After Su Jin and Lu Hao reached home, they took a shower and jumped into the Wood Spirit Dimension together.
They looked at the large empty fields in the dimension and decided that the first course of action tomorrow was to go to the farmers' market to buy some seeds. They should sow the fields first and see how the crops grew. If they could cultivate their own lands, they would never have to worry about a food shortage again.
"Lu Hao, do you want to tell your father about the apocalypse too?"
Su Jin had thought of Lu Hao's father a long time ago, but she never mentioned him because Lu Hao did not.
"He's with my stepmother and stepsister now, so it'd be hard to tell him these things. I'll find some time to call him out separately and warn him."
Lu Hao frowned. His feelings for his father Lu Guanhai were complicated. Although he had grown up with his father, the two of them rarely spoke to each other and were not close. Later, when Lu Guanhai remarried, Lu Hao was already an adult so he did not protest. However, since he did not get along with his stepmother, he found an excuse to move out of their house.
Before Lu Hao married Su Jin, Lu Guanhai gave him half of his life savings. Lu Hao wanted to turn the money down, but then his stepmother and stepsister barged onto his doorstep and demanded that Lu Hao return the money to them.
Return the money to them? That was his father's money, so how could they claim it for themselves?
That ticked Lu Hao off, and he did not give them a single cent. Lu Guanhai stared at his wife and stepdaughter, shaking in anger. How had he not known that this was their true nature? Lu Hao was his flesh and blood. Was it wrong for him to give his daughter-in-law a little monetary gift?
Either way, the two sides had declared war with each other. There was no chance of them reconciling now.
Thankfully, Lu Guanhai and the women stayed in the next city over. Since that incident, Lu Guanhai never visited Lu Hao with them in tow again.
He was probably worried he would disturb his son's peace.
"Alright, stop frowning. You won't look as handsome if you frown."
Su Jin rubbed Lu Hao's brow.
"Will you leave me if I look less handsome?"
Lu Hao gripped Su Jin's fair hand. It was soft as silk.
"No, of course not! You're so strong, and handsome, and cool. I'm more worried about you leaving me," Su Jin said jokingly.
"Don't say that. I'll never lose you again."
That was right. In the past life, she managed to lose Lu Hao, but in this life, they were never going to lose sight of each other again.
At the same time, they had not forgotten why they came into this dimension. They were here to train.
Time moved differently inside and outside the dimension. The two of them worked out for a long time inside, but only half an hour had passed outside.
Su Jin and Lu Hao then ran around the stream in the dimension for as far as they could go, but they still could not find its source. It seemed like they would not be able to finish exploring this dimension for some time yet.
The couple re-emerged, covered in sweat. They had no choice but to go for another bath, and this time Su Jin splurged a little by adding half a carton of milk to the tub. She lowered herself into the bathwater and sighed in satisfaction.
Just then, Lu Hao opened the bathroom door and saw his fair Su Jin soaking in the milk. A milk bath should be enjoyed to the fullest, so he squeezed himself in as well, ignoring Su Jin's protests.
"We're just bathing, okay?" Su Jin huffed.
"Yes, just bathing."
A few minutes later, Su Jin found herself sprawled against the edge of the bathtub, her fingers gripping the handrail tightly. What happened to "just bathing"?
And so the curtains came down~~~
The next day, Su Jin and Lu Hao arrived at her grandparents' place early in the morning. Everyone had agreed to gather here in the morning last night.
When they arrived, Su Jin's parents and Lin Tianzhen's family were already there. When she saw that they were all wearing workout clothes and panting as they jogged diligently, Su Jin felt reassured. It seemed like everyone was starting to train themselves.
Even Lin Xiuyuan, who often slept in, had woken up early. Lin Cheng was taking him to school to ask for a long leave of absence in a bit, using an excuse that Lin Xiuyuan had come up with himself. As for what the excuse was, Su Jin had no idea.
"Su Jin, is that plant special ability of yours strong?" Lin Xiuyuan approached her and asked.
"What, do you want one too?" Su Jin laughed.
"Tch, as if I'd want an ability like that! I gotta get something like a fire-type! My idol is Firefirst Ace, hoho!"
Lin Xiuyuan had spent all night too excited to sleep too. He kept fantasizing about his special ability, and after much consideration, he decided that the fire was still the coolest one. If he got that ability, he was going to use fists of fire just like Ace did.
He only drifted off to sleep later when the possibility that he might not gain a special ability at all.
"Lin Xiuyuan, every special ability has the potential to be really strong or really weak. It all depends on how the wielder uses it," Su Jin said solemnly.
For instance, she thought that her wood-type ability was pretty strong. It came down to how she made use of it.
"Sis Su Jin, will I get a special ability too?"
Mao Qiqi had been listening quietly nearby, but now she tilted her head and asked Su Jin. It would be great if she could someday become as strong as Sis Su Jin.
"Of course, Qiqi. That's why you have to train yourself as much as possible now, and make sure to eat until you're full every day," Su Jin said with a smile.
"Okay! I ran a lot with my mom today." Her childish words made everyone laugh.
Now that Su Jin and Lu Hao were here, everyone began discussing the division of labor.
Uncle Cheng and Lin Xiuyuan had to go to school to apply for Lin Xiuyuan's leave first. Meanwhile, Aunt Yunxiang would check out the warehouses and wait for Uncle Cheng to return before making a decision.
Aunt Tianzhen and Uncle Zhihang went to the farmers' market to buy rice, flour, oil, and other food items in bulk. Su Jin's parents went to a local wholesaler to buy daily necessities like thick clothing, blankets, and toilet paper.
Su Jin and Lu Hao intended to go to a seed seller to buy seeds in bulk. The others did not understand why they wanted to get seeds, but they did not enquire further because they were all busy with their own inventory lists. They had to clarify what to buy from now on, because if they missed something now, they would never get the chance to purchase these things again.
Even the grandparents wanted to go to the market to buy some vegetables. When Su Jin winked at her grandmother, the latter simply said that she was staying back to watch the house. Her old husband Lin Yunguo could take his three-wheeled bicycle to the market by himself.
Lin Yunguo had no objections. He preferred to shop on his own anyway, because he could never buy to his heart's content when he went out with Li Xiuying. Li Xiuying always complained that he bought too much and the food would go bad if they could not finish it in time.
Su Jin purposely stayed behind, and Lu Hao even helped Grandpa push his bicycle out of the gate. Grandpa Lin Yunguo got onto his bike and rode away happily.
"Alright, girl. Tell me what you wanna say." Li Xiuying broke the silence after Su Jin and Lu Hao locked the door, closed the windows, and drew the curtains.
Just then, Su Jin suddenly made a piece of jade the size of her palm appear in her hand. Li Xiuying rubbed her eyes and looked at Su Jin again. Had her granddaughter just pulled out a piece of jade from thin air?
"Listen, Grandma. When Lu Hao and I got engaged back then, he gave me a pendant that his mother left for him. During my trip to G Province, I was accidentally sucked into the pendant. This jade tablet here is something I took out from inside the dimension."
Su Jin then summoned her vines and plucked off a leaf, pricking Li Xiuying's finger with it.
Li Xiuying was oblivious as she felt a hint of pain from her fingertip. The next second, she found herself somewhere completely unfamiliar to her, with Su Jin and Lu Hao by her side.
In the name of the goddess Guanyin, what on earth was she seeing here? To think that such a heavenly place existed. The dimension was filled with green grass and clean air. The moment she came in, she felt as though she had stepped into a hidden paradise like the ones she saw on TV.
"So this place was passed down the generations in Lu Hao's family?"
Li Xiuying was stunned, but she did not lose her wits. She had not forgotten what Su Jin told her earlier.
"That's right, Grandma. But my parents and even my grandparents had no idea this place existed, and I never heard anything about a magical dimension passed down by my family either. Even so, Lil Jin was the one who activated it, so I think she's fated to have it. Its current owner is Lil Jin, after all." Lu Hao did not want Grandma to overthink things, so he explained it to her dutifully.
Su Jin and Lu Hao then took Grandma around Lu Mansion, the fields, and the stream. They told her that the time flowed differently here, that they could store things, and that the place even kept their food fresh.
Li Xiuying was impressed. This was practically a divine treasure!
They sat down around a stone table in Lu Mansion, and Su Jin rested her face in her hands as she asked Li Xiuying, "Grandma, do you think I should tell our family about this dimension now?"
Li Xiuying had guessed that Su Jin had these thoughts in mind, so she replied, "Lil Jin, at the end of the day, this place belongs to Lu Hao's family. Is it alright for you to bring me in here like this?"