eat, eat—I hope you choke on it.”
But the thought of her spending that five hundred yuan made Liu Dongmei’s heart ache terribly.
“No, I can’t let her spend that five hundred yuan so comfortably,” Liu Dongmei said resentfully.
Shen Jianguo shot her a sharp glance and warned, “Let her spend it if she wants. This might be the only time in her life she gets to spend like this. Don’t cause trouble at this critical moment.”
Liu Dongmei said pitifully, “But that’s five hundred yuan! That’s enough to cover our family’s food expenses for a whole year.”
“Yes, it’s five hundred yuan,” Shen Jianguo replied. “But have you considered how many times five hundred she has in the Dragon Country Bank? I know what you’re thinking. If you want to get back at her, wait until we have the money. But not now. Right now, she’s our cash cow, our ancestor. We have to keep her happy. Don’t mess this up.”
Liu Dongmei heeded Shen Jianguo’s warning and nodded. “Alright, I understand.”
Once Su Jiaojiao left the house, she didn’t head toward the mall but instead went to the neighborhood committee office.
She entered the office and said to the woman at the desk, “Director Zhang, I’m here to apply for the Educated Youth Down to the Countryside program.”
Zhang Qinglan frowned and said, “Jiaojiao, didn’t you already apply?”
Su Jiaojiao was taken aback. “I… I applied?”
Director Zhang checked the records and said, “That’s right. Your parents came earlier and said you were willing to go to the countryside in response to the national call. They signed you up for a spot—in Yangcheng Stone Village.”
“Yangcheng Stone Village?” Su Jiaojiao’s eyes widened in shock.
In her previous life, three days after she handed over the Su family’s assets, her stepmother had tricked her into boarding a train. Seated next to her was an older woman, whom her stepmother introduced as a distant relative.
Thinking she was her stepmother’s relative, Su Jiaojiao had let her guard down, never suspecting that her stepmother would deceive or harm her.
She accepted a cup of water from the woman, and the next thing she knew, she woke up in a dark, cramped room.
Su Jiaojiao clenched her fists, her eyes burning with hatred.
So, their plan was to use the Educated Youth Down to the Countryside program as a cover to make her disappear from Hu City and sell her to Yangcheng Stone Village, right after she handed over all her assets.
If anyone asked, they would simply say she had volunteered to go to Yangcheng Stone Village—a claim backed by official records. Who would suspect that she hadn’t gone willingly but had been sold there?
Moreover, as long as her family didn’t report her missing, no one would ever know what had happened to her.
How naive she had been back then.
Liu Dongmei clearly recognized that auntie, yet when she fled Shitou Village back then, she hadn’t suspected anything, merely thinking her stepmother had been deceived.
“Jiaojiao, Jiaojiao, what’s wrong with you?” Director Zhang noticed Su Jiaojiao’s unusual complexion and asked with concern, “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
Su Jiaojiao snapped back to reality and shook her head, saying, “Director Zhang, I’m fine.”
“I thought you might be sick seeing how pale you look. It’s good that you’re alright.” Director Zhang naturally showed extra care toward this young girl whom higher-ups were particularly concerned about. “Jiaojiao, what brings you here now?”
Su Jiaojiao said, “Director Zhang, I’d like to change my assigned rural destination. Do you think that’s possible?”
Director Zhang replied somewhat awkwardly, “But the rural assignments for educated youth are basically finalized. To make changes now, you’d probably need to swap with someone. Tell me where you want to go, and I’ll see if anyone can exchange with you?”
Su Jiaojiao’s eyes shifted again as she said, “Here’s the situation, Director Zhang. My sister Shen Qingyu also wants to respond to the nation’s call like me and join the rural program. Why don’t we assign her to Yangcheng Stone Village? As for me, I’ll go to Yao City’s Lu Family Village. Would that work?”