On Sang Zhi's original bed sat a two-meter-tall plush doll, a gift she received when she came of age and a longtime sleeping companion.
Out of habit, and because the dark night was uncommonly quiet, she rolled over in her sleepy haze and wrapped her limbs completely around it without a second thought.
She even nuzzled her head against the "toy's" neck.
Perhaps it was chilly in the night, as she instinctively pressed closer to the source of warmth, her soft arms tightening even further around the "doll."
Under the influence of medication, Jiang Yan's vigilance was lower than usual. Just as a faint, delicate fragrance washed over him, his eyes were greeted by a cascade of raven-black hair and a stretch of snowy white arm.
The figure in his arms nestled dependently against his body.
Her warm breath lightly grazed his neck.
The scent on her was identical to the fragrance that had lingered at the tip of his nose as he hovered on the brink of death.
For a moment, he could not tell reality from a dream.
Soon enough, Sang Zhi realized something was amiss.
The doll in her arms had moved, and moreover, its size and texture were all wrong. The heat radiating from their tightly pressed skin was almost scalding.
Her first reaction was that that pair of mother and daughter must have pulled some kind of underhanded trick.
Yet the surrounding environment was completely different from the one she had fallen asleep in.
The familiar scent of disinfectant and the room's furnishings made it look much more like a hospital.
His guard was higher than hers.
With a dizzying spin, she found herself pinned beneath someone, the man's arm pressing heavily against her throat.
The hospital room was dark, and it was only at that close moment that she saw his eyes clearly.
The man's eyes were sharply angled. When he lowered his gaze, his eyelashes looked like the sharp, curved edge of a blade, their profound darkness almost sucking one's soul into a deep pool.
Overflowing with oppressive force, yet breathtakingly striking.
Their breaths intertwined and hooked together in a deeply ambiguous tangle.
However, Sang Zhi was not about to let herself be addled by a pretty face. The moment he sternly demanded to know who she was and reached for the light cord, she struck his Fengchi point with a single blow.
The Fengchi point was the convergence of the three yang channels of the hand and foot and the Governor Vessel; struck with the right amount of force, it would render a person unconscious instantly.
Naturally, the look of utter disbelief on the man as he was knocked out successfully amused her.
As she pushed away the man pressing down on her, Sang Zhi recognized who he was.
Wasn't this the man she had saved at the station during the day?
Why was she here?
She didn't believe anyone could quietly carry her sleeping self into someone else's bed.
Just as she was racking her brains in confusion, the scene before her shifted once more, and she found herself back in the small cabin at the Lumber Mill Family Quarters.
At the same time, a mechanical voice rang out.
"Merit Space reset successful. Due to chaos in the raw data during the activation process, the bound person's space has experienced a malfunction. As compensation to the host, one hundred Merit Value has been issued. Note that Merit Value is one of the circulating currencies of the Merit Mall and can be exchanged for any item within the mall. Based on the price level of the time and space where the host resides, the exchange rate is ten to one. During use, you may inadvertently trigger great reward bundles. Please work hard, Host, and reach the peak of your life as soon as possible."
With that, a System panel materialized, looking gray and dusty with only two blinking red dots on the progress value bar:
One for the System's compensation of one hundred.
One for the one hundred issued for saving someone during the day.
No wonder she had ended up in that guy's bed—it turned out the unreliable System had malfunctioned and dumped her right next to the target of her Merit Value.
Considering the golden finger she had received, and the fact that the other party hadn't clearly seen her face, she wouldn't hold it against the System.
The items in the mall were dazzling in their variety: a large supermarket, boutique clothing, books and reference materials, parent-child entertainment, parts and accessories, and so on.
Fortunately, the goods were priced according to the standards of this era. Calculated against her current Merit Value, it gave her a purchasing power of twenty yuan.
This could be considered a blessing in misfortune.
With a mental prompt, a cup was sucked into the space; with another thought, the cup reappeared.
It seemed the space was controlled entirely by her consciousness.
Although she was well-accustomed to fighting her way through her past life and had learned plenty of ways to make a living, giving her every confidence in her ability to protect herself—
Who would ever complain about having too many good things?
She put all her acquired money into the space for safekeeping, exchanged it for a piece of bread, and happily finished eating it before successfully drifting off to sleep.
...
While she was cozily asleep, the hospital was far from peaceful.
When Jiang Yan heard that no unfamiliar faces had broken into the hospital last night, his thick brows furrowed deeply.
Feng Xiangdong had the nerve to reach out and feel his forehead.
"Chief, have you been under too much stress lately, making you muddled in the head?"
Ever since he had cheated death, the man had been acting all weird—his lips inexplicably swollen and his tongue bleeding. When asked about it, he wouldn't say a single word.
And just now, he claimed an outsider had broken into his hospital room to attack him.
How could anyone possibly bypass his guards and sneak in without a sound?!
Jiang Yan touched the back of his neck; the dull ache was still there. Could it really have been an illusion?
Although he hadn't seen the intruder's face clearly, he hadn't missed those dark, clear eyes.
Vaguely, they bore a striking resemblance to the pair he had seen when he lost consciousness at the station.
This matter had to be handled with caution.
He was on a mission.
A year ago, at an emergency meeting of the military district party committee, it was proposed to dispatch troops to support a construction project, undertaking the laying of an important oil pipeline.
The entire military district had drawn upon numerous division-level cadres, ten infantry divisions, and three engineering regiments—one could easily imagine how crucial it was.
As for the area where his regiment was stationed, it was filled with mountains and complex terrain, making it a major bottleneck for the project.
Recently, while the regiment was assisting with surveying, some technical personnel discovered that the survey maps were missing, which subsequently led to the uncovering of espionage activities.
Even in times of peace, these pests never rested. His mission this time was to root out these vermin and ensure the smooth laying of the pipelines.
He had sustained his injuries while capturing a spy, doing so to protect a comrade.
Regardless of whether he was overthinking things or not.
Until the remaining spies were caught, he could not stay in the hospital.
Fortunately, his external injuries were not severe, and he could be discharged now.
Since he rarely got leave, he told Feng Xiangdong to return to the garrison first, while he himself went to stay with his old superior for a while.
...
Compared to Sang Zhi's refreshed state, that pair of mother and daughter were not having a comfortable time.
No matter how attractive a person's features were, shaving their head never looked good.
Let alone Sang Yun, whose looks could only be described as barely passable and delicate.
Right now, she was wearing a hat and rolling her eyes at her. The mere sight of Sang Yun made Sang Zhi's blood boil, so she grabbed a broom and went after her.
She originally just wanted to vent her anger, but after striking twice, a tinkling notification sounded in her head.
"Merit Value +10"
"+10..."
"+10..."
Well, well, not only did doing good deeds drop gold coins, but beating up bad guys did too!
When her mother rushed forward to shield her, Sang Zhi gave her a backhanded shove.
However, while her moral compass was weak, she had a consistent aversion to throwing hands with women older than her.
Therefore, her firepower remained concentrated on Sang Yun.
Unfortunately, there was a limit to the Merit Value gained from beating her; after five hits, it stopped generating anything.
Just at that moment, humming a little tune and carrying a strip of pork, Sang Weiguo returned from his grandmother's house.
When he had first come into the city, he was only three years old, as skinny as a matchstick.
After seven years of good living, he had already turned into a chubby, fair boy.
During this period, he hadn't skimped on spitting into Sang Zhi's food and peeing in her washbasin.
As soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he saw his sister being beaten—and the person doing the beating was none other than Sang Zhi, whom he treated like a dog.
The chubby little boy waved his fists and rushed over with a roar.
A ten-year-old child actually possessed very little deterrence. Seeing him charge over, Sang Zhi simply laughed instead.
Liu Meili realized something was wrong and hurriedly shouted for her youngest son to run.
Unfortunately, it was too late...