Land Xixi's house "became magical"!
Early in the morning, when Land Xixi got up, she found herself staring at the snack cabinet opposite the bed.
Looking carefully upwards.
There was a small part of the package of tomato-flavored potato chips on top of the cabinet.
Still in a bit of a daze, she pulled the quilt over her head and lay down again. After a while, thinking about the bag of potato chips just now, Land Xixi fell into contemplation. She clearly remembered that after her persistent and hard struggle yesterday, she had finished the super-sized bag of potato chips. The packaging was thrown into the trash can!
Look, isn't it right there now!
So now, where did the potato chips standing on the shelf come from?
Looking around, Land Xixi found that it was not just the bag of potato chips that reappeared.
Look, in the bag on the table, the Valencia orange that she had eaten one yesterday has also returned to its original quantity.
Opening the refrigerator, the 2 eggs she used for fried rice yesterday reappeared in the egg tray.
Could it be that the house has "become magical"? It actually "refreshed" supplies!
Or is she mentally confused?
Wait, let her think about it, this might not be entirely a bad thing!
If the house really "refreshes" supplies, doesn't this mean that Land Xixi is going to get rich?
Imagine this – if she purchases one of everything she typically uses daily and stocks it in the room, she'd never have to shop again. All she needs to do is wait for the magical "refresh." Hehe! Consequently, apart from monthly rent and utility bills, her other expenditures would practically be zero! Moreover, she could potentially turn this into a money-making venture! Regardless of how pricey something is, it refreshes punctually every day. Doesn't that mean she'd have a perpetual supply of goods?
And what about diamonds? Money? Can they undergo this refreshing process too? Contemplating this, Land Xixi felt compelled to conduct a series of controlled experiments to ascertain precisely what can be endlessly refreshed and the frequency of this refresh.
After two or three days of experimentation, she discovered that not the entire house has this magical refreshing ability. Only the small single room she rented, along with its accompanying small balcony, exhibits this phenomenon. Additionally, not everything is eligible for a refresh; it's limited to items commonly used in daily life. Precious metals, treasures, and banknotes won't undergo a refresh. Furthermore, only items left in the room, such as containers, can reappear after midnight the next day. For instance, if an empty potato chip bag remains in the room, the following day, an entirely identical bag of potato chips will appear in the same spot. If the packaging leaves the room, it won't undergo a refresh. Of course, the reappeared potato chips and the packaging from the previous day will coexist. However, only the refrigerator has the ability to maintain freshness.
When it comes to the mechanism, Land Xixi confesses she's in the dark; it's a puzzling mystery to her too! This time, she genuinely struck gold. Someone who has never even stumbled upon five yuan as a stroke of luck now finds herself possessing a "magic touch"!
Let's delve into Land Xixi's stroke of luck. Within her modest single room sits a recently acquired mini-fridge. Although the shared house features a more substantial refrigerator in the living room, its perpetual state of uncleanliness is the result of inconsiderate housemates. Moreover, someone seems to have a habit of helping themselves to Land Xixi's fruits and vegetables without consent.
While it's usually just a garlic head or a single chili, the cumulative effect of such occurrences prompted Land Xixi to take action. Confronting someone over these minor items seemed disproportionate. Frustratingly, the common retort is, "I borrowed a little something from you; you've got plenty, don't be stingy." This, understandably, irks Land Xixi.
However, mindful of the remaining year on the lease agreement, engaging in a confrontation wouldn't be a prudent choice. Yet, completely ignoring the situation isn't a stance Land Xixi can adopt either. Thus, she made the pragmatic decision to invest in a mini-fridge, standing at approximately her height.
This proves to be more than adequate for her solitary needs. The sheer stroke of luck! Land Xixi is ecstatic! Despite the confined 15-square-meter space of the small single room, including the petite balcony measuring about five or six square meters, the overall area of around 20 square meters is more than ample for a solo dweller.
Having observed her surroundings for a few days, she made a resolute choice to optimize the functionality of this room. The prospect of reducing living costs without compromising on the quality of life is an opportunity too good to pass up. Thus, following a thorough home makeover, Land Xixi promptly placed orders for various shelves and storage solutions online.
By the way, I also need to purchase a blackout curtain to enclose the balcony. This way, every night, I can pull up the curtain, ensuring that others can't peer into the balcony.
During the evening, Land Xixi begins a financial review, contemplating her savings. After careful consideration, she decides to set aside 30,000 to 50,000 yuan for these purchases. While this amount holds significance for Land Xixi, who started working after junior high, it's still a considerable sum. The decision to allocate these funds arises from the fact that, at least for the immediate future, "refreshing" implies many items are no longer consumables. Thus, she can now afford the high-end ingredients and cosmetics she aspired to before. Additionally, the items refreshed daily can be sold, justifying the choice to invest in quality products.
Taking decisive action, after listing the items she desires and essentials, Land Xixi quickly retires for the night. However, that evening, a sweet and gentle voice lingers in her ears, urging her to purchase things from the 1970s. Despite waking up three or four times, each time she falls back asleep, she can still hear that voice muttering in her ear.
Only when Land Xixi couldn't bear it any longer and acknowledged with a "got it," did the voice finally fade away. The next morning, Land Xixi abruptly sits up in bed. The echo of that sweet voice still seems to resonate in her ears. "The 1970s?" Land Xixi murmurs.
Considering the suddenly "enchanted" house and gritting her teeth, Land Xixi decides to heed the advice from the dream. Regardless of the reasons, it's better to be prepared early than to navigate blindly. After all, the events of the past few days have been too extraordinary.
And, having been brought up by her grandparents since childhood, Land Xixi has a subtle belief in destiny. Who knows, maybe this dream is a message from her grandparents! Besides, as a young person of the 20th century, who isn't familiar with the concept of "time travel"! Perhaps she's about to embark on this fashionable trend! Though she feels a bit uneasy about it, if it does happen, it's not something she can control.
Luckily, Land Xixi doesn't have many people to worry about here. Her parents had an accident and departed when she was very young. The grandparents who raised her also left her three or four years ago, so there aren't many people she misses here.
Going off on a tangent!
I remember my grandma saying when I was a child that the 1970s were extremely impoverished, and resources, including food, were very scarce. Just in case she really "travels back," this house would be her strongest support. Even if she doesn't "go back," the items here can still be used, and she can adopt a retro style if needed.
After firming up her decision, Land Xixi starts contemplating. First and foremost, she needs to increase the funds for stocking up. However, she can't invest everything; after all, what if it's just her overthinking things? Secondly, after taking out the list she wrote yesterday and making some modifications, she changes into different clothes, grabs a pork floss bun from the fridge, and heads out.
At the first stop, the largest nearby wholesale market beckoned. It was the prime candidate for shops specializing in items from bygone eras. Boarding the bus to the nearby wholesale market, Land Xixi watched the white poplar trees whisk by the window, accompanied by the vibrant scenes of bustling streets, where pedestrians, immersed in their smartphones, raced against time at red and green traffic lights. A touch of redness glazed Land Xixi's eyes, transforming the once mundane view into a captivating spectacle.
"Indeed, good fortune doesn't just fall into one's lap. How could someone, who has never stumbled upon more than five yuan, suddenly possess a room capable of 'refreshing' supplies?" Land Xixi pondered. Time pressed on, and she remained uncertain about how long she could linger in this realm.
Upon disembarking from the bus, Land Xixi made a beeline for the market's grain stores. Rice,noodles, and oil took precedence – the essential trio of firewood, rice, and oil. Sugar served as her choice for firewood. Besides white sugar, rock sugar, and brown sugar were also on the list. Opting for her preferred Northeast Pearl Rice, she secured five bags of the 50 kg variant. An additional 50 kg of round rice, ideal for porridge, found its place in her basket. Supplementary purchases included ten kilograms each of millet, coix seed, oatmeal, and more.
Post rice procurement, attention shifted to beans – red beans, soybeans, mung beans, black beans – each in modest quantities. An extra 20 kg of soybeans and mung beans underscored her preference. Transitioning to noodles, she initiated her selection with bagged wide and thin noodles, securing fifty packs each. A few boxes of instant noodles also joined her haul. Concluding the noodle aisle, various types of flour, with an emphasis on wheat flour, witnessed a bulkier acquisition – an additional thirty kilograms compared to their counterparts.
For oil, Lend Xixi opted for soybean oil and corn oil, with the addition of lard since she planned to purchase meat – pork, beef, lamb, chicken, and duck. Considering meat, she thought about stocking up on eggs as well, recalling her grandmother's stories of eggs being a valuable commodity during that era. After completing these purchases and providing the shopkeeper with her home address, she headed straight to the third row of the market, closest to the innermost corner. She remembered a shop specializing in vintage items in that area.
"Thank goodness, I didn't forget," she sighed in relief.
Upon careful examination of the shop's offerings, Lend Xixi began placing orders. Several quilts weighing in at fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, and ninety kilograms each were added to her cart. Blankets were also a necessity, with a preference for subdued colors, primarily gray, black, blue, and white. In terms of fabric, she expanded her selection to include red and pink.
Daily essentials such as snowflake ointment, hand moisturizer, hot water bottles, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, scented soap, and more were added to her order. Medications for common ailments, including cold and fever medicine, cough suppressants, and remedies for upset stomachs, were also included. She made sure to purchase some vitamin supplements.
Additionally, she added items like safflower oil, cooling oil, and Yunnan Baiyao for injuries. With these in tow, she proceeded to buy personal care products. Realizing the need for a larger vehicle and the potential difficulty in explaining the extensive food supplies if noticed by others, Lend Xixi decided to rent a van for ten days. As she had the next day off while her housemates went to work, she planned to transport the items into her house when it was empty.
After parking the rented van, Lu Xi headed to the commercial street within the neighborhood.
In the vicinity, thanks to the presence of a prominent university, facilities are well-established. A street lined with snacks, clothing stores, and large supermarkets is nestled within the residential area. After meeting basic material needs, it's time to indulge in personal preferences.
At the fruit store, she picked up apples, large pears, Valencia oranges, grapes, and pineapples – anything she fancied. In the fresh produce shop, she added crucian carp, bighead carp, large prawns, bullfrogs, and other items that could be stored in the refrigerator. From the deli, she selected chilled bamboo shoots, shredded seaweed, beef, pig trotters, and various other items, being mindful of a modest selection due to the strong aromas that might pose inconvenience in case of a genuine journey to the past.
On the way home, noticing the breakfast joint downstairs, she bought three vermicelli buns, three pickled vegetable buns, three meat buns, and two shumai. She also grabbed three assorted sponge cakes, three glutinous rice chicken wraps, a bit of soy milk, eight-treasure congee, and a few fried dough sticks. This breakfast spot, run by a local lady, was a longstanding shop in the area. Rumor had it that it had been around for over a decade. Lend Xixi had developed a particular fondness for their breakfast ever since she moved to the neighborhood. She occasionally opted for their buns even when she felt lazy to cook at night, so this time, the lady assumed Lend Xixi was taking a day off the next day and decided to prepare the order in advance.
Feeling exhausted on the way back, Land Xixi, after a simple meal, began organizing her room. She aimed to clear out more space before the shelves arrived. Tomorrow, she planned to buy some cardboard boxes to store various small miscellaneous items. Currently, on the balcony, there was only a table with some kitchen utensils she used for cooking and an office chair along with a clothes rack.
Sometimes after meals, Land Xixi sits on the balcony and gazes into the distance. The main reason she rented this room is precisely for this balcony. From here, she can see a distant railway track and twinkling lights, with the unobstructed sky connecting everything beautifully. Looking down, she sees the college dormitory area's playground where students often play sports. Lend Xixi, who never had the chance to attend college, envies the seemingly wonderful life of university students.
Every evening, when she comes home from work, she sits on the balcony with a cup of water, feeling an unprecedented sense of relaxation. However, in the following period, Lend Xixi doesn't leave this place. Every day, she wakes up in her rented room, goes to work, comes back – the days seem almost indistinguishable. This makes her start questioning if the voice she heard before was just her imagination. However, looking at the room and the balcony fully utilized, Lend Xixi feels reassured. After all, it's quite good like this. With a smile, she lies down on her bed and falls asleep.
Nevertheless, deep down, she quietly decides that the upcoming days cannot be the same.
Every day after work, seeing the things she needs but hasn't bought yet, she goes on a crazy shopping spree, regardless of whether it's bread, milk tea, beverages, snacks, or tissues. She even buys some seeds, seemingly unrestricted. Trying to fit all these items in her limited room becomes a constant challenge, and she repeatedly cleans up, figuring out where else she can stuff more things.
However, why didn't I realize I have a hoarding tendency before? Maybe that voice was just my imagination. Unnoticed by Lend Xixi, outside the sliding door on the balcony, a small, round, and entirely white creature appeared. It was peeking through the gap in the curtains.
Its round eyes first glanced at Lend Xixi on the bed, making sure she was breathing evenly and already asleep. Then, the little creature used its short forelimbs to pull down the curtain. Unfortunately, the curtain was on the inner side of the sliding door, and its claws only scraped against the thick glass, producing a "sizzling" sound. Startled, the creature quickly covered its ears and closed its large, Kat Von D-like eyes.
Luckily, the sound didn't wake Lend Xixi. The small creature opened its eyes, patted its tiny chest, and exhaled a long breath. It turned its head after confirming that the various objects piled around were several times higher than its own height. Soon after, the creature turned and ran away. Not long after the creature left, Lend Xixi's sleeping room emitted a dazzling light.