Chapter 30: Space Upgrade, The Truth Behind the Bankruptcy in the Previous Life

However, she didn’t intend to overthink it.

After all, this space had already acknowledged her as its master—there was no need to worry about danger.

So, ignoring her physical exhaustion, Bai Yalan carefully observed her surroundings.

The streets around the villa… looked like they had transformed into a bustling commercial district. The storefronts along the street were nothing like the shops back home. How strange, she thought to herself.

She walked up and tried to open one of the store doors. However, unlike the villa’s main entrance, which would open automatically to welcome her, she couldn’t open the door even after several forceful pushes.

She tried a few other shops as well, but none of them responded.

“Forget it, whatever.” Bai Yalan didn’t take it too seriously. Perhaps, for some unknown reason, the spatial artifact had triggered an upgrade and automatically expanded this new commercial street. Maybe the stores were just for decoration.

Thinking this, she quickly put the matter aside. She was far too tired at the moment, and her whole body was absolutely filthy—she couldn’t tolerate it anymore.

She returned to the villa, took a thorough shower, and then soaked in the spiritual spring.

Finally, she had a refreshing drink of the spring water. Clean, refreshed, and relaxed, she felt much better.

After tidying herself up, she returned to the real world—back to her grandfather’s house. She changed out his water with fresh spring water and made sure he took his medicine.

It was getting late, and her parents hadn’t returned yet. She went to the cafeteria to get a few meals, ate with her grandfather, and saved a portion to reheat for her parents.

When Bai Yalan’s parents returned, they were visibly overjoyed. They barely drank a cup of water before excitedly sharing good news with their daughter.

“Xiao Lan, your dad and I decided not to go back. We’ll open a shop here and stay to be with you and Grandpa. We looked around the city today—wow, the capital is really bustling! There are so many people on the street—much more than back home. With this kind of foot traffic, doing business here will definitely be easier. Your dad and I already picked a store,” her mother said cheerfully.

Her father chimed in with a wide grin, “That’s right. We finalized the lease today. We’ll still be selling clothes like before. We’ve got plenty of experience from back home, so we’re confident this business will thrive.”

Seeing how happy they were, Grandpa Bai joined in the excitement. “Not bad! Bold and decisive—young people should be like this. As long as you keep your feet on the ground and don’t earn dirty money, you’ll be just fine in the capital. If you’re short on money, this old man doesn’t spend much anyway—what’s the point of letting it sit there? Take it if you need it. But save a bit for Xiao Lan’s dowry.”

As he said this, he chuckled, which made Bai Yalan’s face turn bright red. She quickly ran over, grabbed his arm, and shook it hard. “Grandpa! You’re teasing me again. I don’t want to get married!”

Her parents laughed too. Her father added while laughing, “Come on, Dad, we wouldn’t use your retirement money. Don’t worry, we’ve got enough. The lease is signed, and we’ve nearly finished ordering inventory from our old suppliers—it’s all set.”

Being shaken so hard by his granddaughter, the old man cried out, “Okay, okay, stop shaking me! You’re going to give Grandpa a headache!”

Bai Yalan giggled and finally let go. But when her parents mentioned the shop, it reminded her of what she had just seen in the space.

So, she honestly told them about the changes she had noticed.

Her parents were intrigued and a little concerned. After they finished eating, Bai Yalan took them into the space to inspect it. Grandpa Bai, still tired from his mission, stayed behind to rest.

As soon as the three of them entered the space and saw the newly transformed street, her parents were completely stunned.

“Xiao Lan… this… this is the exact street where your dad and I rented the shop today,” her mother said, shocked and stumbling over her words.

Bai Yalan’s mouth dropped open. “No way…”

Her father squinted and examined the street carefully over and over. After confirming it several times, he said confidently, “No mistake. This is the same street. It’s exactly the same.”

Her mother pointed excitedly to a nearby shop, “Look! That small one on the corner—that’s the one we leased today! Ah, Old Bai, it looks exactly the same as what we saw earlier!”

“It is exactly the same,” her father confirmed. Putting an arm around his daughter and the other around his wife, he said, “Come on, let’s check it out. This is unbelievable!”

Fortunately, they had already seen many strange things since entering their daughter’s bracelet space, so they managed to stay composed.

When the three of them reached the shop, Bai Yalan started to say, “I think I tried earlier, but these shops couldn’t be opened—”

Just then, her father reached out and casually pushed the door open.

Bai Yalan: “……”

She rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Her father had already stepped inside and was looking back at her with a puzzled expression. “It opens.”

Bai Yalan: “……???”
Still unconvinced, she ran to a nearby shop and tried pushing the door—no movement. Her mother tried another one too—same result.

The family was stunned to realize that only the shop they had leased earlier that day could be opened in the space.

Her parents inspected the interior and exterior—everything, down to the furnishings and layout, was exactly the same as their real-world store.

So what was going on?

Bai Yalan wondered if this sudden transformation inside the bracelet’s space had a specific purpose.

Thinking about how her parents had just rented the shop that day and how this new change had occurred in the space shortly after, she began to suspect it had some use.

Maybe the bracelet, which had become nearly sentient since recognizing her as its master, sensed her thoughts.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, it felt as though someone answered her directly in her head.

The space was expanding. Once the bracelet acknowledged its master through a blood pact, anything connected to the master could be mirrored inside the space—interlinked with reality.

Bai Yalan’s eyes widened as another thought surfaced: What about the other shops?

As if the space could read her mind, the answer appeared in her consciousness.

Those currently inaccessible shops might be unlocked in the future. Moreover, whatever happens in the corresponding space might manifest in reality as well.

It took her a long while to fully digest these two revelations.

“Dad, Mom,” she said, “this commercial street inside the space might be special. In the future, we might even be able to store our goods directly in this store in the space, and they would appear in the real-world shop’s warehouse. If I’m right, this store isn’t just identical to our real one—they’re connected. Anything we have here could be shared and transferred between both worlds.”

After hearing this, even her parents—who were already used to the strange—were left stunned.

“Xiao Lan, are you serious?” her mother finally asked, dumbfounded.

Bai Yalan nodded. Though she appeared calm, her heart was in turmoil. “I don’t think I’m mistaken.”

At the same time, another realization hit her—she might finally understand the truth behind her bankruptcy in her previous life.

She now understood things that had once confused her.

If the space shop was linked to the real shop, and if something happened in one, it could affect the other…

She remembered that in her past life, the downfall of her business started with a mysterious fire that broke out late at night.

The blaze was intense—it even spread to neighboring shops.

The damage was massive. After the investigation, it was concluded that the fire started from her shop, and she was held fully responsible.

After compensating for the damages, she couldn’t recover financially and went bankrupt.

Ever since then—both in her previous life and after her rebirth—she had been haunted by the incident, unable to understand how it happened.

The official report blamed a candle left burning during a power outage.

But she clearly remembered extinguishing the candle before she left, checking multiple times.

And the way the fire had spread so fast and so widely in a commercial area with nearby residents never sat right with her.

Then she recalled a conversation she’d overheard between Lu Qing’er and Qin Kaishen just before her death in her previous life. Lu Qing’er had explicitly said she used the bracelet to ruin her business.

Now, combining this with the space’s capabilities, everything pointed to one conclusion: Lu Qing’er had been behind the fire.

And with the space’s power to affect reality, it made sense.

All she had to do was start a fire inside the space’s version of the store, and it would manifest as a real-world fire—disguised as a candle accident.

It was the perfect trap. Silent, undetectable, and devastating.