Chapter 116

Chapter 116

From the first day of the Lunar New Year, while everyone was busy with New Year greetings, Gu Ran was occupied with preparing for her upcoming tasks.

The weather in Min Prefecture was warm, and even now, both the rivers and sea routes were still navigable. It was just that during the New Year holiday period, many people were on leave, so there were fewer ships and sailors setting out.

The official ship they were taking back to the capital with the governor would depart early, setting sail on the eighth day of the New Year.

The official ship traveled together with the grain ship, carrying many goods, so it moved slower than regular passenger or merchant ships, and thus took more time.

Sailing northward, by February or March, the ice along the coast would just be melting, allowing them to continue on the waterway without switching to land routes all the way to the seaports of the capital.

Thus, Gu Ran didn’t have much time to make arrangements.

Fortunately, her main responsibility was the tangerine orchard. During her absence in the coming months, it would be spring and summer, and by the time the tangerine orchard bore fruit, she would have already returned. Therefore, there weren’t many instructions to give.

Moreover, with five overseers now, wouldn’t they be able to manage the orchard during the agricultural off-season?

Gu Ran gathered Lin Erlang and Uncle Lu, the overseers, to give them their instructions, and then took out a sum of money to cover the orchard’s expenses while she was away.

As for the profits from the He family’s grass jelly shop, she asked them to hold onto the money and settle the accounts when she returned to Xiaxi Village.

After making the necessary arrangements, the only thing Gu Ran worried about was the storage issue of citrus marmalade, canned citrus, and dried orange peel products.

The citrus transactions with Fusheng Trading Company were usually the last shipment before the New Year. As soon as the early oranges hit the market, they would leave—to maintain the freshest taste before the waterways closed.

So, they couldn’t ship these products back to the northern regions before the New Year. They would have to wait until Fusheng’s ships returned after the New Year to start shipping Gu Family Xiaoju’s products.

It was because of this gap that Gu Ran, along with Yang Jinling and others, could take their time to prepare the goods required by Fusheng.

When she was at the tangerine orchard, it was easier since access to the warehouse required her permission. She would take advantage of times when there weren’t many workers around to move all the citrus products into Storage Unit 7.

Storage Unit 7 had a feature that maintained the initial state of the items!

But now that she would be away for some time, she couldn’t put all the goods into Storage Unit 7… Wait, she thought, could it be that Storage Unit 7 allowed for automatic coordinate code input?

Gu Ran summoned the Gulu system and inquired. Indeed, it was the case, and she immediately felt relieved.

This was easy. She just needed to input the coordinates of the warehouse into Storage Unit 7, and all the items in the warehouse would maintain their best initial state.

Moreover, this way, Storage Unit 7 would not only allow her to retrieve the goods stored inside at any time but also let the people entering and leaving the warehouse in the tangerine orchard move the items from this space.

In short, Storage Unit 7’s functionality was now linked to the warehouse, but it would have no impact on those using the warehouse. They could still go in and out as usual.

Gu Ran then had the Gulu system provide the warehouse’s coordinates and input them.

Soon, the coordinates of the warehouse appeared on Storage Unit 7, confirming that it had been set as the warehouse in the tangerine orchard.

When Gu Ran checked Storage Unit 7 again, she was pleased to see the citrus marmalade and canned citrus that had already been stored inside during the holiday season.

It turns out this was exactly how Storage Unit 7 was meant to be used! How convenient it would be if she could open more such storage units with customizable coordinates!

However, she realized it would take over two years with her current points to open the next unit. For now, she should focus on making the most of Storage Unit 7.

After resolving the storage issue and settling other matters, she entrusted her houses to Lin Ersao for care. As for her extended family, they would also be left in Lin Ersao’s care.

Later, Li Ji’s son, Songger, who loved cats, also asked his sister-in-law to help take care of them. With everything taken care of, Gu Ran didn’t have to worry about her furry friends anymore.

On the 8th, the local government sent an official ship to the ferry dock in Xiaxi Village to pick up General Qiao and others for boarding at the seaport. Gu Ran and a group of people packed their belongings, said goodbye to the villagers of Xiaxi, and then boarded a carriage from Shen Laoye's house to the dock to catch the ship.

After learning that one of the largest factions of the notorious Heaven Rank First bandit group had been wiped out, the Shen family moved back to Xiaxi Village.

It happened just before the weather turned cold, allowing them to return to the village in time for the New Year festival.

They planned to return to Dunzi Island when the weather became warmer.

As Gu Ran had said, the house they built became a separate residence.

The seaport in January had no ice, but the wind was strong, and the blue sea looked cold, devoid of the warmth seen in spring and summer.

Therefore, after arriving at the seaport, the group did not stay long before boarding the official ship where Magistrate Hang was.

The official ship they boarded was small and led the way, followed by fifty large government cargo ships loaded with tax grain. It was said that these were part of the winter taxes to be tributed to the capital.

In addition to the soldiers guarding the grain on their ship, there were official small boats on both sides of the fifty large cargo ships, dispatched to escort the tax grain.

With such an escort along the way, outsiders only knew that this trip involved the prefect of Jianzhou and soldiers returning to the capital with tax grain. They were unaware that General Qiao was on board. There was no need to worry about anything happening to General Qiao during the journey.

With that assurance, Gu Ran and the others settled into their assigned cabins.

Because the ship was small, the cabins partitioned on the ship were also small, and each person had their own compartment. After Gu Ran moved in, she soon felt the space was claustrophobic and stuffy.

But it was still early spring, and the sea in January could be freezing cold, so she had to hold back and go out less.

But it didn't matter; she still had the third storage compartment. After locking the cabin, she immediately entered the workroom and started moving some items from the eighth storage compartment.

After agreeing to accompany Old Master Qiao to the capital, Gu Ran had immediately thought that she might have to stay on the official ship for two or three months. The original owner had taken half a year to travel from the capital to Jianzhou when she was exiled. Gu Ran expected that food would be inconvenient during the journey, so she had secretly stored a lot of food in her eighth storage compartment long ago.

While preparing for the New Year, she also stocked up on extra supplies to store there.

Since the eighth storage compartment could not house people, she planned to move some of the food to the third storage compartment. Half of the third storage compartment used to be the furniture from the side rooms, including beds, tables, and chairs, along with cabinets she had purchased later. Now, the third storage compartment was like her private boudoir that she carried around with her.

With more food stored inside, she could lie down however she wanted and comfortably pass the time on the journey back to the capital.

While Gu Ran was busy in the workroom, moving things into the third storage compartment like an ant moving house, there were some on the official ship who were enjoying the scenery on the slowly departing ship.

These were Pei Sixth Lady, Li Ji, and Shen Erlang.

Such a sight was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so they came out to watch the sea as the ship set sail.

Although the sea was cold and the sea breeze chilly, the three of them were not afraid of the cold. Unlike Gu Ran, who had already retreated to her cabin for warmth, they had been standing on the deck watching for a long time.

And Shen Erlang had been chattering away in Pei Sixth Lady's ear.

"Sixth Miss, look, those small boats behind are full of soldiers!"

Pei Sixth Lady didn’t even glance at him, as it was obvious to anyone who could see.

"Sixth Miss, look, there are actually seabirds. It's so cold at sea this time, and yet birds are coming out to find food! Wow, look, it actually caught a fish!"

Pei Sixth Lady glanced briefly and saw a seabird catch a small fish mid-air.

"Sixth Miss, the wind at the bow is strong. Do you want to..."

Before Shen Erlang could finish, Pei Sixth Lady frowned and finally looked at him.

Meeting her gaze, Shen Erlang suddenly stammered, losing his train of thought.

"Sixth Miss..."

"Noisy!"

Shen Erlang felt a wave of embarrassment.

When Father decided to move the family away from Xiaxi Village, he had asked his parents to propose marriage to Sixth Miss. But they didn’t leave and instead moved to Dunzi Island. He had thought it was a good thing, but when he asked his mother about it, she told him Sixth Miss wasn’t interested. He was mortified.

He wanted to ask Sixth Miss himself, but he was terrified of hearing that she didn’t like him. He kept delaying, unable to let it go. Every time he saw her, he felt awkward and wanted to avoid her, but at the same time, he subconsciously wanted to get closer.

Man, life is tough. But trying to win the heart of your crush? Even tougher.

It was rare for him to be on the same boat as Sixth Miss, both eagerly watching the scenery. Unconsciously, he drew closer again.

Shen Erlang scratched his head, unsure whether to leave or stay.

Li Ji, who was standing nearby, saw this and couldn’t bear to watch, turning his head away.

Pei Sixth Lady glanced at Shen Erlang again and finally left the deck to return to her room.

On the other side, Hang DaRen’s lips twitched as he glanced back at General Qiao, who was squinting at the sea with evident enjoyment.

Hang DaRen didn’t want to come out to the deck, but this important figure insisted on taking a look, so he had no choice but to accompany him. However, they had been standing there for quite a while now.

"General Qiao, the wind on the bow is strong. Would you like to return to the cabin to avoid it?"

Qiao An hadn’t seen the sea for many years. Seeing it again filled him with joy, but also a sense of loss. His emotions were complicated.

"Alright, let’s go back to the cabin, and you can tell me all about the changes in Min Prefecture and Quan Gang over the years."

Qiao An huddled inside his cloak, hands tucked away, looking like he was trying to shield himself from the cold. The cloak was puffed up, making him look even bulkier.

As Hang DaRen and General Qiao returned to their cabin, Pei Sixth Lady sat down on the bed in her own room and stirred the charcoal fire in the charcoal basin.

That Shen Erlang actually has feelings for me!

When Pei Sixth Lady learned of this, she felt a chill.

But it made sense—he was clueless about her real identity.

She then looked at her tall figure and couldn’t help but feel smug: Hmph, even like this, I can charm a proper young man. It proves that I am, as Second Miss said, irresistibly charming.

Thinking of the compliments Gu Ran had given her, Pei Sixth Lady smiled and then looked towards the partition wall of the cabin.

Her room was adjacent to Gu Ran’s.

If only her charm could win over Second Miss too, that would be even better!

In the next room, Gu Ran, who was being thought of by Pei Sixth Lady, had long hidden in the third space compartment, sitting on the bed, completely oblivious to everything else, eating and drinking to her heart’s content!

Because of the cold weather and the lack of other ships on the water, their fleet of official ships had sailed smoothly for four or five days.

During this time, Gu Ran only left her room once a day to collect her rations and occasionally let Pei Sixth Lady chat with her for a while. Otherwise, she chose to stay in the third space compartment—of course, claiming to be staying in her cabin to keep warm by the fire. Most of the others did the same.

One day, after Gu Ran brought the food distributed on the ship back to her room, she locked the door and quickly slipped into the third space compartment.

In the spacious third space compartment, she stretched out, rubbed her hands, and settled down at the desk. She first drank the hot soup of the day to warm herself up, then finished a bowl of rice, a side dish, and some smoked meat. After cleaning up, she took the food box back to the cabin and then returned to enjoy the treats she had stashed in the cabinet—cakes, dried fruits, biscuits, and meat strips.

On this official ship, the food is rationed based on the number of people. Since the weather is still cold, the vegetables brought on board are just the usual ones from before the New Year period. They aren't very fresh, but they aren't spoiled either. However, since it's difficult to keep fresh meat for long periods at sea, most of it is smoked or cured meat. Additionally, the cook's skills are just average. How could this compare to the delicacies I carefully selected or prepared and stored in my own space compartment?

Gu Ran giggled, counting the food neatly arranged in the cabinets. She wanted to pick a few items to place on the small table by the bed, so she could lie down, eat, read a storybook, and enjoy herself.

It's still the New Year period, after all. I should be lying around, eating and drinking leisurely.

Too bad I don't have a cat in my lap today!

During the coldest days, I’d usually sit by the charcoal fire with a cat in my lap. If only I had smuggled one onto the ship.

She picked some fried twisted lotus branches, grabbed a few pieces of sesame dried meat, and then took a handful of malt sugar. Feeling that it still lacked some fruit, she decided to eat oranges, her favorite. So, she went back to the cabinet, picked a honey pomelo, two oranges, and some tangerines from her own tangerine orchard.

Although she was in the tangerine business, she always kept a few hundred jin for herself because she loved eating them. Some were given to the waiters as New Year's gifts, and the rest were hers.

Opening the cabinet where the tangerines were stored, Gu Ran was startled and exclaimed, "Gulu!"

The Gulu system, which hadn't been online for a while, responded slowly after a long pause: "Host, I'm here. What seems to be the problem?"

"Look at this! This is the storage cabinet inside the space compartment you provided. Someone has dug a hole in it, and almost all the tangerines are gone! Isn’t that ridiculous?"

How could a cabinet inside a storage compartment be dug into?

And they even stole tangerines; this must mean the storage space of the space compartment was breached!

"How did you choose the location for the third space compartment?"

Gu Ran was certain that these space compartments should correspond to the coordinates given after repairing the space card pattern. Regardless of which location was used as a medium for storing items, at least the safety of the place should be guaranteed, right?

Her private space was breached, and someone stole from the owner! Isn’t that absurd?

Has anyone ever heard of a personal space being breached?

Whose product is this space compartment that's so unreliable?

The Gulu system remained silent for a long time before saying, "Please wait, let me check."

Gu Ran waited.

Soon, the Gulu system gurgled, "Host, hello! The third space compartment is located at the coordinates you specified for storage!"

"Nonsense, Gulu, don't push the responsibility onto me. I honestly repaired the space card to successfully activate this space compartment!"

"Host, this is indeed your responsibility!"

"You personally entered the coordinate code, and it was because you assigned this feature to the third space compartment that triggered the mechanism allowing the seventh space compartment to have customizable coordinates."

Gu Ran was stunned. "But I clearly..."

She tried to recall how she had activated the third space compartment.

Then it came back to her. It was the time she repaired the space card pattern for the first time in the Great Yu Mountains. The time before the New Year, when she was injured by Grandpa Qiao and fell into a trap.

Back then, she spent the night in a cave with Sixth Miss. After completing the space card pattern, the coordinate code popped up. As she was entering it, Sixth Miss was about to wake up, so...

Gu Ran remembered how flustered she was when entering the coordinate code. "Did I input the wrong coordinate code in a hurry?"

"Host, you've figured it out. Good job!"

"The coordinate code you entered wasn’t the one generated after repairing the space card, but it matched a similar location to the original coordinates, which is why the third space compartment was still successfully activated despite the error."

"Therefore, the main system has provided the host with the option to customize coordinate codes for the space compartments."

It was a lucky mistake!

It was really thanks to me inputting the wrong coordinate code that I now have the convenient Storage Unit 7 at my disposal!

"Then, even if I input the wrong coordinate code to activate it, does that mean the third space compartment can also have its space coordinates erased or replaced using credits?"

"Host, it cannot. Because the third space compartment was not originally a space where the coordinates could be customized!"

I was hoping for another space as convenient as Storage Unit 7!

"But why was this space compartment dug into?"

"Because the coordinate code you entered leads to a location within the Great Sheng Dynasty. The third space compartment directly leads to someplace in the Great Sheng Dynasty!"

"And because the third space compartment has a partially customizable coordinate code attribute, anyone near that location, if they discover it, can also cause damage to the space!"

Similar to how I set the custom coordinate code for part of the warehouse in the tangerine orchard—in theory, anyone entering the warehouse in the tangerine orchard is also entering Storage Unit 7.

If someone in the tangerine orchard, damages the warehouse, Storage Unit 7 will also suffer damage.

The difference is, I can spend credits to erase Storage Unit 7's coordinate code and redefine it, but I cannot do that with the third space compartment.

But, wait, the third space compartment's coordinate code was also set within the Great Sheng Dynasty?

"Gulu, are you sure it's this Great Sheng Dynasty?" The world where I am currently alive?

"Affirmative!"

"Then, can you tell me where the coordinate code I entered is located?"

"Classified information!"

Gulu is no help at all!

"So, this third space compartment, I can't move it, and I can only repair it. But if someone outside discovers the secret of this space and causes massive damage, then this third space compartment will have to be abandoned?"

"Host, you can choose to open another space compartment!"

Gu Ran was speechless.

Who was the one causing damage outside the third space compartment?

When did they discover the location of the space compartment? How could they be so capable of finding it?

If they discovered this space, wouldn't they be able to dig open the door and barge in at any time?

Her carefully arranged private sanctuary was about to be compromised.

No, such a great space cannot be destroyed just like that.

"I have to guard it and see who is trying to dig through my space compartment!" Gu Ran said, quickly heading to the workroom to grab a knife.

If things were allowed to deteriorate, one day this space compartment would be dug away.

She needed to catch the person first, eliminate anyone who knew about it, and then repair the hole.

Gu Ran stopped eating, drinking, and didn't even bother reading her storybooks.

She kept watch by the cabinets, planning to catch the thief who had found her space and was stealing her oranges!

It didn’t take long—just a day or so—and she noticed something moving in the space compartment where she kept the oranges.

Hearing the rustling, Gu Ran glanced over at the space compartment.

She saw a hand probing through the opening.

The hand was slender, small, and covered in bruises—clearly injured and fragile.

From the look of that hand, the person who found her space couldn’t be very old.

Come to think of it, the hole that had been dug into her third space compartment wasn’t very large either. Maybe that’s why they didn’t cause more damage after finding the space.

With that thought, Gu Ran felt a wave of relief.

The small hand reached in, feeling around, but found no oranges—of course, Gu Ran had moved the oranges away from the hole so the thief wouldn’t grab them so easily.

It seemed the hand realized the area was empty, as it reached in further. This time, it finally grasped an orange and quickly retracted. Then it reached in again and grabbed two more oranges.

Gu Ran, now certain that the other person was a child, deliberately coughed and attempted to question, "Hey, you little thief..."

The hand quickly retracted and didn’t reach in again.

"Can the kid hear me?"

When she had discovered the hole, Gu Ran had peered through it and only saw white fog—she couldn’t see anything.

But she could hear sounds?

"Yes."

"Can you hear clearly?"

"..."

"They can hear you, but they may not be able to hear clearly."

"What does that mean?"

"The voice they hear isn’t your actual voice."

Because it was separated by a cross-dimensional space, Gu Ran understood.

"Then do you know who that child is?"

"I can’t say."

Gu Ran: Tsk!

After that, many days passed without the child coming back to steal anything from the space compartment.

Gu Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn’t know how her awkward space appeared in the child's world and feared that the child might go home and tell the adults about the "monster," leading them to destroy her third space compartment.

For now, it seemed, all was well!

At least the kid didn’t blab about it.

But three days later, the hand crept back into the space compartment, more damaged than ever.

This time, the hand was even more torn up, still dripping blood.

What the hell happened to this kid?

Who is he, anyway?