Another week passed quietly, marking the third month of the famine era.
By this time, the school was nearly out of food. Each student could only get a few bites per meal, and water was barely enough to moisten lips. The school had fallen into an unusual quiet; no one wanted to waste words, and everyone lay in their dorms conserving energy.
Only three more months remained before they could leave, Tang Mo calculated in her mind. At this point, she had already opened her cabinet, which contained five boxes of water and seven or eight boxes of food—enough to sustain herself, Song Qing, and Li Lanlan.
“Mo Mo, you’ve stored so much!” Li Lanlan exclaimed the first time she saw Tang Mo open the cabinet, her mouth forming an ‘O’.
Like Song Qing, she hesitated for a moment but ultimately did not refuse Tang Mo’s generosity. They remembered the saying: “As long as the green hills remain, there will be wood for the fire.” Tang Mo’s kindness would be remembered, and as long as they survived, they would repay it someday.
Even though the supplies were right in front of them, both Song Qing and Lanlan were very restrained. No matter how much Tang Mo encouraged them, each person only drank a quarter bottle of water and ate a little dry food per day. Any more, and they wouldn’t touch it.
This quiet routine was disrupted during a food distribution at school.
As everyone gathered on the playground, collected their rations, and prepared to leave as usual, a loud female voice suddenly shouted:
“Classmates, don’t leave just yet! I have something to say!”
Wen Qing pushed her way through the crowd and walked up to the flag platform, her steps light and brisk.
Those who had been about to leave stopped in their tracks, curious to hear what she had to say. After such long days of quiet, even a small stir was exciting.
“Can I borrow the microphone?” she asked Anyang, standing nearby.
Seeing the girl in front of him with a rosy complexion, unlike everyone else’s sallow and emaciated faces, Anyang hesitated briefly before handing over the microphone.
“Here’s the situation: I think almost all of your spaces have attribute values of zero, right?”
Wen Qing had confirmed this the moment attribute values appeared.
“But I’m different. I have spatial-type powers, and my space contains a farm and a clear spring. There’s plenty of food growing there, which I can take out for everyone to help us get through this difficult time!”
After speaking, Wen Qing tossed the microphone aside and lifted her head, expecting admiration and praise from the crowd.
“If you had food in your space, why didn’t you take it out earlier? Why wait until we were nearly starving?”
“Exactly! My roommate nearly had a stomach bleed from hunger. If you had said something sooner, we wouldn’t have suffered so long.”
“How much food do you have in your space? Will it even be enough for all of us?”
The students erupted into a mix of excitement and discontent. They were happy, yes, but also frustrated. Attribute values weren’t new—they had been bound to their watches for a month. To claim she had only just realized her space existed insulted everyone’s intelligence. Seeing Wen Qing’s healthy, rosy face compared to their own gaunt ones made the imbalance in their minds even sharper.
“You…”
Wen Qing had not anticipated this reaction. Her face flushed with anger, and she was momentarily speechless. She had hoped to emerge as a savior at the hardest time, achieving the best effect, but things had gone wrong.
Tang Mo couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh. In her previous life, she had been like a walking corpse, completely forgetting there was such a scene. Was Wen Qing treating everyone here as fools? Everyone here was a top student with sharp minds. Wen Qing’s little plan might have fooled elementary or middle schoolers, but not them.
Tang Mo grew increasingly curious. She wanted to see how this “savior” planned to act, and for how long.
“Everyone, please go back for now. Today we will work with Wen Qing to understand the situation. Once we clarify the details, a detailed announcement will be issued to all of you,” Anyang said, sensing things were getting out of hand. He picked up the microphone Wen Qing had tossed aside.
If what Wen Qing said was true, he couldn’t risk escalating conflicts between her and the other students. Today’s revelation was a bombshell for everyone.
The school leaders immediately held an emergency meeting and invited Wen Qing to explain.
For a full two hours, through Wen Qing’s account and everyone’s questions, they finally gained a clearer understanding of her space.
Wen Qing’s space contained a farm about the size of a small playground. Half of it grew simple vegetables—cabbage, radish, potatoes—while the other half grew wheat. Everything in the space responded instantly to her will: sowing, watering, harvesting, even grinding wheat into flour. Wen Qing didn’t need to do anything herself.
The crops matured quickly. Wheat could be harvested once a month, vegetables every half month. By now, her space was already full of mature crops.
Regarding seeds, Wen Qing explained that her family was from a rural area, and she had ordered seeds online for them, but the apocalypse arrived before they could be delivered. The leaders exchanged skeptical glances. They didn’t quite believe her, but no one exposed her at this point.
The “clear spring” Wen Qing mentioned was a small pond beside the farm, with still water. She had tried raising fish but failed. However, she confirmed the water was drinkable and even used it for bathing some every day.
Her space could store objects, but not living creatures.
So…
It was essentially a mobile granary and reservoir.
Everyone immediately realized the immense value of Wen Qing’s space. If it weren’t a spatial ability that couldn’t be seized or converted, most present would want to take it for themselves.
Feeling the greed in their eyes, Wen Qing shivered and instinctively touched her wrist.
“Wen Qing, in these difficult times at school, your willingness to contribute your space is an enormous help. All the students will be grateful to you. You are truly our lifesaver!” the vice principal said, rising to shake her hand.
Having held his position for over a decade, he immediately turned Wen Qing’s space into public property with one sentence. “Contribute” was the perfect word.
Wen Qing, oblivious to these political maneuvers, was already basking in the admiration and glory of everyone. Exactly as she wanted—everyone should be grateful to her. She would be their savior.
“Next, let’s discuss how to use the food. Anyang, make a plan, and we’ll work with Wen Qing to decide,” the leaders said, turning to him.
“Understood,” Anyang replied, immediately coordinating with the student leaders on how to allocate the food in Wen Qing’s space most efficiently.