【Master, wake up! Master, wake up! Time to catch the cheater! Time to catch the cheater!】
Sheng Jinhe was sleeping soundly when He Miao’s excited voice rang in her head. Was it really necessary to be this happy? What was so glorious about this?
“Alright, alright, I know. Stop shouting. Five more minutes of sleep.”
Sheng Jinhe turned over, ready to go back to sleep.
【Master, your scumbag dad is leaving! Can you still sleep?】
“What? This early? It’s only six o’clock!”
Sheng Jinhe shot up, checked the time, and cursed under her breath.
【If it’s not early, how can you sleep in again!】
He Miao was buzzing with gossip, extremely excited.
“Wait, since when did you turn into Little Yellow He? Don’t read the novels in my study!”
Sheng Jinhe said as she entered her space to get ready. She usually didn’t spend the night inside the space unless conditions outside were really bad. Another important reason was time flow—she could sleep three full days inside, and barely any time would pass outside. That would completely mess up her routine.
After washing up, Sheng Jinhe packed her military satchel, grabbed her cameras, and went downstairs.
As expected, her scumbag dad was already gone.
“Grandpa, I’m heading out. I’ll have lunch with Yueyue at the state-run restaurant—it’s on me. You eat by yourself!”
Sheng Jinhe called toward Sheng Laoye’s room and, without waiting for a reply, rushed out, hopped on her bike, and left the yard.
“He Miao, check your little friend for Dad’s route.”
Yes, He Miao had another amazing ability—it could communicate with all plants. Sheng Jinhe didn’t know exactly how, since she could only communicate with He Miao. She just issued the task.
Her special ability was one reason she had become a treasure to both the General Staff and the National Security Agency, and a top agent in Huaguo. Alongside her own skills, this gift set her apart.
Although she already knew from the novel where her scumbag dad would end up, she had no clue about the route. The original owner had never even heard of the place, and there was no mental map. He was seriously hiding his tracks.
【Received. Full route synchronized, Master.】
“Alright. You know, back when I just arrived here, if I’d found you early and taken a look at that man, we could’ve tracked him down sooner.”
Sheng Jinhe said casually.
【Back then, you were all over the place. That Master… I’m going to farm now, bye!】
He Miao quickly signed off. Why did it have to settle old scores now?
Even though it was powerful, it had limits—it couldn’t just locate someone she’d never even seen before!
“Go on then. At least today I know who he is!”
Sheng Jinhe felt cheerful.
【So you were just showing off to me earlier?】
【Master, you’re so childish. Not talking!】
He Miao silently cut off contact.
Sheng Jinhe raised an eyebrow and pedaled faster. Her scumbag dad was in good shape; leaving at almost the same time, he’d already left her a few li behind. But she couldn’t exactly go early.
After about an hour and a half of cycling, the route stopped moving—they’d arrived.
Sheng Jinhe didn’t feel tired at all. He Miao’s tracking was incredibly useful.
She scoped out the area first. The neighborhood consisted of separate courtyards, some a bit run-down, but most were private houses, and many people still lived there.
And then she overheard something.
“Old Sun, you’re back this week? I heard your two kids have jobs now? You’re quite the father.”
“Aunt Huai, not at all. A father’s job is to plan for his children, isn’t it?”
Tsk. At that moment, Sheng Jinhe doubted whether Sun Ke was even her biological father. With her real mother gone, there was no way to confirm.
From their familiarity, though, it was clear Sun Ke had been settled here for a long time.
Using her space to stay hidden, Sheng Jinhe almost simultaneously entered Sun Ke’s house.
“Mom, Dad’s back!”
A girl around Sheng Jinhe’s age called happily when she saw Sun Ke enter.
“Old Sun is back? Tired? Today we’re having braised pork. Did you eat breakfast? I steamed some egg cakes for you. Qiuqiu, take them to your dad in the living room. Your brother hasn’t woken up yet!”
A woman emerged from the living room. Sheng Jinhe compared them mentally—everything about them was so different from Sheng Xi.
Men really only behaved when pinned against the wall.
She drank some water inside the space and got to work: first the Polaroid, then the digital camera, then the factory-loaned camera—taking turn after turn. Thinking about how these photos could help get rid of her scumbag dad and maybe earn a little cash made her highly motivated.
Photos secured: Sun Ke with his mistress, Sun Ke with his daughter, Sun Ke with his son, Sun Ke with his wife and children. All done—time to retreat!
On the way back, Sheng Jinhe thought: if Sun Ke had a new family outside, she could have talked to Grandpa about it, and he would’ve supported it. But the fact that he was feeding off the Sheng family while neglecting his daughter and maintaining a separate household outside? That was unkind.
Sigh. Greed never ends!
Since that was the case, she no longer needed to worry about the fragile father-daughter bond. Sheng Jinhe loved helping people—be it the protagonists or her scumbag dad.
It was still early for lunch, so she went to the supply and marketing co-op first.
All the candy at home had been distributed yesterday—no stock left. She wanted to buy some. She realized she was picking up some of the original owner’s little habits, like snacking on sweets, though she hadn’t done so before. With no stock in her space, she had to buy some.
Then she thought of making candy herself.
Of course, this would fall to He Miao—it was the god of the space, after all.
He Miao: “…” Feeling its days of servitude were about to start.
“小 He Miao~ Little He Miao~”
【Master, just tell me what you want. Don’t shout like that—it’s creepy!】
Sheng Jinhe’s voice was naturally sweet and soft; now He Miao couldn’t handle it.
“Fine, I want candy—all kinds. You figure out how to make some. There should be books in the study. Good luck! Love you!”
Sheng Jinhe thought: maltose, cane sugar, brown sugar—they all came from barley or sugarcane, right? Not hard at all.
【Master, ordinary sugar is easy. But milk candy… the space’s milk is only what you’ve stored, and it can’t regenerate. Either you get me a cow!】
Sheng Jinhe almost rode her bike into a ditch. She knew cows were precious—she hadn’t even seen an old yellow ox yet. A milk cow? Wasn’t that asking too much?
“Fine, in my dream I’ll get you a sheep instead!”
【Sheep works too. I don’t mind. Don’t worry about cows; eventually we’ll have cows and sheep everywhere—meat and milk in abundance. Don’t you want that, Master?】
Sheng Jinhe twitched. He Miao had gone rogue, trying to tempt her. Was she really that easy to tempt? She was a top agent!
Next second:
“Fine, I want it. Got it!”
She’d hit the black market later!
After all, she was Sheng Jinhe of this era—slightly bending the rules was fine.