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Chapter 2 – Stockpiling
Over the next few days, An Ran visited several grain factories. No matter where—or when—you are, food is always the top priority.
She ordered 1,000 bags each of high-quality rice and flour, each bag weighing 50 kilograms. She specifically requested no additives like bleaching agents.
“I don’t care what it looks like. Just keep it natural,” she instructed.
She also ordered 800 bags each of millet, mixed grains, glutinous rice, soybeans, mung beans, red beans, sorghum, corn… all in 50-kilogram bags. Worried that she might travel back to a post-war era or an apocalyptic world—where eating refined grains might attract attention—she also ordered 1,000 bags each of brown rice, wheat bran, whole wheat flour, sweet potato flour, and sorghum flour.
Then came the oils—sesame, peanut, olive, canola, corn, and more. She stocked up on 1,000 five-liter barrels in total. Not to mention all the seasonings—oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar—she bought every essential she could think of.
After grabbing a quick bite outside, An Ran was still pondering what else to buy when she got a call from the real estate agent.
“Someone’s coming to see the apartment,” he said.
An Ran rushed back. A couple came to view the place, and since she had listed it well below market price, they made a quick decision. The sale went through without a hitch.
Once the agent and the couple left, An Ran emptied the entire apartment into her space, leaving only a bed behind.
“I’ll rough it for a few days,” she thought, glancing around the now-empty room.
For some reason, seeing it so bare made her feel… a little hollow inside.
In the days that followed, she completed the ownership transfer, received the payment, handed over the keys, and then made a decision: to visit the origins of key goods and buy directly from the source. Better quality, lower prices.
She collected the grains, oils, seeds, and saplings she had ordered and stored everything into the space after settling the remaining payments.
Next, she bulk-purchased essential medicines—wound care, cold and fever remedies, and more. At the wholesale market, she picked up massive quantities of fabric, clothes, undergarments, paper, work supplies, hygiene products—more than she could use in several lifetimes.
Her one rule?
“Forget flashy. I just want things that are practical and durable.”
Then, her journey began: a nationwide stockpiling trip.
First stop: the Northeast.
There, she bought pork, sausages, black fungus, mushrooms, hazelnuts, pine nuts, honey, and even large barrels of high-proof white liquor—the real stuff, made from pure grain.
She also grabbed tons of local specialties: fermented soybean paste, pickled cabbage, and dishes like sweet and sour pork, iron-pot stewed goose, spicy hotpot…
An Ran had a college roommate from the Northeast who once told her:
“The spicy hotpot up north is nothing like the kind you get elsewhere.”
So of course, she stocked up.
Next, she headed to Sichuan, the land of spice.
Even though An Ran was born in the south, she loved spicy food. She bought loads of hotpot bases, dipping sauces, spicy sausages, chili peppers, chili paste, cured meats, and more.
Then it was off to the grasslands, where she purchased massive quantities of beef, lamb, horse meat, jerky, dairy products, as well as sheepskin coats, cashmere yarn, and felt mats. If it was local, she bought it.
After that, she traveled to the northwest, collecting walnuts, red dates, goji berries, cotton, and wool products.
Due to the large-scale fruit farming in the region, many fruits were being left to rot in the fields due to overproduction. A single thousand yuan could buy her hundreds of acres worth of Hami melons. Farmers told her:
“If you can take it away from the fields, you can have it for free.”
So An Ran hired workers to haul everything to a temporary warehouse—and then transferred it all into her space.
Once she had bought everything she could in China, she headed to the water towns of Jiangnan, purchasing rice cakes, ham, zongzi, and more. Being a huge fan of seafood, she even rented a fishing boat along the coast, catching loads of fresh seafood, cleaning it with hired help, and buying up other local specialties too.
Alongside the fresh meat, she also got eggs—chicken, duck, and goose— and a wide variety of prepared foods and spicy snacks.
Since she wasn’t sure if she’d have time to cook—especially in an apocalyptic world—she stocked up on ready-to-eat foods:
Buns, dumplings, flatbreads, fried dough sticks…
“I’m not lazy!” she insisted to herself,
“I just don’t like cooking—even if I am a great cook.”
She packed everything into crates, placed them neatly on metal shelving and shipping containers she’d arranged in the space for better organization and visibility.
She also bought boxes and boxes of hotpot ingredients, meat rolls, convenience foods, canned goods, candy, mooncakes, cookies, chips, and countless ready-made seasoning packets.
At this point, her stockpile could supply several large supermarkets.
She prepared over a dozen industrial-sized barrels of cooked congee, rice, milk, and soy milk, along with buckets of boiled water and cases of bottled water.
And of course, she didn’t forget to hoard her favorite milk tea and drinks.
Even after all this, when she checked her bank balance, she still had tens of millions left.
“Ugh, I haven’t shopped enough!”
Her consumer instinct still wasn’t satisfied.
So she went over her list again to cover any gaps. Suddenly struck with inspiration, she added:
Some factories, desperate to clear inventory, were selling outdated bedsheets, blankets, and surplus goods at dirt-cheap prices.
“I’ll take it all,” An Ran said.
No bargain left behind.
Looking at her space, she realized there was still plenty of room—and plenty of money. So she made one last decision:
“Let’s take this international.”
She went on an overseas shopping spree, buying specialty goods from all over the world to fill her space to the brim. She left just enough money for daily life and converted the rest into gold.
“Gold never loses value—no matter the era.”
Finally, An Ran boarded the plane home.
While engrossed in reading a novel mid-flight, the plane suddenly hit turbulence.
Then—darkness.
She lost consciousness.