Chapter 26: The Secret of Space

Upon hearing this, she quickly took a step back, just as Song Yi was barely managing to carry a large basin up.

That woman, she came again.

"Handsome, what did you buy? Can you share some with me?"

Jhiang Yuan turned around and saw her striking a very coquettish pose.

Song Yi didn't pay her any attention and kept walking upstairs.

He was carrying so much stuff; he was tired, alright.

"Tsk, if you won't give it, then don't bother, what's so great about that?"

Upon reaching the 21st floor, Jhiang Yuan slammed the door shut, isolating the woman and her voice outside.

Jhiang Xingzhi had been waiting at the door and hurriedly came out when he saw Jhiang Yuan.

He had known there were two people downstairs, so he was also very cautious.

He had a small hammer in his hand and looked at Song Yi with wary eyes.

"Dad, come help, it was our neighbor who helped me carry the stuff back."

"Thank you very much, young man."

While thanking him, Jhiang Xingzhi watched his movements closely.

"You're welcome, uncle, it was no trouble at all..."

Song Yi crouched on the ground, took out the items that belonged to Jhiang Yuan, and dragged the rest, including the large basin, to the door of 2102.

"Dad, hurry up."

Jhiang Yuan urged him on, and only when Jhiang Xingzhi saw the person returning to their apartment did he come over to help carry the items.

"How did you run into him?"

"It's a long story, let's get back inside first."

She said this and entered the apartment, with Qin Yue waiting for her inside.

Seeing that her daughter had come back safely, she was very happy.

"You scared me to death, next time your dad will go with you."

Her parents kept telling her off, but they were also surprised when they saw the items she had brought back.

"My daughter is really amazing, carrying these heavy things. It's a good thing the young man next door helped, next time your dad will go with you..."

"Let's talk about next time later, Mom and Dad, the situation outside isn't great, we mustn't let our guard down..."

As she spoke, she took her backpack off, which contained two packs of noodles, a strawberry bear, a can of thumbprint cookies, and two bags of hotpot base ingredients.

"The temperature has dropped, what else could happen!"

Qin Yue was a bit panicked, seeing that life was about to return to normal, yet her daughter was still talking like this.

"We'll talk about it tomorrow, go to bed early, don't think too much."

It was indeed late, past one in the morning, and everyone was tired.

"Yeah, you worked hard today, sweetie. Go to bed early, we can talk about anything tomorrow."

With that in mind, everyone went back to their rooms.

The weather wasn't hot, so the vegetables lying on the floor were not a problem at all.

Jhiang Yuan went back to tidy herself up first.

After looking at her daughter, she kissed her on the forehead, then went into her space to properly sort out the things she had acquired that night.

These days, she needed to make the most of "Zero-Dollar Purchase;" she had to get the place ready.

But as she entered the space, something felt strange; the house seemed different from before.

Yet she hadn't spotted what had changed.

When she saw the timer, her eyes widened in shock, the screen that showed numbers had also changed.

12 hours 21 minutes 06 seconds, the last time she had left it was at 10 hours 21 minutes, which meant it had increased by 2 hours!

Looking at the bottom right corner, there was a very small faint gold character.

The screen below it was lit as well, revealing five simple icons. She could vaguely make out that they were supposed to be a wardrobe, a table, and chairs.

There was also a square one with little green grass on it, resembling the land in the farming games she had played before, and the last one was odd, looking like a droplet or three drops of sweat.

All five icons were flashing, and Jhiang Yuan, as if possessed, pressed the icon for the cabinet on the top. Immediately after, a proportionally enlarged three-doored cabinet appeared in the middle of the house.

Because the walls were surrounded by things, the cabinet landed in the middle of the room.

She was so frightened that she shivered; the sudden appearance of such a large object out of thin air was indeed eerie.

When she looked at the monitor again, except for the previous countdown, there was nothing else left.

The gold character wasn't flashing anymore, but its outline was still faintly visible.

She found it magical, as if something had triggered a switch in space.

Not only had the duration increased, but there was also an additional item.

Wait, "gold"!

Jhiang Yuan hurried to the bedside and checked the jewelry box she placed there yesterday.

Upon opening it, most items were still there, except for two gold bracelets and half a gold necklace that were missing.

Yes, a necklace, half gone.

It seemed that the addition of items to this space had strict weight requirements.

The good news was that it could select items on its own, sparing her the trouble.

Examining the quantity, she estimated there was about a hundred grams worth.

Jhiang Yuan was puzzled, so she took out the timer to have another look.

Above the gold character, there was a very small "1," so small one could hardly see it.

She wondered if it signified level 1, and if with each level up, she could possess an additional item?

But there was so much gold jewelry left, it puzzled her why it wasn't used.

Looking at the position next to her, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, looking at their positions, placing the five characters here would fit perfectly."

She murmured as if she had discovered a new continent.

What was with those two hours, then? Were they related to this too?

She began looking around to see what was going on, as there were many things she had thrown in before, and they were all here.

What could it be? She had already been in here for 40 minutes without finding anything.

Forget it, she might as well tidy up the items first. If this was the past, they would have been worth quite a lot of money.

Money?

Right, what about the twenty thousand yuan?

She had thrown it in carelessly along with the items from the bar area.

After another search, it was indeed gone.

Could it be that those extra two hours were the key to this incredeible event?

But now, she hardly had any money left in her hands.

If it were eleven thousand yuan an hour, she wouldn't be able to afford even one hour.

Had she known, she would have kept more money aside. Really.

With no time for regrets, Jhiang Yuan hurried to organize the items, moving those against the wall and pushing the cabinet there.

It baffled her why she would be rewarded with these items.

She already had them at home, she could have just thrown them in, and they would have been just as useful.

However, since it was brought by the space, it must have its significance for being there.

Without overthinking it, she quickly set aside all her belongings, placing the assorted items she had found separately.

After she finished, Jhiang Yuan ran to the yard to water the vegetables. Going back and forth, it was already half-past two.

When she came out, drenched in sweat, Xiao Nuan was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Mommy..."

The scare made her shudder, as a cold sweat broke out densely on her back.

The sudden discovery of her secret made her feel uneasy.

Nevertheless, she asked patiently, "What's the matter, baby?"