I secretly sold grain at age 60

Chapter 4 The Wonders of Space

After a sleepless night, Gao Huaiyi lay in bed for a long time, unable to fall asleep.

On one hand, his mind was filled with the image of Gao Huai-ren, the lazy good-for-nothing who had come to his door yesterday, wanting to freeload and showing absolutely no respect. On the other hand, there was the image of his empty grain jar, his family's meager meals of thin soup and water, and their impoverished state of hunger and deprivation. Looking at his parents' faces, aged by years of hard work, and at his sisters' emaciated, poorly fed and clothed appearance, he felt a pang of sorrow and anxiety. He regretted not being able to openly use the abundant food from his spatial storage to improve their lives.

Finally, as dawn broke, he heard his parents getting up, packing their farm tools, and preparing to go to the fields to earn work points. Gao Huaiyi deliberately frowned, clutching the wound he had sustained from falling up the mountain the day before, and pretended to be pale and weak.

Seeing this, his mother hurriedly stepped forward to ask him what was wrong. Gao Huaiyi spoke in a low voice, saying that he had not slept well last night, his wounds were aching, and he felt weak and powerless. He was really not feeling well and could not go to work in the fields today. He wanted to stay home and rest for a day.

Seeing that he looked unwell and feeling sorry for his injury from climbing the mountain yesterday, his parents didn't think much of it. His mother simply told him to rest at home and not to move around too much and aggravate his wound. After saying that, she took her younger sisters, carrying bamboo baskets, hoes, and sickles, and hurriedly went out to the production team's fields to earn work points.

Once the family had completely disappeared into the distance and the courtyard was completely quiet, with no sound of human voices to be heard, Gao Huaiyi slowly stood up, his eyes instantly becoming serious.

He had already planned it out in his mind. Taking advantage of being alone at home today without being disturbed, he would quietly go to the remote and deserted depths of the back mountain to properly test the various abilities of his personal supernatural space.

He carefully closed the courtyard gate, bypassed the main road at the village entrance, and chose a secluded path with dense vegetation and few people to head towards the back mountain. He cautiously observed his surroundings along the way, fearing he might encounter idle villagers or a prying eye like Gao Huai-ren. He walked until he reached the most secluded and rarely visited corner of the dense forest in the back mountain, making sure there was no one around and it was safe enough not to be seen, before Gao Huai-yi stopped and began to focus on testing the space.

He first stood still, trying to sense the limit of how far the object could be stored in his spatial storage by telepathically moving towards the small stone beside him. He repeatedly moved his feet, trying different approaches, and gradually figured out the pattern. He realized that objects could be silently stored within a 5-meter radius of him. Beyond that distance, there was no reaction. Similarly, there was a fixed 5-meter range for retrieving items from his spatial storage; he couldn't retrieve them remotely at will.

After figuring out the distance for sending and receiving items, Gao Huaiyi became interested and continued to conduct various experiments.

He bent down and picked up the pebbles of varying sizes from the ground, storing them one by one into his spatial storage. A moment later, with a thought, he neatly took them all out and put them back in their original places, storing and storing them freely and without hindrance. Next, he gathered up the dry, yellowed weeds and fallen branches and firewood from the ground, storing them in his spatial storage in large handfuls, so that he could use them for heating and burning in the winter. He quietly stockpiled supplies without anyone noticing.

While testing, they slowly made their way deeper into the forest. Not long after, a rustling sound came from the bushes, and a plump, robust wild rabbit suddenly darted out, frantically trying to escape. Gao Huaiyi's eyes lit up with joy. He quickly stepped forward, using his youthful agility to accelerate to within five meters of the rabbit, successfully capturing the live rabbit and storing it in his spatial storage.

The others, standing outside the space and looking at the wild rabbits trapped inside, clearly sensed something was amiss. Normally, the rabbits ran and jumped at a perfectly normal speed, but now, confined within this uninhabited space, they moved with unusual speed and agility, much faster than they usually were outside.

They immediately entered the space to observe, but as soon as others entered, the rabbit's running speed returned to its original state.

Gao Huaiyi was startled and immediately went in and out of the space repeatedly to verify.

He then discovered that as long as he stepped into the space, the speed of movement of all living beings and the passage of time were exactly the same as outside, with no change in the normal flow. However, as soon as someone else left the space and it was empty, the overall flow of time inside suddenly accelerated.

He patiently experimented and compared the results again and again, meticulously calculating the time difference between the inside and outside.

Ultimately, a startling conclusion was reached with utter shock:

While a normal day passes outside, three days can pass within his personal space! The difference in flow rate between inside and outside is a full three times.

Upon discovering this enormous secret, Gao Huaiyi was both excited and overjoyed, his heart overflowing with undisguised delight.

He never imagined that the five-acre space he brought with him from his transmigration wouldn't just be a place for storing goods and food and isolating him from outside detection, but also possess the miraculous ability to accelerate time. Three times the time flow meant he could cultivate food, dry meat, and stockpile all supplies in advance. While others could only do one thing a day, he could use the space to prepare three times as much. One season's worth of food could be grown outside, but three seasons could be grown inside.

In the future, one can secretly raise poultry, dry goods, and accelerate crop growth, allowing them to quickly accumulate a vast fortune without anyone noticing. In times of hardship and difficulty, possessing such an incredible asset is like holding unlimited opportunities, ensuring that one will never again have to watch their family suffer from hunger and hardship year after year.

Suppressing his surging excitement, Gao Huaiyi didn't linger in the mountains any longer. Carrying the wild rabbit he had caught, he slowly and discreetly returned home. He was extra cautious along the way, deliberately concealing his prey, afraid of being seen by passing villagers and causing gossip.

Returning to his empty home, he immediately locked the front door, bolted it, and sealed all the doors, inside and out, to prevent any outsiders from peeping or eavesdropping. He then quickly found a knife, boiled water to sharpen it, and carefully processed the rabbit's fur and internal organs, thoroughly cleaning the rabbit meat.

In those days, every household lived in poverty, their homes were simple and cramped, and their kitchens were completely bare. There were no star anise, no cinnamon, no Sichuan peppercorns, no chili peppers, not even a drop of sesame oil or sauce. The empty space was devoid of any seasonings to remove the fishy smell and enhance the aroma. In desperation, Gao Huaiyi could only put the prepared rabbit meat into a pot of water, sprinkle in a little bit of the little coarse salt he had left, and slowly simmer it over a low flame to make a pot of pure, original rabbit soup.

The firewood slowly burned, the water in the iron pot gradually boiled, and the fresh aroma of rabbit meat slowly wafted out.

Gao Huaiyi stood by the stove, watching the heat and slowly simmering the rabbit meat while keeping a close watch on the outside. Before his parents and sisters came home from work, he quietly stewed the rabbit meat until it was tender and flavorful, so that the rich aroma of the meat would not linger around the house and let the neighbors smell it.

Not long after, familiar footsteps and weary laughter came from outside the door. The parents, who had worked hard in the fields all day, returned with their younger sisters, covered in dust and with aching backs. The family had only eaten a few mouthfuls of coarse grains and wild vegetables all day, and their stomachs were already rumbling with hunger. They hadn't borrowed any food for dinner yet, and they were convinced that what they would get tonight would be another pot of bland, tasteless, and watery porridge made from wild vegetables and grains.

But as soon as they entered, everyone was immediately hit by an unprecedentedly rich aroma of meat. They were all stunned, their faces filled with astonishment, unable to believe their noses.

The parents looked bewildered and confused, and quickly asked where the aroma was coming from. The older sister, younger sister, and younger brother's eyes lit up instantly, staring intently at the stove, their eyes filled with anticipation and disbelief. Growing up, they had lived in poverty and hardship, and hadn't tasted any meat or fish for half a year. On ordinary days, let alone eating meat or drinking soup, they rarely even had a full meal.

When Gao Huaiyi gently lifted the pot lid, a steaming pot of tender and tempting rabbit soup appeared before their eyes. The family was overjoyed, their faces filled with disbelief and emotion. Amidst their surprise and delight, the parents also felt a hidden worry and fear. They quickly lowered their voices and nervously inquired about the origin of the rabbit meat, fearing that its illegitimate source would be discovered by outsiders, leading to accusations of speculation and illegal hunting in the mountains, which would bring trouble and disaster upon the whole family.

Gao Huaiyi had already prepared his explanation and calmly responded, saying, "I caught this on the mountain. Shh, don't make a sound, no one saw me." Hearing this, his parents were relieved. "Your injury hasn't healed yet, why did you go up the mountain again? You can't go up the mountain on your own anymore, I heard there are wolves in the mountains." Seeing his parents' concern, he didn't say anything, just nodded. Seeing his family's hungry, happy, and anxious expressions, his heart was filled with warmth and heartache. He silently thought that this was just the beginning. With the magical space that could accelerate time, he would definitely plan carefully step by step to protect his family's safety and well-being, so that his loved ones would never suffer from hunger and hardship again, and he could finally get rid of this impoverished life of hunger and cold.