Chapter 4: Fortunately, I Have a Space

Ding Xuewei, whose chest had been throbbed painfully by Pandi's iron head, grimaced, her curiosity about the Ding family growing even more intense.

"If I tell you today, aren't you afraid Third Aunt will retaliate against Anping?"

The little girl, who had cried until her strength was spent, lifted her head, revealing a cute little face like a rabbit. "She said she couldn't tell Grandpa and Grandma, but she didn't say she couldn't tell you."

Stunned by Pandi's logic, Ding Xuewei: "..."

"She hasn't dared to trick Little Brother into being given away these past few years either." Regarding this point, the little girl was very certain. "She's still eyeing the land Grandpa distributed to us. If Little Brother is gone, wouldn't she lose a share?"

Ding Xuewei: "..."

What a clever little thing!

...Suddenly, she felt that saying "I'm sorry" had been very necessary!

Raising her hand, she helped Pandi tidy her tangled hair, assuming the authority of an eldest sister.

"Grandpa is living well, yet his children and grandchildren are eyeing the land in his hands. How heartbroken would Grandpa be if he knew about such a thing? And as for Grandma, she isn't our biological grandmother after all; compared to us, she is more willing to believe Third Aunt. In the future, don't go eavesdropping on Third Aunt's private conversations anymore. Land, property—whatever you want, Eldest Sister will earn it for you. We don't need to covet what belongs to others."

"Eldest Sister, the reason you wouldn't let me tell Grandpa and Grandma is because you felt Grandma wouldn't believe me and would only believe Third Aunt?" Suddenly understanding her sister's painstaking intentions, Pandi wanted to cry again.

Being stared at with that "I knew you were the best sister" look, Ding Xuewei was somewhat speechless.

She was trying to expand the child's perspective, okay?

...Speaking of which, a villain is a villain; they really do have so many schemes. Thinking back on those words, they actually made a bit of sense!

"Ahem," someone gave a dry cough and said shamelessly, "It's good that you understand my intentions!"

"Then... then those two times you disciplined me weren't because I turned bad, but because you were afraid that if Second Sister and Little Brother knew stealing money was possible, they would follow suit?"

The mask on Ding Xuewei's face cracked: Just how much historical baggage had the original owner left her with?

"Eldest Sister~" Before Ding Xuewei could answer, the little head fell back into her embrace. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said those things to you."

Those things?

What things?

Subconsciously, Ding Xuewei wanted to ask, but fortunately, her reason returned quickly.

The child had already let go of her grudges, so there was no point in being clingy and saying more; she quickly moved past this.

"Let's tidy up and rest!"

"Uh!" Pandi looked up.

She clearly hadn't expected Ding Xuewei to change the subject so quickly.

Staring straight at the rolling floodwaters, Ding Xuewei patted Pandi's shoulder rhythmically.

"That bottle looks like it's worth quite a bit of money. We need to get water out quickly so we can sell it. If we have some food in hand, we can travel faster on the road and find Grandpa and the others as soon as possible."

Her gaze lingered on the strange bottle her eldest sister had set aside for a long time, and Pandi gave a soft hum. "I'll listen to Eldest Sister."

"Since you're listening to me, then drink the rest of this." Taking advantage of the momentum, Ding Xuewei picked up the yogurt bottle and opened it.

After staring at the yogurt bottle for a long time, Pandi finally drank half of it.

"You keep watch. I'll go grab some long grass and branches. It's about to rain; it's better to have something to cover ourselves with!"

"Eldest Sister, you keep watch, I'll go."

"You're small and your hands are slow."

Having already stood up, Pandi pursed her lips and glared at Ding Xuewei.

"Don't glare at me, I'm telling the truth."

Stung by the truth, Pandi: "..."

The little girl eventually sat back down reluctantly, while Ding Xuewei headed toward the dense grass and pulled many pieces of fresh, long grass.

When she stood up to break some branches, a gust of wind blew past.

Her half-dry, half-wet long hair felt chilly, and her damp, old clothes directly lowered her skin temperature.

"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo..."

A series of sneezes was followed by a face full of saline and mucus.

Wiping it away somewhat disgustedly, Ding Xuewei entered the space.

She could temporarily do without food, but she had to hurry with medicine. Both of them had been struggling in the water for a day and a night; it wouldn't be good if they fell ill from not taking medicine quickly!

And while sitting earlier, she had experimented: this space simply had no way to retrieve items through thought. That concept of "as long as you think of it, the image appears in your mind" simply didn't exist!

Entering the space again, she was still in the cafeteria. Even more incredible was that after such a long time, those steaming lion's head meatballs were actually still emitting heat.

Turning her gaze, Ding Xuewei looked at the phone she had touched before, only to find it wasn't in the position it was in the last time she entered, but in the position she had moved it to. The time displayed on the phone was also not the time from her previous entry, but more than an hour later.

Her thoughts were suddenly shattered. She walked quickly toward another table where a phone was placed; this phone was also playing on pause, and when she pressed the back button to return to the page, the time shown was the same as what she had seen before.

In other words, things she hadn't touched would not change, while things she had moved would resume running.

Her thoughts raced. She checked another phone in succession, and after confirming that if she did not interfere, the items in the space might tend toward eternity, she rushed toward the third row of seats, where an electric scooter key was placed.

Thanks to the campus being large enough, many students bought electric scooters for transportation!

*

With intent in mind, Ding Xuewei walked straight ahead after exiting the school gate. After passing through the commercial district, she entered the University of Science and Technology directly opposite the Normal University, and after circling the campus once, she exited the school area.

The space did not seem to be as infinite as she had thought. Not far after exiting the school area, a blurry wall of mist blocked her path.

The mist wall seemed to have no physical obstruction, but in reality, it had a very effective result. Although she felt nothing when reaching out to touch it, there was an invisible force resisting her.

Not knowing exactly how large the space was, Ding Xuewei didn't dare to continue exploring; instead, she put on full speed and rushed toward the commercial street.

Since she was already in, and had already found the medicine, there was no point in lacking food and supplies!

After entering the space, Ding Xuewei thought as she went, having already calculated what she should take.

She parked the electric scooter in front of a large pharmacy, and a few minutes later, she had cold and fever medicine in her hand. Afterward, she ran quickly into a supermarket.

With a "might as well go all the way" attitude, Ding Xuewei first found two sets of fleece-lined warm clothes, two sets of raincoats (top and bottom), and one electric scooter raincoat. Then came a jug of water, two bags of peach biscuits, two bags of old-fashioned biscuits, one bag of old-fashioned peanut candy, and a stainless steel fruit knife with a sheath, about the length of an adult's palm and of very good quality.

The electric scooter raincoat was large enough for the two sisters to use as a tent, and the water was five liters. The peach biscuits, biscuits, and peanut candy were all produced by the supermarket's own bakery department, each bag weighing one jin.

It was enough for them to eat for two or three days.

Having found the items, Ding Xuewei rushed out of the supermarket clutching the shopping bags, but she doubled back after passing a bedding store to pick out a dark gray pure cotton single bedsheet to serve as a bundle wrap.

After tying the bundle securely and throwing it over her back, she rode the small electric scooter toward the school.

If every time she entered she ended up in the cafeteria, she had better move all her electric scooters to the foot of the cafeteria building; that way, she could enter to explore whenever she had time.

(End of Chapter)