After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 5 Unlocks the Water Dimension

Of course, she couldn't possibly move such a heavy thing, so she could only hold it, silently chanting "Gate of Time and Space" to teleport the item to the transfer station, and then use the medium tool she purchased to place the large rock on the automated trading cabinet.

Selling stones is actually like gambling on stones. If you're lucky, a single stone can be worth several virtual coins or even more. If you're unlucky, you won't get a good price at all.

Today, perhaps it was a stroke of luck, because the big rock sold for ten coins, bringing her virtual currency balance to over forty, just a little short of fifty, which gave her a glimmer of hope.

Excitedly, Su Tai left the Time Gate transfer station and continued exploring the stream. She sold several large stones of decent quality, finally breaking through the fifty-coin mark in her virtual currency balance. The five Time Gates lit up simultaneously, and the words "Spend 50 virtual coins to unlock the Time Gate?" appeared on the screen.

Su Tai chose "yes" and immediately walked quickly toward the portal to time and space—water.

As she opened the door, a blinding light shone through. When Su Tai adjusted to the light and opened her eyes, she found herself standing beside a small spring. The spring was narrow, bubbling with water. There wasn't much water in the pit, but it was very clear.

Overjoyed, she squatted down, scooped up a handful of water, and happily splashed it a couple of times, washing her muddy hands as she did so. Then she returned to the Time Gate transfer station and found a new button on the screen related to the Time Gate - Water, and her virtual currency balance had also increased to 2.

According to the on-screen explanation, she has only unlocked the most basic water dimension and can only see a small spring. She can level up by accumulating 500 virtual coins.

You can also buy a ton of water with 1 virtual coin, or purchase the right to use a small spring with 50 virtual coins. The spring can be placed in a specific location in its spacetime using a medium tool, and once the location is set, it cannot be changed.

If you want to place it in another location, you need to spend another 50 virtual coins to purchase the right to use the Xiaoquanyan placement.

The medium itself isn't expensive; the spring itself is. The right to use a small spring costs fifty virtual coins. By the time she's saved up enough money, it'll be too late.

Not long after she came out of the time portal, Su Chunlin and his wife, along with her two younger brothers, returned.

Su Chunlin entered the room with a solemn expression and said to Han Shi, "The village chief has decided to dig a well. Every household has to contribute money. It will be calculated based on the number of people, ten coins per person, for a total of fifty coins."

Han was in a very difficult situation. "Our family really can't come up with a single penny right now. If it were before, I could still shamelessly go back to my parents' home to borrow money, but Zhongmen Village also needs to dig a well, and my father and the others may not be able to come up with that much money. We can't borrow it anymore."

Su Chunlin gritted his teeth, remained silent for a while, then slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "If all else fails, I'll go to the county to borrow some money from my older brother."

Su Chunlin's parents died early, leaving her and her two siblings to depend on each other. To ensure her two younger brothers' survival, the eldest sister married far away. Su Chunlin's older brother, Su Chunsen, in order to escape poverty, gritted his teeth and sold himself into slavery to the Bai family in the county. The money he earned helped Su Chunlin build the family business they have today. Later, Su Chunsen married a maid from the Bai family, and now the whole family are servants of the Bai family.

Su Chunlin always felt guilty towards his older brother and really didn't want to bother Su Chunsen unless absolutely necessary.

Han lowered his head in dejection, sighing repeatedly.

Su Tai was somewhat surprised; she had no idea that her family had relatives in the county town!
Before she could ask any further questions, Su Chunlin got up and went back into the house.

The next day, there were significantly more villagers leaving Dongmen Village than usual, it seemed that everyone was going out to borrow money.

Su Tai shook her head and continued carrying her wicker basket to the stream. She had sold almost all the stones near her house. It was only because of the severe drought that no one was paying attention to these things; otherwise, they would have definitely noticed something was wrong.

To avoid attracting attention, she decided to go into the mountains.

Since Su Chunlin is away these few days, Han will have to go help dig the well. Su Zhan and Su Ming will also go over to join in the fun. There's no one at home to keep an eye on her, so it won't matter if she goes a little further away.

Before entering the mountains, Su Tai only knew that all the edible things had been harvested, but she didn't know the specifics. Now, witnessing the desolation of the mountains with her own eyes, she suddenly felt a pang of fear; if the drought continued, everyone would die.

With that thought in mind, she quickened her pace and wandered around the mountains for most of the day, but found nothing of value. Instead, she encountered a man who looked somewhat familiar but she couldn't quite place where she had seen him before.

Shen Yi came here today to help find a well-drilling site, but he didn't expect to run into the girl he had protected yesterday.

The two looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

Just as Shen Yi was about to speak, a shout suddenly came from not far away, "How about it? Is there a suitable place?"

Su Changxi came over, panting, and was clearly puzzled when he saw Su Tai. "Xiao Tai, why did you run into the mountains by yourself? Hurry up and go back!"

As he spoke, he quickly looked at Shen Yi and introduced her, "This is your Uncle Chunlin's daughter."

Shen Yi suddenly realized and blurted out, "The one whose engagement was broken off by the Xiong family?"

Su Tai's face instantly darkened.

Su Changxi was also a little embarrassed, "It's all in the past, it's all in the past. Let's not talk about it anymore."

Seeing that Su Tai was unhappy, Shen Yi apologized sincerely, "I didn't mean to mock Miss Su. Besides, I was just jilted by my fiancé, so please don't take it to heart."

Now it was Su Tai and Su Changxi's turn to be shocked.

Su Changxi, in particular, jumped three feet high with excitement, "When did you get dumped? Wasn't the Mo family only engaged to your family to repay a debt of gratitude?"

Shen Yi's lips curled into a slight sneer, "Perhaps it's because I have no parents, so the Mo family looks down on me."

"You scoundrel! How can repaying a debt of gratitude be the same as anything else? Back then, your father wouldn't have lost his life if he hadn't been trying to save Chunlin and the other three. Everyone agreed that whoever had a daughter first would be engaged to your family. Old Mo had a daughter first, and he was the one who took the initiative to propose marriage to your family. How come he went back on his word in the end? He's a real scoundrel!"

Su Changxi cursed and swore, then glanced at Su Tai out of the corner of his eye and added, "I don't think there's a single good person in Ximen Village! You two must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to get engaged to people from Ximen Village, what bad luck!"

Su Tai and Shen Yi were surprised that Su Changxi would be so angry, and they exchanged a silent glance.

Su Tai touched her nose and stepped forward to persuade, "Uncle Village Chief, I'm not going to hold it against you, so please don't be angry. Besides, I even beat up the Xiong family members, so I've vented my anger."

Shen Yi nodded and stood aside as a witness.

Su Changxi's expression hardened, and he lowered his voice to ask, "You were the one who defeated Xiong Dao yesterday?"

Su Tai shook her head vigorously, "No, no, no, I don't have that kind of ability! He was beaten up by me and went to get help, but he got hit with a stick instead. What does that have to do with me?"

Su Changxi breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that it wasn't you. I heard that Xiong Dao suffered serious internal injuries. The Xiong family is clamoring to find the culprit and make them pay. Yesterday was so chaotic, no one knows who did it! Even if they find out, they won't admit it. Don't go around making a fuss and causing trouble for yourself."

(End of this chapter)