Afraid that she wouldn’t have enough time, Ruan Sui’an tirelessly collected supplies.
Not only did she place orders at wholesale markets and with various large factories, but she also went on a shopping spree at supermarkets.
Apart from the 50 million her birth mother had paid to sever their mother-daughter relationship, she also had 8 million from selling her large apartment, totaling 58 million.
This was no small sum. If she were buying luxury goods, she could spend it quickly, but buying food took longer.
In modern society, due to high grain yields, food prices weren’t very high.
Cotton clothes and other items were also cheap, so she could only buy frantically.
Her 1,000-square-meter Space was packed to the brim, but she still had over 10 million left in her bank card, unspent.
This was the so-called feeling of dying with money left unspent, but her Space couldn’t hold any more items.
What was she to do?
She didn’t want to leave the money to her so-called birth mother, as there was practically no affection left between them.
They might as well be strangers.
Suddenly, she remembered that many novels mentioned that Spaces could be upgraded. She just didn’t know how to upgrade hers.
Ruan Sui’an felt a bit resentful toward the old man for not explaining things clearly. Why did he only do half the job?
The old man was too irresponsible.
The old Taoist, munching on a chicken leg, suddenly sneezed. Chewing the chicken, he mumbled, “Who’s thinking about this old man?”
He then rubbed his nose and continued leisurely eating his roast chicken, not paying it much mind.
Ruan Sui’an didn’t know what was needed to upgrade the Space, so she could only try every possible method.
Reading so many novels had its uses. There were many methods mentioned in novels, and she was bound to find the right way to upgrade it.
Thus, she began experimenting. The first method she tried was visiting the antique market, where there were many antiques. She wondered if antiques could help upgrade the Space.
As she entered the antique market, many people turned to look at her in unison.
This girl was truly beautiful, with an excellent demeanor.
These people were shrewd and could tell at a glance that Ruan Sui’an was a first-timer.
A greenhorn, easy to deceive.
Perhaps today would be the day for business after several days of no sales.
For those setting up stalls here, selling goods relied entirely on luck. The lucky ones might encounter a gullible buyer.
The unlucky ones might go days without selling a single item.
Unfortunately, they were overthinking it. Although it was Ruan Sui’an’s first time at the antique market, she was definitely not easy to fool.
Even though she had never been to the antique market, she clearly knew that people there needed to find gullible customers to recommend their goods to.
Ruan Sui’an could see it—these people regarded her as a lamb ready for slaughter, their schemes practically written all over their faces.
Too bad they were mistaken.
The stall owners began eagerly recommending the items on their stalls. Ruan Sui’an observed their expressions calmly.
A chubby middle-aged man was the first to speak: “Miss, take a look at the items on my stall. I guarantee they’re all good stuff.” His tone was ingratiating, sounding insincere.
Seeing the hypocritical smile on the middle-aged man’s face, she didn’t say anything. Instead, she crouched down as he suggested and examined the items on the stall.
Trying to fool her? No chance. Although she wasn’t a top student, coincidentally, she had studied archaeology.
It was easy to tell whether the items on the stall were genuine or fake.
She reached out and picked up a bronze cup, glanced at it twice before putting it down, then picked up a blue-and-white porcelain bowl from the side.
After looking at it briefly, she set it down again.
The stall owner thought he had seen through Ruan Sui'an, believing the woman before him was just putting on an act.
It was clear she knew nothing about antiques—definitely an easy target.
She spent a long time at the first stall, only to find that everything there was fake, not a single genuine item in sight.
She shook her head at the owner, stood up, and said tactfully, "There's nothing here that I like."
The items here were as fake as they could be—good enough to fool a complete novice, but trying to deceive her? Not a chance, not even a sliver of hope.
She didn’t point out that everything on the stall was fake, mainly to avoid unnecessary trouble.
As she stood up to move to the second stall, a chubby middle-aged man stopped her.
Thinking she could just leave after looking for so long? Not that easy.
"How could that be? With so many fine items, surely you must have found something you like. Why not take another look, miss?" The middle-aged man’s tone was stiff, even forceful.
He was clearly trying to force a sale.
Ruan Sui'an understood his intention but didn’t take it seriously, shaking her head and refusing outright.
"I don’t like any of it!" With that, she headed to the next stall, leaving the plump owner glaring angrily after her.
The owner wanted to stop her—how could he let such an easy target slip away?
But the other stall owners nearby weren’t about to let him block her so easily.
They were all hoping this little lamb would bring them some money too.
The chubby middle-aged man could only stare helplessly.
Damn little wench, the items on his stall were all fine pieces—she just had no eye for quality.
No wonder she’d never make a fortune.
The owner angrily plopped back down onto his small folding stool, which couldn’t handle his weight—the rope snapped instantly.
His hefty body landed on the ground with a thud, and he let out a pained yelp.
Thankfully, he had plenty of padding, or his tailbone might have cracked.
Hearing the noise, Ruan Sui'an turned around and saw the man clutching his backside, grimacing in pain.
She struggled to hold back the urge to laugh, turning her head away, but the corners of her mouth simply wouldn’t stay down.
She continued examining the items on the second stall, hoping to find an antique there.
The middle-aged man, now back on his feet, kept his eyes fixed on Ruan Sui'an, cold as a snake.
Little wench, don’t think I didn’t see you trying not to laugh just now.
Ruan Sui'an certainly felt his gaze but paid it no mind. Places like antique markets had their own order to maintain.
No one dared to challenge the rules of the antique market, or they’d be kicked out immediately.
The second stall did have one antique, but it was rather… eye-watering.
She hesitated for a long time, reaching out several times before finally making up her mind.
Ruan Sui'an pinched a chamber pot between two fingers, her eyes filled with disdain.
What rotten luck—after checking two stalls, this was the only antique she’d found.
And it was a chamber pot.
Though she picked it up, she instinctively held it as far away from herself as possible, silently willing it to absorb energy.
After a while, her Space showed no reaction at all, and Ruan Sui'an immediately understood—the Space didn’t need antiques to level up.
Since it wasn't through the energy within antiques that upgrades occurred, there was no need to stay any longer—she felt extremely uncomfortable inside.
She immediately set down the chamber pot, quickly stood up, and hurried toward the entrance of the antique street.
Her hands were dirty from handling the chamber pot, so she needed to wash them thoroughly several times right away.
People around her were puzzled by her actions, wondering what had happened to this young lady and why she suddenly stood up and left.
Many couldn't help but glance at the chamber pot. Could it be because of that chamber pot?
Was it really necessary to be so disgusted just from touching a chamber pot?
The stall owner, recalling the girl's disgusted expression earlier, finally understood: she had left in a hurry because she had touched the chamber pot.
Was she going to wash her hands?
Even though it was a chamber pot, it was still an antique. Was there really a need to be so repulsed?
Besides, the chamber pot hadn't been used for years—there was no lingering odor of urine anymore.
Women really are so fussy.
Meanwhile, Ruan Sui'an opened the trunk of her car, took out some bottled water, and began washing her hands. It took three whole bottles of water before she felt her hands were somewhat clean again.
After washing her hands, she opened the car door and got in, but still felt her hands weren't completely clean.
She then used alcohol wipes to wipe them several more times, finally feeling much more at ease.
Yet, the thought of having touched the chamber pot made her feel she had sacrificed a lot.
Since antiques couldn't upgrade the Space, why not try if jade could?
She looked up ahead, ready to start the car and leave, but her gaze fell on the peace jade pendant hanging from the rearview mirror.
She immediately understood—this was the perfect opportunity.
She took down the hanging peace jade pendant, placed it in her palm, and silently chanted to absorb its energy.
Time passed minute by minute, just as Ruan Sui'an was about to give up.
Suddenly, she felt the energy from the jade pendant being absorbed into her palm, and the red spider lily on her wrist flickered.
Its color deepened slightly.
Sensing the Space, she was delighted to discover that it had expanded outward by one meter. This meant that upgrading the Space required absorbing energy from jade.
If that was the case, then things would be much easier.
She examined the peace jade pendant in her hand and noticed that, aside from its luster having dimmed slightly, there wasn't even a single crack.
Perfect—the peace jade pendant could still be used. She placed it back where it had been hanging.
She drove to a nearby jade store. To upgrade the Space, all she needed was to touch jade. She could touch every piece of jade in the store.
Then, she could casually buy two or three pieces. If she bought all the jade, her one million probably wouldn't be enough to purchase much.
Entering the jade store, she saw six counters, each with a staff member standing behind it.
The staff were all very polite, greeting Ruan Sui'an with smiles: "Welcome!"
Ruan Sui'an smiled politely back at them and began examining the jade in the counters.
She absorbed energy from the jade in every counter and purchased one piece from each.
The prices varied—some were 8,000, others 6,000, 10,000, or 12,000.
The employees in the jade store looked at Ruan Sui'an with some curiosity, but since she had bought one piece from each counter, they couldn't really say anything.
Still, why did she have to touch every piece of jade? Could she really sense something different by touching them?
As employees, they couldn't ask too many questions and could only pack the items before handing them to the customer.
Suppressing the smile at the corner of her mouth, Ruan Sui'an took the packaged gift box and left the jade shop.
What she didn't know was that after she left, the staff began whispering among themselves: "That person looked quite ordinary, but who would have thought she'd buy six jade pendants at once. Although the amount spent wasn't astronomical, nearly 60,000 yuan is still no small sum."
"Exactly. At first, I thought she was here to cause trouble—after all, what kind of normal person goes to a jade shop and touches every single piece of jade? Who knew she'd actually buy them? But why did she buy one from every counter?"
"Who knows?"