Chapter 20: Space Upgrade

Wang Li didn’t wake up until almost nine o’clock. This is way too much sleep, she scolded herself. I really need to start waking up earlier—can’t afford to sleep in like this again.

After the group packed up their things and fetched a few bamboo tubes of water by the riverside, they resumed their journey. Wang Li kept feeling that something was off, but couldn’t quite put her finger on it, so she pushed the thought aside.

Today, they were finally walking along the main road. The path was crowded with people heading toward Haicheng—families with children, carrying big and small bundles, looking haggard and dust-covered. From a distance, the crowd resembled the zombies she’d seen in apocalyptic movies.

They followed a trail that had been worn into the earth along the lakeside. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about water here—there were lakes everywhere.

Wang Li walked along, lost in thought, holding Hanya’s hand. Suddenly, from behind them came a sharp whistle—
“Whoosh—”
Boom!
Ratatatat—
Thud, thud, thud—

Wang Li turned around and was instantly startled—bombs were being dropped. Some exploded directly into people, some hit cooking pots. Screams and cries erupted all around.

“My leg!”
“Dad! Where did you go…”
“My flatbread!”

They’d been traveling safely for so many days—how did they suddenly run into an airstrike today? Hanya was so frightened she started crawling backward, nearly dragging Wang Li down with her.

Wang Minghao came limping over in a panic, face pale. “No time to talk—quick, let’s hide behind that small dirt mound ahead. Once the plane leaves, we’ll be fine.”

He tightly grabbed Wang Li’s hand, and Wang Li held on to Hanya. Liu Juntao, hobbling along, rolled his eyes. Even like this, he’s still thinking about holding a woman’s hand? Are women really that important? Might as well give up his leg, then.

They ducked behind the mound, where others had already taken cover. Some were arguing:
“We’re just refugees, not soldiers! What do the devils gain by bombing us?”
“Devils don’t care whether you’re a refugee or a soldier,” another retorted. “To them, if you’re Chinese, you’re their enemy.”

It seemed none of the four in their group were injured. Nearby, however, a woman had taken a hit in the arm—probably while running, her swinging arm had been grazed by a bullet. Her family huddled around, crying in fear.

“Stop crying,” Wang Li said firmly. “Let’s clean and wrap the wound.”

The family looked at each other helplessly—they had no idea how to treat a wound. Wang Li sighed and pulled out a bottle from her basket. She poured some alcohol to disinfect the wound, then asked them for some cloth to wrap it up. At least it was sterilized now—shouldn’t get infected.

Soon, more people came asking for help. Wang Li gave each family a bit of alcohol-soaked cloth to clean their wounds.

After a while, the plane finally flew off. Many people collapsed to the ground and wept.

Wang Li wanted to cry too. She also felt like throwing up. Severed limbs and splattered blood were everywhere. She just wanted a piece of chocolate to calm her nerves.

She used her mind to check the space—and to her surprise, it had upgraded. Suspended in midair was a screen, about the size of a computer monitor. On it were the words:

Wang Li’s mood instantly lifted.

Just as she was about to examine it further, she felt someone tugging her hand. Snapping out of the space, she saw Hanya crying and calling her, while Wang Minghao shouted, “Sis! Sis! Are you okay? Say something!”

When she accessed the space through her thoughts, her body appeared to others as standing still, eyes staring blankly ahead.

“I’m fine,” Wang Li quickly said. “I was just thinking about something. Don’t overreact.”

“Auntie,” Hanya sniffled, “I thought you were scared stupid by the bombs.”

“Sis,” Wang Minghao said, “you’re really okay? You weren’t stunned by the blast? Your body doesn’t feel off?”

Looking at the two of them fussing over her, Wang Li felt a warmth in her heart. Even in a strange, foreign world, someone cared about her.

“Let’s keep moving,” Wang Li said cheerfully. “We’ve got this!”

Then, as if to motivate them, she made a fist and pumped it in the air, grinning at her own silliness.

Seeing that no one understood what she meant, Wang Li didn’t bother to explain. She simply shouldered her basket and resumed the journey.

They didn’t even stop for lunch and kept walking. After climbing a dirt slope, she scanned the surroundings to check for people. It seemed no one was around—likely, most travelers were still on the main road. Wang Li quickly called out to everyone, “Let’s rest here, at the foot of the slope.”

Wang Minghao checked his pocket watch and said, “It’s four o’clock now. We’ll probably reach the outskirts of Shanghai after another day.”

Wang Li thought to herself, Damn Japs, you tried to blow me up. Once we reach the outskirts, if there are Japanese soldiers around, I’ll raid their storage depots.

Now that she had night vision and teleportation, it would be a shame not to try it out.

As she cooked, her thoughts drifted. Wang Minghao leaned over and teased, “Sis, what are you smiling about? You look like a blooming flower!”

Wang Li ignored him. She used a bit of millet and corn grits to make porridge. As usual, Liu Juntao gathered firewood, and Han Ya tended the fire.

Wang Li also set up another pot to cook eight egg pancakes. There was more flour than egg, so after cooking, she always had to secretly enrich the mixture using supplies from her space. Otherwise, the ten pounds of flour she bought would’ve been gone long ago.

After a hearty meal, they decided to rest for the night—finding another suitable resting place later might be difficult anyway. By now, they’d developed a good rhythm with one another. As usual, Liu Juntao and Han Ya took the first watch, while Wang Li and Wang Minghao covered the second half of the night.

Wang Li lay down, hoping to study her space ability a bit. But that blabbermouth next to her kept talking nonstop. She pretended to fall asleep and refused to answer.

Unexpectedly, she actually dozed off. Waking in the middle of the night, she quickly told Liu Juntao to rest. Han Ya had already curled up and fallen asleep with her head on someone’s lap. Wang Li didn’t dare wake her, afraid she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep if disturbed.

Wang Li stayed up until dawn without waking anyone. She first made some cornmeal gruel and steamed a dozen or so vegetable-stuffed corn buns. She took the buns out of her space, then boiled a pot of water for them to drink on the road.

She thought back to that daughter-in-law in her past life who always complained that boiled water didn’t taste as good as purified water. Let her try living in the 1940s and see how she handles it.

Once breakfast was ready, everyone got up. Wang Minghao said, “Sis, why didn’t you wake me? Weren’t you scared keeping watch alone? Sorry, I shouldn’t have slept so soundly.”

Wang Li waved it off. “Alright, alright, let’s get moving. A new day is beginning, and we’re getting closer to our goal. Jiayou! Jiayou!”

Han Ya asked, “Auntie, why do we need to refuel? We’re not a car. What’s there to ‘jiayou’?”
She figured her aunt must’ve been bombed silly. Oil was already scarce—people didn’t even have enough to eat—how could they spare any for ‘fueling’? Sigh, I’d better take extra care of Auntie from now on…

They walked into the afternoon and spotted a county town in the distance. Wang Li thought it’d be good to go in, buy some food, and maybe find an inn to rest. She also wanted to see how many Japanese soldiers were around.

Unexpectedly, there weren’t many people at the city gate—but every person entering was required to pay one silver dollar. A few who refused were already lying on the ground. Were they all killed?

Liu Juntao said, “Let’s find a place to rest and talk this over before trying to get in.”

They quickly retreated toward the hills. The second-rate Japanese soldiers even fired a few shots in their direction while laughing.

Wang Li fumed. Outrageous! I’m definitely coming back tonight to empty their stash!

They all walked into a forest and ventured deeper in. Wang Li said, “Let’s cut through the woods. Looks like we won’t be able to enter the town today. Let’s rest here instead.”

They didn’t dare light a fire—didn’t want the Japanese to spot them. Each person ate a veggie bun and drank a little sugar-salt water before settling down for the night.

Around midnight, Wang Li whispered to Liu Juntao, “I’m heading out for a bit. I’ll be back before dawn. If Minghao wakes up looking for me, just tell him I went to the toilet.”

Liu Juntao asked, “Where are you going in the middle of the night?”

Wang Li replied, “Don’t worry about it. I’m checking the terrain.” She hadn’t even finished the sentence before teleporting to the city gate.

Not bad, she thought. First, I’ll go back into the space and eat something. I’m starving. It’s been nothing but porridge and corn cakes lately, and there’s no time to cook properly.

Inside her space, she ate a full plate of braised pork with rice. Then, using the big steamer, she cooked a pot of rice, boiled thirty eggs underneath, and started another pot of red bean porridge. By the time everything was done, it was nearly 3 a.m.

This was the time people were usually the sleepiest. Wang Li quickly teleported into the city. She had seen a blockhouse near the city gate during the day—likely a weapons or supply storehouse.

Sticking close to the walls, she scanned the area. Thanks to her night vision, everything was crystal clear. She saw a row of buildings in front of the blockhouse.

Wang Li decided to teleport inside to take a look. If there were supplies, she’d take them. Even if it was just sleeping quarters, there’d definitely be guns. Whatever—she had to try. With such a powerful cheat ability from heaven, not using it would be a waste.

Ever since getting this “plugin,” Wang Li felt healthier and more energetic. Walking no longer tired her.

Let’s do this, she thought.