Chapter 5

It was around 7 PM, and there were still over four hours left of the raft’s usage time today, so it couldn’t be wasted.

Shu Fu first took a comfortable hot shower, changed into a short-sleeve home outfit, found the two biggest buckets in the house, cleaned them, and started filling them with water alternately.

Once one bucket was full, she would store it in her bracelet’s space, then go to the cabin’s bathroom, take out the bucket, and store the water in the cabin’s water tank, repeating the process.

While waiting for the water to fill, she began organizing the supplies she had purchased today in her bracelet’s space. She hadn’t thrown away many of the large cardboard boxes from when she was furnishing the house, and they came in handy for organizing her supplies.

Vegetables, fruits, frozen fish and meat, eggs, various snacks, cooking oil and seasonings, drinks, instant noodles, canned food, medicine, water equipment… She organized everything into different large cardboard boxes and stacked them neatly in the space. Other boxes with water and paper-based cleaning supplies were stacked without any extra arrangement.

Everything was organized to save space.

She had tried it before: once items entered the space, they could be arranged and stacked however she wanted, and due to the time stop, pulling out any box from the bottom wouldn’t affect the boxes on top.

Most of these boxes weren’t full, especially the fresh foods like fruits and vegetables, and the ready-to-eat foods that needed to be bought in larger quantities.

In addition, she needed to slightly revise her shopping list. With the drift island house, she effectively had a mobile shelter and could store more appliances.

For instance, considering the continuous rain and the inability to dry clothes, she planned to buy a few clothes dryers with sterilization functions. These weren’t expensive; she had considered them when she was searching for a house. A quick online search showed that they cost a little over a hundred yuan each, and they could be folded up when not in use and would work with electricity.

She also planned to buy a few combined grill and hotpot machines, which were perfect for someone like her with mediocre cooking skills—just meat, vegetables, and soup, and it would be ready to eat.

While storing water, she continued to organize the space. Whenever she thought of something to buy, she would jot it down in her notebook, and for items available with same-city delivery, she placed orders immediately, expecting them to arrive the next evening.

By the time the raft’s usage time ran out today, the cabin’s 500L water tank had been filled with purified water, and the supplies in the space were neatly stacked to one side. Everything looked organized and fresh, and the space seemed much larger, with plenty of room left to store more items.

Outside, hail fell for over half an hour, then turned into heavy rain, with the wind picking up, whipping the rain against the windows in waves.

Before bed, the rain outside had subsided, but it hadn’t stopped completely. The temperature inside had dropped significantly, and she didn’t even need to turn on the air conditioning. She set an alarm and finished the long, tiring day.

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The next morning, she woke up to the sound of rain hitting the glass.

The heavy rain had turned into a storm, with the glass rattling from the impact.

She took out her phone to check the weather forecast: it would rain all day, with some hail, winds of 7 to 8 levels, and temperatures between 20 and 26 degrees Celsius.

In just one night, the temperature had dropped by more than ten degrees. She rummaged through her wardrobe for a pair of jeans and a denim long-sleeve shirt, noticing the slightly messy state of her wardrobe. She planned to organize the out-of-season clothes and bedding later tonight and put everything in the cabin.

The cabin could hold a lot of things, but since time wasn’t stopped inside, the items couldn’t be preserved. It was more suitable for things that wouldn’t expire.

Yesterday, she had bought white bread from the supermarket. For breakfast, she fried some ham slices and eggs to make a sandwich and also washed a cucumber to eat as a vegetable.

Outside, the rain poured down like a waterfall, and the weather was gloomy. She dug out her rain boots and as soon as she stepped outside, rain splashed her face. She quickly locked the door and opened her umbrella.

One small downside of this rental apartment was the open corridor outside the door. When the weather was good, the light and air were fine, but on rainy, windy, or snowy days, stepping outside would result in getting soaked.

The heavy rain had lasted all night, and the corridor was flooded. Luckily, she was wearing rain boots. She held the umbrella diagonally to her right side and quickly made her way toward the central staircase.

At the time for work, other tenants in the building were also waking up early to get ready for work.

The couple next door was arguing again over something trivial.

The teenager on the fourth floor near the staircase ran out in a raincoat, with his mother chasing after him, holding a coat for him to put on. He ignored her and dashed into the stairwell, nearly bumping into Shu Fu.

From the third floor, the sound of a child crying could be heard, probably being scolded by their father over breakfast.

From the second floor, someone seemed to be making scallion pancakes, and the smell of the oil from the scallions wafted through the corridor, making Shu Fu feel a bit hungry…

It was a vivid and realistic world.

Shu Fu didn’t skimp on herself. She directly got into the rented car and drove to the company.

After completing 5% of the progress for the day, she needed to go to the electronics market to stock up on a generator and some other necessary appliances.

The electronics market was near a wholesale goods market and a food court, so she planned to eat dinner there and stock up on goods as well.

Due to the heavy rain, the road was a bit congested, but she had left earlier than usual by ten minutes and managed to clock in before work started.

Several colleagues were late today. Not only was the road blocked, but buses, subways, and taxis were all delayed. Everywhere was wet, and her clothes were half soaked from the previous shift.

Shu Fu first handed in her leave request, but since she didn’t have a hospital certificate, the HR still recorded it as personal leave.

Shu Fu: …

Several colleagues were distracted from work this morning. It was rare for Suicheng to have hail, but yesterday, the hail lasted for over half an hour, and many people took pictures and posted them on social media. Some even braved the heavy rain to go outside and collect the hail, staging various photos.

Today, the storm raged again. The weather’s constant changes always made it hard to focus on work. Shu Fu couldn’t help but wonder if the wind and rain got stronger, would the company let them have a day off?

She chatted a little with her colleagues and quietly slipped into the bathroom. In one of the cubicles, she took out her small black notebook to check. The “Current Progress” was still at 0%.

Strange, she had clocked in on time. Why hadn’t the progress bar moved?

Did she have to stay at the office until the end of the workday for the task to be completed?

At lunch, Zheng Feifei came to find her again. Although Shu Fu had no memories of her past life in this world, she was still a 29-year-old adult from the original world. She had a special job, interacted with many different people, and still retained some of her innate personality.

So, after over four years, compared to this world’s “Shu Fu,” she felt more like the version of herself who had lost her memories.

She had savings, a bit more than the average new graduate, and though she didn’t say much, she would express her appreciation for those who treated her well in small ways. She would buy an extra cup of milk tea, occasionally invite someone to lunch, or cover a shift if needed…

Most importantly, she didn’t talk much or seek attention. Although she wasn’t into gossip, she enjoyed listening to it. For her colleagues, who had high work pressure and a strong desire to vent, she was a quiet presence in the room, occasionally offering a supportive “Wow!” which gave them a strange sense of accomplishment.

Not long ago, Zheng Feifei had treated her to a meal, and since Shu Fu had taken sick leave yesterday, Zheng Feifei offered to treat her today. There was a new curry rice place that had opened across from the company, and it was said to be fantastic.

At lunchtime, the rain had lessened significantly, but the wind seemed to have gotten stronger. When they exited the elevator and reached the lobby, they could hear the howling wind outside through the glass doors.

Zheng Feifei was very straightforward; nothing could stop her desire for curry rice, not even the strong wind and rain. Plus, the rain had almost stopped, so she grabbed Shu Fu and was ready to rush out.

“Wait, let me open the umbrella first—” Shu Fu didn’t bring a bag, and she was holding her phone in her hand. As she tried to unhook the umbrella, her phone accidentally fell to the floor.

Zheng Feifei had already rushed to the door but quickly turned back when she heard the sound, hurriedly picking up the phone. “Let me check if the screen is cracked.” Thankfully, Shu Fu had a screen protector and a phone case, so the screen was perfectly fine.

Shu Fu let her hold onto the phone and continued with her task. She unhooked the umbrella, opened it, and was about to speak when a loud bang sounded from outside the building, followed by the screams of pedestrians.

Both of them froze, and at the same time, they looked up.

Zheng Feifei took a few shaky steps forward and saw a twisted, deformed metal sign. Outside the glass doors, several people were lying in the cold rain, with crimson liquid spreading out from beneath them…

It was—debris falling from a height due to the strong wind!

She watched the chaotic and bloody scene outside, her entire body freezing. If it hadn’t been for Shu Fu opening the umbrella first, or if she hadn’t dropped her phone, she would have already dashed out of the building in this light rain. She could have been one of the people lying on the ground, bleeding and convulsing…

Shu Fu stood frozen in place, holding the umbrella handle. Beneath the sleeves of her denim jacket, the bracelet gently vibrated.