She had been drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to open her eyes, with nothing but the chatter of the crowd ringing in her ears.
At first, she thought she was dreaming. But when she finally forced her eyes open and saw the surroundings, she immediately understood what had happened.
So she had become fashionable for once—she had joined the ranks of transmigrators.
No wonder she had awakened a spatial ability before. It turned out it was all in preparation for transmigration.
Ye Anran lowered her gaze to her wrist and saw a tiny red dot. Her eyes lit up.
That was her space! It had come with her—how wonderful.
On her twenty-second birthday, a friend had jokingly shoved her face into a cake. There had been a plastic support frame inside the cake, which cut her face. The blood that dripped onto the jade pendant she had worn for years triggered the awakening of her space.
Inside the space were hundreds of acres of rich black soil. With a mere thought, she could freely adjust the flow of time on that land.
There was also a thatched cottage, and behind it stretched endless mountain ranges.
In front of the cottage lay a spiritual spring—its water inexhaustible and endlessly replenishing.
Who wasn’t a web novel fan these days? She loved reading online fiction and instantly understood what this was.
A space and spiritual spring—things that only appeared in novels.
After the initial shock wore off, she began stockpiling supplies like crazy.
But transmigration never came. Instead, the apocalypse did.
Three months before the apocalypse, there were tsunamis and torrential rains. Fortunately, she had already stored massive amounts of supplies in her space and took advantage of the chaos to gather even more—anything and everything she could get her hands on, useful or not. After all, her space was huge.
In the fourth month of the apocalypse, she successfully awakened supernatural powers.
Before she could truly experience the cruelty of the apocalypse, she fell asleep—and woke up in ancient times.
The pain coursing through her body was no illusion, especially the stabbing agony in her abdomen.
Ye Anran closed her eyes briefly as memories surged through her mind.
From the original body’s memories, she learned that the girl had never even been given a proper name. Everyone simply called her “Little Ya.”
This was a country called Ning’an. For two years, severe drought had plagued the land. Crops had failed entirely, and the people suffered in misery.
After absorbing all of Little Ya’s memories, Ye Anran clenched her small fists.
Li Zhaodi was truly vicious—beating her own daughter to death like that.
It would have been one thing if Little Ya had actually eaten half the corncake—but she hadn’t.
Little Ya had seen with her own eyes how Wang Bao’er secretly climbed onto a stool, opened the cabinet, and ate the cake.
When Bao’er noticed Little Ya watching, he feared she would tell on him. So he preemptively accused her of stealing half the corncake.
The moment Li Zhaodi heard this, she exploded in rage and beat Little Ya to death.
Ye Anran lifted her gaze toward Li Zhaodi. Their eyes met, and Li Zhaodi shuddered.
For some reason, unease filled her heart.
The girl’s gaze had changed—it was filled with a cold ferocity she had never seen before.
Li Zhaodi narrowed her eyes. The wretched girl could not be allowed to stay. Now that she hated her, who knew what she might do in the future under the same roof?
Looking at Wang Xianger, Li Zhaodi said impatiently, “Enough talk. Half a sack of cornmeal!
If you’re willing to give it, take the child. If not, she won’t live long anyway—I’ll just bury her in the back hills.”
Ye Sanlang feared she might go back on her word and nodded firmly. “We’ll take the child. Half a sack it is. But she must be registered under my household.
And you must write a severance letter. From now on, she’ll have nothing to do with your family.”
He wanted to avoid future trouble—better to cut ties cleanly.
Li Zhaodi readily agreed. It was only a severance letter. Once the girl was gone, she had no intention of taking her back.
The village head was pleased to hear it and quickly wrote up the severance document.
After Li Zhaodi and the girl’s father, Wang Dalin, pressed their fingerprints onto it, Li Zhaodi tossed the paper onto the ground.
“Take a good look. This is the severance letter! Even if you starve to death in the future, don’t come begging at my door.”
Wang Xianger didn’t argue. She bent down to pick it up, relieved to see that Little Ya had awakened.
Touching her forehead and finding no fever, she said excitedly, “Sanlang, look! Little Ya’s awake!”
Ye Sanlang leaned in as well.
With a gentle, coaxing tone, Wang Xianger asked, “Little Ya, would you like to come home with Auntie Ye?”
Ye Anran roughly understood everything now. Though her whole body ached, the Ye family was clearly her best option. She nodded obediently.
Ye Sanlang added softly, “Little Ya, would you let Auntie Ye be your mother from now on? I’ll be your father.
Mother and Father will do everything we can to make sure you’re fed, alright?”
Ye Anran responded faintly, “Alright… Father, Mother.”
The moment they heard her call them that—especially in her soft, sweet voice—their hearts nearly melted.
Such a lovable, obedient child, yet treated so unfairly.
Seeing Little Ya recognize new parents so quickly, Li Zhaodi curled her lips. “What an ungrateful little white-eyed wolf.”
Ye Anran looked at Wang Xianger. “Mother, can you put me down?”
Wang Xianger nodded and carefully set her on the ground, keeping a steadying hand near her in case she fell.
Ye Anran gave her a sweet smile before calling out to the village head:
“Grandpa Wang, I didn’t eat the cake! Wang Bao’er did! I saw him take half a cake from the cabinet.
After he finished eating, he saw me and got scared I’d tell on him. So he told his mother first that I stole it.”
Even though she had been adopted, Ye Anran refused to carry the stigma of theft—especially when Little Ya had been innocent.
Hearing her accuse her son again, Li Zhaodi rushed forward to strike her.
But Ye Sanlang blocked her. “Little Ya is my child now. It’s not your place to discipline her.
Why are you so flustered? Your son has long been spoiled rotten. If not him, who else could it have been?”
Li Zhaodi stomped angrily. “Impossible! My Bao’er is the most obedient!
Besides, all the cakes are his anyway. Why would he need to steal?”
Ye Anran sneered. “Your Bao’er may be your treasure, but to me he’s rotten to the core.
You said he could eat half today and save the other half for tomorrow. But he’s greedy and couldn’t wait.
He wanted more from you, so he made me take the blame, playing the victim first to get you to give him extra.
He’s bad by nature! You’re the only one who treats him like a treasure!”
The villagers suddenly began to see the truth.