Chapter 111: Making Amends

Jiang Yan was going to Su Dai’s place for dinner that evening. She felt it wasn’t right to show up empty-handed—she should bring something.

There were thousands of supplies in her space, but choosing something appropriate that wouldn’t arouse suspicion was a skill in itself.

After thinking it over, she exited her space and returned to the safe house.

She grabbed a few large storage baskets and set them in the kitchen. With a thought, she took out some long-lasting sweet potatoes, potatoes, and onions from her space.

These supplies had been stored in her space, so they hadn’t lost a bit of moisture.

Each one looked fresh and plump, as if just bought from the market.

It wouldn’t be appropriate to give them away looking like that.

So she decided to take some out in advance, just in case she needed them later.

That reminded her of her plan to try growing vegetables in the living room.

Jiang Yan entered her space again and took out three large white foam boxes, the kind used for seafood and fruit. After drilling some drainage holes in the bottoms, she scooped some of the black soil from her space and filled the boxes.

That black soil had magical properties, so Jiang Yan wasn’t worried about the vegetables not growing well.

Once the three boxes were filled with soil, she returned to the safe house and put them in the living room.

She scattered some cabbage seeds in them and watered them with a spray bottle.

By the time she finished all this, more than half an hour had passed.

Jiang Yan felt a bit tired.

If it weren’t for her ability to move things with her mind inside her space, just hauling all these supplies would have been exhausting.

But now the eggs were incubating, the vegetables were planted, and the fish and shrimp had been fed—she felt a real sense of accomplishment.

Jiang Yan set an alarm on her phone and lay down on the chaise lounge.

She’d been woken up in the middle of the night, and her stomach had hurt, so she hadn’t slept well.

There was still over an hour until five o’clock, just enough time for a nap.

With that thought, Jiang Yan quickly drifted into a deep sleep.

Around five, her alarm went off.

Jiang Yan got up.

Outside, the torrential rain was still pouring down.

The surface of the central garden’s water was empty.

She hadn’t heard any music or anything in the meantime.

It seemed the official rescue boat still hadn’t come.

She went to the master bedroom and checked with the binoculars.

The water level was nearly up to the 18th floor.

Across the way, people in several buildings were still queuing anxiously.

Higher up, residents in buildings B, C, D, and E were busy moving.

As usual, there were plenty of arguments and fights.

She figured it was probably the same in Building A—she just couldn’t see it.

Jiang Yan put away the binoculars after a quick look.

She’d already decided what to bring to Su Dai’s.

As usual, she took a black backpack and packed a one-kilogram bag of vacuum-packed regular rice, a can of luncheon meat, a can of mixed yellow peaches, a bag of peanuts, and a bag of salt.

It wasn’t much, and in the past, these things wouldn’t have been worth much.

But now, with the situation as it was, Jiang Yan couldn’t bring too much.

She picked up the backpack, put on a windbreaker, and headed out.

The fire door on the 32nd floor was open.

As her own door slammed shut with a “bang,” Jiang Yan clearly saw a few heads sneakily pull back from the fire door.

Then came the sound of hurried footsteps going downstairs.

Probably people hoping to move up to the 32nd floor.

She pretended not to notice and walked toward Su Dai’s apartment.

Su Dai’s door wasn’t fully closed, but Jiang Yan knocked out of habit.

“Jiang Yan!” Su Dai’s face lit up with surprise when she saw her arrive as promised.

Her hands were wet, so she wiped them on her apron and quickly opened the door. “Come in!”

Jiang Yan was about to step inside when the door to 3203 creaked open.

“Auntie,” a clear little voice called from behind.

Jiang Yan and Su Dai paused and turned around.

They saw Zhou Wei and his wife Wang Jiamei coming out, with the little girl beside them.

Today, the girl had her hair in pigtails and looked much better than last night.

Though she’d cried, her eyes were bright, like little stars in the sky.

She was holding a slightly worn red plush cow—probably a company mascot from a New Year’s party.

“What’s wrong, little one?” Jiang Yan pretended not to know Zhou Wei and Wang Jiamei, smiling at the girl.

“Haha, you must be the beautiful Jiang Yan from 3201, right? I’m Zhou Wei—call me Fatty Zhou or just Fatty. This is my wife Wang Jiamei. We moved in last night and already met Su Dai.”

Zhou Wei spoke cheerfully as he strode over.

Wang Jiamei, eyes red and swollen, followed with the little girl. She forced a smile, but it couldn’t hide her nervousness and unease.

The little girl, on the other hand, stared at Jiang Yan with curiosity.

Jiang Yan glanced at them and smiled politely. “Hello.”

“Brother Zhou, is there something you need?” Seeing Jiang Yan wasn’t unfriendly, Su Dai asked.

Zhou Wei chuckled awkwardly. “Ahem, well, we just moved in last night and probably disturbed you, so we wanted to invite you over for a simple meal—as a way to make amends.

Of course, we’re only staying in 3203 temporarily—we’re not trying to take over someone else’s place. But in our hometown, it’s tradition to have a housewarming meal, to bring some good luck and liven up the place.”

As he finished, he realized he might have said something inappropriate.

After all, the He Chunmei family who used to live there had all died, and there were still dried bloodstains in the tile cracks.

Now inviting people over to “liven up” the place seemed a bit off.

But the words were already out—there was no taking them back.

“Yes, yes, it’s just a simple home-cooked meal. We hope you won’t mind,” Wang Jiamei quickly added.

The little girl looked at them with sincere eyes. “Aunties, please come have dinner with us.”

The wariness and distance between adults often didn’t exist for children.

Su Dai glanced at Jiang Yan, saw her gaze linger on the little girl, and said,

“Brother Zhou, we’ve already made dinner here. We appreciate the thought. Just settle in and make yourselves at home on this floor.”

Zhou Wei and Wang Jiamei seemed to be waiting for this. Hearing it, their brows relaxed, but Zhou Wei still said awkwardly,

“Ahem, thank you, ladies! Really, we feel a bit embarrassed. Maybe you could come over and sit for a while?”

Su Dai politely declined, “Brother Zhou, maybe next time.”

“Ahem, all right then. We meant to invite you earlier, but when the official boat came this morning, we thought you’d left, so we decided to wait. It was our mistake—next time we’ll be more mindful.”

After the polite exchange, they were about to say goodbye when the little girl suddenly looked up at Jiang Yan and said sweetly,

“Auntie Jiang Yan, you’re so pretty!”

Zhou Wei and Wang Jiamei were both stunned and exchanged a look."