When she left the house, she purposely left the door open. This way, if those people wanted to pin ’theft’ on her head, she could just say someone else did it.
She walked out of their unit, feeling the air was a bit fresher, even if her body was in pain.
It was already in the afternoon, so there were already a few people around, many of whom were children who had gotten back from school and were now playing in packs.
It so happened that she saw some of the infamously troublesome teenagers not far away. They were well-known bullies around here. Back then, they had also bullied her a lot, including throwing mud on her clothes or throwing rotten eggs on her head. Sometimes it was under Wang Xiuying’s instigation, other times, they just did it because she was easy to bully.
She dragged her feet towards them. Because she was in pain, it wasn’t difficult to summon a few tears. "Help! Can you call on adults?" she asked. "There are people inside that house, and they’re taking many things!
"Some are taking candies, jerky, and canned fruits. I even saw someone take away ten yuan and some coupons!!"
The teenagers looked greedy just by her descriptions. She wasn’t quiet either, so some of the other people in the neighborhood also heard of it.
Interestingly, she would later find out that the greedy grandma from next door had already entered the house when the bullies went in, which simply built upon her lies.
As for Wang Xiuying, she wasn’t worried about her getting harmed disproportionately. Even if big men went in there, no one would violate her.
The crime of hooliganism was handled unlike how it was in the latter generations, it could get you executed here. Besides, they lived in tube apartments. Things wouldn’t get too far.
Anyway, she moved forward with gritted teeth. Using all the strength she could muster, she dragged her body out of the house to the nearest alley to avoid the sight of neighbors.
While many of the neighbors felt pity for her, especially when she was younger, if that family came looking for her, they probably wouldn’t hide clues of where they saw her.
That was why she didn’t think of knocking on their doors to get a breather there. Otherwise, her remaining goodwill to the neighbors might be spent.
It wasn’t the first time she had been beaten up so badly that she could barely stand up.
The first time she was beaten black and blue was when she was around eight ro nine years old. She managed to run away, and some neighbors went to help her, even hiding her in their house.
In this time period, such abuse wouldn’t be subject to sanctions by police officers since it was part of a family dispute. Calling the police would only get the abusers reprimanded and might even attract the ire of bad people after it was over.
Who wanted to have unreasonable enemies as neighbors? People just wanted to live their lives.
At the time, her stepfather went into a fight with that neighbor, even injuring them, but they were not pursued because they twisted it as if the neighbors had kidnapped her instead.
Her mother was great at twisting people’s words. She was used to using that educated brain of hers in twisted, selfish things.
Fortunately, both sides just let it go, but people no longer dared to help her. That neighbor even moved away.
At the time, she was convinced that she deserved to be isolated, and she passively accepted the slaps and punches that hit her that night.
Right now, the few people who did see her looked at her in concern, but they did not dare talk to her, fearing she would enter their home.
She used much of her strength to move around, going past their neighborhood. It wasn’t easy since they lived in a residential lane abutted by multi-story brick buildings.
It was a crowded communal alley where the doors of the house opened directly to the narrow, paved alley. It was one of the most common neighborhood types for the working class.
She looked around and stopped only when there was no one around anymore, which was possible because most people were still out making a living somewhere.
She squeezed herself inside a narrow gap between buildings that only children or small animals could fit in, and then she disappeared and went into her space.
...which was currently as big as someone’s toilet.
"..."
She froze before she stepped on the things she took from the kitchen, including the knives. She looked at the mess on the black earth soil and proceeded on tidying up what she could.
Even when kneeling down and moving too much made her eyes twitch, she at least pushed the items on one side, piling up those that could be piled, thereby freeing up two-thirds of her already small space.
Whatever happened and whatever the reason she was back, she was very glad that her powers awakened early in this life.
Her ability was a mix of space and wood powers, which was a unique power among this world’s Deviants. It granted her a plantable space that would expand as her ability improved.
One of the great things about it was that the more (and better quality) she planted in her space, the better her own recovery was. It was as if the space was—to a degree—connected to her body.
It wasn’t so magical that she would be healed immediately, of course. In fact, the effect was very subtle, like taking potent health supplements, but any improvement was welcome in her state.
The crops planted inside the space also grew much faster than those outside and were tastier and healthier. When eaten by her, it had a synergistic effect that would truly help her out in her current condition.
After pushing down some debris from the household things she took, she knelt down to start planting despite the pain in her body.
Fortunately, the body of every Deviant would improve as they awakened, as if preparing itself for the ability they would soon possess. It was how a scrawny, malnourished sixteen-year-old like her was able to grab the girl older than her and pull her around by the hair.
She looked at the uncooked potato and the local pea variant that she grabbed back home. She awkwardly bent her body to grab them and then planted some in the soil underneath her.
The potato couldn’t be eaten raw, but the beans could be. However, it was a waste to eat them immediately and she opted to plant them all. Anyway, she still had the rest of the porridge she had cooked earlier, along with the entire pot. It could still feed her for two to three more meals.
For the first-generation plants, the growth ratio was quite fast, and these would grow in a day. After planting some stuff on the available area, she drank a bit of water and then sat down on the area left behind, which wasn’t much.
She sat in a crossed-legged position at the edge of the space, which was like an invisible wall. If there were enough space, she’d have lain down. For now, she’d just have to make do with resting while sitting. Hopefully, after a nap and a meal, she would have the energy to go to the hospital for a proper check up.
She also needed to document her injuries there.
This time, that bastard would not get away with his abuse.