Yu Xifeng went to her rented apartment near the company where she worked.

Before the disaster struck, ever since graduating from school, she had been living alone there.

All her daily necessities were there.

IDs, clothes, shoes, bags, blankets, bedsheets,

desktop computer, laptop, iPad, cosmetics, air fryer, electric kettle, induction cooker, toilet paper,

toiletries, two boxes of cold medicine, a few novels to pass the time.

Yu Xifeng packed everything into her spatial storage.

In the fridge, there were leftover chicken cutlets, fries, and pork ribs—all semi-prepared, totaling about five jin (around 2.5 kg).

In the fresh-keeping compartment, a few bottles of cola, one cucumber, and a small bag of eggs.

On the kitchen counter, there was a pack of recently opened chicken ham sausage.

Beside the bed, a box of snacks containing instant noodles and nuts.

Yu Xifeng cooked herself a bowl of mushroom stewed chicken instant noodles, adding two eggs and three slices of the cut ham sausage.

The aroma was rich, and Yu Xifeng ate with great satisfaction.

For this bowl of instant noodles alone, she felt the trip was worth it.

On the windowsill were two thriving succulent plants, which Yu Xifeng also put into the spatial storage.

The rented apartment was now empty; nothing was left behind.

Yu Xifeng took out her phone to contact the landlord and got back her deposit.

She had nearly finished handling all affairs in Lin City.

Yu Xifeng bought a high-speed train ticket for the nearest available time, preparing to go to the neighboring Xiang City.

She was going to buy a lot of things next.

Lin City had too many acquaintances; if she ran into someone, it would be hard to explain and might attract unwanted attention.

After getting off the train, Yu Xifeng first went to a car rental market and rented a box truck.

Today’s destination was the countryside on the outskirts of the city.

To buy things, the place of origin was always the cheapest.

Yu Xifeng checked on the train that the wholesale price of rice was five yuan per jin at the market, but at the farmhouses, she could get it for just over two yuan.

Before getting off the train, she used the cosmetics in her spatial storage to put on a full heavy makeup, wearing a scarf and a mask.

The foundation and concealer completely covered Yu Xifeng’s naturally delicate skin, making her look ageless and unidentifiable.

At each household, she could buy at least five hundred jin (about 250 kg) of rice, and also bought cheaper paddy rice.

Villagers helped load the goods onto the truck, and when Yu Xifeng drove away, she would find a secluded place to transfer everything into her spatial storage.

Over two days, Yu Xifeng collected a total of five tons of rice, two tons of paddy rice, two tons of sweet potatoes,

two tons of potatoes, seven hundred jin of corn, nearly four thousand farm-fresh eggs, four hundred thirty-six freshly slaughtered live chickens,

eight hundred preserved eggs, and twelve hundred salted duck eggs.

The salted duck eggs were coated with yellow mud and had to be cooked in mud before eating.

Yu Xifeng loved chicken; whether braised, steamed, or stewed, it was all good, especially since these were free-range native chickens.

The meat was chewy and nutritious.

When no one was around, Yu Xifeng tried placing a live chicken into the spatial storage, but like her, the live chickens couldn’t enter.

She also got about five hundred jin of raw peanuts, freshly pulled from the ground with much dried mud still attached.

Nearly a ton of cabbages, each weighing eight or nine jin (4–4.5 kg), but the price was very cheap—less than one yuan each.

Yu Xifeng stayed at the village chief’s house these two days.

The village chief’s wife was very skillful and treated her to a full table of food.

On the table was a smoked cured duck dish, seasoned very strongly, small in size but increasingly flavorful with every chew.

“The whole village, my wife’s smoked meat is the best,” the village chief said, drinking his small cup of liquor and showing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

The village chief’s wife told Yu Xifeng that if she came two days later, all these grains would have been resold to the town.

Yu Xifeng had come just in time, and all the newly harvested crops were still available.

Yu Xifeng was a big buyer; with the village chief’s help, she got a small discount and also received many free bunches of green onions, garlic leaves, and ginger.

There were also many homemade dried vegetables and seasonal crops. As long as villagers were willing to sell, Yu Xifeng bought as much as she wanted.

Out of personal preference, Yu Xifeng bought five hundred jin of sweet peas.

The unit price was not high; after blanching and stir-frying with shredded meat and salt,

the flavor was fresh and sweet with a slightly powdery texture.

Yu Xifeng could eat two plates by herself.

With so much stuff, the truck couldn’t hold it all. Yu Xifeng’s official explanation was

that she was the procurement director of a large factory’s cafeteria, here for an on-site inspection and to purchase some raw materials.

When you’re away from home, your identity is what you make it.

Yu Xifeng told the village chief that the roads here were narrow and large trucks couldn’t enter, so she parked in the town.

On the way here, Yu Xifeng indeed saw several large trucks in the town.

She pretended to run back and forth between the town and village.

In reality, all the goods were moved into her spatial storage, stacked like a small mountain.

The storage had height: the smaller layer was about four meters tall, and the front courtyard even higher—around six meters.

Yu Xifeng bought a few rusty sickles and axes.

As weapons, they could cause tetanus, which was better than kitchen knives.

From her trades with the villagers, the village chief took a 5% commission.

Additionally, Yu Xifeng privately gave the village chief two packs of cigarettes, both top-quality brands, which made the village chief grin broadly.

Before leaving, the village chief’s wife stuffed two smoked cured ducks into her hands.

They were hefty, wrapped in plastic bags and greasy to the touch.

Yu Xifeng then went to the village market.

According to the village chief’s wife, the market opened only on the 1st, 5th, and 7th days in every ten-day cycle; today happened to be the 5th.

Before leaving, the village chief’s wife gave her a contact.

“My nephew works at a livestock farm. If you mention the name Li Zhicai, employees get a 30% discount.”

The village chief’s wife wanted to curry favor; if the deal went through, she would get a cut.

Yu Xifeng gladly agreed.

She chose this area also because it had many processed food factories nearby.

The market streets were not wide; trade from several surrounding villages mostly converged here.

Yu Xifeng bought out fifty chickens. The owner called his family, who delivered another seventy.

She also bought over forty ducks, planning to slice them and wrap with sweet bean sauce and cucumber strips in thin pancakes.

About a dozen geese and over thirty meat pigeons.

Altogether more than sixty fish, two basins of shrimp, one basin of yellow eel—all of which Yu Xifeng also took.

Handling those two basins of live shrimp took quite some time.

Compared to the city, market prices here were much cheaper; the variety of fresh vegetables and snacks wasn’t complete but the volume was large.

Yu Xifeng’s spatial storage was filled with dozens of bags of dry goods:

melon seeds, peanuts, broad beans, dried jujubes, sweet potato strips, figs, and so on.

Dinner was at a nearby farmhouse-style restaurant.

Yu Xifeng ordered a braised crucian carp, sour and spicy chicken giblets, and a plate of very fresh seasonal vegetables.

The chef was skilled, and the price was affordable.

After tasting, Yu Xifeng ordered many dishes in double portions according to the menu.

The farmhouse was a small husband-and-wife business, and the owner brought out all the takeaway boxes: “So much, who are you feeding?”

Yu Xifeng kept a straight face and made up a story: “My family works at a construction site; I’m bringing this back for their night snack.”

As night deepened, with the countryside wide and sparsely populated, Yu Xifeng parked the truck in front of a farmhouse and rested inside.

Security was still good; transactions were fair, and roads unobstructed.

Even the poorest had social welfare as a safety net; having enough food and clothes wasn’t difficult.

If possible, Yu Xifeng hoped that her previous life was just a dream and that all her preparations would be in vain.

Better to be a dog in peace than a man in chaos.

Yu Xifeng sighed silently.

After calming herself, she used her phone to make a spreadsheet listing things she still needed to buy.

The next day, Yu Xifeng drove to the livestock farm mentioned by the village chief’s wife.

Pigs were 2,400 yuan each whole; Yu Xifeng found the nephew, Li Zhicai.

After negotiations, she booked twenty pigs at 1,500 yuan each.

Because it was a referral, Li Zhicai guaranteed that all pigs delivered to Yu Xifeng would weigh over two hundred jin (about 100 kg).

After the disaster, pork had disappeared; mutated pork had a bitter taste that no cooking could remove.

Of course, this was also partly due to the later scarcity of spices.

Canned meat left from before the apocalypse had skyrocketing prices—less than 300g could be exchanged for 20 black breads.

With 20 black breads and a tightened belt, one could survive half a month, showing how precious it was.

The livestock farm didn’t smell pleasant.

Looking at the fat, big-eared pink pigs, Yu Xifeng felt good.

This was fresh meat, the kind that would be worth a fortune later.