Before them lay the three-square-meter room that Grandma Sun had described as impossible for five adults to live in.

Contrary to Grandma Sun’s speculation of five bunk beds stacked vertically by height, or Uncle Zhang’s guess of a single large communal mattress covering the entire floor, this elongated room was remarkably clean and tidy. The floor was laid with natural wood-colored planks, while the walls and ceiling were painted in creamy white. It bore no resemblance to the cramped space the old neighbors had imagined. Despite the large number of occupants, there was no clutter or haphazard arrangement of furniture or bedding. In fact, within these three square meters, only two items could be considered furniture—a single sofa, quite spacious and visibly comfortable, upholstered in sand-brown fabric and supported by four sturdy, low wooden legs. Beside it sat a small round coffee table, holding several books and newspapers.

These were the only items in the space.

Behind the sofa stood a large window, occupying nearly two-thirds of the wall. As dusk approached, the outside remained faintly lit before the lights came on. The man entered, flipped the switch, and the overhead lamp illuminated the room, casting the window in deep shadow.

Even so, the room felt anything but cramped.

That said, calling it spacious enough for five adults would be an exaggeration.

Closing the door revealed a hook on the back, along with a tattered piece of paper. The top line boldly stated “Curfew Hours,” followed by a list of times.

The times had clearly been altered multiple times: first 7 PM, crossed out; then 8 PM, crossed out; finally changed to “One Year”… After “One Year” was crossed out, no new time was written.

Glancing away from the tattered notice, the man hung his bag on the hook. It was large, obscuring most of the paper. Next, he shed his suit jacket and hung that too, completely covering the paper.

At the doorway, he slipped off his shoes and walked sock-footed to the room’s sole sofa. Settling comfortably, he closed his eyes briefly before picking up the top newspaper from the coffee table to read.

His eyes fell on the exaggerated font of the headline. Straining to decipher the distorted, distorted print, he barely made out the words:

“Interstellar Alliance Mecha Soccer League Kickoff Approaches; Major League Powerhouses to Gather on Mufaze Star.”

Huh? Huh! Huh-huh-huh?!?!?!

Yet the man nonchalantly flipped the paper over to the other side and began reading that page. He read slowly, but he read it through. Closing the paper, his gaze fell on the publication date:

Stellar Calendar 150, March 13th

Putting the paper back, he immediately picked up a small booklet pressed beneath it.

It was indeed a tiny, thin volume—just a few sheets of paper bound together with thread, resembling an ancient text. The cover truly bore the appearance and calligraphy style of an ancient book, with vertical ancient characters forming the line: “Kunlun Cultivation Method – Volume B.”

Huh? Huh! Huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-h

Still as calm as ever, the man opened the booklet. Then, something strange happened:

Though it was clearly a thin book, he kept turning pages until he reached page five hundred and eighty-one. Only then did he begin reading.

Huh? Page five hundred and eighty-one? This booklet looked like it had only a dozen pages or so?!

Yet somehow, the seemingly few pages stubbornly turned into hundreds. He even occasionally flipped back—in his hands, the slim volume would jump from “page 321” to “page 430,” and once, it even returned to “page 3.”

It was… a bit chaotic.

And it really was quite confusing.

Closing the booklet in his hand, the man rubbed his eyes and fixed his gaze on the door panel ahead. After a long moment, he sighed.

The newspaper he’d picked up initially belonged to his younger sister—who was currently in the Interstellar Era. The cultivation manual now in his hands, however, belonged to his second younger brother—who was currently in a cultivation realm, having just passed the assessment to become a disciple of a prestigious sect. This manual was borrowed from the scripture library.

Hmm… Interstellar, cultivation… Things from eras that seemed as different as chalk and cheese now shared the same room. Could anything be more chaotic than this?

Perhaps, but certainly not by much.

And the cause of all this was this very room—the one his mother had bought for their three siblings over a decade ago, spending every last penny of her savings.

Hmm… A School District Apartment.

Yes, a School District apartment.

Twelve years ago—

Back then, the Fa family was just an ordinary household. Ordinary parents raising three ordinary kids: the eldest, Fa Muzhi; the second, Fa Mulin; and the youngest, Fa Zhizhi.

The eldest was him. Growing up, Fa Muzhi always believed that aside from their surname, nothing about his family stood out.

His parents held ordinary jobs and earned ordinary salaries, which supported the three siblings. Though not wealthy, the family lived happily together in harmony.

Yet amidst this quiet life, Mother Fa’s greatest wish mirrored that of countless mothers of her generation: she longed to buy a School District Apartment, so her three well-behaved children could attend better schools.

But this dream seemed unattainable. With sky-high property prices, without help from older generations, even a small, old, run-down School District Apartment was beyond the means of the Fa parents, ordinary working-class folks.

Until one day—

“What?! You inherited a house?” Mother Fa announced the good news as the family gathered around the dinner table.

“Unbelievable, right? I thought so too. For decades, I believed I was an orphan. I never imagined I had relatives. Though they passed away long ago, they left behind a house. There was only one condition for inheriting it: a blood relative bearing the Fa surname. Hehe, that’s me!“ Mother Fa declared with delight.

”It’s also because my surname is so rare that they found me so easily. And thank goodness I wasn’t adopted back then. If I’d gone to another family and changed my surname, none of this would have happened, right?” Mother Fa said smugly.

No wonder she was so pleased. As an orphan, Mother Fa had always considered herself unlucky. It seemed like nothing good had ever happened to her since birth. Now, a plot twist straight out of a TV drama had landed in her lap—a stroke of luck she’d never imagined possible.

↑

Well, Mother Fa came from an orphanage. Back when she was old enough to remember, she knew her surname was Fa. After entering the orphanage, she kept it. Father Fa, who was also in the same orphanage, didn’t have the surname Fa—he was a Wang. As he put it, surnames like Wang were a dime a dozen, whereas “Fa” was rare. So they decided all their children would bear the surname “Fa,” to carry on this uncommon lineage.

And now, that legacy had earned them an apartment! ← They even tracked down Mother Fa through the siblings’ surname!

So that very day, Father Fa took leave for the three siblings and himself, vacated the apartment they’d rented for five years, and the family decided to visit the apartment they’d inherited according to the will.

But that apartment was truly remote. Fa Muzhi clearly remembered: back then, they’d flown first, then transferred to a train, hopped on three different buses, and finally found themselves stranded with no transportation. The family waited by the roadside for hours, flagging down passing vehicles until they finally caught a small truck willing to give them a ride. ← But even that truck didn’t take them all the way—it dropped them off at the edge of the mountains. The house was deep inside those mountains!

And so, trekking through mountains and rivers, they walked for three days and nights deep in the wilderness. By the time their phones lost signal, Mother Fa was ready to give up, turn back, and call for rescue—when suddenly, the house appeared before them.

A solitary wooden cottage stood in the forest—not tall, perhaps two and a half stories high, somewhat dilapidated yet still charming. A large yard surrounded it, featuring a tree even larger and more striking than the house itself…

They knew instantly: this was the house they had inherited.

With their last ounce of strength, the family rushed into the yard. As the trembling hands turned the key in the door, they knew: this was undoubtedly their house.

Too exhausted to unpack, the weary Fa family collapsed into the first room with a bed they found and slept like the dead.

They slept straight through until the following evening. They fell asleep in darkness and awoke to darkness.

Not complete darkness, though. Stepping outside, the sky was studded with stars like diamonds, and a Milky Way stretched across the heavens—truly beautiful.

But—

“How remote must a place be to see a Milky Way like this…” Mother Fa sighed, gazing at the star-filled sky, then resignedly accepted the fact that her luck really wasn’t that great.

Remoteness meant poor transportation access. A house like this was doomed to remain unsold. Even if it somehow sold, it wouldn’t fetch much.

“… Honestly, I came here to see what kind of houses this area has and how much they sell for. With a bit of luck… maybe we could afford a School District Apartment. But now it seems that idea is out of the question. There’s no cell signal, it’s in the middle of nowhere. Who would buy this place?“

”But the Milky Way is beautiful, honey. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it!” Noticing his wife’s disappointment, Father Fa immediately tried to cheer her up.

“The air is so clean—Little Brother hasn’t coughed all day.” Fa Muzhi glanced at Fa Mulin, who hadn’t coughed since arriving ← . His second son was born prematurely and had a chronic tendency toward asthma.

“Huh? Really!” Fa Mulin realized for the first time.

Just then, Little Sister extended her hand, revealing a fresh bird dropping on it. She smiled sweetly at her parents: “Mommy, there’s bird poop here!”

Mother Fa & Father Fa & Fa Muzhi & Fa Mulin: …

In any case, the Fa family quickly adjusted their mindset regarding this unexpectedly acquired house.

Considering the adults still needed to earn money to support the family and the children had to continue their schooling, Mother Fa and Father Fa didn’t plan to linger in this house. They’d already wasted too much time getting here; it was time to leave.

But they’d slept far too long, waking up in the evening. Walking through the mountains at night was too dangerous, so they decided to delay their departure by another day, leaving during daylight the next morning.

A place this hard to reach—they likely wouldn’t return for a long time. With that thought, the Fa family decided to make the most of their time here. They could climb trees to see what fruits grew up high, for instance. After all, they’d have to retrace their steps, and their food supplies were running low. Hunting in the mountains… That sounded too difficult. Climbing a tree to pick some fruit seemed more realistic.

Anyway, thinking about their return provisions and not wanting the trip to be in vain, the city-raised parents, Father Fa and Mother Fa, propped up a rickety ladder they’d found somewhere. They instructed their three children to hold it steady below, then the couple shakily climbed the tree.

And then… they stumbled upon a huge secret!

━━━━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━━━━

Author’s Note:

Mother Fa: I just wanted to pick some fruit for the road!