Chapter 10: He Thought She Was Just Saying It Out of Spite

Bai Yalan was just about to try asking the device another question when her parents walked over. Her mother casually remarked as she approached, “Xiao Lan, I saw there were still a lot of clothes upstairs…”

Perhaps it was the mention of “clothes” that triggered something — this time, the screen instantly switched to display various clothing styles.

Even Bai’s parents were immediately captivated. The designs shown on the device were novel and diverse, far beyond anything they’d ever seen — not to mention imagined.

“Oh my, old Bai, look at these clothes! They’re better than anything we saw at those big trade malls in the coastal provincial cities recently.”

“They really are,” her father exclaimed, adjusting his glasses in astonishment.

Only then did Bai Yalan remember to ask, “By the way, Mom, Dad — didn’t you say you were going to check out the market and look into doing business? Why did you come back so soon?”

Her mother sighed, “Oh, don’t even mention it. Ever since the reform and opening-up, the coastal provinces have changed so rapidly — it’s nothing like a few years ago. Your dad and I originally planned to stick to what we knew: sourcing nice fabrics and threads to resell. But we found out that over there, people don’t custom-make clothes anymore. The large garment factories are everywhere, and they’ve got stylish clothes in huge numbers.”

Her father added, “So your mother and I decided to switch trades — no more fabrics and threads. We’re thinking of going straight into the clothing business instead. There’s great opportunity there with all those trendy styles. The only problem is that we don’t have enough money. And since you called last time and said you’d found someone you liked and wanted us to have dinner together on Mid-Autumn Festival, we came back early.”

Bai Yalan: “……”

She was speechless. What a mess this was. She finally remembered — in her previous life, she had indeed brought Qin Kaishen home for Mid-Autumn Festival dinner with her parents, and they had indeed switched to the clothing business afterward.

She spoke with difficulty, “Uh… Dad, Mom, about that… that whole relationship thing… Forget it for now. I just missed you both so much, so I made up an excuse to get you to come back.”

Her parents both laughed. Her father, seeing his daughter flustered, assumed she was just being shy. “Having a partner isn’t anything to be ashamed of. Our Xiao Lan’s grown up — it’s about time to start dating.”

Bai Yalan could only sulk. Honestly, she was embarrassed.

Looking back at her old self, it was like her brain had been full of mush. Otherwise, how could she have fallen for a scumbag like Qin Kaishen? The very thought of it made her furious.

Forget it. She didn’t want to dwell on it anymore.

So, she changed the subject. “Mom, Dad, you don’t have anything urgent to deal with, do you? If not, let’s save this research for later. I want to explore the area more.”

She remembered that earlier, when running around, she kept circling the same places — and it made her anxious.

Her parents had seen enough of the villa for now, and business wasn’t pressing at the moment anyway. Plus, those novel clothing designs they had just seen were clearly a whole new kind of opportunity. Once they returned to the real world, they could act on those ideas. More importantly, nothing was more valuable than time spent with their beloved daughter.

So, the three of them — one on each side of Bai Yalan — headed out together.

They found themselves back on the same street: Fangzhi Third Road, surrounded by tall buildings. Her father, with a good sense of direction, pointed behind the villa and said, “I remember this is where our house was, right? Not far from here should be the outskirts, with mountains and farmland.”

Bai Yalan touched the jade bracelet on her wrist and muttered, “Mountains and farmland…”

As soon as she finished speaking, the bracelet emitted another flash of light and enveloped all three of them. The wind whooshed in their ears, and their vision blurred.

In the blink of an eye, they found themselves standing at the foot of a mountain.

“This… this is teleportation,” her father, awestruck, finally summarized.

Below the mountain lay fields — some irrigated, others dry — with cows and sheep grazing lazily nearby. It was a tranquil pastoral scene.

After the initial surprise, the family treated it like a countryside outing.

As they climbed the mountain together, Bai Yalan was delighted to discover many rare medicinal herbs growing naturally. She recognized most of them, and though some were unfamiliar, that didn’t trouble her — she could simply memorize their appearance and later use the villa’s magical equipment to identify them.

Of course, she already had ideas brewing.

“Mom, Dad,” she said excitedly, “after we return, I want to start my own small business — like you guys did. I’m thinking of doing something related to herbs. Right now it’s summer, and herbal tea sells well. But no one’s doing much with health tonics, beauty formulas, or therapeutic brews. I want to give that a try.”

Her parents both immediately voiced their support.

Her mother agreed enthusiastically: “And we’ve already got plenty of herbs growing here — this is basically pure profit.”

But Bai Yalan shook her head. Having been given a second chance at life, she was deeply grateful for the blessing. She also believed in the saying: Every gift from fate has its price marked in secret.

“Mom, Dad, I want to grow my own. I want to rely on my own brain and hands to earn a living. It’ll feel more grounded — even if we have losses sometimes. I believe nothing in this world is too difficult as long as we work hard. We’ll keep getting better and better.”

Her father was the first to clap in approval. “Well said, daughter. We shouldn’t take too many freebies either.”

Bai Yalan nodded with a smile. Honestly, the jade bracelet space had already given them plenty. Just the all-purpose machine in the villa provided them with more knowledge and information than they could ever gain in real life.

Now, she finally understood how Lu Qing’er had managed to outcompete her in the previous life.

That evening, in the villa inside the bracelet space, her father personally cooked dinner. The family of three ate and chatted long into the night.

Her parents planned to use the device in the villa to carefully choose a few of the most fashionable and marketable clothing designs for men and women. They would sketch the patterns and have a local factory custom-produce them.

Based on their recent market research, they were confident that these styles were unique and unavailable anywhere else.

Meanwhile, Bai Yalan had also found several herbal tea recipes on the machine that matched her vision. Of course, some of the required herbs weren’t easy to find in reality.

But at least, thanks to the herbs growing on the mountain inside the bracelet space, she wasn’t worried for now.

As for the herbs she didn’t have — she could either buy them from the market or plant them herself. One way or another, she’d make it work.

Naturally, the family of three reached an important consensus: the bracelet space, while magical, wasn’t meant for permanent living.

Eventually, they would return to the real world, where they would still need to dress and eat like ordinary people.

After all, resources with mysterious origins could easily raise suspicion. To avoid unnecessary trouble, they agreed to keep the bracelet space a closely guarded secret.

With shared goals and direction, they all felt newly energized about life — and spent two carefree days inside the space, enjoying themselves to the fullest.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Qin Kaishen, based on his past experiences, believed that Bai Yalan was simply playing hard to get. He was sure she would eventually cave and come crawling back.

After all, hadn’t she, when she left that day, still jealously said she “blessed” him and Lu Qing’er?

Yes — he just assumed she said it out of spite.