The villa covered about 500 square meters, with two floors and a small attic.
The first floor had a kitchen, dining room, living room, a shared bathroom, and two maid’s rooms.
The second floor had four bedrooms. Since Yu Zhaozhao was an orphan and her identity didn’t make it suitable for forming friendships, she always lived alone and never had guests.
Aside from the master bedroom, the other three rooms were still empty.
“I wonder… does the yard count as part of my space?”
Thinking of the lawn in the villa’s yard, Yu Zhaozhao couldn’t wait to go check it out.
The place she was being sent to was the cold northeastern countryside. Though she had never experienced it firsthand, she had read plenty of novels set in that era.
Winters there required “hibernating”—before winter came, every household stored a cellar full of potatoes, cabbage, radishes, sweet potatoes, and several vats of pickled cabbage.
Fresh green vegetables were basically nonexistent, let alone meat. Even if you had money, you still needed ration tickets.
If the yard belonged to her, she could grow some vegetables and wouldn’t have to rely solely on cabbage and radishes all winter.
But when Yu Zhaozhao walked to the door and tried to open it, no matter how much strength she used, it didn’t budge at all.
She felt a little disappointed. It seemed her space only included the villa itself.
Returning to the living room, she turned her head—and immediately noticed the snack shelf by the wall.
When she was on missions, she always had to stay extremely cautious, her mind constantly running at high speed. So when she rested, she liked to do absolutely nothing—just lie around and relax.
This snack shelf was specially prepared for binge-watching shows at home.
It was still packed full. Yu Zhaozhao walked over, grabbed a piece of bread, tore open the wrapper, and started eating.
The original body had probably been hungry for too long. Ever since she arrived, her stomach had felt empty. After a few bites, she finally felt a bit better.
While eating, she didn’t stay idle.
She went to the kitchen first and opened the fridge. The refrigerated section was filled with vegetables, fruits, and all kinds of dairy products.
Then she opened the freezer—just as expected, meat and shrimp were neatly stored in their drawers.
She casually took a carton of milk, inserted a straw, and drank it while closing the fridge and checking the cabinets.
Inside were two bags of rice, two bags of flour, four barrels of soybean oil, and all kinds of seasonings—nothing was missing.
Yu Zhaozhao felt a bit relieved. Back in the city, there had once been a lockdown due to an infectious disease—thirty days without going outside. Even when groceries became available, they came as pre-packed boxes, leaving no choice in what to eat. That experience had been terrible for her.
Since then, she had developed a habit of stockpiling.
Food, daily necessities—she bought everything in bulk. After moving into a big villa with plenty of storage space, she bought even more.
After all, most girls found it hard to resist a good deal. Those shopping festival bundle discounts were just too tempting.
With food solved, the next issue was daily living. For her, the most inconvenient part of being in this era was bathing and using the toilet.
She wondered if the plumbing system in her space still worked.
Yu Zhaozhao tossed the empty bread wrapper and milk carton into the trash, then went to the bathroom and pressed the flush button.
The sound of rushing water—and the tank refilling—made her eyes light up.
She turned on the shower. The water flowed normally, and both hot and cold settings worked perfectly.
After checking around a bit more, she found that everything in the house functioned normally—except the Wi-Fi.
The television, however, was special.
When she turned it on earlier, it displayed a surveillance feed.
The coverage spanned roughly a hundred-meter radius around the spot where she had disappeared.
And it showed a top-down view. She could clearly see Mao Cuizhi cooking in the kitchen, while the other rooms were empty.
At the entrance of the alley, two elderly women sat on stones, fanning themselves and chatting.
Because of the overhead perspective, there were no blind spots.
Yu Zhaozhao felt a surge of excitement. This function was incredibly useful. Before leaving the space, she could check the TV to see if anyone was nearby—greatly improving secrecy.
As she watched, she noticed someone entering the alley on a bicycle—it was Yu Wangshan, with Yu Tianbao riding along.
A few steps behind them was Yu Miaomiao. Without a bicycle, she had to run to keep up, looking somewhat disheveled.
Over the past couple of days, Mao Cuizhi had worried that Yu Zhaozhao might try to avoid being sent to the countryside. So she had Yu Miaomiao take her place at work while she stayed home to watch Yu Zhaozhao.
Her job was serving food at the machinery factory cafeteria—simple work anyone could do.
The factory wasn’t strict. As long as someone showed up to do the job, they didn’t care who it was.
Worried that Yu Wangshan might come to her room after getting home, Yu Zhaozhao quickly took out several cups, filled them with hot water, placed them in different rooms, and returned to the shabby little house.
“Did she agree?” Yu Wangshan asked casually as he entered, handing his coat to Mao Cuizhi.
“She hasn’t said a word all day. No matter how I ask, she won’t answer. But I already told her—going to the countryside is a done deal. Whether she wants to or not, it doesn’t matter,” Mao Cuizhi replied, hanging up his coat, her expression sour.
Although Yu Tianbao was usually mischievous, he was good at reading the room. Seeing his father’s foul mood, he didn’t dare provoke him.
“Take a couple more days off and keep an eye on her. The day after tomorrow, personally send her to the train station.”
“Alright, don’t worry. I know what to do.”
“Is dinner ready?”
“Yes, yes. I made your favorite—tomato scrambled eggs.”
“Mm.”
After that, the family happily sat down to dinner, not a single one of them remembering Yu Zhaozhao.
But that was fine. The less attention they paid to her, the more room she had to act.
Lying on the shabby bed, Yu Zhaozhao closed her eyes and let her consciousness enter the space.
This was something she had just discovered.
When her body wasn’t convenient to move, she could enter the space with her consciousness alone. To outsiders, it would simply look like she was sleeping.
Although the family hadn’t thought of her for now, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t later. If they barged in and found her missing, it would cause trouble.
While she had the ability to protect herself, her habits from her previous life made her dislike trouble and noise. As for revenge… working in the shadows was far more interesting.
Entering the space with consciousness was much more convenient than physically entering it.
When her body entered, it was like truly living there—everything required hands-on effort.
But with consciousness, she only needed to think about where she wanted to go, and she would instantly arrive in that room. It was incredibly convenient.