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Today, Wang Li woke up late and found that her son, daughter-in-law, and grandson were all gone.
She hadn’t expected that after their argument yesterday, she would still sleep so well. Every morning, she used to wake up early to make breakfast for her son and daughter-in-law because they didn’t like the breakfast from outside.
After washing up, she left the house, and by the time she reached her workplace, it was already 10:30. The manager was just there.
“Manager, I want to resign. The house in my hometown collapsed, and the neighbor’s pig was killed. They called me to go and handle the situation.”
Wang Li was on the verge of tears. “I’ve made several calls, but I can’t do anything if I don’t go. I’m not in good health either. I fainted yesterday, and I’m afraid I can’t do the job well. Now this has happened…”
The manager was very understanding and sympathized with her. After a short while, the necessary paperwork was completed.
The manager also had the finance department issue her salary for the past half month. After leaving the manager’s office, the supervisor stopped her, asking her a series of questions. They talked for a while before letting her go.
Walking down the street, she noticed it was already 11 o’clock and decided to grab something to eat.
Turning down the road near the company, she saw a restaurant across the street. She sat down and ordered a few dishes she had seen in a video earlier, ones that looked delicious but she hesitated to order. Eventually, she ate them.
While eating, she thought about quitting her job and planned to buy a few clothes afterward. She also intended to fix her hair and get a nourishing oil treatment.
Her colleagues often said her hair was too dry and that tying it up didn’t look good.
Once she had done these things, she would buy a ticket back to her hometown. There was still much to do there.
To stay in the old house, she would need to call her older sister-in-law for help. She needed someone to fix the house, check if the roof was leaking, and take care of other things.
When she called her sister-in-law, the latter mentioned that the grass in the yard had grown so tall it was nearly as high as a person. She would have to send someone to pull it out. As for the house itself, they would wait until Wang Li came back to take care of it.
After lunch, she went to a shopping mall. She had walked a bit, and now her waist was hurting again. She suspected it might be a slipped disc. The pain worsened when she did physical work. In the past, she had been reluctant to go to the doctor, fearing the expense. Whenever the pain flared up, she just gritted her teeth and endured it.
Her arms and wrists also ached—these were the result of washing clothes with cold water. The pain was the consequence of the work she had done.
She thought about how others had sons, good sons at that, while her own son seemed almost worse than none at all.
Wang Li took a bite of steak but found it wasn’t very tasty. She didn’t understand why others loved it so much. It was expensive but didn’t taste great. She thought it would have been better to just get a bowl of noodles instead.
She figured this must be the difference between the rich and the poor.
After finishing her meal, Wang Li felt a pang of regret when paying. She hadn’t even eaten much, but it cost over 300 yuan. It was so expensive—she could have had several bowls of noodles for that price. Just thinking about it made her feel upset!
She still had to get her hair done. She remembered the hair salon her colleague had mentioned, where the cuts were good and not too expensive.
She hesitated to take a taxi, feeling reluctant about the fare, and decided to take the bus instead. By the time she got to the salon, it was already 2:30.
There were quite a few people there, and she waited for about ten minutes before it was her turn. The stylist suggested a mushroom haircut, saying it would make her look younger. After the cut, she thought it looked quite nice, and the stylist even dyed it for her.
Looking at herself in the mirror, she felt much more refreshed. Afterward, she walked down the street, considering her next step, and decided to go to a mall.
At the large shopping mall, she noticed that many clothes were quite expensive. Checking the price tags, most were over 500 yuan. In the past, she used to buy clothes at wholesale markets, where the most expensive piece was only 50 yuan. She had always tried to save money for her son’s wedding and house, telling herself that she could make do with whatever she had.
She made up her mind and bought two outfits—just enough to have something to change into. She would buy more when she got back to her hometown.
However, the clothes in her hometown weren’t bad either. Once she lived in the village, she figured there was no need for anything too fancy since she wouldn’t be able to wear it properly.
Checking the time, she realized she needed to find a place to stay. She decided to book a hotel online.
She booked a hotel, took a taxi there, and found it to be quite nice, though a little pricey. At least it was near the train station.
After dropping off her things at her son’s place, she didn’t want to take anything more. She didn’t want to see her son anymore and couldn’t help but wonder what she had done wrong in her life to end up with a son like him.
The next morning, she woke up and headed to the train station. The 7 o’clock train swayed and rattled as it took her back to the place where she had once lived.
The house had been sold, and she had no place to go, so she decided to head to the bus station.
She bought a ticket to the town. After walking for about an hour, she arrived at the town. After getting off the bus, she felt both exhausted and hungry. She sat in the waiting room to rest for a while, thinking about whether she should eat first or buy something for her relatives.
Sighing, Wang Li decided to eat first. She was too hungry. She ordered a local specialty dish, a big vegetable stew, and a bowl of rice. She finished everything on the plate.
Next, she went out to buy gifts for her relatives and friends. When going back to the hometown, she thought she should bring something. She took a tricycle taxi, and half an hour later, she was home.
Arriving home, she felt a bit tired. She started tidying up the bedroom, but she was too exhausted to do much, so she decided to just sleep.
Lying on the bed, she thought about starting fresh the next day, cleaning up properly. This place would be her home from now on, and she probably wouldn’t move again for the rest of her life. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
The next morning, the weather was beautiful. She had just gotten up and was preparing to make something to eat when her older sister-in-law knocked on the door, calling out, “Sister-in-law, are you awake?”
Wang Li had just started brushing her teeth when she heard the knock. She opened the door and saw her older sister-in-law holding a thermos.
“Sister-in-law, I was worried you might still be tired from yesterday, so I made you some food. Eat it first, then you can clean up.”
“Okay, thank you, sister.”
After Wang Li finished eating, her older sister-in-law had already cleaned the bedroom and kitchen.
Wang Li was touched and said, “Sister, thank you. I’ll clean up the rest. You should rest now.”
Sitting down, her older sister-in-law looked at Wang Li and said, “You’ve spoiled your son too much. How could you sell the house in the city? At least you should have kept one for yourself. You don’t need to live in such a shabby place.”
“Once you’ve rested, when Junyi and the others come to see me, ask them to help renovate it. Living here like this doesn’t feel secure. It’s practically falling apart!”
“Originally, you asked me to get it fixed. It should have been done quickly, but those days happened to be when the kids were busy with school, so I didn’t get around to it.”
As the two of them worked and chatted, Wang Li didn’t realize how much time had passed, and soon it was noon. Her older sister-in-law was eager to go cook.
Wang Li felt that it would be better to clean up the utility room as well, to make space for rice, flour, and other things.
While tidying up, she noticed a black box placed beside the cabinet, covered in dust.
After cleaning it off, she realized the wood looked like rosewood. When she opened it, she found a small button inside. The box was so big, yet it only contained such a tiny button. What did this mean?
She decided to ask her older sister-in-law about it later in the afternoon. This was something her parents had left behind.
At noon, her older sister-in-law called: “Sister-in-law, come over for lunch. You haven’t prepared anything yet. Come to my house to eat. I can’t go to yours right now because my daughter is pregnant and is staying with us for bed rest. I can’t leave.”
“Sister, you don’t have to. I still have some pastries and drinks I bought earlier. I’ll make do for now. I just want to rest for a few days.”
“Okay, but make sure you eat. Don’t just skip it.”
“I will, don’t worry…”
After hanging up the phone, Wang Li lay on her bed, staring at the small button. Why was it placed inside such a large box? She turned it over and over, inspecting it closely. Suddenly, she noticed something protruding from the button. When she touched it, her finger was scratched, and a small cut opened up. Blood quickly dripped into the button, and then, there was a flash of white light. For a brief moment, she felt dizzy.
Where am I? How did I end up on a sports field? It looked like the big running track where her husband used to run with her.
Oh, my home! Just as she thought this, she was suddenly back in her bed. She was startled and couldn’t understand what had just happened. Where had she gone earlier?
She sat there for a while, then remembered hearing stories about people traveling to different spaces in novels. It seemed like this might be one of those spaces.
She decided to test it out—could she enter the space? Could she put things inside it? If it worked, she could buy goods in bulk from other cities and resell them. That idea seemed pretty good.
Without further thought, she just tried it. She placed the box inside, but the button was nowhere to be found. What? Was it gone already? How did I enter the space?
Just as she finished thinking, she suddenly found herself in the space.
“Exit,” she muttered. And sure enough, she was back in her room. It worked! She was impressed. “Let me try putting a glass of water here,” she thought.
Suddenly, she remembered hearing about spaces like this. People with such spaces could time travel, or even experience apocalyptic events. But she didn’t want to go to the apocalypse.
She came here to live her own life, not to face the end of the world.
She decided to stop worrying and just go to sleep. She would figure it all out tomorrow. Nothing was more important than getting some rest—she hadn’t had a good rest in years.