Chapter 9: The Space Has Grown

Why is it suddenly raining so hard?

Bai Wenbin glanced at his watch. The agreed time had already passed, but An Nan still hadn’t shown up.

Not wanting to miss this rare opportunity, he could only force himself to wait patiently.

Half an hour went by, but An Nan still hadn’t arrived. Watching the torrential rain outside, a wave of unease suddenly welled up in his heart.

Bai Wenbin picked up his phone and tried to call An Nan.

Still blocked.

So he had no choice but to borrow a phone from a waiter and dial again.

“Hello?”

“An Nan, it’s me, Bai Wenbin. I’m at the Huai Tree Restaurant. About when will you get here?”

“Oh, something came up on my end. I’ll be a bit late. Please wait for me a little longer.”

“Okay, Nannan.”

After hanging up, Bai Wenbin felt reassured by her pleasant tone and settled in to wait patiently.

As long as things worked out today, he’d win the beauty’s heart and enjoy endless wealth and glory. What’s a little waiting compared to that? He could handle it.

The rain outside kept pouring down relentlessly.

Unknowingly, another hour passed.

Ding— Buzz—

Phones started ringing all over the restaurant. Bai Wenbin looked down and saw a message from the meteorological bureau.

Red Alert for Heavy Rain: Citizens are advised to stay home, cease all outdoor activities and work, and suspend school and work. Anyone in danger zones should evacuate to safe locations immediately.

“Oh my god! Why are the cars floating?!” a woman at the next table suddenly exclaimed.

Only then did Bai Wenbin look outside. The water on the street was already waist-deep, and some small cars were actually floating.

How could this be?

Even typhoon rains in the past had never been this fierce.

He borrowed a phone again to call An Nan. “Nannan, where are you now?”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Bai Wenbin.”

“Bai Wenbin? Don’t know you. What an awful name.” With that, the call was hung up.

Bai Wenbin froze, then dialed again, but this time only got the busy tone.

His face darkened: Was she playing him for a fool?

The restaurant was in chaos now.

Some people’s cars had been swept away, some were getting urgent calls from schools to pick up their kids, others kept trying to hail rideshares with no luck.

Bai Wenbin hurried out of the restaurant, only to find that in just this short time, the water had risen even more—it was now up to his chest.

Though the first-floor doors were closed, water had already flooded in.

His car parked by the roadside was completely submerged—there was no way to drive it.

Bai Wenbin was furious. Not only had An Nan made a fool of him, leaving him waiting here for an hour and a half, he’d also lost a car.

Now he was trapped here as well.

The street outside was a mess. The torrential rain had come so suddenly that many people hadn’t even had time to react.

Some were trapped in their cars, some slipped and were swept away while wading through the water, others got cut swimming in the floodwaters...

Meanwhile, An Nan was at home, watching TV and enjoying a steaming hot pot.

The spicy beef tallow bubbled in the pot, shutting out the dampness from outside.

Even the dog, who’d been restless at first, had settled down, contentedly gnawing a big bone at her feet.

An Nan nibbled on tender bamboo shoots, swished some tripe in the pot, dipped it in oil, and popped it in her mouth.

The whole house was filled with a delicious aroma.

After eating, An Nan tossed the dishes into the dishwasher. When she opened WeChat, she found the neighborhood group chat had exploded.

“How is it raining this hard? The cars are floating! I just got a new car!”

“Feeling sorry for you! Luckily, I’m too broke to buy a car…”

“With thunder like this, is some immortal cultivating and crossing a tribulation?”

“When it suddenly went dark at noon, I knew something was off. Now it’s like the sky’s sprung a leak!”

“This weather is really weird. Could it be the end of the world?”

An Nan saw that comment and marveled that someone had actually guessed the truth.

She tapped the user’s profile—it was the young guy from the 15th floor.

“LOL, it’s just a rainstorm, not the end of the world. You watch too many movies!”

“Our school just announced a holiday! Awesome, a break right at the start of the week.”

“Our company’s off work too!”

“Neighbors, be careful on your way home. I almost fell in a manhole just now.”

An Nan left WeChat and opened Weibo.

A news story about “Guanshi Metro Flooded” was trending.

There was even a video: many people trapped in the subway, water up to their shoulders, some crying and calling family to say their last words.

An Nan felt a pang of sorrow.

It was just like her previous life. At first, people thought it was just a rainstorm. No one imagined that disaster and death would never stop after that.

Many netizens were commenting under the news.

PrettyGirlWarrior: This is heartbreaking! Why is it raining so hard in Guanshi too? Our Lingnan City is flooded as well.

ContentmentIsHappiness: Same here in Linbei City.

UselessAtEverythingButEating: Wow, you guys up north are getting torrential rain too? I thought it was just us in the south.

CherryCalf: I’m in the US, and it’s pouring here too. Is it raining all over the world?

The mood online was growing more and more tense.

Feeling stifled, An Nan put down her phone and decided to go pet her dog to lift her spirits.

But Fugui wasn’t at her feet.

She looked around and found him on the sofa, butt in the air, scratching at the upholstery with his paws.

He was going at it with real enthusiasm.

“Fugui! No tearing up the house!”

An Nan walked over and scooped up the fluffy white dog, only to see he had a necklace in his mouth.

This was… the jade pendant Aunt Chen had given her yesterday.

“You little rascal, where did you dig this up from?”

An Nan took the pendant, put it away in her space, then tapped Fugui on the head. “You can’t eat random things, you’ll get sick.”

Suddenly, a flash of white light flickered in her mind.

This familiar feeling…

She quickly checked her space.

It had grown bigger!

The original 800 square meters, already packed with supplies, had now expanded by another 1,000 square meters!

The original 60-square-meter cottage had also grown to 100 square meters.

An Nan was overjoyed! The space could actually be upgraded?

She rummaged around and found that the jade pendant had disappeared.

So the upgrade was caused by absorbing her mother’s pendant.

An Nan’s eyes grew hot: Mom must be watching over her from above!

Not only had she been reborn, but her mother had sent her this jade pendant to help expand her space.

She also felt grateful to Aunt Chen for returning the pendant.

After thinking for a moment, An Nan went to her dressing table and opened the drawer.

Inside were her various pieces of jewelry.

She put all of them into her space and found that a jade ring instantly vanished. The rest remained.

And her space expanded by another 500 square meters, and the cottage became a two-story house.

So jade could upgrade her space!

If only she had more jade…

Unfortunately, An Nan had always thought jade jewelry looked a bit old-fashioned, so she rarely bought any.

So she only had the jade bangle on her wrist and this ring.

She looked down at the bangle that bound her space and noticed its quality had improved a lot.

It used to be of “glutinous” variety, but now it had become “glutinous-glassy,” much clearer and more transparent.

Looks like she’d need to collect more jade in the future to upgrade her space and the bangle.

An Nan thought happily.

Then, looking at the now half-empty space, she suddenly felt a lack of security.

She’d thought her supplies were well-stocked, but now, with all this extra room, it looked so empty.

She didn’t have enough supplies!

No, she had to fill up this extra 1,500 square meters too.

An Nan pulled out the map in her space and suddenly had a new idea."