She stared blankly at the ceiling, her fingers absent-mindedly rubbing the faded red string beads on her wrist.
Suddenly, she found herself surrounded by endless whiteness.
When her eyes adjusted, she saw a small thatched hut not far away, a well beside it, and several patches of dark soil.
This… was a space?
“Is anyone here?” she shouted loudly, but there was no response.
“Hahaha… I have a golden finger too now.”
After the initial excitement faded, she looked around again. Well… her space was a bit simple! Still, it was already pretty good.
“Huh… could this well be the legendary spiritual spring water?”She couldn’t help but scoop up a handful and take a sip. It was cool and sweet. For the moment she didn’t notice anything special about it, but she did feel much more refreshed.
There was none of the body-cleansing, marrow-washing effects that novels often described.
Oh well—she shouldn’t ask for too much.
The black soil shouldn’t be left empty and wasted. She needed to find some seeds to plant here. In this era, grain was scarce. If she planted crops, she wouldn’t have to worry about going hungry.
She also wondered if the space had a preservation function. She would have to test it.
“Out…”She returned to the room outside.
She went to the kitchen, took the thermos, and poured a cup of hot water. “In…”Entering the space again, she placed the hot water inside, planning to check later and see if the temperature changed.
She noticed that the red string on her wrist had disappeared, replaced by a tiny red mole.
That was good—it wouldn’t get lost.
In three days she would be sent down to the countryside. She planned to go out for a walk and see if she could buy some seeds along the way.
Opening a drawer, she took out the small box where she used to save money. Inside were many scattered small bills. After counting them, there were thirty-two yuan and eighty cents. There were also two yellowed grain coupons and three light pink sugar coupons, each printed with the words “one liang.” The corners were tied together gently with red yarn, as if someone feared losing them.
She stuffed everything into her small backpack in case she needed them later.
When Yun Ting left the house, she didn’t run into anyone. The street outside looked like an old photograph soaked in time: on the dirt-yellow brick walls, the red slogan “Grasp Revolution, Promote Production” had faded to pale pink.
She looked around curiously.
Pedestrians hurried along the street. Everyone wore dull gray clothing, and most people were thin, yet their faces were filled with smiles and their spirits were high. Thinking about the days of the apocalypse, she cherished this simple joy of being able to stroll down a street.
Following the location of the supply and marketing cooperative from her memory, she soon arrived at its entrance. Above the door hung a sign with the bold words “Supply and Marketing Cooperative.” Beside it were slogans like “Develop the Economy, Ensure Supply” and “Serve the People.”
At the first counter, the shop assistant Xiao Juan looked up and greeted her with a smile.
“Yun Ting, here to see your sister?”
Yun Ting’s sister, Yun Shu, had a good personality and was well liked. The shop assistants all knew Yun Ting as Yun Shu’s younger sister.
“Sister Juan, not busy?”
“Oh, not at this time.”As she spoke, her hands skillfully continued knitting yarn.
There weren’t many customers in the cooperative at the moment. When Xiao Juan spoke, Yun Shu on the other side noticed that her sister had arrived.
“Tingting, what brings you here? What do you want to buy? I’ll get it for you,” Yun Shu said, waving her over.
Yun Ting politely greeted the other shop assistants.
“Oh my, Tingting is such a good girl. If she were my daughter, I’d wake up laughing from my dreams,” Aunt Wang joked cheerfully.
“That won’t do, Aunt Wang. My mom would fight you for her,” Yun Ting replied playfully.
“Hahaha…”Everyone burst into laughter.
At that moment a customer arrived, and Aunt Wang went to attend to them.
Aunt Wang, wearing a blue cotton blouse, took the grain coupons and small bills handed over by the customer. She rubbed her fingertips on her apron, straightened the coupons, and clipped them into the teeth of an iron clip. With a light flick of her wrist, the clip shot along the wire toward the cashier’s desk at the end of the counter, the metal scraping against the wire and flashing sparks of light.
“Two jin of cornmeal, three and a half liang of sugar coupons!” she called out.
At the cashier’s desk, Sister Li grabbed the sliding clip and checked the coupons carefully: two light brown one-jin grain coupons and seven pale pink half-liang sugar coupons—just enough.
The abacus beads clattered rapidly as Sister Li calculated the amount due. She placed the change and receipt back into the same clip, flicked her wrist again, and the clip rolled back along the wire with a rattling sound. When it stopped beside Aunt Wang, the coins rustled softly against the receipt.
It was Yun Ting’s first time seeing money collected this way, and she found it rather interesting.
“Tingting, see if there’s anything else you want to buy. Mom and I already prepared everything you’ll need for going to the countryside.”
“Sis, I just came out for a stroll. I still have some sugar and pastry coupons, so I want to buy a few things.”
As she spoke, she took out the coupons and money and handed them to her sister.
“Put them away. If you want to eat something, your sister will buy it for you. Why should you spend your own money?” Yun Shu rolled her eyes at her and stopped her from handing over the money.
“Sis, the coupons will expire if I don’t use them.”
Yun Shu took a look and realized it was true.“Alright, I’ll take the coupons. But you keep the money.”
Helpless, Yun Ting put the money back.
With her sister here, she definitely wouldn’t be allowed to pay herself, so she didn’t buy anything else. After chatting for a while, she prepared to leave.
She left some candy for her sister and gave two fruit candies to each of the other shop assistants. They all praised her kindness.
Yun Shu originally said she didn’t want any, but Yun Ting grabbed two handfuls and placed them in front of her before running out.
“Hey! Why are you running? Be careful not to fall!” Yun Shu scolded with a smile as she watched her sister leave.
“Tingting’s worried you’ll stuff the candy back to her! Ah, I really envy the bond between you sisters,” sighed the shop assistant Zhang Yan.
She also had an older sister, but their relationship wasn’t good. Seeing the Yun sisters together always made her especially envious.
Yun Shu simply smiled. She knew Zhang Yan’s situation and didn’t say much, otherwise it might seem like she was bragging. She truly did have a good younger sister.
Ah! Worried that her sister might grow suspicious, Yun Ting hadn’t asked about seeds earlier. Where could she find them now?
She wandered around aimlessly until she noticed an old woman wearing a headscarf carrying a basket and sneaking toward an alley.
Yun Ting’s eyes lit up, and she hurried after her.
That must be the black market.
She saw the old woman get stopped at the entrance and hand over some money before being allowed inside. Yun Ting quickly stepped forward.
“Stop. Buying or selling?” the guard asked.
“Buying,” she replied in a low voice.
“Twenty cents.”
She took out the money and handed it over. The guard let her pass.
An old man squatting on the ground lifted the cloth covering his basket. Inside were eggs layered with bits of straw, each wrapped in rough paper, making faint clicking sounds when touched.
Across from him, a woman in a blue blouse gathered an enamel basin closer to her chest. Inside were fresh green beans soaking in water. She held a thin hemp rope tied to five or six aluminum lunch boxes.
“Want to trade cloth? Patterned Dacron from Shanghai—didn’t come through the cooperative.”
As Yun Ting walked along, she saw people selling grain, meat, and even apples.
She stopped beside an old woman selling grain.
“Auntie, how much for this rice?”
It hadn’t been hulled yet—perfect for planting.
The old woman glanced around cautiously and lowered her voice.
“Two jin of grain coupons for one jin. Or… cash works too. Eight cents per jin.”
“Alright, give me three jin,” Yun Ting said, handing over the money.