Qin Junyao kept track of time in her spatial dimension by planting cabbages.
From sowing to flowering and seeding, a cabbage took about a day and a night.
While she leisurely cultivated and harvested medicinal herbs in her space, or snacked on a cucumber or watermelon, two potato vendors outside her shop grew impatient.
"Why aren't they out yet? It's been two days, and they haven't brought anything into the shop. What are they doing inside?"
Another man, squatting next to the speaker, wiped his nose with his sleeve. He had caught a chill the previous night.
"If they're not out today, we'll go in. Honestly, we should have gone in yesterday and captured her. Why be so careful about catching a woman?"
Just as the speaker was about to retort, someone asked how much the potatoes were.
"Five wen a jin."
"Are you out of your mind? If you can't afford it, get lost."
"My potatoes are edged with gold."
The man with the runny nose shuffled aside. They argued like this several times a day, he thought, truly tiresome.
The speaker cursed at a fleeing woman and then squatted down again, feeling a bit better after venting some frustration.
He should have been on the battlefield, not squatting here trying to catch a woman.
"Continue. Did the captain say to make our move tonight?"
The man with the runny nose nodded. "Little Killing God hasn't assigned any guards to her. She entered the shop empty-handed. What if she starves to death before we even capture her?"
"Sigh," the speaker sighed deeply. "If it were a real war, it would be swords and sabers on the battlefield, not capturing some woman."
"Then what should we do? We can't find the spy near our general, and there are things we still don't know. The Salt Lake and Prince Luo are already prepared for any response," the man with the runny nose wiped his nose again with his sleeve.
"Just talk about conscription. The announcement is barely out, and the Salt Lake is already using grain to recruit. They were just a step ahead, weren't they? Infuriating."
The speaker nudged the man with the runny nose with his elbow. "Is the woman inside really that important to Little Killing God?"
"You know Little Killing God mysteriously transported several carts of goods from the Northwest City, right? We initially thought it was something extraordinary and sent many brothers to investigate."
"Damn it, it turned out to be three carts of betrothal gifts. Do you think she's important?"
The speaker curled his lip. "Little Killing God's taste is indeed unusual. Let's wait a while longer. After we capture her, we'll go for a drink..."
Their actions were doomed to failure. Qin Junyao's shop floor tiles were pried open, but no one was found.
The next day, Ling Manshuang was furious to learn that Qin Junyao's shop had been vandalized and dispatched people to investigate who was responsible.
More than twenty days passed in a flash. One night, Qin Junyao, feeling refreshed and with a ruddy complexion, appeared in a room in the back courtyard of the two-story shop.
"Huh?" Qin Junyao could see clearly in the darkness. The room was different from when she had entered.
There were added cabinets and a table. What was going on?
If Qin Junyao's night vision had been stronger than average before, now, while contemplating the contents of the bamboo slips in her space in the dark, she felt as if she were wearing an infrared night vision device.
Not only that, but her hearing and sense of smell had also reached a new level.
Inside the space, things had changed dramatically. Besides the area expanding fourfold, the material of the well platform had changed, and the telekinetic control that Qin Junyao had longed for...
Had arrived.
Of course, it wasn't as magical as instant planting and harvesting, but Qin Junyao could now use her mind to control farming tools and move objects, which was more than ten times more efficient than doing it herself.
Qin Junyao wanted to test if telekinetic control could be used outside her space, which was why she was eager to emerge.
She had thought too much. Outside the space, she was still an ordinary person.