“Oh my, it really worked!”
Mom Qin stared at the jade pendant that had vanished before her eyes, her face full of shock.
Dad Qin, on the other hand, was quite calm. But his calmness lasted less than two seconds before the corners of his mouth were practically touching his ears.
“Hehe, hehe. I have a space now too.”
Mom Qin said irritably, “It’s not like you were lacking food or drink without a space!”
“It’s different. Having my own space feels amazing.” Dad Qin’s eyes sparkled as he thought about who knows what.
Qin Sang said, “Mom, Dad, keep this matter confidential. Don’t tell anyone. Wait for the official announcement.”
They had tried several pieces of jade today, and only this one worked. But the success rate was still significant. She figured the authorities were probably testing this already. They would likely need to collect as much jade as possible before making any announcement.
If it were her, she’d do the same. Because spatial abilities are a double-edged sword. They allow people to stockpile supplies in advance to survive the disaster. But there are also those with twisted minds who would use their spaces for “zero-yuan shopping.”
Even before the disaster announcement, there were such people. And after today’s announcement, Qin Sang had already seen many comments advocating for zero-yuan shopping.
“We won’t tell anyone, not a soul. Our whole family has spaces now. It’s the perfect time to keep a low profile and get rich quietly. Let’s go redistribute the supplies.” Dad Qin rubbed his hands together like he was about to do something big, prompting Mom Qin to smack him twice.
Seeing this, Qin Sang covered her mouth and snickered: Wasn’t this the whole “a man is always a boy at heart” thing?
——
She took her parents into the space and had them go to the warehouse to redistribute the supplies.
Come to think of it, her Roast Goose Space was on a higher level than her parents’ spaces.
Her mother could directly stash things into her own space while inside the Roast Goose Space. Qin Sang had studied it—her parents’ spaces couldn’t accommodate people, but they could preserve freshness. Both spaces were the same size, about the area of a football field, with a height limit of roughly five meters.
These spaces were square and boxy. Two different people having identical spaces was honestly a bit strange.
These spaces looked suspiciously like they were mass-produced.
Qin Sang found it odd. She turned around and went to find Grandpa Goose. Last time she asked him, he had been evasive. This time, she was determined to get an answer out of him.
“Little Sangsang, you’re so small, don’t keep dwelling on these things. You’ll age quickly.”
Grandpa Goose’s small, black, bean-like eyes darted around as he refused to answer Qin Sang’s question. He didn’t say he didn’t know—which meant he did know. He just wouldn’t say.
Qin Sang rolled her eyes. “Grandpa Goose, if you don’t tell me what you know, what am I supposed to do when I run into trouble?”
Today was July 14th. There was still over half a month until the disaster struck. But Qin Sang was already feeling a sense of urgency. Especially since both her parents had prophetic dreams today—it suggested that the number of prophetic dreamers would likely keep growing. Such a massive scale clearly pointed to something more than a simple natural disaster apocalypse.
Regular readers of apocalypse novels knew that people with prophetic dreams were usually the protagonists. Surely not all of humanity could be protagonists?
Grandpa Goose was momentarily stumped by Qin Sang’s words. After thinking it over, he finally gave a non-answer: “Spaces are good things. You don’t have one because you already have the Roast Goose Space. But don’t be afraid. What’s meant to come will come. The day I can get out, you’ll have your answer.”
With that, before Qin Sang could react, the entire goose dissolved into countless specks of light and disappeared.
At this point, one might think Grandpa Goose had met his end. The young Qin Sang had thought so too.
But that wasn’t the case.
“He’s hiding again!”
Qin Sang stomped her foot in frustration but had no choice. Whenever Grandpa Goose turned into specks of light, he couldn’t be found.
Sighing, Qin Sang told her parents and exited the space. She needed to talk to Dalinzi.
——
She sent a message. This time, she didn’t have to wait long. She didn’t say much, just hinted at the reason behind the spaces.
Dalinzi replied with a single OK emoji, then told Qin Sang to watch for changes in the Survival app.
Qin Sang sensed something important but didn’t ask further. He then sent her another list—items she hadn’t prepared yet.
[Fa has connections to get supplies. I just got my bonus, so I had him source some. He’ll bring them to you later. I’ll be back before the 8th.]
Qin Sang didn’t stand on ceremony. Her father was handling the reinforcement and renovation of Dalinzi’s house anyway. She replied with “OK” and closed the chat, understanding Dalinzi’s implication.
The Survival app was very important.
She reopened the green icon that represented hope. The home page now had more news—infrastructure projects, new satellite launch plans, evacuation progress from around the world, and more.
Of course, there were also various rationing policies for supplies.
After scrolling through the news, Qin Sang’s finger moved to the menu bar at the bottom of the home page. That morning, the Mall and Tasks icons had been gray. But now, the Tasks icon had turned green.
She clicked in immediately and found a number of job postings.
Yes, job postings.
Most of them were for construction workers, electricians, carpenters, excavator operators, and crane operators. In addition, there were many openings in agriculture and aquaculture. Some jobs were more miscellaneous and varied. The most eye-catching detail was that these jobs weren’t paid in money, but in points.
Qin Sang intuitively felt that points would be very important. For now, transactions outside still used currency. But after the disaster struck, money would likely become less and less useful.
She immediately looked up her city to see if there were any suitable jobs for her. She wanted to earn some points as soon as possible, so she wouldn’t be empty-handed when she needed them.
——
But just as she found her city and was about to start searching, someone called out from outside.
Qin Sang walked to the balcony and looked down. It was the village chief, accompanied by people from the community office.
Don’t let the term “village” fool you—this was an urban village, which fell under the community’s jurisdiction. The village chief was just a traditional title with no real administrative authority.
“Director He, Village Chief. What’s this about?”
She had just returned from the community not long ago and assumed Director He was here about Second Aunt.
But Director He said, “We’re here to verify the population registration. It’s for future resource management.”
The village chief chimed in, “Our village is covered by me and the patrol team. Sangsang, where are your parents? Also, did any of your tenants terminate their leases today? How many tenants do you still have? They all need to come down and register.”
“My parents are out. Except for Miss Qu on the fourth floor, all the other tenants have terminated their leases. They’ll probably all be gone by the afternoon.”
After the disaster announcement that morning, tenants had come one by one to break their leases. They said that since the apocalypse was coming, they didn’t want to be wage slaves anymore. To put it bluntly, they’d rather die at home, spending their final days with their families.
After giving a brief overview of her household’s situation, Qin Sang cooperated with the community workers as they verified every piece of personal information registered on the Survival app. Qu Meijing was also called downstairs.
While Qu Meijing was having her information verified, Qin Sang, standing nearby, finally got a look at her details. The verification tablet was quite large, after all.
It turned out Qu Meijing was from the provincial capital, and the address on her ID was a river-view luxury apartment there. A rich person like that choosing to rent a place in their urban village immediately drew questioning from Director He.
Qu Meijing was equally blunt—she just shook her head and refused to say anything. Seeing this, Director He didn’t press further. She simply had Qu Meijing complete the verification and sent her on her way.
After Qu Meijing left, Director He immediately said, “This girl is a bit strange, Qin Sang. Keep an eye on her.”
Qin Sang nodded. She already knew she needed to watch Qu Meijing.
“All over the country, there are people having prophetic dreams. These people knew about the disaster before the rest of us. Some of their so-called preparations aren’t reliable. Old Qin, your village needs to flag anyone acting too far out of the ordinary.”
The village chief nodded repeatedly. Everyone in the village had always thought this girl Qu was odd. Her apartment was reinforced like a prison. The village chief hadn’t understood it before, but after today’s press conference, it all clicked. He was already planning to follow her example.
Little did Qu Meijing know that moving into this urban village had exposed so many of her secrets. After completing the verification, she went back upstairs to her room to pack. Taking advantage of the chaos starting outside, she was about to do something big.
After seeing off Director He and the others, Qin Sang went back home to continue studying the Survival app, missing Qu Meijing’s second departure.
——
By evening, Qin Sang still hadn’t found a suitable job. She stretched and heard her mother call her to dinner. She washed her hands and went to the dining room.
Dinner was exceptionally lavish—a seafood feast. They had been eating very well every meal lately. As her father put it, in a few more days, they wouldn’t be able to eat so well outside. So while they still had time, they were indulging.
Qin Sang devoured two prawns as long as her arm and felt completely satisfied. Her Roast Goose Space did have a small sea, but it was tiny—just enough to raise a few small marine creatures like oysters, abalone, lobsters, and shrimp. For larger seafood, she had to buy it frozen.
Just as she was talking with her parents about seafood, the sound of a vehicle starting up came from next door.
No need to guess—Qin Wenqiang was back.
Qin Sang had been wondering when this thick-headed man would return. He had taken a big loss before, but back then, he didn’t know the truth. Now that the authorities had announced the impending disaster, even the most stubborn person would realize things were about to get bad.
“He wouldn’t go pick a fight at your Second Uncle’s place, would he?” Mom Qin sounded like she was worried, but the glint of anticipation in her eyes was impossible to hide.
Qin Sang chuckled. “Well, Second Uncle’s family was in the wrong. If they won’t pay money, they’ll have to pay supplies. But Qin Wenbang is such a scoundrel—if they manage to get back even a third of the supplies, they should count themselves lucky.”
Dad Qin didn’t join the conversation. He felt that having a younger brother like that was a huge embarrassment.
And things played out more or less as they had discussed. Within half an hour of returning, Qin Wenqiang had gathered a bunch of close relatives—dozens of people—and marched over to Second Uncle Qin’s house.
Hearing the commotion, Qin Sang immediately dragged her mother over to watch. Her father wasn’t keen on going. Even if he had wanted to, Qin Sang wouldn’t have let him. If people saw him there, they’d say it was improper for the eldest brother to stand by while his younger brother’s family was confronted.
——
By the time they got to Second Uncle’s house, the entrance was already packed with onlookers. Even the village chief and the patrol team were there, though they stood off to the side and didn’t interfere in the family dispute.
“Sangsang, perfect timing!”
Patrol Captain Qin Wenfa waved her over.
“Brother Fa, are the supplies ready?”
Brother Fa’s eyes widened. “Not nearly that fast. You have no idea—people are panic-buying everywhere today. Everything, whether edible or not, is being rationed. My contact can supply the goods, but it’ll take a couple of days, and it’s not cheap. Dalinzi’s going to have to dig deep this time.”
“By the way, the village chief is planning to turn his house into a fortress. Are you guys doing the same? My family’s planning to go along with it. Oh, I hear the big iron doors for fortresses are pretty hard to come by…”
He rambled on and on, making Qin Sang’s head spin.
Just then, Qin Wenbang and Qin Wenqiang couldn’t reach an agreement and were about to come to blows. Qin Sang quickly told Brother Fa to go keep an eye on them.
“As long as no one loses a limb, let them go at it…” Brother Fa waved dismissively.
Before long, both families were battered and bloody.
Everyone started wondering whether they should step in. Then they heard Second Aunt Qin let out a sharp scream.
Well, it turned out Qin Wenqiang had cleaned out all the supplies sitting in their living room.
Wow. This guy really came back like a king. Watching Qin Wenqiang strutting around smugly, Qin Sang face-palmed. He was loudly bragging about having taken the supplies into his space. But the thing was, there wasn’t a trace of spatial energy around him at all.
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