CHAPTER 203: CHAPTER 191: PICKING UP A STRANGER

The third wail of the night, the hour of the rat.

Today is already late January. The full moon in the sky has become only a small crescent, occasionally obscured by dark clouds, turning the entire earth pitch black.

Fu’an Village is quiet, the crow of roosters, the bark of dogs, the chirping of birds and insects, all have vanished.

No one asks why; everyone intuitively understands, cooperating with this tacit silence.

In the dry air, not a single breeze passes through, making the drought-stricken land even more harried and restive.

The Jiang household is equally silent. The crescent moon suddenly hides behind clouds, as if giving cover to someone intentionally.

The door to the side room opens softly, and a small shadow flits out.

Swiftly moving along the dark areas to the corner, a wave of her hand, and a cat materializes out of thin air, gracefully landing on the ground.

"Shh, Xiao Mi, don’t make a sound. Go patrol the granary and remember to throw any dead mice far away, okay?"

It’s Xiaomi, and her little companion Xiao Mi, who’s always kept hidden in the space.

Time has proven that her decision back then was the right one.

Originally, besides Xiao Hei and Xiao Mi, there were a few kittens and puppies in the village, but they have all disappeared now.

In contrast, Xiao Mi, drinking Spiritual Spring water and eating grilled fish, cat food, chicken freeze-dried sterile eggs, and ham sausages in the space, is growing sleek and glossy.

It can be said that Xiao Hei and Xiao Mi eat better in the space than the Jiang family outside.

Unfortunately, even though Xiaomi has many things, she cannot bring them out, ensuring that the Jiang family does not stand out during such times.

The human heart is unpredictable; even if she trusts her family with the secret of the space, what about outsiders?

If outsiders see the Jiang family thriving, will they harbor malicious intent?

If a family member inadvertently speaks of the space’s existence, what then?

So, even though Xiaomi knows the family’s hardships, as long as they can manage, she won’t let the family become too conspicuous.

Now, she adds a little bit of Spiritual Spring water to the water tank each day.

And for the chickens, bamboo rats, Big Water Buffalo, and Liu Bo’s horse, she feeds them more of the Spiritual Spring water, allowing them to grow better, thus drinking less of the family’s water.

These actions also help the family.

Getting back to the point, Xiaomi releases Xiao Mi every few days, especially considering the granary at home is so large!

Xiao Mi, being clever, catches mice, kills them, then places them far away, making sure the Jiang family remains unaware, staying out for about an hour each time.

Xiaomi leaves the door open for it. Once Xiao Mi finishes catching mice, it returns to the room and even closes the door behind itself without any need for Xiaomi to intervene.

In the past month or two, this cooperation has gone undetected by anyone.

Xiao Mi responds softly, leaps onto the beam, and slips into the granary.

This time, however, Xiaomi doesn’t return to her room to sleep but instead turns and heads to the backyard.

The backyard is the kitchen, behind which is the cattle pen. Today happens to be the day for feeding the calves, so the calf, Big Water Buffalo, and Liu Bo’s horse are all there.

Upon hearing movement, they all look over.

Xiaomi hushes them while quickly approaching, pouring plenty of Spiritual Spring water into the trough, ensuring they have their fill.

This way, during the day, the small amount of water used for washing cabbages is enough; otherwise, the family’s stored water would deplete even faster.

Then, Xiaomi leaves through a small side door; this is her first time sneaking out of the house at night.

After a few steps, she notices she’s wearing clean clothes, hastily retrieving a set of black children’s cloaks from the space and changing into snow boots to prevent mud on her shoes from arousing her mother’s suspicion.

Equipped and ready, Xiaomi runs toward the pond.

Today’s main objective is to add more water to the pond.

From yesterday’s situation, the pond’s water isn’t much, but Xiaomi thought, with so much water in the space, she might as well delight everyone.

Besides, Xiaomi, having left school for a long time, flipped through some books in the space these days, only to recall a cubic meter of water is a ton.

How much is a ton? A thousand kilograms, which equals two thousand catties, even if the density is different, it’s roughly the same.

An individual needs five or six catties of water a day, and a ton of water can save many lives.

And how much water is in her space?

Xiaomi isn’t sure, except that it is a large cylindrical tank, about the circumference of four or five adults holding hands.