Shi Meiqing didn’t even get a chance to interrupt. Zhao Qingye’s mouth rattled on like a machine gun, as if she didn’t even need to breathe between sentences.
Shi Meiqing quickly raised a hand in surrender.
“Stop, stop, stop! Are you even going to let me speak?”
Zhao Qingye mimed zipping her mouth shut and gestured grandly for Shi Meiqing to continue.
Taking a breath, Shi Meiqing said, “First, let’s compare the time. See if time flows differently inside and outside. From the moment I entered until I came back out, it was four minutes and thirty seconds.”
Zhao Qingye immediately looked down at the stopwatch in her hand.
Thankfully, the moment she saw Meiqing reappear, she’d instinctively paused it. Otherwise, they would’ve had to repeat the whole test.
“Mine says four minutes and thirty seconds too. Wait a second.”
She hurriedly poured freshly boiled water into a cup and placed it in front of Shi Meiqing.
“Put this in your space and see if it stays hot inside.”
Shi Meiqing lightly touched the cup’s rim and silently thought:
Store.
The steaming cup instantly vanished from the table.
Then she focused her attention, trying to see whether she could observe the inside of the space remotely.
Sure enough, she could.
Looks like the methods from web novels actually worked.
Zhao Qingye grinned foolishly.
“This is amazing. Alright, now tell me what the inside looks like.”
Shi Meiqing adjusted her phone and opened the video she’d recorded earlier.
Fortunately, the footage could still be played outside—and the image quality was perfectly clear.
“Here, look.”
Zhao Qingye immediately grabbed the phone and watched eagerly.
But the more she watched, the more disappointed her face became.
“This is a space? Isn’t this just… a small storage room?”
And she wasn’t wrong.
Shi Meiqing’s so-called dimensional space was basically just a warehouse of around a hundred square meters.
A completely barren warehouse at that.
There weren’t even proper walls or a ceiling.
The entire place was empty from end to end.
No blue skies.
No white clouds.
No grasslands or forests.
Certainly no spiritual spring.
There wasn’t even a decent patch of dirt.
“What the heck is this?”
Shi Meiqing shrugged and relaxed against the sofa.
“It’s exactly what you saw. There’s literally nothing inside.”
Zhao Qingye set down the phone, her face full of disappointment.
She’d thought this miraculous opportunity might cure Meiqing’s illness.
Turns out it was just false hope.
Even though the space itself was extraordinary, it brought her almost no comfort at all.
“You looked carefully, right? There really wasn’t anything else inside?”
Shi Meiqing nodded.
“I checked carefully. It’s completely empty. There aren’t any blind spots. There’s genuinely nothing there.”
Zhao Qingye rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
“So… were the surroundings actual solid walls? Or something like white mist?”
“More like white mist, I think. You can see it, but it doesn’t feel completely solid. You can touch it too—it feels kind of like touching jelly. But no matter how hard I pressed, I couldn’t break through it.”
“Then it might be a growth-type space.”
She instantly became excited again.
“We just don’t know how to make it evolve yet.”
“Wait here for a second. I’ll be right back.”
Zhao Qingye was exactly the sort of person who acted the moment an idea appeared in her head.
She threw on a coat and rushed out the door.
Shi Meiqing didn’t stop her.
There were some things she wanted to handle privately anyway.
Only after hearing the apartment door close did she pick up her phone and begin typing.
As the distance closed in, the messages on the screen became visible.
“Ms. Shi, we’ve already sent you the latest version of the will. You can review it first. If anything needs adjustment, changes can be made at any time.”
“I’ve already reviewed it. I’m very satisfied. Regarding the signing process—do I need to be present in person?”
“Yes. Not only must you be present personally, but the signing must also be video recorded while you are fully conscious and mentally aware.”
“That’s fine. I’ll come over within the next few days. Is there anything else I need to prepare?”
“No further preparations are necessary. Everything else is already ready. We welcome your visit at any time.”
“Alright. I’ll call in advance before coming over.”
“Understood. Goodbye, Ms. Shi.”
“Goodbye.”
Shi Meiqing’s fingers paused slightly.
In the end, she still didn’t delete the conversation.
Her parents probably weren’t interested in her property.
But she couldn’t say the same for the children they’d had later.
Even if she donated everything away, she would never leave it to those people.
If disputes arose after her death, this conversation might become useful evidence.
…
“Come help me! Damn, why’s this stuff so heavy?!”
Zhao Qingye dragged two giant suitcases through the door, already shouting before she even fully entered.
Shi Meiqing quickly walked over to help.
“Aren’t there already clothes here? Why’d you go back to get things?”
Zhao Qingye gulped down a huge glass of ice water before finally catching her breath.
“It’s not clothes. Hurry up and open them.”
Shi Meiqing unzipped the luggage.
Inside were all kinds of jewelry, cash, antiques, gold, and silver.
“What exactly are you trying to do? We’re not desperate enough for money that we need to sell this stuff, are we?”
“Of course not! We’re testing how the space upgrades.”
Zhao Qingye spoke as though it were obvious.
“What if after upgrading it develops a spiritual spring?”
Shi Meiqing shook her head helplessly.
“You’re dreaming pretty hard there. I really doubt these things can level up the space. Besides, who says the space can definitely evolve at all?”
“We can at least try.” Zhao Qingye looked completely unconcerned. “Even if it doesn’t work, we won’t lose anything. Let’s see… maybe we should test the gold first.”
Left with no choice, Shi Meiqing cooperated and tested everything one by one.
But after trying every item, the space showed absolutely no reaction.
“I think maybe you should just leave everything inside for now,” Zhao Qingye suggested unwillingly. “Maybe the testing time was too short. Put it all in there and we’ll check again tomorrow.”
“Fine. Whatever you say.”
Shi Meiqing rubbed her stomach.
“I’m hungry. What do you want to eat?”
“Do you need to avoid any foods?”
Zhao Qingye had already opened a food delivery app again.
“No restrictions. Eat whatever we want.”
At this point, what was there left to worry about?
With limited time remaining, she might as well live however she pleased and enjoy herself as much as possible.
“Then how about your favorite—Haidilao? And an ice-cold plum juice too.”
“Sounds good. Let’s eat that.”
Shi Meiqing wasn’t a picky eater.
Though admittedly, she had a lot of “favorite foods.”
While waiting for the delivery, Shi Meiqing suddenly remembered something.
“What happened with that issue last time?”
Zhao Qingye’s parents had somehow gotten the idea of forcing her into a business marriage to strengthen their company ties.
Just thinking about it was laughable.
When they didn’t need her, they tossed her aside.
But now that they wanted something, they expected her to obediently return the moment they beckoned?
The cheerful smile on Zhao Qingye’s face immediately vanished.
“They’re both insane. Trying to trade me for benefits? They can keep dreaming.”
“Aren’t they proud of having so many kids? Well then, the children they raised should be useful for something, shouldn’t they?”
“And they agreed to that?”
“Whether they agree or not has nothing to do with me.”
Zhao Qingye snorted coldly.
“They still think this is the old feudal era or something? Like they can control me however they want?”
“This is a society ruled by law now.”
“If I don’t want to do something, nobody can force me.”