C3 Space

Not to mention the wild greens—they're bitter, roots and all.

"Is this all we have left at home?"

Momo nodded. "Grandma took everything else. I hid these wild greens."

In other words, if she hadn't hidden them, they wouldn't even have wild greens to make soup.

Fan Jin heard the sadness in her voice and divided her bowl of greens between the two younger ones. The little ones, understanding the situation, insisted they didn't want any, saying their sister needed to eat more because she was sick.

But Fan Jin gently insisted, placing some on their plates.

Watching Junjun eat happily, Fan Jin felt even more heartbroken.

She turned to the older girl, Momo. "Why does Grandma take our food?"

She added, "I feel a bit dizzy and can't remember things clearly."

Being young, the two kids didn't think much of it, and Momo explained everything.

Her words showed clear frustration with their grandma, who often took their food.

After listening, Fan Jin couldn't help but feel a sense of disbelief.

It turned out the three siblings did have parents, but they had to work far away and only came home for holidays, sometimes sending money back.

Fan Jin was puzzled at first, thinking that usually, a mother would stay home to care for the kids, even in tough times.

Momo quickly explained that their father's family had only moved to the area a couple of generations ago, and the village hadn't given them any land. The few acres Grandma had were bought after years of scrimping and saving.

So, their little household had no land, and without land, there was no income. All their food had to be bought. As much as their parents hated to leave, they had no choice but to go far away to earn money.

Before leaving, they gave all the silver they had to Grandma, hoping the old home would treat the three kids well.

Unfortunately, the family in the old house pretended to care, but in reality, they never bothered about their well-being. They even went so far as to take away the wild greens the siblings gathered to trade for some coarse grains.

This time, their grandmother came to raid their food supplies and discovered a small amount of cornmeal the siblings had just traded for. In the struggle, the original owner was shoved hard by the grandmother, hitting her head on the doorframe, which led to her ending up here.

As night fell, the two younger siblings couldn't fight off sleep any longer. Watching them sleep under a worn-out quilt, Momo, the older one, was only ten, and Junjun was just seven. At this age, they should be in school, learning and playing, not worrying about what to eat the next day.

The bed's wooden planks were so uncomfortable that Gu Fanjin couldn't sleep. She turned over, slipped on her worn shoes, and quietly opened the door to step outside.

It was early autumn, and the night air was chilly. Her tattered clothes offered little warmth, but Gu Fanjin ignored it, pulling her collar tighter and finding a small stool to sit on.

She clasped her hands together and focused her thoughts. Soon, when she opened her eyes again, she was standing in a large, pure white space. Yes, after arriving here, the first thing she looked for was the tiny black dot on her palm, a space she had acquired by chance in the post-apocalyptic world.