Otherworldly Space: A Tale of Love and Growth - Chapter 2

Lin Xiaohé now wished he could tear Song Ci to pieces and drink his blood, scratch Song Ergou’s face to shreds, and stomp on him fiercely on the ground to vent his hatred, but he couldn’t do that.

He knew he couldn’t beat Song Ergou. If he really angered the man and provoked his violent nature, he wouldn’t be able to leave the mountain in one piece today. Although he wasn’t particularly smart, he had his own way of seeking benefits and avoiding harm.

Lin Xiaohé once again felt the helplessness and sorrow of being a “ge’er” (a gender-neutral term in this context).

He had the appearance of a man, yet he could only do things that women did, and occasionally had to endure the contempt from both sides.

If he had a choice, he would wish to be a real man, not to be bullied at will.

“What else do you want to do?” Lin Xiaohé coldly asked, covering his wrist that had just been pinched red. If Song Ergou still wanted to do that kind of thing to him, he would risk his life to fight to the death.

It was better to die than to live in the world in an unclear and dishonorable way, being despised by others.

But he would have to apologize to his father and mother. He didn’t know how they would be without him.

Song Ci naturally heard the restrained anger in his voice.

However, Lin Xiaohé’s half-face was swollen, with two cuts on his lips revealing the red flesh, and he limped a bit when he walked. If he appeared like this in front of others, it would probably lead to all kinds of speculation.

“If you go back like this and people see you, it won’t be easy to explain. Those gossips don’t know what they’ll make up. Stay here for a while and leave when it gets darker,” Song Ci persuaded him carefully, without mentioning that the place was remote, and if they ran into someone with ill intentions like “him,” it would be really bad.

“I don’t need you to worry about me. Just don’t harm me,” Lin Xiaohé choked a bit, but he held back and didn’t cry again. He shook off Song Ci’s hand and walked forward by himself.

Song Ci was afraid that Lin Xiaohé would get into trouble if he left in this state, so he chased after him, grabbed Lin Xiaohé’s arm, and chose a flat piece of grassland, pressing Lin Xiaohé’s arm with both hands to make him sit down.

During this time, Lin Xiaohé kept struggling to break free from Song Ci’s grip, but Song Ci suppressed him directly.

He didn’t look very tall, but he was quite strong, which was Song Ci’s evaluation of Lin Xiaohé.

Song Ci took out a handkerchief soaked in spiritual spring water. As soon as it touched Lin Xiaohé’s face, Lin Xiaohé turned his head to the other side, not letting Song Ci wipe for him. While being vigilant, he secretly despised Song Ergou’s rotten heart, thinking he couldn’t forget to take advantage of the situation.

But between his innocence and the favor, Lin Xiaohé could only reluctantly give Song Ergou some leeway.

So when Song Ci insisted and quietly said, “Don’t move,” Lin Xiaohé cooperated obediently.

Song Ci put one hand on Lin Xiaohé’s shoulder and gently wiped his face with the other. He carefully wiped every part of Lin Xiaohé’s face, and when he encountered a wound, he would linger a bit longer to let the area absorb more spiritual spring water.

After doing this, Song Ci carefully examined Lin Xiaohé’s appearance. His face had been swollen before and was unrecognizable. Now he realized that Lin Xiaohé was really good-looking, with clear features and a handsome face, possessing the androgynous beauty that Song Ci had seen in modern society. Coupled with his stubborn expression, it was fatally attractive to someone like Song Ci, who was into men.

Song Ci couldn’t help but be mesmerized.

When he came to his senses, he remembered what he had just said.

“You’re really good-looking.”

This remark from Song Ci made Lin Xiaohé unexpectedly angry. Of course, Lin Xiaohé knew he was good-looking. He was the most beautiful ge’er in Daping Village, even prettier than many girls.

So what if he was good-looking? Was his appearance a reason for others to do bad things to him?

Just because he was good-looking, did he have to suffer like this?

Lin Xiaohé, somewhat losing his rationality in anger, pushed Song Ci hard. Song Ci was pushed backward and, in a panic, grabbed Lin Xiaohé’s hand, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

The difference was that Song Ci lay flat on the ground directly, while Lin Xiaohé, who had been sitting, was pulled into a prone position, with his head smashing into Song Ci’s stomach.

Song Ci instinctively hugged Lin Xiaohé’s waist, and Lin Xiaohé, struggling to stand up in a panic, kicked him several times.

“Stop kicking, stop kicking,” Song Ci shouted in pain, but he held on tighter.

Seeing that Song Ergou was willing to take advantage of him without even fighting back, Lin Xiaohé grew bolder and bit Song Ci’s arm hard.

How dare you bully people!

How dare you take advantage of me!

How dare you come to harm others!

Lin Xiaohé bit down hard, and Song Ci let out a pig-like scream, “Ah, let go, are you trying to murder me?”

Hearing this, Lin Xiaohé bit even harder, drawing blood from Song Ci and still not letting go.

Song Ci, seeing the deep, bleeding wound, felt a bit of admiration for the young man’s tenacity.

Lin Xiaohé had been waiting for Song Ergou to hit him again. He had just resisted a bit and got a severe beating. After waiting for a long time and seeing no action from the man, Lin Xiaohé looked at Song Ci in confusion.

Song Ci glared at him, “You’ve hit me and bitten me. Shouldn’t that vent your anger?”

Lin Xiaohé turned his head away and didn’t respond to Song Ci. In his eyes, this was nothing. Just biting once, how could that compensate for the pain of nearly losing his innocence?

However, he did feel a bit better inside.

“Let’s live together,” Song Ci suddenly blurted out this idea after seeing that the other person had calmed down.

He was then glared at with hatred by Lin Xiaohé.

At first, he didn’t think much of it, but the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed to him.

As a member of  the crossing over group, looking around the world, he was the only one without any peers, no one to understand his thoughts, no one to know his origins. Song Ci hadn’t even started his life as an ancient farmer and already felt the cold malice of the world, loneliness.

This person, whom he first saw when he opened his eyes, naturally had a different significance to him. He could tell that the young man was angry because the original body wanted to force him, not because he despised the original body’s homosexual tendencies, which meant he might be of the same kind.

The more Song Ci thought about it, the more he felt it was a good idea.

He had lived so tiringly in his previous life. In this second chance, he wanted someone to hug and keep warm with.

“I was wrong today. I will treat you better in the future. If you don’t want others to know, we can secretly meet. After being together for a few years, if you think it’s suitable, we can officially live together. If you want to get married and have children, I can also give you money to buy land and build a house to help you get a wife.”

Song Ci thought that people in ancient times valued offspring more. When the young man wanted children, he could let go.

At this point, Song Ci had not yet absorbed Song Ergou’s memories. Naturally, he assumed that the ancient times here were no different from those in Huaguo. If he had really absorbed the memories, he wouldn’t have said such silly things.

Lin Xiaohé’s eyes were now filled with anger as he looked at Song Ci.

What did Song Ergou mean by this?

He was a ge’er, and the idea of having a secret relationship with a man was out of the question! How dare he even suggest finding a woman for him to marry? Was he mocking him for wanting to be a man so desperately? Ge’er could never get pregnant by a woman; they had always been the ones to get married.

Moreover, his father had already started selecting candidates for him to marry into another family, and he was soon to take a husband.

Lin Xiaohé, in a fit of anger, punched Song Ci’s chest twice.

“Ahem, ahem.” Song Ci was taken aback and slightly out of breath from Lin Xiaohé’s blows, feeling somewhat puzzled about what he had said wrong to provoke such a reaction.

“Let’s talk this through calmly. If you don’t agree, there’s no need to be so fierce,” Song Ci said, feeling wronged. He didn’t understand why Lin Xiaohé was resorting to physical aggression just because he refused.

“Let go of me. I want to go home. I don’t agree to what you said. If you have any conscience at all, don’t pester me in the future and don’t tell anyone about this,” Lin Xiaohé said, his voice trailing off at the end. He simply couldn’t trust Song Ergou’s character.

If the events of today were to be spread around, it would be difficult for him to maintain his reputation in the future. The thought of Song Ergou using today’s incident to blackmail him into submission was also troubling. A flash of determination crossed Lin Xiaohé’s eyes as he considered this possibility.

“Rest assured, I definitely won’t tell anyone else,” Song Ci said, feeling somewhat dejected that Lin Xiaohé hadn’t agreed to his proposal. Reluctantly, he released Lin Xiaohé’s waist, still hoping against hope, “Why don’t you rest a bit longer before leaving?”

“No need. I still have work to do,” Lin Xiaohé replied, standing up and stepping over Song Ci to retrieve his basket. He walked away step by step, unaware that the injuries on his face had completely healed during their tussle.

Song Ci watched Lin Xiaohé’s retreating figure but did not chase after him this time. He took out some spiritual spring water and drank a few sips to clean his own wounds. That young man was really fierce, seizing any opportunity to strike him. In his previous life, even though he was not well-liked, he had never been treated so harshly.

Perhaps it was a side effect of crossing over, but Song Ci felt a bit dizzy. He lay down on the grass to rest and took the opportunity to sort through the events of the past few hours, as well as his past life and present existence.

In his previous life, or just a few hours ago, he was the illegitimate son of the prestigious Song family. Shortly after his birth, his mother, a female college student from a third-rate university, demanded a sum of money from the Song family that would sustain her for half her life. After receiving the money, she left him with the Song family.

Growing up in the Song household, he felt like an invisible person. No one cared whether he was cold or hot, and most of his elders and siblings simply ignored him. As a child, he had many moments of wondering why his parents didn’t love him and why his brothers and sisters didn’t want to play with him. But as he grew older and realized he was just an illegitimate child, he gradually buried these ridiculous grievances deep within his heart and isolated himself from most of the Song family.

At the age of sixteen, Song Ci discovered a space within the white jade pendant that his mother had left him, which was said to have been worn by his grandmother. One night, he got up to get a drink of water and, in a daze, accidentally bumped his head. Blood flowed down his neck and stained the white jade pendant. This led him to another world.

In this space, there was a spring. Unlike the miraculous healing springs in novels, this spring did not cure all diseases. Song Ci had conducted experiments and found that it was ineffective against incurable diseases like diabetes and cancer. However, it was very effective for minor external injuries. When applied to wounds, it could stop bleeding and accelerate healing. Long-term consumption could also nourish the body and strengthen health. Moreover, the spring water had a strange attraction to animals. In comparative experiments, the group of lab mice fed with spring water mixed with feed ate more and grew faster than those fed with regular feed.

Surrounding the spring were hundreds of acres of fertile land. With the nourishment of the spring water, the crops grown there were several times better in quality than those grown on normal land.

When Song Ci obtained the space, he had read a few post-apocalyptic novels to pass the time. He thought the appearance of the space might be a harbinger of the apocalypse and began to prepare supplies in every possible way. Although the apocalypse did not come in the following five or six years, he did not dare to assume that it would never arrive. Whenever he had time, he would prepare the necessary items.

At that time, he did not have much money and did not dare to let the Song family know about such a precious treasure. So, he occasionally used his pocket money to buy a few saplings and a few bags of seeds, scattering them into the space. The space only had daytime and no night, and it could accelerate the growth of plants. Over time, he accumulated a lot of grains, vegetables, and fruits without spending much money. Moreover, the space had a preservation function; items placed inside would not rot, which greatly facilitated his supply storage.

After being admitted to university at the age of eighteen, Song Ci chose to live on campus and moved out of the suffocating family home.

During this period, he greatly enriched the variety of plants and fruits in his space, purchased some modern tools, and in his spare time, printed and downloaded many methods for the deep processing of agricultural products and fruits from the internet. However, due to a slight germaphobia and not wanting the space to be polluted by animal excrement, Song Ci stored a lot of meat and eggs during his travels but never introduced live animals into the space.

He had been preparing for the apocalypse, gathering clothes, food, and household supplies, and had learned some self-defense methods by participating in special training. A healthy body was crucial for survival in the post-apocalyptic world.

Regrettably, without exposing himself, he had no way to obtain weapons like firearms.

He thought life would continue like this until, for reasons unknown, his father, perhaps having a change of heart or envying his comfortable life, bequeathed him twenty million in inheritance and also gave him five percent of the Song Corporation’s shares.

If these shares had been given to the eldest son or the second daughter of the Song family, they would have been like a goose that lays golden eggs. If given to the third son, a playboy, there would have been someone to protect him. However, giving them to an orphaned illegitimate child like him was like a death sentence.

So, Song Ci decisively sold these shares to the eldest son of the Song family, the new leader of the Song Corporation.

On the night he signed the contract, which was also last night, he died here in confusion without even having the chance to enter the space.

Fortunately, the space was bound to his soul and followed him to this world. Otherwise, if all the things he had painstakingly cultivated were to vanish into thin air, Song Ci would have been heartbroken.

Song Ci initially judged that the murderer was probably his second sister, Song Hua. Song Hua was an ambitious woman who was not content to be under her eldest brother. Naturally, she would want the shares in Song Ci’s hands. However, Song Ci had already pledged his loyalty to the eldest son of the Song family and sold him the shares, which naturally angered the narrow-minded Song Hua. It was possible that Song Hua, in a fit of anger and humiliation, sent someone to kill him.

But now, pursuing these matters had no meaning. He could not possibly take revenge for himself.

Alas, Song Ci sighed inwardly.

As for the comparison of the original body and Song Ci’s backgrounds, the original body’s story was rather unremarkable.

Song Ergou, also known as Song Ci, was given this name by a village scholar when he was seven years old, after his father bribed the scholar with a pound of pork to name him. However, as the only child in the family, Song Ergou was spoiled from a young age.

He didn’t learn much during his two years in school, and he was always causing trouble. Once, he got into a fight with a classmate and broke the other’s head, almost disfiguring him. Since a man with a damaged face was not allowed to hold office, Song Ergou’s actions were seen as ruining someone’s future, which led to public outrage and eventually got him expelled from school by the exasperated village scholar.

Afterward, Song Ergou became even more unruly, following the village ruffians. While his father was alive, he could still keep Song Ergou in check to some extent. But after his father’s death, without any restraint, Song Ergou became even more lawless. This time, he was even instigated by his so-called friends to force Lin Xiaohé into a situation.

Song Ergou’s mother, Song Jinshi, was indeed formidable, but she was tough on the outside and soft on the inside when it came to her son. No matter how much she scolded Song Ergou verbally, she never let him go hungry or cold. However, instead of reforming him, this only further indulged his bad habits.