Chapter 38: Time Extension

“Better to be cautious — those two are definitely not good people.”

“Mhm.”

Song Yi didn’t get involved further. Once the matter was settled, he simply went back home.

However, he left Little Dot (the dog) behind.

The dog looked like a wolfhound — quite intimidating.

Even Su Qing was scared stiff by it.

But this added a layer of protection.

The rest of the trades went more smoothly. There was still some bargaining, but overall things proceeded fairly well.

Most of the items sold were cigarettes and drinks.

Some people from other buildings also contacted her. Jiang Yuan told them to come over if they could — if not, there wasn’t much she could do.

After all, the water level outside had already reached the second floor. Only a few could get out now, unless they had inflatable boats.

By the time it reached 9 PM, the trades finally ended.

She had sold quite a few cartons of cigarettes, and altogether earned 84,000 yuan in cash.

Adding that to what she had saved up before — bits and pieces here and there — she now had about 80,000 yuan total.

All in all, eight hours of work — she was pretty satisfied.

That night, Qin Yue made dumplings.

She and Xiao Nuan had already eaten, and now made a new batch for the father and daughter pair.

“Mom, I’m going to take a plate over to the neighbor. We took quite a few things from him today.”

“Okay, go on.”

Jiang Yuan knocked on the door, taking Little Dot back at the same time.

Song Yi was dressed in casual homewear — a thick pajama set. Every time she’d seen him before, he was neat and sharp-looking, so seeing him like this was a little strange.

“My mom made dumplings, sending you a plate. Also, here…”

She handed over some sausages.

“Thanks to Little Dot today — I don’t know if it can eat these.”

Some dogs that eat dog food aren’t allowed sausages because of the salt and additives — they can cause health issues.

“Thanks.”

He accepted the dumplings and sausages.

Little Dot’s eyes sparkled as it stared intently.

Song Yi casually tossed one, and the big guy immediately leapt forward, catching it in midair.

Wow — if the hallway were narrower, it might not even be able to move like that…

“It can even peel the sausage skin by itself!” Jiang Yuan’s eyes lit up. This dog was way too smart.

“Yeah. These dumplings taste really good — thank your mom for me.”

“No need to be polite!”

They each went back to their respective homes — well, 2102 was a home for one man and one dog.

The dumplings were zucchini-filled, wrapped by her mom earlier — bright and fresh.

Jiang Yuan polished off a large plate, then took Xiao Nuan back to their room and helped her fall asleep.

Because of the power outage, only a desk lamp was on.

Once they’d eaten, she turned it off too. Though the home still had electricity, they didn’t dare use it openly.

If someone found out, it would cause problems.

It was bedtime for kids anyway, and her daughter dozed off before Jiang Yuan could even finish telling a story.

Jiang Yuan didn’t waste any time — she went straight into the “space.”

To avoid Xiao Nuan seeing anything, she went into the bathroom before entering.

80,000 yuan, 8 hours — the exchange code was 9…

The countdown now read: 17 hours 53 minutes 42 seconds…

She felt very satisfied. But… where could she get more money?

She wondered if it was possible to access a bank — but their security systems probably weren’t something an ordinary person could get past.

Also, she couldn’t let others find out — she’d have to act alone. Tricky.

Jiang Yuan didn’t want to waste time and quickly ran to the garden space to check her greens.

“Oh my god, why are these vegetables so big now?!”

Just yesterday they were tiny leaves, but now they were the length of a finger. If she wanted to eat tender ones, they were ready for harvest.

What was going on? Could it be the well water in this space made things grow faster?

Not only were they big, they looked especially plump and tender — very pleasing to the eye.

Feeling curious, she walked over to the well.

The well came with its own ladle and bucket. She scooped out half a bucket and observed for a while but couldn’t see anything unusual.

She cupped some in her hands and took a sip. The well water was cool and slightly sweet.

Nothing particularly noticeable — but still, with suspicion in mind, she watered the vegetables again before exiting the space.

There were still things inside she hadn’t organized — she’d need to take time to sort them out.

Also, she needed some shelves. Otherwise, it’d be hard to store everything properly.

She tiptoed back to bed. Her daughter was sleeping peacefully.

She quietly opened her phone — saw that Xia Chaoyang had sent more friend requests and messages again. She ignored them all.

It was obviously just because he wanted access to her supplies — even if it was just cigarettes, alcohol, and drinks.

Signal was getting poor too — intermittent. Maybe related to the power outage?

Then she saw a message:

“URGENT HELP — Does anyone have emergency heart medication? Please, my mom is having a heart attack. I’ll give anything, I’m begging you.”

This was posted in the CaiNiao Courier Station group. The person was from Building 9 — same as Xia Chaoyang.

Jiang Yuan had bought that medication before, but now… there probably wasn’t time to deliver it.

Since she couldn’t help, she didn’t want to give false hope.

But it was a matter of life and death — she couldn’t help but feel anxious.

She kept refreshing the group chat. Finally, someone in Building 8 said they had the meds and told the person to come pick them up.

They’d have to pass by her building, maybe through the middle passageway — hopefully they made it in time.

Jiang Yuan turned off her phone and sighed.

Right now, people still didn’t fully grasp the apocalypse concept — once they did, life would become truly grim.

If someone had a sudden illness, it was extremely dangerous. Emergency calls weren’t going through, and even if they did, who knows if help would come?

Just imagining the feeling of watching a loved one slowly stop breathing — that was worse than death itself.

The next morning, water supply was unstable again. The property manager, who had been absent for a long time, finally made an announcement:

“@everyone — Please store water. Don’t spread rumors. Stay calm and wait for national rescue. The property management has not abandoned any resident.”

After that, no further replies came, no matter how many questions people asked — same old routine.

Honestly, they should start storing water now.

As soon as Jiang Yuan stepped out, she saw her parents already filling containers. They weren’t in the chat group, but they were alert to the danger.

“Sweetie, fill the big bucket in your bathroom too. The water keeps cutting off — what if it stops for good?”

“Yeah, let’s store some. Property already gave notice.”

She opened her phone to show them, and saw a new round of activity in the group:

0401: “Is the supermarket by the property office still open? There’s a lot of stuff in there. Should we team up and go check it out?”

0402: “Count me in, bro. Property is guarding the supplies and ignoring the rest of us. Claiming they haven’t abandoned anyone? Total BS.”

0801: “But that place’s not close. If we can, maybe check the convenience store near Building 15 first.”