Chapter 21

The virtual trading system required coins for everything, what a scam.

An ZhiXia eventually gave up on it, rare star coins were precious after all, saving them whenever possible was wise.

As for hunger, there was an abundance of fruit in her space, enough to last her a month without eating the same thing twice.

With a quick scan of her consciousness in the space, she saw a large patch of strawberries on the hillside, red and ripe, each as big as a fist.

After eating three or four, An ZhiXia felt full already.

Since there was so much fruit that she alone could not finish it all, she picked some to send to the friend she had yet to meet in the post-apocalyptic dimension.

Hopefully they would see it as soon as they logged in, a way to make a new friend.

She didn't send any more to the farming tycoon since she had just given him some yesterday. Sending him more would make her gifts seem cheap.

It was better to wait until the gifts retained their value.

After An ZhiXia returned to bed, her freshly washed hair had mostly dried.

Breathing in the scent of bath gel and shampoo on her skin, she rolled over contentedly and drifted off to sleep.

When An ZhiXia awoke again, sunlight streamed through the window onto her eyelids, stinging painfully.

She reflexively raised a hand to shield her eyes, just as she heard a knocking sound.

The sound was not loud, stopping and starting irregularly, unlike someone coming to wake her up.

But An ZhiXia got up anyway.

She took out the clothes she had washed during the night from her space. With the accelerated time inside, they were perfectly dry when she put them on. The pajamas she had taken off went back into the space, before she slipped on her shoes and went to open the door. Sure enough, An WenQing was leaning against the door, occasionally tapping the wood with his little hand to make the knocking sound.

Seemingly surprised to see An ZhiXia open the door, he stared with wide eyes for a moment, then shyly smiled and ran off.

An ZhiAng had also just gotten up, his bedhead sticking out wildly. As WenQing bumped into his leg while running away, he picked up the child and immediately realized what was happening.

"WenQing, were you looking for uncle? This is auntie's room now. Uncle is over there with third uncle. Next time you're looking for me, go to third uncle's room, okay?"

"Okay," WenQing nodded seriously, then looked back at An ZhiXia and suddenly said, "Auntie smells nice."

An ZhiAng laughed and scolded him, "This bratty kid."

Then he walked over to An ZhiXia and did indeed smell a fragrance.

He rubbed his nose, silently thinking to himself that it was no wonder his mother always called him a stinky kid.

Sure enough, his sister was fragrant while he was stinky, especially when sweating.

Even that annoying An MeiYun gave off a subtle, lingering scent at times, just not as nice as his little sister's.

She really was his sister, and An ZhiAng felt somewhat proud again.

An MeiYun walked over dejectedly, her hoarse voice clearly indicating she had been crying. "Mom said to go eat breakfast."

She looked so pitiful that even An ZhiAng, who usually poked fun at her, knew better than to say anything.

An ZhiXia had long lost any sympathy for An MeiYun. She simply had no desire to pay her any attention.

The rest of the An family had work and ate breakfast early before leaving for their jobs.

It was just the two of them, unemployed layabouts who had slept in late, even little WenQing was more diligent than them.

At first An ZhiXia felt rather embarrassed, but seeing that An ZhiAng didn't feel embarrassed at all, she decided to go along with it.

She secretly resolved that she could not sleep in so late again tomorrow.

Although she didn't grow up in this family, she shouldn't take their service for granted.

Zhou Nan may not have a job, but she had to care for the whole family and raise a child. An ZhiXia should help out more by getting up earlier, even if just to play with WenQing and lighten Zhou Nan's burden. Zhou Nan was in the yard hanging laundry she had just washed. Seeing them come out, she said, "I left breakfast in the pot for you. ZhiAng, go bring it out. There's an egg in there for ZhiXia to nourish her health."

An ZhiAng acknowledged and quickly washed up and went to the kitchen. He came back carrying a plate of stir-fried veggies and a basket of flatbreads, with a round egg on the edge.

An ZhiXia had just finished washing up. An ZhiAng called her over to eat.

He peeled the egg and handed it to An ZhiXia. He took a flatbread for himself and started eating heartily.

An ZhiXia had intended to give the egg to WenQing, but he refused it. Zhou Nan also said he'd had eggs this morning. So An ZhiXia ate it herself.

The egg was very fragrant. The yolk was smooth and rich. After a few bites of the veggies, she set her chopsticks down.

"Sis, you're not eating anymore?" An ZhiAng asked in surprise.

"I probably ate too much last night and went to bed too early, so didn't digest it all night. I'm not hungry now." She had actually been hungry last night, but the strawberries were likely why she wasn't hungry now.

An ZhiAng said to her, "Eating so little, how will you get nutrients?"

Zhou Nan said from the side, "If your sister isn't hungry, let her be. We're going out later anyway, she can buy something tasty if hungry again."

After eating, An ZhiXia took the initiative to clean up the dishes.

Once she was done, Zhou Nan had finished up too.

She wiped her hands and took off her apron, going back to her room for a moment before coming out again saying, "Let's go, we'll head out for a stroll."

An MeiYun also desperately wanted to go, but remembering An JingZhi's words last night, she could only restrain herself.

He had made it clear that An ZhiXia disliked her, and the An family was set on kicking her out. If she lingered around An ZhiXia and annoyed her, she might even lose the chance at a job. Then she'd truly have no choice but to be sent down to the countryside.

With the Gao family gone, she couldn't be sent somewhere close like An Le Village anymore. If she was sent far away to some unfamiliar place, her situation could end up even worse than her previous life.

So she had to stay in the city, relying on An JingZhi to arrange work for her. For now, she couldn't offend them.

Once she was stable and the day came for her to turn things around, she swore the entire An family would pay the price for how they were treating her now.

When they went out, Zhou Nan picked up her little grandson and kissed him, saying "WenQing, we're going out to buy clothes for your auntie. It'll be too tiring to hold you the whole way, so stay home and play with Aunt MeiYun, okay? When grandma comes back I'll bring you something tasty."

An WenQing was clearly unhappy, clinging to Zhou Nan's neck and refusing to let go.

At this time An ZhiXia reached out to him, "WenQing, if you want to go just come. Grandma is tired but auntie isn't, let auntie hold you, okay?"

Perhaps wanting to come along, WenQing didn't reject her for the first time and let her take him into her arms.