While thinking, Qiao Qingqing went through the wholesale market, buying large amounts of rice, glutinous rice, flour, starch, all sorts of seasonings, spices, food additives, and white and brown sugar.
Pork, lard, vegetables, fruits—she bought whatever she saw. She even purchased 5,000 eggs.
She ran to several stores, first moving 200 barrels of rapeseed oil.
She had the sellers load the items onto her truck, all the while continuing to shop and quietly store them in her space.
After leaving the wholesale market, she contacted an ice factory, ordering five tons of edible ice blocks. She paid extra to have the ice processed, and also bought a batch of ice cream and purified water.
She spent all the money in her account, then took out several small online loans, buying as she went. She even stockpiled a small amount of her favorite snacks and ready-to-eat foods.
By now, it was already past 3 p.m.
Going over the items she still needed in her mind, Qiao Qingqing parked her truck in a deserted area, ate something quickly, and reviewed the rules of her space carefully.
This space allowed her to freely store and retrieve items. Once placed inside, time was frozen, and nothing would ever spoil.
Electrical appliances couldn’t function inside the space—they would stay exactly as they were.
She could move freely inside, but other living beings could not enter. Her plan to hide the family in the space during a snowstorm was therefore impossible.
The space seemed partially folded with reality: if she entered it at a certain spot, then walked 10 meters left, she would emerge 10 meters to the left in the real world.
It was a kind of “walk through walls” tool.
The most exciting discovery was that, while the space appeared pitch-black at first, focusing allowed her to see outside. She could also listen carefully to hear sounds, as if invisible in the real world.
Now, she could not only walk through walls but also eavesdrop safely, ensuring her comings and goings remained secure.
As for the “Redemption Value” shown at the top of the space, she didn’t understand it yet. That would have to wait; she suspected that raising it might upgrade the space eventually.
After nearly two hours of careful testing, Qiao Qingqing was in high spirits.
[Rebirth Countdown: 53 hours 31 minutes 06 seconds]
She glanced at the retinal display for the time, rested briefly, and immediately went to the market to buy coal.
Only small flammable charcoal for barbecues was available, so she bought 600 pounds, and also ordered 50 tons of wood charcoal and 30 tons of environmentally friendly honeycomb coal.
This would be enough for heating and cooking. In extreme cold, a room required continuous coal burning to maintain temperature; she had to ensure her family survived.
After storing all of this in the space, she went to a supermarket.
Although wholesale markets were cheaper, large supermarkets offered greater variety. She bought anything she had missed.
This supermarket was the largest locally, with a wide selection of fresh and cooked foods, and business was booming.
Qiao Qingqing switched to “shopping spree mode.”
Soap, shampoo, face cream, thermoses, milk, yogurt, tissues, small lamps, lighters—she bought it all.
She dragged several carts to checkout, then went for a second round.
At the prepared food section, she grabbed everything she saw—from steamed buns and fried dough sticks to roast duck and chicken.
Passing a bakery chain she liked, she cleared all available items, including freshly baked goods.
After finishing there, she went to the food court and emptied it as well, even using the last of her small online loans.
Reviewing her list, she realized a few items were still missing. She needed more money, and it would come from the Lin family—she wasn’t leaving without taking what she needed.
In between shopping, Qiao Qingqing checked Lin Chaohai’s status on her phone.
He had mostly drunk the previous night, eaten little, and been tied up hungry for a day. At first, he had struggled occasionally, but now he had exhausted himself. His mouth, tightly gagged, made breathing difficult, and his face looked a little blue.
Satisfied, Qiao Qingqing put away her phone and went to the electronics store, buying power banks, batteries, and solar panels.
She also bought small appliances: an oven, air fryer, rice cooker, and of course, the latest washing machine.
She called to order a batch of seeds and medicinal herbs.
Her cash was running low, but for these items, she only needed to pay deposits for now. Later, she could raid the Lin family for more money.
She even drove a truck to the courier station.
Having called ahead, the station owner was ready. Qiao Qingqing didn’t need to say anything; the staff loaded everything onto her vehicle.
With an additional 2 yuan per item handling fee, the 200+ packages cost her a total of 500 yuan including transport. The owner was delighted; bigger shipments were still on the way.
She took the goods to a secluded spot and stored everything in the space.
After a full day of shopping, Qiao Qingqing was a little tired and drove home.
Driving the old truck into her yard would have been too conspicuous, so she parked outside and walked in.
The house was very quiet.
Lin Chaohai remained half-slumped in the chair as she left him, tied like a bundle. The blanket hanging on him had fallen, exuding a foul smell.
He hadn’t had a drop to drink all day and had been gagged continuously. Hungry, thirsty, and somewhat oxygen-deprived, his eyes were unfocused.
Qiao Qingqing had monitored him all day. She knew he was exhausted and no longer capable of struggling.
Given his constitution, a day without water wouldn’t kill him, but being gagged with little oxygen could lead to shock. She decided to remove the tape from his mouth and the towel stuffing it.
Lin Chaohai coughed and gasped for air. Once he recovered, he glared at Qiao Qingqing, full of fury:
“Damn you, you slut! How dare you—I’ll make you pay—”
“Slap!”
Qiao Qingqing slapped him across the face. Before he could react, she followed with three more consecutive slaps, leaving him dizzy, ears ringing.
“Qiao Qingqing, you slut! You better not get in my hands—”
“Slap! Slap! Slap!”
For every insult, she delivered three blows. His face was swollen, nose bleeding all over. Finally, he stopped.
Qiao Qingqing rubbed her hand—her arms and hands ached and tingled from the repeated strikes.
“Still want to talk?” she asked.
Lin Chaohai stared at her for a long moment before sneering:
“Qiao Qingqing, are you insane? It’s my fault you have a terminal illness? My fault your whole family died? You blame men for your failures your whole life?”
Despite being beaten, covered in waste under the blanket, he maintained a domineering tone:
“If I hadn’t married you, you would have gone to reform like everyone else—either die in famine or snowstorms, or marry a rural peasant and have children, buried in the mud all your life.”
“If I hadn’t taken you in, with your capitalistic family background, how would you have survived?”
“With a little money, you run off to the Black Province, half a month gone, always reading past news—where’s your heart in this family? If I hadn’t hidden those letters and information, would you even know what peace is? I raise a dog that knows loyalty; you’re worse than a dog.”
“I beat you, but I’m your husband! Which men don’t hit their wives? I never did it in public, left you face, I’ve been fair to you, to my conscience!”
Qiao Qingqing listened, then opened his phone, searching for a contact named LP.
Lin Chaohai’s face changed slightly.
“This is Xu Peiling, right? She supposedly jumped in a river and died, yet she’s fine? LP—your wife?”
Since giving up on marriage, Qiao Qingqing had separated from him. She hadn’t cared to check his phone, but LP had been a recent contact, and the chat history was empty—he habitually deleted everything. But her profile picture stood out, making it easy to trace transaction records. Over the years, he had sent her a substantial amount.
“Xu Peiling is your wife, Lin Xuan is your son with her. You two deceived me for years and still have the nerve to say you didn’t wrong me?”
Qiao Qingqing’s hatred boiled over. She grabbed a slipper and hit Lin Chaohai in the face.
“You’re just a peasant, your ancestors were peasants, and you look down on farmers? You leech off state subsidies, disgrace the People’s Army. You’re scum!”
She struck with full strength, alternating hands in rapid succession, leaving blood and snot all over his face.
Lin Chaohai howled in pain. Bound and unable to move, he could only maintain his posture while enduring her blows.
“Damn it, if you could have had children, I wouldn’t have had to
Speaking as she went, Qiao Qingqing grabbed Lin Chaohai by the hair and raised her foot, kicking him hard in the lower abdomen. The force sent both him and the chair flying across the room.
Gasping for breath, Qiao Qingqing delivered another kick.
“This is your conscience!!”
The blow hit exactly where it hurt—the weak spot of a man—and Lin Chaohai convulsed violently. His entire body trembled, veins bulging across his forehead, gasping sharply through clenched teeth.
“Stop… stop… please…”
Even though he prided himself on being a seven-foot-tall man, he could no longer withstand the pain.