TYH-DCI | Chapter 3 — Mine, Mine, All Mine!!

Jiang Lai didn’t know where Wang Cuihua hid the family’s money.

But that didn’t stop her.

After all, she was very good at finding things.

She didn’t waste any time and went straight into Wang Cuihua and her husband’s bedroom.

She first searched the obvious places—cabinets, drawers, anywhere that could hold cash or tickets.

There was only a few yuan in a bedside drawer, but she didn’t take it.

It was too obvious. If it disappeared, it would be discovered immediately.

Next, she checked the floor tiles and the corners of the room.

Still nothing.

After a long search that left her sweating, she found no hidden stash at all.

Jiang Lai straightened up and carefully scanned the room again.

Her gaze finally settled on the chamber pot at the door.

Inside was yellow liquid, and a faint, foul smell drifted out.

Suppressing her disgust, she moved the chamber pot aside.

As expected, the floor tile beneath it could be lifted.

Underneath was a pit—its opening too small to see its full size.

Inside the pit sat a wooden box wrapped tightly in layer after layer of oil paper, perfectly wedged in place.

At the top of the box was a rectangular opening, sealed with a long nail so it could be opened for storing and retrieving items.

The opening in the floor wasn’t large enough to lift the box out.

Fortunately, she had her space.

She lightly placed her fingers on the box—and with a single thought, it disappeared into her storage space.

Only then could she see the pit clearly: about half a meter wide and half a meter deep.

She didn’t open the box immediately.

Instead, she quickly restored the floor tile and moved the chamber pot back into place.

After confirming the room showed no obvious signs of disturbance, she quietly slipped out.

Next, she entered Jiang Rou’s and Jiang Tianshi’s rooms.

Inside the three rooms, she found a few scattered coins hidden in mouse holes—together totaling a little over ten yuan.

Mine, mine, all mine!

Jiang Lai silently screamed in excitement.

In Jiang Rou’s room, under the bed, she also found a mouse hole containing a handkerchief-wrapped pair of jadeite earrings.

The color and translucency were excellent.

Jiang Lai studied them thoughtfully.

These didn’t look like something the Jiang family should have.

And she had never heard of any wealthy or influential relatives on either the Jiang or Wang side.

But considering Jiang Rou’s delicate “white lotus” appearance and her well-maintained social reputation, it was possible these were gifted by someone.

Either way, in this era, something like this couldn’t be openly displayed.

Frankly speaking, these earrings weren’t even worth a jin of fine grain on the open market right now.

She didn’t dwell on it.

After restoring all signs of disturbance, she stored everything in her space and left.

Time was tight. She couldn’t afford to linger.

Thinking of the braised pork she had eaten yesterday, Jiang Lai rubbed her growling stomach.

Then she turned and headed toward the state-run restaurant.

The moment she stepped inside, the system’s cute voice rang out.

“Ding! A special sign-in location detected. Does the host wish to sign in?”

Only then did she remember she could sign in once per day.

“Sign in. Confirm sign in,” she immediately replied in her mind.

“Ding! Sign-in successful. Reward obtained: 1 cubic meter of portable space. This space can store living beings and does not merge with previous space. Also received: two industrial coupons.”

After the notification, the system quickly went offline.

Although the reward was only a small extra space and two industrial coupons, Jiang Lai was very satisfied.

A space that could hold living beings was extremely useful.

At this hour, most people were already at work, so the restaurant wasn’t crowded.

She boldly ordered several dishes and had them packed into aluminum lunchboxes she bought along the way.

She even bought all the remaining steamed buns and meat buns—over a dozen in total.

Leaving the restaurant, carrying so many lunchboxes attracted attention, so she quickly slipped into a nearby alley.

In a hidden corner, she stored everything into her time-stopped space.

Just in case she didn’t adapt well to Heilongjiang food, she could always treat herself later with this stockpile.

With her hands now empty, she exited from the other end of the alley and headed to the supply and marketing cooperative.

As someone from her past life and this one, she was a true southern girl.

She knew Heilongjiang would be cold—but not exactly how cold.

Since Guangdong winters weren’t too harsh, the store didn’t carry extremely thick winter clothing.

But there was plenty of fabric and cotton.

With cloth coupons and cotton tickets in hand, she didn’t hesitate to spend them.

She only kept two cloth coupons and two cotton coupons.

The rest were all used.

She bought two thicker cotton coats and pants, plus two sets of thinner clothes for daily wear.

The rest was exchanged for fabric and cotton.

Many people were there buying supplies for children going down to the countryside, so she didn’t stand out.

But carrying a large bundle was inconvenient, so she repeated her trick—finding a blind corner and storing everything into her space before going back inside.

She then bought daily necessities in double portions: thermos bottles, soap, towels, snow cream, and more.

In the food section, she stocked up on peanuts, melon seeds, candies, and pastries.

She also bought gloves and rubber shoes.

Two pairs of army-green Liberation shoes, one off-white pair, and a pair of black rain boots.

Three pairs of gloves, just in case one wore out.

On a whim, she also bought a pair of red-and-white canvas sneakers.

A pair of Feiyue shoes cost 10 yuan and required industrial coupons—but fortunately, she had them from the system.

After squeezing through the crowd and finishing her shopping spree, she had spent half her money and a large portion of her coupons.

Looking at her empty wrist, she decided it was time to buy a watch.

But at the counter, she learned a Seagull brand watch cost 160 yuan plus 12 industrial coupons.

She didn’t have that many coupons.

So after leaving the store and storing everything away, she headed straight for the black market remembered from the original host’s memory.

The black market was quite far—about an hour’s walk.

It was located in a maze-like network of alleys.

At the entrance, someone was keeping watch.

Not wanting to waste time searching inside, she walked straight up and asked quietly:

“Do you know anyone selling watches? Preferably Seagull brand.”

The man looked at her, surprised for a moment, then sized her up.

Seeing she wasn’t there to “report” anyone, he lowered his voice:

“Yes. But it’s expensive—200 yuan, no coupons required. You still want it?”

“Yes, but it must be at least 95% new. I won’t take anything too used,” she replied.

“Don’t worry. It’s brand new.”

He quickly left and returned shortly after, bringing the watch.

After inspecting it briefly and confirming there were no visible defects, she paid immediately.

Exchange completed—clean and efficient.

“Oh right,” she added. “Help me collect eggs and fine grain. I’ll come back for them tomorrow at this time.”

She handed him a yuan.

“This is your errand fee. I’ll give you another yuan when I pick up the goods.”

A simple job and easy money.

The man agreed without hesitation.