Chapter 2: The Space Appears Within a Dream

Stepping outside, Chu Chen finally took a good look at his home. Two mud-brick huts with thatched roofs stood before him—one a kitchen, the other a bedroom. Not far off was a thatched outhouse.

Inside the room, a bed was fashioned from wooden planks, topped with a thin blanket and a straw mat. A few bricks supported a small dining table—this was the sum total of his possessions.

“Now I truly understand what it means to have nothing but four bare walls. This is poverty beyond belief,” Chu Chen sighed deeply.

At that moment, Li Qinglian appeared carrying a basket.

“Husband, you rest at home. I’m off to work at the village chief’s place.”

Despite everything, Li Qinglian was genuinely kind. She had nearly been sold off by the original owner of this body, yet she still thought about earning money to feed him a proper meal.

Watching her silhouette disappear into the distance, Chu Chen turned and lay back on the straw-covered bed.

He was utterly exhausted. He had just gone through a time slip, and this body bore the real scars of a brutal beating at a casino.

Now that he was finally still, pain radiated from every inch of his body.

Lost in thought, Chu Chen soon slipped into a deep sleep.

“Hmm, was that a dream just now? Too many novels, or am I just crazily longing for a wife?” In his slumber, Chu Chen found himself back at the mall, surrounded by dazzling merchandise in a place he knew well.

“No, wait—why is the mall suddenly empty? And where’s that hefty lady who fell from the sky?”

Gradually, he noticed something was off. The entire mall was deserted, no sign of a single person—only the buildings and goods remained intact.

Chu Chen stepped outside the mall and saw that the buildings within roughly a two-kilometer radius were real, but beyond that lay a gray, misty void. Even the cars parked or driving on the roads were empty shells.

A thought struck him: Could it be that he had brought this entire area with him through time? This was utterly surreal.

Frantically, he dashed back into the mall and found a clothing store. Facing the mirror, he saw a young man covered in scars, clad in ancient robes, standing about six feet tall—far more handsome than in his previous life.

With such looks, even without beauty filters on short videos, he could captivate thousands of young women.

How could he get out of here? The thought flashed through Chu Chen’s mind.

In an instant, he opened his eyes and looked up at the familiar thatched roof and the bare walls of his home.

“I’m back again—am I traveling with my mind?” Chu Chen murmured.

With a focused thought, he found himself once more inside the familiar mall.

The goods had not changed, nor had the buildings.

“I can move freely back and forth,” Chu Chen thought, reaching into the convenience store by the mall’s entrance to grab a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the counter.

With a thought, he returned to his humble home.

Holding the cigarette, he quickly tore open the pack and lit one up, his eyes shining with excitement.

“I’ve actually brought a huge shopping mall with me through time.”

Once again, he focused and returned to the mall space, strolling around its perimeter.

Besides the mall, he saw many tall buildings and shops nearby—and to his delight, even a police station.

Looking at the scene before him, Chu Chen shouted, “I’m like an ancient Doraemon—why should life be anything less than wonderful?”

Back in his home, he now held a bag of rice, a large chunk of pork, some vegetables, and an iron pot.

What followed kept him busier than ever.

In-out-in-out-in… ignoring the pain in his body until sweat poured down his face and he gasped for breath.

The mud-brick house was soon filled with various foods and seasonings. To avoid suspicion, Chu Chen tore off all the packaging and stored everything in various clay pots.

He also raided the pharmacy beside the mall, gathering a multitude of medicines to dress his wounds and popped a few anti-inflammatory pills.

Staring at his injuries, Chu Chen’s eyes hardened with a fierce glare.

That casino beating had been ruthless—not only fists and kicks but some wounds were deep and cracked.

They had even used a knife.

“When I’m healed, I’ll make them regret it. Otherwise, this whole time slip would have been for nothing,” he vowed grimly.

Having finished, he sat quietly on the bed, waiting for Li Qinglian’s return.

Night fell, and Chu Chen lay there, his body patched up with white bandages.

The creaking of the worn door announced Li Qinglian’s weary return.

Seeing Chu Chen on the bed, she sighed and headed towards the kitchen.

“Aah!” A sudden cry made her rush back into the room.

Inside, Chu Chen grinned at the panicked woman before him.

“What’s wrong, my dear?”

“There’s a ghost in the kitchen… those things—the rice jar is full, and there’s meat,” she said, trembling as she leaned closer to him.

Chu Chen wrapped his arm around her waist and said, “Don’t be afraid. I brought everything back myself.”

“You brought these? Where did you get the money to buy all this? And it’s too extravagant—ordinary families can’t afford so much fine rice.”

Realizing Chu Chen was holding her tightly, Li Qinglian tried to pull away, but his strong hands held her fast.

“You’re my wife. There’s no reason to break away from your husband,” Chu Chen said with a mischievous smile.

Li Qinglian stared at him as if he were a ghost. Since coming back to life, he seemed to have changed a great deal.

Before, he called her a worthless woman; when had he ever tenderly called her “wife”?

Moreover, having been married for over a year without a single touch, the villagers even whispered that Chu Chen was impotent—so why was he now wearing such a sly smile?

“Go ahead and cook. Those things were given to me by a fairy friend,” Chu Chen said gently.

Tears streamed down Li Qinglian’s face as she gazed at the tender man before her.

She thought she understood now—perhaps Chu Chen had sold her body for money.

Any talk of a fairy friend was probably just a cover story.

“I know you always thought I was too frail to work and maybe selling me was for the best so you could at least eat your fill for a few days, but this is too extravagant,” Li Qinglian said through her tears.

What a mess, Chu Chen felt his head ache.

The bastard image he had in this kind-hearted girl’s eyes seemed deeply rooted.

He turned and pulled her into his arms.

“Qinglian, I was wrong before. That beating at the casino woke me up. I’m no longer the scoundrel I was. Just watch—I’ll give you the most beautiful life in the world.”

“And when I was dying, I dreamed of an old man with a white beard who taught me many things.”

Li Qinglian rested her head on Chu Chen’s shoulder, disbelief and comfort mingling in her eyes.

It all felt like a dream—could it be that he had truly changed?