As soon as Ji He poured the food into the dish, the first batch of chicks, relying on their larger size, rushed forward and started frantically pecking at the black worms inside.

Their heads bobbed rapidly against the stainless steel dish, making clinking sounds, completely ignoring Ji He’s presence.

The second batch of smaller chicks, unable to squeeze in, chirped anxiously from behind.

Ji He watched for a moment before pouring a generous amount of cornmeal mixed with chopped greens into another feeding dish nearby.

“Eat up! The more you eat, the faster you grow.”

Compared to the chickens, the quails were much smaller in both size and voice, and naturally, they ate less.

Ji He made sure to prepare extra while feeding the chickens, just enough for the quails to have their fill.

After tending to the livestock, she went to check on the vegetables she had planted a few days ago on the small hillside.

They had already sprouted and were growing well—it looked like they would be ready for harvest in a while.

Seeing this reassured Ji He.

She had always felt uneasy about consuming resources without replenishing them.

Now that she could sell goods in the marketplace to exchange for gasoline, she definitely wouldn’t let the opportunity slip.

She still didn’t know how much gasoline was required to upgrade her space. Even though she had a decent amount of supplies stored, there was no guarantee it would be enough.

After all, she couldn’t possibly use up all her resources just to level up the space—she would starve to death before that happened.

That would be putting the cart before the horse.

Ji He crouched down and started pulling out weeds that had grown among her crops, setting them aside.

Then, she grabbed some seeds and continued planting vegetables and fruits.

If she wanted her livestock to grow strong and healthy, she had to make sure the supply chain remained stable.

After leaving the space, Ji He took out her phone and contacted the supplier she had bought gasoline from last time.

She had stocked up on quite a bit of saltpeter before, all stored safely in her space.

Now that she had Pulalan, she didn’t need that much of it anymore.

So she decided to sell some and exchange it for a batch of gas canisters.

She would definitely need them sooner or later.

After some back-and-forth negotiations, the supplier finally agreed to trade 3 taels of saltpeter for 20 gas canisters.

Ji He never would have imagined getting such a deal before.

Conveniently, the supplier was planning to set up shop at the nearby free trade market that evening, so they arranged to meet at 7 PM.

Ji He planned to store these 20 gas canisters in her space for future use.

Gas was a convenient cooking fuel—just turn it on and use it, far easier than other alternatives.

Meanwhile, the gasoline supplier was also in a good mood.

The recent heatwave had taken a toll on his business. First, food rationing was enforced, and he had to pull a lot of strings just to get his hands on some supplies.

Then, the government cracked down hard, and officials came by to seize a large stockpile of gasoline and diesel from him.

There was nothing he could do—it was an illegal business, after all.

He was already grateful they didn’t arrest him. How could he dare to complain?

After all that trouble, his savings had nearly run dry.

Spending money without earning any back—how could he not worry?

Big deal or small deal, saltpeter was still a valuable item. Starting off with a good transaction was always a positive sign.

At least now, he could trade it for some food.

The world was on the verge of chaos.

In reality, the gas canister business wasn’t as lucrative as Ji He had imagined.

The main issue was that most households were short on meat and vegetables. Even if they bought a gas canister, they’d only be using it to boil water or cook instant noodles.

The stockpiles in people’s refrigerators had already been depleted during the power outage, either consumed or wasted.

A few days ago, food was still relatively easy to buy. But now, it had become significantly harder.

People had to stand in long lines at supermarkets, and if they managed to get a single head of bok choy or a few ounces of meat, it was considered a lucky haul.

Under these circumstances, even if the government didn’t cut off the natural gas supply, people weren’t using it as frequently as before.