Chapter 4 Space

At last, the master had no choice but to start teaching her how to cook, and later, seeing that she had a knack for it, he began to impart his family recipes wholeheartedly.

Several skills don't burden the body, and Xu Ying knew the master truly had her best interests at heart, so she studied cooking diligently.

Both being able to cook, and having the resources of that space, they made delicious meals and lived quite comfortably in the apocalypse.

At that time, the master was like both a father and a confidant to her.

He often joked that after he passed away, he would have her inherit his legacy and pass the bracelet to her.

At the time she was perplexed as to what this bracelet had to do with the master's cooking skills.

Each time she asked, the master remained silent, his face full of sadness.

This bracelet was very precious to the master; it absolutely couldn't be lost!

Xu Ying tried hard to recall the events after the master had given her the bracelet just before he left.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in her head, the master, with his last bit of strength, had pushed her out of the zombie horde, and she had fallen on the ground, the bracelet vanishing after getting stained with her blood.

Could it be in the space?

Thinking of the space, Xu Ying immediately said, "I need to go in."

As soon as she had spoken, she directly flashed into the space.

The space had everything: flour, rice, various vegetables, meats, eggs, various seafood, snacks, drinks, pots, pans, washing products, and various cooked foods.

It even had self-heating hotpot and snail rice noodles.

Towels, sanitary pads, clothes, paper—nothing was lacking.

These were all resources she and her master had secretly gathered, and they hadn't even gotten to enjoy them before the master passed away.

In this era she currently lived in, resources were extremely scarce; everything required coupons and having money was useless without them.

But now that she had the items from the space, she no longer feared anything.

However, the one thing that made Xu Ying miserable was that bracelet, which was not just any bracelet but also her master's love for her.

While she was feeling melancholic, she suddenly noticed that the space was enveloped in a thin mist.

Curious, she reached out both hands toward the space but was repelled by an unknown force.

This made Xu Ying anxious; now that she had the space, why couldn't she access the items? What did this mean?

Before she could delve deeper, footsteps echoed from the doorway.

She quickly left the space and closed her eyes.

Mrs. Xu's warm voice came in, as she pushed the door open, "Yingying, your sister-in-law has made egg custard for you, get up and eat some quickly."

Xu Ying quickly sat up, her face filled with a smile as she looked at Mrs. Xu, "Thanks, Mom."

Mrs. Xu glanced at her daughter and said with slight annoyance, "What are you thanking me for? You don't need to be polite with Mom."

Xu Ying chuckled and took the bowl of egg custard handed to her.

Mrs. Xu looked at her daughter's pale face from sickness, her eyes full of pity, "Eat quickly, I'll be going out."

Xu Ying nodded, watching Mrs. Xu leave with the bowl of egg custard, her eyes reddening.

Just as she had picked up the spoon, she noticed two figures at the door from the corner of her eye and looked up to see two little children.

The children were wearing clothes full of patches, their cheekbones hollow, their faces waxy yellow from long-term malnutrition, and their eyes timid, resembling two emaciated lambs.

The smaller of the two had dribble at the corner of his mouth, staring intently at the enamel bowl in Xu Ying's hand.

The older one squatted at the doorway, covertly eying the egg custard in Xu Ying's hand, swallowing his saliva from time to time.

Xu Ying saw her two nephews and curved her lips into a smile, beckoning to them, "Shitou, Hu Zi, come here."

The boys hesitated, glanced at each other timidly, and then walked over.

Following the old belief that humble names are easier to raise, the older one was named Shitou, and the younger one Hu Zi.

"Little aunt, what do you need us for?" Shitou inhaled sharply and immediately pulled his younger brother behind him, hoping to shield him from any scolding; his brother was still too young and might get scared.

Hu Zi shrank behind his older brother, his hunger making him forget his fear as he stared with longing at the egg custard in Xu Ying's bowl, saliva dripping straight onto the ground.

Seeing the two children looking at her guardedly, Xu Ying furrowed her brows in discomfort.

She thought back to when her two nephews had always wanted to be close to her, but she had heartlessly driven them away and had even scolded them harshly.

Her heart suddenly clenched with pain, as she recalled seeing many relatives during the apocalypse stabbing each other over some food. At this moment, she understood even more the importance of cherishing her family.

"Do you two want to eat?" Xu Ying's beautiful almond-shaped eyes looked at the two kids.

Shitou was initially stunned, then became full of wariness.

But Hu Zi timidly said, "I want to."

Xu Ying picked up a spoon, scooped a spoonful of egg custard into her mouth, and instantly frowned.

The taste was far inferior to what she made herself.

"Wait a moment," Xu Ying said and then ran to the kitchen to drizzle a few drops of sesame oil.

[Ding ding ding, the Food System is activating. Would the host like to bind with the Food System!]

Hearing this mechanical voice, Xu Ying looked bewildered—was this the system?

She wondered how she could have unintentionally triggered the system.

The system, as if guessing Xu Ying's thoughts, directly said, "This system has always resided within the bracelet, and because you touched it unintentionally, it bound itself to you and detected your danger, hence it activated all its Spiritual Power to bring you here.

[However, due to the loss of too much Spiritual Power, the system has temporarily entered hibernation and was only awakened by the spatial Spiritual Power.]

"Spatial Spiritual Energy?" Xu Ying was hearing for the first time that her space had Spiritual Energy; she had had this space for years, and it had always been inert.

No, was it the bracelet transformed by her master?

And it was absorbing the space's Spiritual Energy?

"What will happen if you absorb the Spiritual Energy of my space?"

The system seemed somewhat guilty, [The space, the items in the space will be temporarily shut down, but don't worry, host. As long as you bind with this system and unlock various foods, you will be able to open the spatial barrier.

Then everything inside will still be usable, and the more foods that are unlocked, the more the space will upgrade too!]

Xu Ying instantly understood what the thin light on her space was about—it was this thing causing mischief.

"Unlocking foods, I can cook, and I know many dishes, I don't need that."

[Really?] The system seemed like it wanted to curl up into a ball.

Xu Ying was just about to affirm this, but she suddenly found her mind was a blank blank.

"Damn it, what the hell is this thing, all the cooking skills I had painstakingly learned, why can't I remember anything now?"

[Don't panic, host. You will have your culinary skills and resources, just bind with this system. You wouldn't want to reject your master's kindness, right?

And without me, could you have come back? Could you have reconnected with your parents?]

Just as Xu Ying was about to erupt in anger, she thought of her master and her parents and suppressed the rage in her heart.

"I'll bind. Can I still have that bracelet from my master?" Xu Ying was most concerned about the bracelet.

It was the only memento her master had left her, so the bracelet couldn't be lost.

[Once you bind, the system will revert to its original form.]

"Then, bind." As the hesitant words of Xu Ying fell, the system smugly said, [Binding successful, congratulations host on receiving the newcomer's gift pack, would you like to claim it now?]

Xu Ying watched as a flash of light passed over her hand, and a green bracelet appeared. She quickly looked toward her mother and sister-in-law outside the kitchen.

But she found that the two of them seemed as if they hadn't seen anything.

Xu Ying breathed a sigh of relief, refused to claim the newcomer's gift pack for now, and immediately shut down the system.

She carried a bowl of egg custard into the house, waved at the two people, and said, "Shitou, Hu Zi, try this and see if it's good."