Chapter 81 – The Space Isn’t Responding

The flavor was quite similar to hot pot base, but she didn’t put too much in—just enough for a hint of taste, afraid it’d be too spicy.

Jiang Yuan couldn’t handle spicy food, so just a little went a long way.

She also added some basic seasonings—oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. She was confident it wouldn’t taste bad.

They all sat around one of the tables—cafeterias never lacked tables. Zhang Kaiyang was delighted and enthusiastically handed disposable chopsticks and bowls to Song Yi.

“Here you go, Brother Song. It smells amazing.”

“Thanks.”

Song Yi didn’t stand on ceremony and started eating right away.

Jiang Yuan had put in a lot of dried tofu and shredded kelp. Combined with the steaming hot rice noodles, it was incredibly satisfying.

“Oh my god, this is so good. Sister Yuan, you should just open a restaurant right here!”

“Don’t exaggerate. If you like it, eat more. There’s still plenty in the pot—don’t waste it.”

Jiang Yuan smiled happily. She was indeed a good cook. Back then, Mother Xia would always ask her to make meals.

Later, after Xiao Nuan came along, cooking became even more routine.

After cooking so many times, she had naturally become skilled.

“Sister Yuan, this is just too good. I haven’t eaten anything this delicious in so long,” Ye Mianmian sighed.

She hadn’t had a home-cooked meal in forever.

Now that they had liquefied gas, she was determined to go back and cook some proper rice—she was absolutely craving it.

“When I get back, I’m making some cured meat. Haven’t had it in ages.”

Jiang Yuan suddenly remembered the ham Ye Mianmian had given them earlier. They hadn’t eaten it yet.

Since they were already out today, they’d definitely bring back some vegetables. Then she could make a hot pot with cured meat. The thought alone made her mouth water.

“After we eat and rest, we should head downstairs again. There’s still a lot of good stuff down there.

This home furnishing mall is pretty upscale, and all these shops offer great service.

There’s tons of snacks and treats too.”

Zhang Kaiyang beamed with joy.

“We really came to the right place this time. But with so much stuff, I don’t think the inflatable boat will be able to hold it all.”

He wasn’t wrong. They all knew from experience that even with what they managed last time, space would be tight.

“I think we should wait until nightfall to transport things. It’s too dangerous otherwise.”

Recently, more people had been unable to hold out any longer and were coming out for supplies.

Otherwise, given how unstable the weather still was, people wouldn’t be venturing out at all.

“This time, we really need to be extra cautious. Otherwise, we’ll just end up doing the work for someone else.”

“Exactly. Let’s rest first, see how much we’ve got, then decide what to do next.”

“Alright.”

Everyone agreed with Song Yi’s suggestion. It was all just planning for now—what happened next would depend on the actual situation.

After a satisfying meal, the four of them took a short break.

“By the way, I found this while sorting those gift boxes,” Song Yi said, pulling out a wad of cash.

Jiang Yuan’s eyes widened. What the heck? There was money? And she hadn’t noticed it earlier? Infuriating!

“Probably slipped into the gift boxes as part of the present.”

Classic trick.

On the surface, it’s mooncakes—but really, it’s cash hidden inside. Just thinking about how she was the one who carried those boxes out made her heart ache.

“Damn, that’s a lot. Must be around two or three hundred thousand.”

“Seems like the manager had quite a bit of shady income,” Zhang Kaiyang joked, but it wasn’t far from the truth.

“Mm. 280,000,” Song Yi said calmly. He had already counted it.

“Sister Yuan, didn’t you say you needed money? Why don’t you take it?” Ye Mianmian offered kindly. Jiang Yuan had been good to her lately, and they’d grown closer.

“No way. A little is one thing, but this much? We should split it.”

She sounded calm, but her heart was bleeding inside—three-quarters of that money, gone just like that. It hurt so much she could cry.

“Alright, let’s hold onto it for now and split it later.”

Lately, with the weather easing up, people were beginning to feel like normal life might resume soon.

This money meant something different now than it did before.

If she kept it all, the others would definitely feel resentful. She couldn’t do that.

At worst, she’d just go out on more supply runs in the future.

After all, the banks were mostly submerged now. The only hope lay in those on higher ground.

As for vaults, she couldn’t access them. The security systems alone were beyond her.

ATMs had some cash, and there might be some in teller drawers, but it wasn’t much.

Still, a little was better than nothing.

Right now, she had to focus on stockpiling wood. Everything else could wait.

Not gonna lie, the upgraded space was much bigger now—she could fit quite a lot.

But storing everything was still tricky.

“No need to wait,” Song Yi said, and began dividing the cash into four portions, handing one to each of them.

Jiang Yuan was secretly pleased. This way they wouldn’t waste time later.

“Floors 12 and 13 are full of high-end kitchenware and appliances. Floors 14 to 17 are all furniture.

Let’s split up so we can move faster.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ye Mianmian said, not worried at all—it seemed safe enough.

“I’ve already searched most of the 17th floor. I’ll keep going there.

Mianmian, you and Zhang Kaiyang start from the bottom and work your way up. We can meet in the middle later.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

They both responded in unison. Jiang Yuan glanced at Song Yi.

“I’ll take the 13th floor then.”

“Alright.”

Why did it feel like he could see right through her? She had already been prepared to skip one floor, but now it looked like she still had a shot. That made her happy.

Still, she couldn’t overdo it. She made sure to leave some things behind on each floor—otherwise, it would be too suspicious.

Like before, she hadn’t taken everything. At least the stuff by the door was still there. From a distance, it still looked full—like nothing had been touched.

“Alright, let’s tidy up and get back to it.”

“Got it.”

There wasn’t much daylight left. The lighting was dim, but still enough to see by.

Nighttime would be too limiting, and they still needed to organize supplies.

They all took the fire escape—none of them had looked closely at the other floors yet.

Once the other three had gone down, Jiang Yuan didn’t delay and hurried to the 17th floor.

She had to both search and store items into her space, so her time was extra tight.

Just one floor in, and the space was getting cramped again. This furniture took up way too much room.

She didn’t want to stack things too high either—what if it fell and got damaged? That’d be a shame.

She stashed two big bags of items on the 18th floor, then headed to the 16th. The others downstairs were probably finishing up—she needed to hurry.

Jiang Yuan felt like even with the space expansion, it still wasn’t enough. She needed to upgrade it again.

It hadn’t been letting her add more stuff, so like last time, it was probably time for a full upgrade.

She followed the steps from memory and prepared ten sets of upgrade materials…

But to her shock, the space didn’t react at all.