Reborn with a Space: Building a Fortune Amidst Famine

Chapter 1 - Crossing

Yuanyuan sighed for the hundred and first time. What kind of luck did she have?

She originally thought with her ”biological fatherʼs” care, she, as an unloved burden, would have a space where she could preserve and plant since she became sensible.

But who would have thought that just when she finally found a lifestyle she enjoyed, she would be in a car accident? Couldnʼt they have been a little gentler in caring for her?

Now her only thought was, ʼAre you kidding me?ʼ

The smell of decay made her feel extremely nauseous. Wasnʼt the person who saved her too irresponsible?

She stared at the ceiling for a while, her breath coming out as white mist. How low was the temperature? This ”biological father” didnʼt love her anymore, leaving her in such indescribable conditions?

Her entire body ached terribly, and she took a glass of Spiritual Spring Water from her space. After drinking it, she belatedly realized these chicken-claw-like hands were definitely not her soft and delicate ones.

Damn, whatʼs going on? Could it be time travel? She waved her disgusting, dirty little hands in front of her eyes. Yuanyuan closed her eyes in frustration.

Perhaps this was some kind of command, for when she closed her eyes, she began to receive the original ownerʼs memories.

The original owner was also named Su Yuanyuan, just eight years old. Her parents had taken her brother to work a thousand miles away last month, leaving her all alone without a penny, only a little grain. To say this was despairing was an understatement.

In the little girlʼs memory, this place was a small mountain village in T City, H Province, Z Country, with just over a hundred households. It seemed she had parallel traveled; she had never heard of this country before.

This year, the village saw a total of ten couples leave, taking their children in response to the national call to work in Jiangbei. In plain terms, they went to open up wasteland. There was plenty of land there but a sparse population, so people were transferred from various provinces and cities, effectively settling there directly.

The other nine families took all their children, but the Su Family left Yuanyuan behind because her Grandpa Su had passed away and there was no one left to support her.

The little girl was born on the eighth, particularly on the eighth of the twelfth lunar month. In the countryside, if a girl is born on an eighth day, itʼs considered inauspicious. An old saying goes that a girl born on the eighth will bring ill fortune to three families. So she grew up drinking rice soup, with her mother not caring for her at all, fearing sheʼd bring misfortune, leaving Grandpa Su to take care of her.

The little girlʼs memories were full of her grandpa, the hunchbacked old man in poor health who still cared for her daily. This was the young womanʼs only warmth.

The old man passed away this spring. Her parents completely neglected her, but she still had to do all the chores and wasnʼt allowed to eat at the same table with them.

Once the recruitment notices came after the autumn harvest, all the rural people envied those who could become official employees. So the parents discussed and signed up without a thought of taking their daughter with them.

They sold the house, sold the grain. But the village chief wouldnʼt have it; leaving the child like that was a burden to the villagers, so they left the old house at the foot of the mountain to the young woman, along with one hundred pounds of corn kernels. Nothing else.

The three members of the Su Family left without looking back or a trace of attachment. They headed for the better life and job they envisioned, leaving behind this little girl who was mostly ignored.

All they left was a hundred pounds of corn kernels. Once milled into cornmeal, it certainly wouldnʼt be a hundred pounds. The village chief had forced them to leave that much; otherwise, the little girl wouldnʼt have gotten even that.

Though young, the girl didnʼt eat much, but through the three-plus months of winter until the thaw, she could only rely on this pitiful amount of grain to survive. It wasnʼt enough at all, but who cared?

So she cooked porridge daily with half a pound of cornmeal to last all day.

Her parents left so suddenly that she had no time to prepare anything. All she could do was desperately dig for wild vegetables in the mountains, though by autumn they were too tough and stringy to eat. Still, it was better than nothing.

An elderly woman from the village, feeling sorry for her, gave her some undergrown cabbage, radish leaves, and small radishes.

She helped others with their work; her grandpa had taught her never to take advantage of others because thereʼs no such thing as a free lunch.

Because she was so exhausted and hadnʼt eaten properly these past few days, the girl hadnʼt gotten up.

Yuanyuan sighed. What kind of identity had this ”biological father” found for her? What was all this?

Whatʼs more, in a few years it would be the famine years. That era was so hard, her grandmother would cry whenever it was mentioned. Back then, even if you hid some grain, you had to be wary of others eyeing it, and it wasnʼt certain you could keep it safe.

Thinking of this, Yuanyuan sat up quickly. No, she couldnʼt live like this; she absolutely wouldnʼt.

Inside, she held a deep fear of this era. Her grandmother had mentioned hearing about people digging up the dead for food.

At this thought, Yuanyuan got out of bed, standing barefoot on the ground. Not even wearing shoes. She took a piece of rope out of her space, a climbing protection rope she had bought. She stood on the only three-legged table in the room, looping the rope over the beam.

If her ”biological father” was going to set her up like this, then she wouldnʼt live anymore. Sheʼd had enough of life in her past existence and found it meaningless.

After tying the knot, she slipped her neck into the noose. The broken table was kicked over with a bang.

But she didnʼt feel suffocated; instead, she crashed onto the floor, limbs splayed. The damned safety rope had snapped? This tiny body, weighing just over thirty pounds, snapped the rope?

Though Yuanyuan had received a higher education, she had a space and firmly believed in the bizarre and supernatural. Yet this time she refused to believe, so she got up and tried again, unwilling to accept that she couldnʼt die?

But when she lay on the ground for the third time, Yuanyuan gave up. Okay, since this isnʼt working, sheʼd think of another way? She wouldnʼt let this defeat her.

Her stomach had been grumbling for a long time. Even if she were to die, she didnʼt want to be a hungry ghost. So, without even washing, she pulled out a prepared meal box from her space.

It was something she randomly picked: Egg and pork stir-fry over rice with a sausage.

Smelling the meat, her belly growled even louder. She didnʼt care about hygiene anymore and squatted directly on the ground to eat.

Her stomach was too small; she couldnʼt finish more than half, so she put it back into space.

This space had followed her soul here. Yuanyuan thought that even if she died, it would still follow her, so nothing would be wasted.