[edited]

After paying the deposit, Jiang Ning rushed to the city’s biggest outdoor supply store.   

Two motorboats, six inflatable boats, earthquake and fire emergency kits, tents, fire axes, climbing ropes, binoculars, radios, waterproof flashlights, high capacity solar chargers, and so on.   

Life saving supplies cannot be taken lightly; she wanted only the best quality.    

Seeing a big customer. The shopkeeper enthusiastically recommended the assault jackets, sleeping bags, and more, saying, “We have a discount today on everything, and we guarantee that the quality will meet your standards.”   

Jiang Ning expression showed some contempt. “Do you have anything that can withstand the cold of minus sixty or seventy degrees Celsius?”   

The shopkeeper was startled. “We’re in the south; you can wear short sleeves in the winter here.”   

“I’m going to the Arctic to do some scientific research.” 

Seeing that she wasn’t joking, the shopkeeper immediately contacted her colleagues and said to Jiang Ning, “We have polar cold proof clothing and mummy sleeping bags that can handle extreme cold when used together, but they’re a bit expensive, and the stock is in another province.”   

Her colleague ran an online store with good reviews. The shopkeeper could expedite the delivery, guaranteeing that it would arrive by tomorrow afternoon.   

Jiang Ning ordered two sets of each, spending over 6,000 yuan.   

She spent 12,000 yuan at the outdoor supply store, filled a car with goods, and stashed them away when nobody was looking.   

The motorboats needed gasoline, but it wasn’t sold to private individuals.    

Jiang Ning bought an oil suction pump and a bucket from an auto repair shop, then made several trips to nearby gas stations to fill up, gathering 500 liters of gasoline.   

The apocalypse was too chaotic, with all kinds of blood and violence everywhere. She went to the security supplies store, “Boss, I want to go to America.”   

As soon as the boss heard, he brought out the best goods. “The scenery there is quite unique; you can’t skimp on money.”   

Taking three sets of anti stab and anti cut suits and two sets of bulletproof vests, Jiang Ning didn’t even pause to catch her breath before driving to the largest wholesale clothing market on the outskirts.   

Down jackets, military coats, cashmere sweaters, warm clothing, scarves, gloves, socks, non slip snow boots, lightweight sneakers, warm shoes, slippers—she bought everything she could think of and might need, focusing on quality rather than the brand.   

She spent 12,000 yuan at the clothing wholesale market, then rushed to the next store the general merchandise wholesale market.   

Comforters, down quilts, especially large cotton quilts, three of eight pounds, three of ten pounds, all packed in compression bags.    

Shampoo, body wash, laundry detergent, sanitary pads, tissues, toothpaste, toothbrushes, thermos, lighters, rubber hot water bags, and more—she bought everything she could think of, especially 20,000 pieces of heating pads, which were lifesavers in the extreme cold.   

There were rare items sold by e-commerce platforms, like glass kerosene lamps and waterproof and windproof lanterns, antiques from the 1960s and 1970s.    

She bought five of each. “Do you have kerosene?”   

They did, but the sale wasn’t easy. The store barely had one hundred liters in stock. 

Jiang Ning purchased everything and requested the store for bundled lamp wicks. These were much more durable than candles.   

Alcohol stoves, alcohol blocks, portable gas stoves, and since there was electricity in her space, she also took a few induction cookers.   

Insecticides, disinfectant water, water purification tablets, camphor water, and anything else she could think of—she bought it all, spending a total of 20,000 yuan.   

Next door was the fruit wholesale market: apples, pears, watermelons, kiwis, bananas, cantaloupes, star fruits, black summer fruits, grapes, and more, totaling around 6,000 yuan.   

By the time she left the wholesale market, it was already dark.   

There were several missed calls and unread messages from Zhang Chao, all saying that the goods were ready.   

Jiang Ning drove to his company, where over twenty large boxes of goods were waiting: antibiotics, anti inflammatory drugs, iodine, medical alcohol, gauze, and even tetanus vaccines—all lifesaving drugs in disasters. Although she spent over 40,000 yuan, they brought much peace of mind to an anxious Jiang Ning. 

Zhang Chao gave her a 2,000 yuan commission. “You asked for too many different things; many medicines weren’t in stock, so I had to source them from other suppliers.”   

“I’ll deliver the goods first. I’ll treat you to a big meal in a few days.” Jiang Ning, sitting in the driver’s seat, reminded him, “A strong typhoon is coming soon; you should stock up on food and fuel at home.”   

Zhang Chao didn’t pay much attention. After all, there had been over a dozen typhoons this year alone. Every time, it was just thunderous noise and a little rain.   

After storing the medicines in her space, Jiang Ning went to the food street near the university campus and ordered barbecue, beer, and fried rice noodles.   

The food street was bustling with people, with young students and couples everywhere, their youthful faces full of vitality, completely unaware of the impending disaster.   

She had to wait for the barbecue, but Jiang Ning was drawn to the bright red charcoal fire.  

Sure enough, in the midst of her busyness, she almost forgot the most important thing.   

She immediately asked the boss for contact information of the sellers of charcoal, briquettes and liquefaction tanks.   

One by one, she called them, hoping to have the goods delivered to her doorstep by tomorrow.   

Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on her side. These stores were in low lying areas, and the relevant authorities ordered them to move their goods. They were too busy these days to deliver anything.   

Charcoal was cheap, but it took up space. Jiang Ning glanced at her space and decided on five hundred kilograms of smokeless, high temperature charcoal, along with a charcoal stove and igniter.   

A bottle of liquefied gas could last two months, just in case the space experienced a power outage, so she ordered ten bottles.   

Honeycomb coal was long lasting, but with the nationwide electricity shortage this year, coupled with trade sanctions from another country, coal prices skyrocketed. One coal ball cost 2 yuan. Gritting her teeth, she ordered two thousand of them.   

Back at the apartment, close to nine o’clock, Jiang Ning took a moment to catch her breath before organizing the messy supplies in her space.   

To save as much space as possible, she stacked the liquefied gas tanks, coal balls, and charcoal in the kitchen.   

She removed all unnecessary outer packaging from the items and packed all fluffy items into compression bags, layering them up to the ceiling.   

She couldn’t help but spend money. She spent over 120,000 yuan in total during the day, filling up the small room and kitchen, estimated to occupy about 50 cubic meters.   

Just as she finished tidying up, she suddenly felt a kick, and her whole body was thrown out of the space.    

Jiang Ning was stunned. “…”  

She tried to go in again, but there was an invisible barrier blocking her.  

Damn it, the space swallowed up her supplies!