Recently, Xu Qinghe had been plagued by nightmares.
In her dreams, she always found herself in a backward rural village. Every house in the village had mud walls and thatched roofs. Sparse wheat grew in the fields outside the village, and the villagers who came and went all wore straw sandals and coarse hemp clothing.
The village in her dreams was more dilapidated and primitive than any countryside she had ever seen in real life. Or rather, it wasn’t a modern village at all—it resembled the ancient rural settlements often depicted in television dramas.
In the dream, she was an orphan who had lost both parents. Because her father had died in battle while serving in the army, the local authorities had shown mercy and allowed her to establish her own household.
She struggled to survive on the few meager fields and the small mud house her parents had left behind. Since she didn’t know how to farm and crop yields in the dream world were extremely low, the grain she harvested each year was nowhere near enough to feed herself.
At first, she managed to get by on the money and compensation her parents had left her.
But as time passed, her savings ran out, and life became increasingly difficult. Going hungry and lacking warm clothes became the norm.
On top of that, as a lone orphan girl in the village, she was often looked down upon and targeted by others.
Thieves, refugees, natural disasters, rebellions, and wild beasts came one after another.
In the dream, Xu Qinghe lived every day in fear and anxiety. She endured this harsh existence for four years. Then, during the winter of the fourth year, heavy snow collapsed the roof of her thatched house during a snowstorm. She was buried beneath the snow. Although she was rescued quickly, she still suffered severe exposure. The next day, she came down with a high fever from the cold. With no medicine available to treat her, she eventually died from illness.
The nightmares had continued for more than half a month, causing her to wake up in terror almost every morning. Her nerves were beginning to fray.
Clutching her still-trembling chest, Xu Qinghe lay in bed for several minutes before slowly getting up.
Much like the girl in her dream, she was also an orphan in real life. She had no home and no family. After graduating from university, she rented a small studio apartment near her workplace for convenience.
The tiny apartment, just over thirty square meters in size, contained a bedroom, a kitchenette, and a bathroom.
Each area was cramped, and with all her personal belongings, the little apartment felt packed to the brim.
Yet Xu Qinghe didn’t find it oppressive at all. On the contrary, she loved the feeling of being surrounded by a small space—it gave her an overwhelming sense of security and comfort.
After washing up, she glanced around her apartment and couldn’t help but think of the low, dark, damp mud house from her dream.
She frowned, unease creeping into her heart.
Normally, people couldn’t remember the details of their dreams. Yet her dream was vivid down to the smallest detail, as if she had experienced it firsthand. And she had been dreaming the same dream for over half a month. It was far too unusual.
Maybe she should prepare for something…
The thought had barely crossed her mind before she dismissed it.
Even if she really were going to transmigrate like in those novels, what could she possibly prepare now?
Stockpile supplies? She wouldn’t be able to take them with her.
Study useful skills and knowledge so she could return to ancient times and rise to the top? That was even less realistic. She knew her own capabilities all too well. Reaching the pinnacle of life? She’d be grateful if she could avoid dying of illness like she did in the dream.
Forget it. Better get back to being a corporate drone.
Shaking her head, Xu Qinghe grabbed her bag and headed to work.
She clocked in right on time, exchanged a few polite words with her colleagues, and began another day of digital drudgery.
But before long, she noticed the words on her computer screen starting to float.
Then everything went black, and she collapsed unconscious.
Although she had fainted, her mind remained clear.
The scenes that had haunted her dreams for over half a month replayed once more. Xu Qinghe was forced to watch herself die all over again.
As the dream version of her died, the entire scene dissolved into nothingness.
Then, within the void, a beam of light appeared.
Instinctively, Xu Qinghe moved toward it.
Several plots of land materialized within the emptiness.
She stared in confusion.
Calling them “plots of land” wasn’t entirely accurate. The space contained six plots of black soil, each about one mu in size.
Beside the farmland was another dark-colored space of equal size.
One bright, one dark—the two spaces were connected together. Xu Qinghe wanted to move closer for a better look, but an invisible force suddenly pushed her away.
The beam of light vanished, replaced by a string of numbers.
Without thinking, Xu Qinghe read the numbers aloud.
The next instant, she awoke from her coma.
The first thing she saw was the stark white ceiling of a hospital room and the sharp scent of disinfectant.
Her whole body felt weak and sore. She lifted her hand and saw an IV drip attached to it.
It turned out she had developed a high fever and fainted. Her colleagues had discovered her and sent her to the hospital.
There was a message from one of her coworkers on her phone. Xu Qinghe thanked them and transferred the medical expenses back.
As the medicine dripped slowly through the IV, she covered her left eye with one hand.
In the empty space within her mind, the strange object she had seen while unconscious appeared once more.
It was the pair of connected spaces—one bright and one dark.
Xu Qinghe pinched her cheek.
It hurt.
So it wasn’t a dream.
Although her life had always been rather monotonous, she still read novels and watched television dramas.
Given her current situation, combined with the dreams she’d been having, it looked exactly like the setup for transmigration.
…
Her headache worsened.
What was someone as weak and helpless as her supposed to do after transmigrating?
After finishing her IV treatment, Xu Qinghe took a taxi home. After some thought, she asked the driver to change routes and stop at a lottery shop instead.
She looked around the shop for a long time before finally spotting the familiar string of numbers.
Her pupils widened, and her heart raced with excitement.
For a moment, her emotions were complicated.
She was happy, yet helpless.
Happy because she would likely win the lottery.
Helpless because the possibility that she was truly about to transmigrate had become even greater.
Regardless, Xu Qinghe bought the ticket.
She took sick leave for the afternoon shift. After returning to her apartment, she cooked herself a bowl of tomato noodle soup and ate a simple lunch.
Holding the still-warm bowl, she focused her thoughts.
In an instant, the bowl vanished from in front of her and appeared inside the dark space in her mind.
Unlike the space with farmland, the dark space was completely empty.
Xu Qinghe guessed that the two spaces had different functions. The land was probably meant for farming, while the dark space was likely for storage.
She let out a sigh, opened the drawer beside her bed, and took out a notebook.
Inside, she kept records of her daily expenses and all her savings.
After four years of working and living frugally, she had managed to save 250,000 yuan. It might not seem like much to other people, but to someone who had grown up poor, it was a fortune.
Xu Qinghe turned to a blank page.
After a brief pause, she wrote down four words:
“Stockpiling Plan.”