The pigs’ food needed to be cooked, but for the chickens and ducks, chopping and mixing it was enough.

After preparing the meals, Ji He slipped into her space.

The temperature inside was just right, and the animals grew much faster than they did outside.

Ji He walked to the pigpen. The two piglets she had bought earlier had grown quite a bit and were grunting eagerly, waiting to be fed.

She opened the fence and stepped inside, reaching out to pat the piglets. They had good temperaments, showing no resistance, even nudging her with their snouts.

Ji He gave them a firm pat on their backs before pouring their feed into the trough.

The two little pigs immediately abandoned her, rushing to the trough and devouring their food.

They had good appetites, happily eating both feed and cornmeal.

Seeing them eat so enthusiastically, Ji He turned to clean up the pig manure.

As the pigs grew, they ate more—and naturally, they defecated more too. Fortunately, they were well-behaved and always went in the same spot, making cleanup relatively easy.

After tidying up the pigpen, Ji He tried using her skill again.

No luck.

Her ability was supposed to have a chance of turning waste into treasure, but every time she tried it on trash, she was met with failure.

This time was no different.

Ji He didn’t dwell on it. She collected the manure into a designated spot outside before heading to the chicken coop.

The chickens, ducks, geese, and quails were growing quickly, now in the middle of molting—their ugliest phase.

Patches of down feathers were missing here and there, making them look rather bizarre.

Thanks to the ideal environment inside her space, they were thriving. Not a single one had died. They spent their days wandering around the grass, occasionally pecking at leaves—living much more comfortably than Ji He herself.

Watching them, Ji He thought she should catch some bugs for them when she had time.

Chickens needed to eat insects to grow strong and healthy.

After feeding the animals, she checked on the bees. They were buzzing about energetically—none had starved.

A while ago, she had planted a ring of sunflowers and various flowers around the edges of the black soil.

When she bought seeds, the shop owner had thrown in a bunch of flower seedlings as freebies—each of a different variety, just one of each—to let her try growing them.

Since they were free, she saw no reason to refuse. And now, they were coming in handy.

There weren’t enough seedlings to fully encircle the black soil, so she filled the remaining gaps with sunflowers.

Though the flowers hadn’t bloomed yet, they had grown significantly taller. It wouldn’t be long now.

Ji He poured some sugar water for the bees before heading to work in the fields.

The black soil required little maintenance—no watering, no weeding, no pest control.

All she had to do was check on the crops daily.

The biggest task was thinning out the overly dense sweet potato vines so they wouldn’t grow too much foliage at the expense of the tubers.

But that wasn’t a bad thing. With no other vegetables available, the sweet potato leaves at least helped ease her anxiety.

After finishing all her tasks, Ji He took a deep breath, looking at the peaceful, thriving space.

If there were no time limit, she would have loved to stay here forever.

Not wanting to waste the space’s time, she quickly exited.

The moment she stepped outside, the heat hit her like a wall, making her roll her eyes.

It felt like stepping into a steam cooker.

She had planned to sleep, but after some thought, she decided to continue cooking in the kitchen.

She had to cherish the time she had now—preparing in advance so she wouldn’t panic later.

By the time she finished all her work, it was already 7 a.m.

After double-checking that the doors were secure, she set an alarm for an hour later to collect more water. Then, without even changing clothes, she collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

But it wasn’t restful.

Outside, sirens blared continuously—police and ambulances rushing back and forth.

At first, she woke up startled, but after a while, she dozed off despite the noise.

She got up multiple times throughout the night, groggily staggering to the faucet to collect water before stumbling back to bed.

When her alarm went off again, Ji He woke up feeling like she hadn’t slept at all.

Shaking her head, she got up, stored the nearly full water containers in her space, and splashed her face with cold water.

Just as she was about to eat, a loudspeaker announcement echoed outside.

“Residents, please remain home. The community committee will be conducting a door-to-door population check.”

“Residents, please remain home. The community committee will be conducting a door-to-door population check.”

Ji He quickly stored her food back into her space, put on her sun-protective clothing, grabbed an umbrella, and stepped outside.

She wanted to ask when the electricity would be restored.

The moment she stepped out, the heat on her arms felt like she was being roasted.

Terrified, she scurried back inside.

Forget it. Staying alive was more important than asking questions.

She ate while scrolling through her phone.

Uncle Yan: “Kiddo, join this trading group. It’s full of early market vendors—many of them still have supplies. If you need anything, you can buy it there.”

Ji He didn’t hesitate. She sent a smiling emoji and quickly joined the group.

The chat was lively, full of chatter.

[Grain Seller Old Li]: “Rice 60 per catty, white flour 70 per catty. Contact me if you need it. Pickup only.”

[Spring Blossoms (Has Vegetables)]: “That’s outrageous! Just two days ago, it was only 5 per catty. Now you’ve raised it tenfold! Watch out, I might report you.”

[Grain Seller Old Li]: “Go ahead. This is a fair price. You haven’t seen others selling it for 100 per catty! If it weren’t for our early market connections, I wouldn’t even be selling.”

[Chicken King]: “Buying infested grain at 3 per catty, large quantities welcome! Contact me.”

[Spring Blossoms (Has Vegetables)]: “Old Wang, what do you need that for? Those grains have more bugs than actual grain—you won’t even be able to eat it.”

[Chicken King]: “For feeding my chickens! I’m not eating it myself!”

[Grain Seller Old Li]: “How much for your chickens?”

[Chicken King]: “Live ones, 50 per catty. Dead ones, 20 per catty. How many do you want?”

[Grain Seller Old Li]: “You’re even selling dead chickens? Aren’t you afraid of getting caught?”

[Chicken King]: [Image]

[Chicken King]: “The heatwave killed off a huge batch of my chickens yesterday! I lost everything—I need to make back some money. What’s wrong with dead chickens? I eat them myself.”

[Chicken King]: [Image]

Ji He opened the images.

The first showed dozens of chickens collapsed on the ground—likely casualties of yesterday’s extreme heat.

The second image showed the dead chickens being salted and hung out to dry, probably to prevent spoilage.

[Grain Seller Old Li]: [Image], [Image], [Image]

[Grain Seller Old Li]: “Thousands of catties. Old Wang, come pick it up yourself if you want it.”

Ji He opened the first image and immediately felt her scalp tingle.

The open sacks of grain were crawling with countless tiny black bugs.