The Chosen Little Home

The doctor's skill exceeded Song Weishi's expectations—she sewed up Xie Huiqing's wounds completely.

The surgery took twenty minutes, and Xie Huiqing was brought out. The conditions here weren't ideal, but this was the best they could do.

They'd done everything possible; the rest was left to Xie Huiqing's own immunity and the medicine.

Song Weishi had plenty of anti-inflammatories on hand, still usable, and she gave some to Xie Huiqing before leaving the rest in her room.

Mei He and Mei Anlu bathed first upon reaching the villa, then wolfed down a hearty meal. Their stomachs hadn't seen meat in a long time, so their food was relatively light.

They'd need to recuperate before adding richer nourishment.

Mei Anlu's hand trembled as she held her chopsticks, sobbing quietly as she ate. She'd thought she was going to die, but here she was—a twist of fate. Heaven never sealed off every path. They'd been saved at the last moment.

Song Weishi waited until they'd finished before the system chimed in: "Congratulations, host, on rescuing the doctor's family. You've earned 10 Points and 1,000 energy."

At the same time, a new segment of the plot unlocked in Song Weishi's mind.

In the original story, the mother and daughter, having nearly exhausted their remaining food, planned to head for Huihai City. But no sooner had they stepped outside than they were ambushed by former neighbors who'd spotted them earlier. The neighbors stole all their food and water and tied them up.

Without Huihai City's supply, the surrounding areas descended into chaos in less than a week—a living hell on earth.

When those people saw that the authorities weren't sending water or grain, they ate the mother and daughter's rations, then slaughtered the pair and used them as emergency food reserves.

Song Weishi found it utterly sickening. She'd been through such things before, but it felt different when it was people who'd shown her ill will versus these two.

She'd felt a sense of shared doom before, but now she found those people even more detestable. She should have killed those beasts without mercy.

The author had described this interlude in vivid detail to highlight the cruelty of these times.

It was as if Huihai City's fall marked the loss of the last shred of humanity.

The two people who'd been eaten were the tragedy of the era. Evil people existed everywhere; hardship only hastened the change in human nature. Song Weishi thought that even if the mother and daughter had escaped, without someone like Xie Huiqing to hold things together, they'd have been devoured by the next person with malicious intent.

She turned her gaze toward the room where Xie Huiqing lay. They needed to get her back on her feet quickly. This kind of life, after all, was fleeting—a momentary reprieve.

She pulled out her phone. Listening to those people earlier today had felt odd. Outsiders seemed to misunderstand Xie Huiqing—she was the one protecting everyone inside and outside the city, yet what came out of that man's mouth wasn't kind.

Song Weishi was puzzled. Was he just a jerk, or did the general public truly think that way?

Now that she had time and a connection, she opened the city's news feed.

The signal came and went, the white screen spinning in a circle, until a bold headline refreshed on the page.

"District One's Power Broker Xie Huiqing Dies Suddenly? Hengyuan Conglomerate's Huan Ruiyi Takes Over as Director!"

Song Weishi narrowed her eyes and scrolled down. What was going on?

When had Xie Huiqing died suddenly?

This news was fresh, accompanied by a photo of the carnage at the Research Institute. It seemed Hengyuan Biotech didn't intend to hide what had happened there.

But these people had simply decided Xie Huiqing was dead—or rather, even if she weren't, she'd be killed eventually.

So they declared her dead outright, the better to seize power.

Song Weishi wasn't surprised by this tactic. She'd seen such methods in her original world. The best way to extract someone's value was to silence them forever.

People who faked their deaths and fled were merely forced by circumstance. But Xie Huiqing really had been driven out—if she'd stayed, she wouldn't have survived.

A carpet search would take time, so the priority was to heal during this window and rally for a comeback.

Opinions within the city were split. Some, trusting the reports, believed Xie Huiqing was dead and wailed in mourning. Others doubted it, but there was no denying life in the city was growing harder by the day.

Everyone voiced discontent over Xie Huiqing's departure, since their lives had objectively worsened. When she was around, it hadn't been like this.

No matter how many complaints or grievances they'd aired before, they could say nothing now. Anyone could feel the tangible benefits Xie Huiqing had brought as a leader. With a new power holder, everyone was thrust straight into hell mode.

If life in the city was this bad, outside was even worse. Who knew how many had already paid for this conspiracy with their lives.

After reading a few reports, Song Weishi had a solid grasp of the city's attitude toward Xie Huiqing. Those in the know rarely cursed her—they were all bemoaning why things had gotten even worse.

The medical equipment shipped back from Binhai City had also been seized by Hengyuan. The city's residents knew about it but couldn't fight back, forced to watch them run rampant. Their resentment was boiling over.

They hadn't quite reached open rebellion, but Song Weishi figured it was close.

She recounted the situation to the others. Jiang Qingrou laughed, "So all those people complaining about Huihai City's facilities never experienced anything worse. I thought it was already pretty great before."

Since arriving, she'd felt Huihai City was paradise. The people inside cursing the government didn't know how good they had it—they had no idea what a living hell it was outside.

Now they'd gotten a taste, and no one was complaining anymore.

Ke Shaoyi cradled the calico cat, which climbed nimbly onto her shoulder. She stroked its head and said, "Exactly. People who've never left Huihai City always think the outside is better, but those who've been out know what a greenhouse they live in."

The three of them had crossed the snowfields together—or rather, Song Weishi felt it most deeply. She'd truly gone through fire and ice, walking the line between life and death.

With nothing else to do, they spent the afternoon discussing in the living room, then headed out at dusk to forage wild vegetables and search the area systematically.

This was the best time to clear out nearby dangers. As for the coast below the hillside, they had no intention of going there.

During the day, nothing seemed dangerous below. Beyond the tidal flats lay a beach with clear blue water, fish swimming by occasionally—nothing threatening in sight.

But yesterday's scene was still vivid. Song Weishi's heart raced whenever she looked at the beach; staring too long made her dizzy. She didn't know if it counted as post-traumatic stress, but she didn't want to linger by the shore. It meant danger.

She gave it a brief glance and hurried down, leaving the others to explain things to the newcomers.

Mei He watched her retreating figure thoughtfully, then stayed up top to listen to Xie Huiying's introduction.

The giant squid underwater appeared without pattern, perhaps only at night. But thinking of her earlier encounter made Song Weishi breathless. She likely wouldn't set foot on that beach again.

She returned to the villa first, planning to go upstairs for a soak and some rest. Today's fight had gotten her limbs moving, though she felt a little rusty after days without action.

Song Weishi did a few sets of exercises first. She had training equipment in her space—she'd used it before in the snow to keep warm.

She worked up a sweat under the fan, then stepped into the bathtub, locking the door behind her and sinking in.

She pulled open the blinds, letting light flood the bathroom. The warm water eased her earlier tension, and Song Weishi let out a satisfied sigh, splashing water on her face.

From her space, she took out a tub of ice cream—one of the things the system's little cart had dispensed earlier.

The signal upstairs was poor, so with nothing else to do, she opened the system to check today's cart.

Today's cart items:

High-tech thermal suit set ×10

Glow-on-contact lights ×10

Hiking boots ×1 pair

Song Weishi was utterly stunned. If the past two days were coincidental, today the system was genuinely sending her junk. Hiking boots were for snowy mountains, and what was a thermal suit for? Did they need such things in this heat?

She fiddled with the water in the bathroom, trying to fill all the buckets that had refreshed over the past few days. She hadn't been idle—the water here was free, after all.

As the water gurgled, Song Weishi glanced at the system, which displayed a sheepish emoticon: (■_■？)

"Did I use up all my luck before? Now even little buns won't show up."

The system didn't reply, only: °ω°

She was a bit speechless but decided not to press further. The system had helped her a lot before; a few harmless tricks weren't a big deal. She had enough stock to last her a long time.

Besides, wild vegetables were everywhere here—they could eat them for a lifetime. If food ran out, just dig up some weeds. The hills were unclaimed, and they'd never run out.

She ate a raspberry-flavored ice cream and then a kung fu red bean popsicle. Soaking in the tub while enjoying ice cream was blissful; her mood lifted entirely.

Since everyone wouldn't be back for a while, Song Weishi didn't rush downstairs. She snacked on some more stash items, waiting for dinner.

Her finger swiped, continuing to browse the system panel. The mall should refresh within the next day or two.

Suddenly, her hand froze. Without her noticing, new items had appeared in the mall:

【Golden Legend】Travel RV—go anywhere you want.

A beautiful white RV spun silently on the mall page, radiating golden light. The moment she saw it, Song Weishi couldn't look away.

What was this? She wanted a little home of her own here—no more drifting, a true home that belonged only to her, one no one else could share.

This was the chosen dream home. Song Weishi couldn't wait to buy it, but she saw the price tag: 3,999 Points (amazing deal).