When Yi Zichu returned, he had someone on the back of his motorbike.

The person was exceptionally large. Even hunched over in the back seat, he rose a full head above Yi Zichu. From a distance, it looked as though Yi Zichu had ridden back carrying a giant.

Yi Zichu introduced him as someone with the surname Hai — Hai Shu, for short.

Hai Shu was also surviving on subsidy funds, struggling along the poverty line like the rest of them. So despite his impressive stature, he was severely malnourished, and his complexion was terrible.

Yi Zichu brought him to the cafeteria, first poured a cup of hot tea, then used the leftover rice from lunch to whip together a simple egg fried rice. Worried that wouldn’t be enough, he sliced up some sausages, opened a packet of preserved vegetables, and set everything in front of Hai Shu—

The man didn’t stand on ceremony. He ate whatever was put in front of him, and without a word emptied every dish on the table.

Bai Youwei sat across from him, watching quietly. When he finished, she finally spoke:

“Ready to talk now? About the Competition District.”

Hai Shu let out a satisfied belch, picked up his tea and drained it in two long gulps, wiped his mouth, and replied, “If you’d found me half a year ago, I could have contacted someone over there to ask around for you. Now, all I can give you is information from a year ago.”

Bai Youwei blinked slightly. “Can people from the two districts contact each other?”

“Not through normal means, no. But if you make use of certain features that exist in this world — or you might call them small bugs — you can achieve the effect of two people from different districts reaching each other.”

He leaned back and looked at Bai Youwei. “You know the inventory function, right? It starts with eight slots, upgrades to twelve, then sixteen…”

“I know,” Bai Youwei said, frowning. “The inventory can hold items regardless of size or weight. I figured twelve slots was enough for me, so I only upgraded once.”

Upgrading once cost ten thousand points; upgrading a second time cost thirty thousand. Bai Youwei felt the value-to-cost ratio wasn’t worth it.

Hai Shu gave a mysterious smile. “You should have upgraded one more time. At sixteen slots, there’s an additional function.”

Bai Youwei asked, “What additional function?”

Hai Shu said, “Out of the sixteen slots, you can designate one as a shared family inventory, linked to a maximum of two people.”

He glanced at Yi Zichu and Ning Yao beside Bai Youwei, and continued, “For example, say you have a son and a daughter. Their points are fewer than yours, their inventory level is lower than yours. When inventory space gets tight, they can use the shared family slot. And whenever they do, you’ll be aware of it.”

Yi Zichu: “……”

Ning Yao: “……”

Suddenly becoming someone’s children did not feel particularly great.

Meanwhile, Bai Youwei quickly worked out the implication, and followed Hai Shu’s thread of reasoning: “So, if I write a letter and place it in the shared inventory, the person I’ve linked with as family would receive it — and this function would still work even if they’re in a different district.”

“Exactly.” Hai Shu nodded. “Right after I transferred over from the Competition District, my brother and I used to contact each other like that almost every day.”

Bai Youwei couldn’t help asking, “And now? Why can’t you anymore?”

“He died,” Hai Shu answered cleanly, eyes dropping. “The name in the linked slot changed to ‘this user no longer exists’ — so he probably died…”

Bai Youwei fell momentarily silent, with nothing to say.

But Hai Shu seemed to have already found his way past the shadow of that death. After a brief pause, his expression unchanged, he said, “The mortality rate in the Competition District is very high. Unlike the Living District, earning points over there means gambling your life on every move.”

He raised an eyebrow slightly, glancing at Bai Youwei. “For someone in your situation, I’d advise against transferring. The better option is to find another person like me — someone who’s already transferred from the Competition District to the Living District — and have them try to get in touch with your friend. Then let your friend transfer over to the Living District. That’s the safest and most reliable way to handle it.”