Chapter 7: Encountering an Unexpected Situation

“Haohao, you’re wrong,” Xiao Ling’er said seriously.

Xiao Yuhao blinked in confusion, looking at his older sister.

“The Heavenly God wouldn’t give us things for no reason. The rats have already been taken away. I suspect the God wants to exchange these things with us.”

Xiao Ling’er looked thoughtful, but inwardly, she was frantically complaining: What a load of crap—even a fool wouldn’t believe this.

“Exchange?” Xiao Yuhao didn’t immediately deny her nonsense. Instead, he seemed to be seriously thinking it over.

“That’s right. Earlier, Er Lai and their clothes and shoes disappeared without warning. Then food and weapons appeared behind the statue.
Now, the rat corpses are gone, and instead we’ve got clothes and bedding. The rats must have been traded away by the Heavenly God.”
Xiao Ling’er continued to bluff confidently.

Xiao Yuhao didn’t respond right away and kept thinking. But before he could sort out his thoughts, Xiao Ling’er suddenly cried out in surprise,
“Haohao! Niang! Come quickly!”

Both Xiao Yuhao and Mu Xiya got up in a hurry and rushed to Xiao Ling’er’s side.

“Look! What is this?” Xiao Ling’er pointed to the space above her.

Xiao Yuhao and Mu Xiya stared for a long time. Mu Xiya pouted and protested, “Lingling is bad, there’s nothing there. Nothing.”

Xiao Yuhao also looked at her disapprovingly. In a tone like a miniature adult, he scolded:

“Jie, don’t joke like that again. You scared us. We thought something had really happened.”

Xiao Ling’er looked incredulous and gestured as she asked, “You really can’t see it? There’s a huge black box right here in front of me.”

Xiao Yuhao and Mu Xiya stared again for a while, then both shook their heads.

Xiao Ling’er deflated. “Why can’t you guys see it? There is a black box!”

“Ah Jie, I believe you! Try walking around. See if the black box follows you.”

Xiao Ling’er’s eyes lit up slightly, and she followed Xiao Yuhao’s suggestion, taking a few steps forward. Then she exclaimed,
“Haohao, the black box is moving with me!”

Xiao Yuhao’s breathing quickened a bit, and he asked urgently:

“Ah Jie, try opening the black box. See if there’s anything inside—can you take anything out?”

Xiao Ling’er felt a bit alarmed. This cheap little brother was surprisingly sharp and smart; he had already figured out so much in such a short time.

She lifted her hand and gently swiped at the air. To Xiao Yuhao and Mu Xiya, it just looked like she was waving at nothing.

Thud—two potatoes suddenly appeared at Xiao Yuhao’s feet.

“Haohao, the black box has a lot of stuff in it, but we need to use ‘wealth points’ to exchange for them.
And to get wealth points, we have to trade in things from the outside world.”

Xiao Yuhao understood what his sister meant. He thought about the clothing that had vanished from Er Lai and his mother, and the rat corpses that had recently disappeared.

He also recalled how his sister used to stare into space, and he’d thought she’d gone silly.
Turns out, she could already see the black box back then.

She must’ve kept it from him and Niang to avoid scaring them, silently dealing with it alone despite being afraid.

A surge of guilt welled up in Xiao Yuhao’s heart. He looked at Xiao Ling’er with teary eyes and choked out,
“Ah Jie, from now on, if anything happens, you have to tell me. Don’t carry it all by yourself.”

“Ah?” A string of question marks seemed to float above Xiao Ling’er’s head. She felt like she couldn’t quite keep up with this kid’s train of thought.

Xiao Yuhao patted his little chest and solemnly vowed:

“Ah Jie, I’m the only man in the family. No matter how dangerous something is, you must tell me first—let me handle it.”

Xiao Ling’er didn’t expect the little brat to be so responsible. She felt both touched and amused.
After all, he only looked about six or seven years old.

“Alright, Ah Jie understands. No matter what danger we face in the future, I’ll let you know,” Xiao Ling’er promised, following Xiao Yuhao’s words.

Then she quickly returned to the main topic: “By the way, it seems like this black box can also store items from the outside.”

Just as she said that, the bundle next to her suddenly disappeared.

It then reappeared—disappeared—then reappeared again.

Xiao Yuhao stood up in shock, his eyes lighting up as he excitedly looked at Xiao Ling’er and said,
“Ah Jie! That means we won’t have to worry about others trying to steal our stuff anymore!”

“Mm, this is great!” Xiao Ling’er curved her lips into a smile and nodded.

“Good! Good!” Mu Xiya clapped her hands happily upon seeing her children smiling.

Xiao Yuhao’s expression suddenly turned serious. He looked sternly at Xiao Ling’er and Mu Xiya and warned:

“Ah Jie, Niang, you mustn’t tell anyone about the black box. If others find out, we’ll be in real danger.”

Mu Xiya hurriedly covered her mouth and nodded, showing she would never tell.

Xiao Ling’er also nodded and promised aloud, “I understand. Besides the three of us, no one else will know.”

Just like that, what was once Xiao Ling’er’s secret alone had now become a secret shared by the three of them.

Xiao Ling’er felt a great sense of relief. This was good—now, she wouldn’t have to sneak around nervously when exchanging items.

Once the conversation ended, Xiao Ling’er urged Xiao Yuhao and Mu Xiya to rest quickly.

They needed to eat well and rest properly in order to have the strength to continue on the road.

The next day, Xiao Yuhao and Mu Xiya ate the leftover half of a potato from the day before.
No matter how much Xiao Ling’er persuaded them, they refused to cook a new one.

As for Xiao Ling’er, since she had eaten a whole potato the day before, she had to roast a new one for herself.

After a simple breakfast, the three set out again on the road.

Xiao Ling’er still carried the bundle on her back, but now, all their new clothes and valuables from yesterday had been stored in the system backpack.

During the day, since the temperature was high, the three of them still wore their old, tattered clothes.

Along the way, other refugees saw the small bundle they carried and didn’t even feel the urge to rob them.

Thanks to that, the three of them traveled for three days straight without any trouble.

They always ate when no one was around, and at night, they continued to sleep up in the mountains.

As for the system’s planting space, Xiao Ling’er had started to figure out how it worked:

Plant 10 times on the first plot to unlock the second plot.

Plant 20 times on the second plot to unlock the third.

Plant 40 times on the third to unlock the fourth…

And so on. Each new plot required double the previous number of plantings to unlock.

What made Xiao Ling’er happiest was that every time she unlocked a new plot, she was gifted one seed.

Currently, she had already unlocked the third plot, where she was growing potatoes, tomatoes, and cabbage.

These were also the only foods the three of them had been eating in recent days:
boiled cabbage, roasted potatoes, and raw tomatoes.

There was no helping it. Even though there were many foods available in the shop, she didn’t have any wealth points.

Because the system was pretty stingy—crops grown in the space could be exchanged for wealth points,
but at a half-price recovery rate, making it extremely inefficient.