Qin Junyao suddenly realized something, her heart filled with joy. After hearing Qin Xiaoyu’s receding footsteps, she silently recited the incantation. In an instant, she was sitting back in her quilt.
She leaned back on the kang, pulling the quilt over her head, muffling her uncontrollable laughter.
Her physical body could enter the space; this was a life-saving ability.
“How can your sister be gone if she was lying in the room?” Qin Mother’s worried voice and the sound of hurried footsteps came from outside the room.
“She’s just gone. There’s only a quilt on the kang, not my sister,” Qin Xiaoyu’s tone was certain; she genuinely hadn’t seen her sister.
Mother and daughter entered the room. Qin Junyao herself removed the quilt from over her head and turned to face them. “Mom, Xiaoyu.”
“Junyao, you’re awake? Xiaoyu, your sister is awake. Go tell your dad and your grandma quickly, hurry!”
Qin Xiaoyu scratched her head, glancing at Qin Junyao as she walked out. She wondered, had she mistaken? Was her sister just covered by the quilt and she hadn’t seen her?
Qin Mother sat by the kang, looking at her daughter, who had become so thin her cheeks were sunken. Tears welled up in her eyes. “Junyao, you must be hungry. There’s porridge warming on the stove. Mom will get you some, eat a little.”
“Mom, wait a moment,” Qin Junyao stopped Qin Mother. “I don’t feel hungry right now. Mom, help me get up and walk around. My body feels weak and I can’t muster any strength.”
“Alright, alright,” Qin Mother helped Qin Junyao up and supported her as she walked on the floor.
After a few steps, Qin Junyao felt much better. Although her body was still weak, her arms and legs obeyed her commands.
Qin Mother hesitated for a moment before asking the question that was on her mind. “Junyao, will there be a next time?”
Qin Junyao thought for a moment. “I don’t know. Even if there is, it will be a long time from now.” She was telling the truth; she genuinely didn’t know if her space would expand again.
After this expansion, the space’s area was only slightly smaller than a football field, which was more than enough for Qin Junyao’s use. Combined with the ability for her physical body to enter the space, she decided to let nature take its course regarding further expansion.
Qin Grandma and Qin Father, who were nearby, were quickly found by Qin Xiaoyu. They were overjoyed to see Qin Junyao awake.
Qin Grandma even gave Qin Father some money to buy some small jars of wine from the village, and asked Qin Mother to cook the cured rabbit hanging in the storage room.
At lunch, everyone happily ate chewy noodles and gnawed on rabbit meat, while Qin Junyao could only drink a thin, watery noodle paste.
After five days of transitioning from paste, fine noodles, and rice porridge, Qin Junyao was fully revived, though she appeared very thin.
During these five days, Qin Junyao also discovered new functions of the space.
Her body and consciousness could enter the space separately. Qin Junyao could still enter the space with her consciousness at night to work, or she could indulge a craving and have her entire body enter the space to eat tomatoes.
Relatively speaking, her consciousness had more strength and experienced less fatigue when in the space compared to her physical body. Therefore, it was better to enter the space with her consciousness for farm work.
The size of the well in the center remained unchanged, but the stones of the wellhead had changed. Qin Junyao didn’t recognize the new material.
The biggest change was that the thatched cottage had been replaced by a brick house, which, in addition to a bedroom with a bed, now had an extra room.
This room was like a mustard seed space; it appeared small from the outside but had a considerable area inside, comparable to a movie theater. Qin Junyao used it as a warehouse.
The most delightful surprise was that within the small courtyard of the brick house, Qin Junyao could finally move objects with her mind.
She moved all the stored grains and medicinal herbs from the original courtyard into the warehouse. The small courtyard finally became clean and tidy, and by planting some flowers, it looked like a secluded residence.
The only regret was that living things still could not be brought into the space.
The weather gradually turned colder, and the Qin family members had mostly changed into thin padded jackets. Qin Junyao, thinking her body was fine, decided to go to Yan County to sell the ginseng and buy some furniture and bedding to place in the space’s room.
As she slung her reed basket over her back and stepped out of the courtyard, Hou Shan, the youngest grandson of the Hou family, ran over in a panic, gasping for breath. “Sister Qin, the soldiers are here to seize grain! Where is Uncle Qin? Quickly load the grain onto the donkey cart and take it to the mountains!”
Qin Junyao asked in surprise, “Hou Shan, who told you that?”
“My brother and I saw them at the village entrance while we were playing. My dad told me to come and notify you.”
As Hou Shan explained, Qin Junyao mentally recited the contents of the space’s bamboo slips, faintly hearing the sound of horses’ hooves and the villagers’ panicked voices.
“Go into the courtyard and don’t run around. Sister will be right back.”
After instructing Hou Shan, Qin Junyao first rushed to the room where the grain was stored and collected all the grain inside into the space. Then she went to the kitchen and packed the sugar, sesame oil, and animal fat that Qin Mother had rendered, as well as other items into the space.
She thought for a moment and placed a lot of potatoes in the kitchen.
She didn’t know what kind of soldiers they were or what grain they were seizing, so she decided to collect all the large furniture, newly made bedding, and anything that looked valuable into the space. Sudan Novel Network
Qin Junyao exited her house, locked the door, and pulled Hou Shan towards the Hou family’s home.
“Fourth Uncle Hou, Fourth Aunt Hou,” Qin Junyao arrived at the Hou family’s home and first saw Hou Gan and his wife loading their cart in the courtyard.
“Junyao, why are you here? Your family, ah!” Fourth Uncle Hou slapped his thigh. “I forgot your family used a donkey cart for their stall.”
“Xingwang, don’t take out those soybeans. Let’s go to your Uncle Qin’s house first and load their fine grains,” Hou Gan said, reaching for a handcart.
Qin Junyao immediately stopped him. “Fourth Uncle Hou, my family’s grain is all hidden. I came to see if I could help with anything.”
“Hidden?” Hou Gan thought for a moment and understood. “Junyao, then hurry to the vegetable cellar, quickly!”
Qin Junyao saw that the Hou family had many people and were moving things quickly. She nodded and headed for the vegetable cellar. Hou Shan wanted to follow, but his father, Hou Gan, called him back to help.
As she walked on the path leading to the vegetable cellar, many neighbors had already learned about the situation in the village.
Some were beginning to hide their grain, while others were unconcerned, believing that as military dependents, they wouldn’t be targeted. Still others thought they were just coming to collect taxes and that the villagers had exaggerated.
The Qin and Hou families had experienced corrupt officials and heavy taxation, as well as fleeing hardship. They were instinctively sensitive to grain seizures, and they were not military dependents. The Hou family’s thinking was that it was better to go through some trouble than to lose their grain.
Qin Junyao reached the vegetable cellar and took half of the potatoes from both families. After all, it was known in the village that both families had bought a large quantity of potatoes. Moreover, if she wanted more potatoes, she could dig them up whenever she wanted, so leaving some for safety was a good idea.
After collecting the potatoes, Qin Junyao climbed up to a higher vantage point. She focused her gaze and saw many soldiers in uniform dragging bags of grain from villagers’ homes.
It seemed they had done their research and knew which families had more grain. Many soldiers were also blocking the road with their sabers, preventing people from fleeing with their grain.
Qin Junyao thought that the reason they hadn’t come to their area yet was probably because they knew they had only recently moved in and wouldn’t have much stored grain.
Running back home, Qin Grandma and the others were standing in the courtyard. Seeing Qin Junyao, they all gathered around. Qin Grandma grabbed Qin Junyao’s arm. “Yaoyao, the things in the house, the grain, where is it?”
“I hid it.”
Qin Grandma patted her chest. “Good, good. Junyao, go into the house first and change your clothes. Da Niu, go and greet your mother and the others. Tell them to take off their aprons and headscarves and hide them.”
“Also, don’t tell them anything about what’s happening at home.”
Qin Da Niu received the order and left.
Qin Grandma continued, “Junyao, we have half a bag of white flour at home. Find it and put it in the kitchen.”
“Xiaoyu, when you see the soldiers later, start crying, understand?”
Qin Grandma thought for a moment. Without any further instructions, she said to those present, “Junyao, after you change into your underclothes, hide everyone’s cotton-padded clothes. Eldest son, go with me to the Hou family’s, quickly!”