After eating and drinking her fill, Song Qinghuan wanted to make good use of the farmland in her space right away. She planned to go out and buy a batch of vegetable and fruit seeds as soon as she left.
She already had herbs in the space; some of the medicine cabinets also held herb seeds, so she could just use the land there to grow them whenever she needed. But for now, her stock of medicinal supplies was still sufficient—she wouldn’t need to plant her own for quite some time.
Right now, growing vegetables and fruits was far more important.
As she spoke, she stepped out of the small hut and walked a full circle around the farmland, spotting the mist wall that enclosed its edges again. The mist that had once covered the hut’s entrance had been unlocked by spending points. Following that logic, perhaps the farmland’s size could also be expanded using points.
The thought had barely crossed her mind when the translucent screen popped up again, floating in midair and showing: Insufficient remaining points.
Her footsteps, which had been heading toward the mist wall, halted abruptly. She let out a helpless sigh.
Just unlocking what she had already used up six hundred points—no wonder she didn’t have enough left.
Guess I didn’t slap them hard enough.
For no reason, her palms suddenly itched.
I really want to slap Lu Qiming and his whole family every chance I get.
Still, the space she had now should be plenty big enough to grow quite a lot of vegetables and fruits. She already had a rough idea of exactly which seeds she wanted to buy.
The only problem was… how did she get out?
The moment the thought arose, a flash of white light swept across her eyes. In the blink of an eye, the scenery around her shifted rapidly. The next second, Song Qinghuan found herself standing in her own room at the Song family’s house.
It turned out everything in this space could be controlled with just her mind.
She made a mental note of that, then immediately pulled out the intern salary she’d saved up and been reluctant to spend from her drawer, tucked it away, and headed out.
As she passed the living room, Song Yunfei and his parents were still eating. Seeing her come out, Song Yunfei raised his eyebrows at her smugly, glancing first at her, then pointedly at the four dishes and one soup on the table—clearly showing off.
Song Qinghuan glanced over curiously and nearly laughed out loud. The wilted leaves floating listlessly in the broth, and the leek filling sticking out of the cut-open leek boxes—obviously another batch of discarded vegetables Zhao Yufang had scavenged from the market.
And he was actually proud of this watery, tasteless mess?
She smacked her lips; the rich, savory aroma of pan-fried pork belly still lingered in her mouth. A mocking smile tugged at her lips as she hummed a tune and walked out, bright and full of energy.
Instead of the disappointment and dejection he’d expected to see in her eyes, Song Yunfei only caught a look of scorn. His eyes went wide with rage instantly.
That damn woman—she must be putting on an act! And wasn’t she sick? How was she so full of energy?
Zhao Yufang and Song Shouyang’s faces darkened too, and they muttered curses at her retreating back.
Song Qinghuan brushed off their glares and insults completely, heading straight to the market and buying every seed she needed.
Carrying her purchases back, she wondered if Zhao Yufang would pester her with questions if she brought them home. If only she could put them in her space…
The thought had barely formed when the cloth bag on her wrist suddenly felt light. A mental prompt told her the items had been stored in the space.
Song Qinghuan raised an eyebrow.
This space was incredibly convenient—with it, wasn’t it like having a private room that she carried everywhere?
She simply folded the bag, slipped it back into her pocket, and walked home empty-handed.
As she passed the entrance of the courtyard complex, the sound of lively chatter drifted over. She turned to see Sister Liu, Aunt Wang, and Old Madam Wei sitting just inside the gate, cracking sunflower seeds and chatting animatedly.
With nothing better to do, Song Qinghuan walked over with a smile. The three elders had always praised her for being smart and pretty, and they were very fond of her. The moment they saw her, they stopped talking and greeted her warmly.
“Qinghuan, did you just get back from outside?”
“Here, have some seeds—they just roasted them at the nut shop down the street today, still nice and crispy. Want a handful?”
“Qinghuan, I thought I heard a commotion at your place this morning. Did something happen?”
Song Qinghuan accepted the seeds graciously, squatted down beside them, and let her smile fade as she let out a soft, heavy sigh.
Seeing her sigh, the three elders stopped cracking seeds at once. They exchanged a look, then all turned to her with concern.
“What’s wrong, child?”
Song Qinghuan put on a look of helplessness, sighed again, and recounted what had happened that day—carefully choosing what to share.
In this new life, she’d learned a thing or two about handling people. For one thing, public opinion was often far more effective than getting into a fight yourself.
Her face filled with sorrow: “I truly thought Lu Qiming was a good man—someone we’d spend our whole lives together with. But it turns out… there’s someone else in his heart all along.”
“What?!”
The women leaned in at once, eyes wide, forgetting all about their seeds. “Tell us everything, Qinghuan dear.”
With a touch of hurt in her voice, Song Qinghuan embellished the story of Lu Qiming’s unrequited love and endless longing for that other woman.
“To my face, he says he wants to marry me. But to her… he says he only ever saw me as a little sister.”
“But tell me, Aunties—what kind of man marries his own sister? Can a brother and sister ever be husband and wife?”
She told the story vividly, her voice thick with grievance. The three elders burned with anger, slamming their seed shells onto the ground.
“That good-for-nothing! What absolute nonsense!”
Curiosity soon mixed with their fury. “Lu Qiming’s been in the army all this time—he’s such a fine catch. Who could this woman be that he can’t even marry her?”
“Could she already be married?!”
“That must be it! Otherwise, any family would jump at the chance to have him as a son-in-law!”
They went on, guessing and growing angrier by the minute. Old Madam Wei patted Song Qinghuan’s shoulder gently.
“Such a sweet, clever girl you are. We always saw you two together, and we all thought he was head over heels for you—we were so happy you’d finally be together, we even planned to come over and wish you well.”
“To think he’s nothing but a hypocrite! Calling you his sister all this time, yet still planning to marry you! He’s got one foot in the door with you while he chases another—keeping his ‘flag’ flying at home while he runs around with his ‘lanterns’ out there! He probably only wants to marry you so he can parade you around while he carries on with that shameless woman behind your back!”