Chapter 1: A Dream of Ten Years

In the pitch-black room, the sister and brother huddled together for warmth. Outside, the wind howled, and the firewood room door creaked and groaned. On this stormy night, bursts of muffled thunder kept the two in the firewood room from closing their eyes.

The woman lying on the Simmons mattress opened her eyes abruptly. After taking in her surroundings, she rubbed the space between her brows.

"This dream again."

An Yinan sighed. A single dream, recurring for ten years.

She, An Yinan, the founder of Yinan Ancient Style, had seen a single design draft sell for a sky-high price of over a hundred million. A wave of national style had swept across the world, attracting a large number of foreign friends to experience Chinese culture.

But, she had a secret.

She lived in two worlds every day: the real world by day, and the virtual world in her dreams, watching others grow up.

She was an orphan, abandoned at the gate of an orphanage when she was only a few months old. Aside from her swaddling clothes, she had only a Peace Knot.

Ten years ago, she cut her finger on a vase, and the blood stained the Peace Knot. From that day on, she possessed a Peace Knot Space, a vast space that seemed to have no end.

Also from the day she gained the space, whenever she fell asleep, she would dream of another girl, from initial happiness to recent misery.

"Warning: Rebirth countdown 10 days."

"Warning: Rebirth countdown 10 days."

"Warning: Rebirth countdown 10 days."

The warning repeated three times in a row. This was already the third reminder; the first was at 30 days, the second at 15 days.

Rebirth? Would it really happen?

She had never touched novels before, but ever since she got the space, she had read a large number of space-themed novels.

Is the end of science metaphysics? No one knew.

At the first reminder, she didn't care at all. But the second reminder made her heart tighten, as if she had already accepted that this would happen.

In five days, she bought a large amount of supplies online, but this was not enough.

As soon as the sky brightened, An Yinan drove to the wholesale market and ordered various grains, oils, and seasonings directly. A thirty percent deposit took one hundred and seventy million, and she wrote down the delivery address for the boss.

She then went to the fruit wholesale market and the seafood market, buying, buying, buying.

Grain, oil, seasonings, sugar, milk powder, daily necessities, hygiene products, stationery, fruit, seafood, and important various medicines—she crossed off the items she had bought one by one on her shopping list.

"Auntie." An Yinan drove to a deli.

"Little An is here. Come, see what you want to eat, and Auntie will pack it for you." Auntie greeted her warmly. Her shop had been open for over twenty years, and this little girl had been coming for over twenty years; she had watched the little girl grow up.

"I want to order these cooked foods, and I also have to trouble you to help me find some good steamed buns and buns." An Yinan had written the list in advance and handed it to Auntie.

Auntie looked at the quantities on it. This... at least five thousand catties to start...

"Little An, why are you buying so much? It will spoil if you can't eat it all." Auntie felt bad for her and was deeply worried.

An Yinan smiled, "I'm ordering for someone else. Auntie, I still have to trouble you to make them as soon as possible."

"Alright, Auntie will make them for you." Auntie laughed happily; she was naturally pleased with such a big business deal.

An Yinan paid the full amount for the cooked food, buns, and steamed buns. This was different from other places; when she was small and had no money, Auntie often stuffed her with cooked food to eat. She felt grateful in her heart, and after she grew up and made money, she often patronized Auntie's business.

Returning home exhausted, she looked at the string of payment records, and her heart, which had been uneasy, suddenly settled.

The items bought online were delivered one after another, and the delivery courier was sweating profusely from exhaustion.

"An Jie, you've stocked up again." The courier moved everything into the storage room.

Every month, An Yinan would purchase various fabrics and materials to prepare for her design drafts, and the courier was already used to it.

An Yinan smiled and nodded, handing the courier a bottle of water, "Troubling you again."

The courier wiped his sweat, "It's nothing, this is what I should do."

Box after box of items filled the storage room, and with more than ten boxes left, An Yinan had the courier place them in the courtyard.

Her courtyard was very remote, located in the eastern suburbs, backed by Chunlai Mountain. It took thirty minutes of driving outward to see other households.

She liked quiet places and liked the humidity of the air here. When she first bought this land, she built this courtyard.

Night fell, and An Yinan looked at her courtyard, "Hmm, can it be taken away?"

After the thought crossed her mind, she discovered that the courtyard before her eyes had actually disappeared.

She immediately looked into her space, and that courtyard was in the corner of the space.

"This works too?" An Yinan released the courtyard again; it was still in its original position, and nothing had changed.

"Flashlights, mosquito and insect repellent, medicine, furniture, most importantly hygiene products..."

She contacted several fabric factories and cleared out their stock directly. Those managers were a bit dumbfounded; could this ancient-style master be innovating her designs? But this demand was too high.

After An Yinan received the goods, fearing she had missed something, she specifically went to sweep through large supermarkets. That day, all chain supermarkets in the entire city and surrounding cities experienced stock shortages, causing a day of panic.

In five days, all the purchased items had arrived and were transferred into the space. An Yinan even bought N number of power banks, all fully charged, just in case.

In the last two days, the system prompts became more frequent.

"Warning: Rebirth countdown 3 days."

"Warning: Rebirth countdown 2 days."

"Warning: Rebirth countdown 1 day."

That night, she moved the entire courtyard into the space. These days of crazy purchasing had used up ninety percent of her assets. If this space was just playing with her, she would probably have to work even harder at drawing designs in the future.

A clap of thunder sounded in the sky, An Yinan felt a dizzy spell, and she lost consciousness.

"Sister, don't die. Sister, Beibei is being good, don't die."

An Yinan heard the little boy's crying intermittently. She wanted so much to lift her hand and rub his head, but she was powerless. Her arms wouldn't lift, and her eyelids were incredibly heavy; no matter what, she couldn't open them.

Fragments of memories rampaged through her head, some familiar, some unfamiliar.

These memories all belonged to the girl who shared her name, An Yinan.

It turned out that during the days she was busy purchasing, An Yinan had passed away.

An Xiangbei had been beaten by Chen Jingui from their uncle's family and developed a high fever that afternoon. Their grandmother acted as if she hadn't seen it. An Yinan knelt in the courtyard begging them, just wanting a little food, but they remained indifferent.

Little An Yinan, in order to help Xiangbei get better quickly, stole half a black-flour Steamed Bun from the kitchen. After being discovered, she was beaten to death by their grandmother.

Whoosh, An Yinan sat straight up, her eyes snapping wide open; the pain all over her body, as if a truck had run over her, made her unable to help but knit her brows.