After getting off the city-to-village bus, Celine immediately saw her older brother Shenan standing under the old locust tree at the village entrance.
He wore a faded old shirt, tall and straight. But if you looked closely, you would notice his leg was placed awkwardly.
When Shenan saw Celine get off the bus, his face immediately showed a bright smile.
"Celine!"
He quickly walked over and reached to take her luggage, but accidentally moved the old injury on his leg and frowned slightly.
"Brother, let me carry it," Celine said, worried, trying to take the luggage from him.
"It's okay, this little bit of stuff is nothing," Shenan said with a forced light smile. But his limp was very obvious as he walked.
Actually, Shenan's leg wasn't always disabled.
After graduating from middle school, to help Mother Zhou share the family burden, he stopped studying and chose to work.
But he was young, and regular factories wouldn't hire him, so Shenan had to work at construction sites.
Once, during construction, the scaffolding collapsed. He fell from a height and broke his leg.
What made it worse was that because the family had no money, he didn't get timely treatment, and his leg became disabled and permanently lame.
The ruthless construction foreman refused to take responsibility, blaming Shenan for carelessness and only gave him 2000 yuan as nutrition compensation before dismissing him.
Thinking of this made Celine's heart hurt sharply.
"Brother, I will definitely heal your leg!"
Shenan looked at the determination in Celine's eyes and smiled, stroking her head, "Okay, I'll wait."
Celine knew Shenan said this just to comfort her.
After all, more than ten years had passed. Many doctors said that even with corrective surgery, it would be difficult to fully recover.
But now Celine had the crystal core.
Red said the crystal core could help ordinary people, at least to strengthen the body, and maybe even develop special abilities.
Celine thought, if she could raise enough surgery fees, let Shenan have the corrective surgery, then give him the crystal core, his leg would definitely get better.
---
When they got home and opened the door, the smell of food came quickly.
Mother Zhou, wearing an apron, was taking dishes out of the kitchen. Seeing Celine and Shenan, her face immediately filled with smiles.
"You're back! Go wash your hands and eat."
There was braised pork, sweet and sour fish, stir-fried bok choy, and a big bowl of steaming egg soup—all of Celine's favorite dishes.
Her nose tingled. She walked a few steps behind Mother Zhou and hugged her waist tightly, calling softly, "Mom~"
Mother Zhou stiffened for a moment, then gently patted Celine's hand.
A mother knows her daughter well; she knew Celine had been hurt.
But she didn't ask right away and instead invited Shenan and Celine to eat.
"Hurry and eat, the food is getting cold."
At the table, Celine held back tears and tried to act like nothing was wrong while eating.
But the more she tried, the more worried Mother Zhou and Shenan became.
After they finished eating, Mother Zhou asked, "Celine, did someone bully you?"
Shenan immediately asked, "Was it Lorenzo who wronged you?"
Celine's eyes were red, and she nodded slightly.
"Yes, he cheated on me."
"But Mom, brother, I'm not crying because of him. I dreamed about Father Zhou."
"Dad said something big will happen to our family…"
She paused and took a deep breath, treating all the things that happened in her past life like a dream and slowly told them.
Lorenzo's betrayal was only the beginning. Vanissa's revenge was the nightmare to come.
Mother forced to drink pesticide, brother Shenan dying tragically, second brother jumping off a building, third brother dying in a car accident, fourth brother wrongly imprisoned, and youngest brother bullied until crazy…
Mother Zhou's every word stabbed deeply into Shenan and Celine's hearts.
"Celine, my daughter! What kind of nightmare is this?" Mother Zhou hugged Celine tightly, crying.
Shenan's face turned pale, his fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white.
After a long time, he spoke hoarsely, "Mom, Celine, it's just a dream. Don't be afraid, it won't be real."
"Brother," Celine raised her eyes, tears blurry but her voice firm, "If it's just a dream, why am I so scared?"
She opened her palm.
Immediately, a black crystal appeared in her hand, glowing faintly.
Mother Zhou stopped crying and stared at the black crystal in her daughter's hand, shocked and confused.
Shenan's eyes widened, unable to believe the thing that appeared out of nowhere.
He quickly stood up, walked to the window, and pulled the curtain shut, blocking the outside light.
"What is this?"
"A crystal core." Celine handed it over.
Shenan took the crystal core, and a strong shock ran through his body like electricity, making his hand go numb. He dropped the crystal on the floor.
The power was fierce and strange, but oddly, it made him feel completely refreshed, as if an old illness was being healed.
"Brother!" Celine cried out, her heart tightening.
Mother Zhou grabbed Shenan's arm, worried, "Shenan, are you okay?"
Shenan took a deep breath, shook his head, signaling he was fine.
He bent down, picked up the crystal, and the warmth came back to his hand. This time he was ready and didn't drop it.
He closed his eyes, feeling the power flow from his hand to his chest and then his stomach. The pain in his leg started to warm up.
He could feel the warmth slowly chasing away the cold trapped in his leg.
When his body felt warm enough, he let go of the crystal and slowly opened his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, the world looked clearer, like a thin veil had been lifted. Even the spider web in the far corner was clearly visible.
He looked down at the crystal in his hand and saw it had shrunk a little and its shine dimmed.
Seeing this, Celine felt a rush of excitement. She knew this crystal must be useful!
Mother Zhou didn't understand these mysterious things, but seeing Shenan's pale face turn healthy and his eyes bright, she finally felt relieved.
She couldn't help but ask, "Celine, where did this come from?"
Celine didn't hide anything. She pointed to the mark behind her ear.
It was the shape of a jade pendant.
Yes, after trading with Red, Celine's jade pendant had turned into this mark behind her ear.
Celine didn't know why, but it gave her a sense of safety.
"Mom, Brother, look."
Shenan and Mother Zhou came closer and saw the faint mark behind Celine's ear, like a natural birthmark.
"This is a dream from Dad," Celine said softly, "It's a space that can be used for trading."
"This crystal core, I exchanged it for something with a... person from the apocalypse world."
"Trading space? Leads to apocalypse?"
Shenan thought about these words carefully, then frowned and looked at Celine.
"Celine, this secret..."
"Brother, this is our whole family's secret."
Celine knew what Shenan wanted to say — that she shouldn't tell this secret.
But when she got on the bus back home, she had already decided.
She wanted to tell her family about this secret, this strange chance.
In her past life, her mother and brothers had died for her.
This time, even with the space, she couldn't fight the powerful Zhou family alone.
Only if the whole family worked together could the power of the space be fully used.