Chapter 3: A Bad Mood

Hua Yuanyuan slowly made her way along the cleared path toward the guesthouse.

Her head felt heavier and heavier. It was a short distance, just a few steps, yet she couldn’t seem to reach the end.

Finally, she returned to her room, took off her outer clothes, burrowed into the covers, and fell asleep.

She slept until the middle of the night.

She seemed to have a connection with the middle of the night.

Was it because she jumped from a building in the middle of the night? So many choices, all made in a moment.

She remembered clearly: 2:30 AM. The ticking of the clock was loud in her ears, and suddenly she felt unbearably anxious.

She was dead. Her parents would be heartbroken. The scumbag would have it easier. Would all her assets go to that scumbag?

She was such a damn fool! She’d given everything to that beast…

What about her parents and her younger brother’s family? As time went on, would they forget this unfilial daughter?

She’d thrown her life away for a good-for-nothing man.

Jumping from such a tall building, she probably wouldn’t even have a whole body left.

The 27th floor!

What was she thinking? If she had the courage to do that, why couldn’t she have the courage to live?

She still had hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in the bank, a sizable amount in her stock account, and several properties in her name…

The more she thought about it, the more suffocated she felt. The right way to handle things would have been to kick that scumbag husband to the curb and stop wasting her energy.

She could have traveled with friends, enjoyed delicious food, bought beautiful clothes and bags, and spent time with her parents…

There were so many things she could have done. Now, thinking about it, these seemingly ordinary things held a subtle sense of happiness.

Whether it was the Hua Yuanyuan who bravely jumped from a tall building, or the Hua Yuanyuan who jumped into an ice hole, they were both incredibly foolish.

Sigh, she sighed in her bed.

Fortunately, she had another chance at life. She wondered where that other Hua Yuanyuan had gone?

Where do people go after they die? Is there a parallel universe where she also had a chance to start over?

Just as she was lost in thought, that mechanical voice sounded again.

“The ‘Beat Up the Scumbag’ mission is complete. The space has been created. The host may enter.”

Well, even the time-traveling Hua Yuanyuan had a cheat code.

The reason she attacked Wang Changjiang was because the system had given her a mission.

Beating him up was the only way to get the space.

She guessed it was the dead Hua Yuanyuan’s lingering resentment. She was helping her fulfill her desire for revenge.

It was a case of empathy. She also regretted not beating him up herself.

And the space was an added bonus. It was a win-win situation.

They said that with a cheat code, you could just lie around and live the life of Riley.

Not bad, it suited her.

With a shift of her thoughts, she arrived in the space.

It was wonderful, going from the freezing cold guesthouse room to what seemed like a paradise.

The temperature was just right, neither too hot nor too cold.

It wasn’t paradise, she thought too much.

It was barren black soil, with no flowers, fruit trees, lush greenery, or birdsong.

Only one terrifying thought entered Hua Yuanyuan’s mind: No way?

Was she supposed to clear the land?

No, it wasn’t clearing the land; there were no weeds.

Was she supposed to farm?

Did the system know she studied agriculture? This was definitely a common misconception about the field.

Hua Yuanyuan couldn’t farm, she’d never farmed before. She was a total failure as a student.

In the future, college graduates were a dime a dozen, and finding a job in your field was a luxury.

She certainly didn’t deserve it.

Of course, these were all excuses. Both Hua Yuanyuans were beautiful women, and neither of them had any interest in farming.

There were three mu of fertile black soil, and next to it, three mu of fenced-in land.

In the middle was a small wooden house with a simple bed, toilet, and bathroom.

What kind of divine design was this?

It was the same design concept as her house, with the toilet and bathroom separate, a three-separation design or something.

Unfortunately, there were no appliances. Other things didn’t matter, but a washing machine would have been perfect.

…

Next to the small wooden house was a large machine of unknown purpose, behind which was a small pond and a bubbling hot spring.

Above the hot spring was a bamboo tube dripping water. She studied it for a long time but couldn’t figure out where the water came from.

Back in the wooden house, lying on the simple wooden bed, she carefully read the system instructions.

That night, Hua Yuanyuan wasn’t the only one awake.

Wang Changjiang was also tossing and turning in bed.

After Hua Yuanyuan left that day, he felt that everyone was looking at him strangely. Was he overthinking it?

He was indeed overthinking it. Soldiers ate, slept, and bathed together in a large bathhouse; everyone knew everyone else.

Liu Zhengwei and his wife advised him to think it over again, to see if he could make the marriage work.

He agreed verbally, but that wasn’t what he was thinking.

He had seen how his fellow soldiers lived.

Those from rural areas like him, he was still better off.

The others had a hard time.

Those whose wives had jobs in the city were better off, but those from rural areas without jobs or income relied solely on their husbands.

With aging parents and children, expenses were high, and they were always struggling to make ends meet.

So he worked hard. He was lucky, better off than most, and his experiences strengthened his resolve.

He married Hua Yuanyuan without expecting to be promoted.

After his discharge, he returned home to farm. It was easier to find a wife when he was in the army.

Plus, Hua Yuanyuan was really pretty; there wasn’t anyone prettier in the surrounding villages.

But he hadn’t seen her in years, and she had changed so much.

He hadn’t expected that after returning to the army, he would be promoted shortly after getting married. It was like a dream, and his subsequent promotions were equally smooth.

The thing about not consummating the marriage – during those few days, she wasn’t clean, and Wang Changjiang spent those few days drinking with his buddies, and he heard a lot of gossip.

Many people from the surrounding villages came to propose marriage, but Hua Yuanyuan chose him.

They also said they had seen Hua Yuanyuan with someone in the grove at the village entrance…

A few days later, before returning to his unit, after Hua Yuanyuan was clean, he felt like he had swallowed a fly; he had no interest.

He’d heard married comrades say that some women weren’t virgins, so they purposely got married at that time to cover it up.

Thinking about the demands Hua Yuanyuan made, his teeth ached; he was angry.

She was making him bleed.

Wang Changjiang thought it was a plot by Hua Yuanyuan, and her goal was to avoid divorce.

Anyone else would have backed down.

No matter how Wang Changjiang calculated it, divorce was the better option.

If he didn’t divorce, he would be the sole provider for his wife and children for the rest of his life. He couldn’t count on Hua Yuanyuan to earn money.

He would take the hit, but he wouldn’t give in to Hua Yuanyuan’s demands, she shouldn’t dream of it.

She was convinced he wouldn’t divorce, so she made excessive demands, even considering the house.

She was determined to stay.

Since he couldn’t sleep, he didn’t force himself. He got dressed and started organizing the income statements Hua Yuanyuan had requested.

He didn’t plan to tamper with the statements. As Hua Yuanyuan said, such obvious evidence, Wang Changjiang wouldn’t keep.

He had savings, and quite a lot of them.

He’d been a soldier since he was eighteen, more than ten years, and he hadn’t had the habit of spending money recklessly.

Unlike his comrades, who sent all their money home, he kept it for himself, only occasionally sending a small amount home as a token.

…

After learning about the space, Hua Yuanyuan was still in a bad mood.

She didn’t know what to say. Was this system and space thing a labor reform system?

Was it to punish her for not cherishing her life, or to cure her laziness?