Chapter 5 – Zero-Cost Shopping Abroad

“By the way, I’ll be going abroad the day after tomorrow. I might not be back until the fifteenth or so. Tomorrow, come with me to Hengshui Bay. I plan to sell this house.”

Looking around at the familiar sights, Chu Xiao actually felt a little reluctant.

Nuomi seemed to sense his mood, meowing as it leapt into his arms.

Even Banban, who was usually aloof, rubbed against his leg.

Jiang Ning nodded. Now that her mother’s illness had stabilized, she could devote herself wholeheartedly to helping Chu Xiao.

After dinner, Chu Xiao went straight to bed.

Jiang Ning, however, stayed behind in the living room, cleaning and scooping litter for Banban and Nuomi.

The next morning, when Chu Xiao woke, he found Jiang Ning curled up on the sofa asleep, the two cats by her side.

“Wake up,” Chu Xiao called softly.

There was still a lot to do.

At least two-thirds of the supplies on his list hadn’t been stockpiled yet.

Jiang Ning stretched, washed her face in the bathroom, and followed Chu Xiao to Hengshui Bay.

When they arrived, people from the wholesale base were already coming in groups.

“You just help me receive them. The three underground levels, the rooms upstairs, and the servants’ quarters can all be used for storage. Here are the receipts—check everything carefully for me. I’ll go to the real estate center to sign the contract, then I’ll be heading abroad.”

Jiang Ning never asked unnecessary questions, which pleased Chu Xiao very much.

Sometimes women could be endlessly chatty.

Chu Xiao moved quickly. After signing the papers and paying the balance, he got all the permits, the property deed, and the keys to the estate.

Without lingering, he headed straight for the airport.

His flight was in the evening, ten hours away.

The airport was on the outskirts, and naturally, he passed by the warehouse run by that little trash collector.

After another round of harvesting, Chu Xiao, smiling, drove to a poultry slaughterhouse.

Since his space didn’t allow live animals, he could only buy butchered ones.

Another five-million order.

Looking at his remaining balance, Chu Xiao felt for the first time that no matter how much he spent, the money never seemed to run out.

But when he thought about his grand plan, he couldn’t help but feel excited.

This trip abroad wasn’t just to one place—he would travel around the world.

Firearms, ammunition, coal, petroleum.

Heh, here he comes.

When he arrived overseas, it was already dawn the next day.

After a full meal and a good sleep at the hotel, Chu Xiao began his grand plan.

At home, he was a law-abiding citizen.

Abroad, it was a hoarder’s paradise.

His first target was a supermarket.

It was already closing time. You’d think Chu Xiao would wait until everyone left before making his move, right?

No, he liked it thrilling.

Right in front of the scattering crowd, he cleared out every item in the store in one go.

Before anyone could react, he was already walking out casually, carrying a bag for show.

Next were clothes, shoes, and other daily necessities.

Every street he passed was stripped bare.

Luxury shops?

In the apocalypse, luxury goods would be what women fought for most.

So he wasn’t about to hold back.

As his space filled up with supplies, he smiled and went back to the hotel, drifting into sleep.

The next morning, someone knocked on his door.

It was his contact.

“I got the goods you wanted, but how are you going to take them away?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Just put them in the designated warehouse,” Chu Xiao replied, wearing a mask and fully covered.

After the contact left, Chu Xiao didn’t immediately go to the warehouse. Instead, he visited the surrounding orchards.

Back home, he was a good law-abiding citizen.

Here, he was outlaw Chu Da-ye.

Three days later, he finally strolled to the warehouse.

Opening a small door, he slipped inside.

A mountain of weapons lay before him.

With a wave of his hand, they vanished into his space.

Next came diesel, oil, and coal.

Oil was easy—just go to a major producer.

Coal was easy too—straight to the mines.

As for generators, he stocked up on 100 diesel and 100 solar units.

He even bought ten private helicopters.

When you’re on a hoarding spree, you realize nothing is ever enough.

No matter how much you hoard, it feels incomplete.

Everything seems lacking.

Take meat for example—you buy pork, then think you should get beef and lamb too.

Then seafood, from wild beaches overseas, seemed essential as well.

Time slipped by, and Chu Xiao even felt fifteen days wasn’t enough.

Finally, in a land of cherry blossoms, he paused.

The strange incidents overseas even prompted some networks to hire mediums, but still no trace of the true culprit.

Meanwhile, the man himself was enjoying a fine meal at a Chinese restaurant.

Once the basic supplies were secured, it was time for medical goods.

With Sakura Country’s advanced medical technology, that was the perfect place.

Medicines, surgical gowns, scalpels, medical equipment—Chu Xiao looted it all.

How did he manage it? Easy—disguised as a distributor, he swept through every place.

Suspicions? What suspicions?

The cameras only showed items vanishing into thin air. What did that have to do with Chu Xiao?

After his exhilarating zero-cost shopping spree abroad, he even brought back national treasures, leaving them in the office of the museum director. The office was packed full.

How could this man be a wanted criminal? He was clearly a patriotic hero.

When he returned, Chu Xiao didn’t head straight back to the villa. Instead, he went to gather other things.

In the apocalypse, cigarettes and alcohol were as valuable as gold.

Sometimes, offering someone a pack of smokes got results faster than any supplies.

He also prepared plenty of survival gear for harsh weather: tents, thermos flasks, and more.

Insecticides, repellents—he bought them all.

And condoms.

A very useful thing in the wild.

Not only for protection but also as emergency tourniquets.

Of course, in the apocalypse, they were consumables. Stocking up was the right move.

By the time he returned to the villa, it was already September.

The heat was brutal, temperatures reaching nearly 60°C.

Air conditioners no longer worked. The government opened underground shelters to the public as cooling spaces, both to save electricity and to keep citizens cool.

Seeing his two cats panting with tongues out, Chu Xiao went to an ice factory and set up two months of daily deliveries.

Each day, about ten thousand blocks of ice were sent to the villa’s third basement level.

At the same time, preparing for the sudden cold snap expected after October, he bought a huge stock of electric blankets, cotton, and other winter supplies online.

Every day, trucks came and went from the estate as if it were a factory.

Though Jiang Ning was puzzled, she never asked questions.

Working in a wealthy household, the biggest taboo was prying into matters that didn’t concern you.