Although Xinling Village was an urban village, it was located in Huashan City’s new economic development zone. Within a one-kilometer radius, there was a large shopping mall, a farmers’ market, and various shops that made daily life convenient.
Qin Sang took her electric scooter out and rode around these areas. Aside from observing the people buying things, she spent more time asking questions of the sellers.
She should mention that half of the shop owners in this area were from Xinling Village. Back when the village’s collective land was expropriated to build the new district, the villagers had used their compensation money to buy up many nearby shops. Some of these shops were run by the villagers themselves, while others were rented out to outsiders. That was how the Qin family’s roast goose shop came to be.
So, when Qin Sang asked these shop owners whether there had been any large-scale purchases lately, many of them eagerly told her.
“There sure have. Last week, some young kid came to my seed shop and bought a lot of seeds. That pretty boy clearly didn’t know the first thing about farming. He was even insisting on buying heirloom seeds that can be saved for replanting. If he hadn’t paid so well, I wouldn’t have bothered tracking them down for him.”
“My place was even more over the top. Some young girl bought over a hundred slabs of tofu at once.”
“Sang Sang, your shop got an order for a hundred roast geese too? Someone came to my stall and ordered dozens, even hundreds. Honestly, it’s ridiculous. Our roast geese aren’t mass-produced in a factory. To buy that many all at once—it’s exhausting to make them. I already told my mom, we’re not taking big orders like that anymore.”
Everyone chimed in, telling Qin Sang about what had happened over the past couple of days. The main thing was that the customers in their shops weren’t usually the type to buy in bulk—they were either locals or factory and office workers from the surrounding area. When someone—especially a young person—came in to stock up on large quantities of supplies, it left a deep impression.
Especially when someone mentioned the food court in the mall, where people had been coming every day to pack up large quantities of prepared food.
Hearing all this, Qin Sang no longer needed to look for evidence. The people desperately packing up supplies were almost certainly stockpiling. And there were both men and women among them, which meant Qu Meijing was just one of many. Furthermore, these people stockpiling prepared food must have a space with a preservation function.
Add all these elements together, and anyone who frequently read novels could guess what was going on. Either the apocalypse was coming, or something was about to go terribly wrong with the world.
As for whether these people were only appearing in their new district or if they existed elsewhere too, Qin Sang could only search online for answers.
She decided to act immediately. She sent a message to a friend, and then it was just a matter of waiting.
—
And she didn’t have to wait long.
That evening, Qin Sang stood with her hands on her hips on the fourth floor of their building, observing the renovation work.
Thickening the walls, installing underfloor heating, reinforcing the security bars, replacing the windows with bulletproof glass… Each and every detail suggested that the world was about to become unsafe.
Just then, a new message arrived on her phone. Qin Sang opened it and saw that it was indeed Dalinzi replying.
Dalinzi was her neighbor’s older brother, three years older than her. He was currently on a business trip out of town and was an expert in big data analysis.
The message included many screenshots from forums and chat groups. Qin Sang had never seen those forums before—they looked like the kind that were very hidden. The chat groups, on the other hand, had very straightforward names, like “Apocalypse Survival” and similar.
Both in the forums and the groups, most people were discussing the dreams they’d had over the past week, as well as exchanging information about those dreams and various ways to prepare for them.
And every single one of those dreams was related to the apocalypse.
After skimming through the screenshots, Qin Sang was able to confirm a few things.
First, the apocalypse was expected to arrive in about a month.
Second, among the people having these precognitive dreams, some had spatial spaces—and specifically, spaces with a preservation function.
Third, as far as she could tell, the apocalypse seemed to be a natural disaster. These people’s dreams were fragmented, like scattered pieces of a puzzle, but they indicated that extreme heat would arrive in a month. As for what would come after the heat, there was no reliable information yet.
That was interesting.
First, where had these people gotten their spatial spaces?
Second, based on Qu Meijing’s renovation style—reinforcing the walls, installing underfloor heating, replacing windows with bulletproof glass—it was likely that extremely low temperatures, or even sub-zero conditions, would follow the heat. As for the other types of disasters commonly found in post-apocalyptic novels, nothing could be ruled out just yet.
From this, she could make a guess: Qu Meijing knew more about the apocalypse than the people online. Maybe her dreams were different from theirs. But more likely, she was a reborn person.
Yes, Qin Sang was making a bold guess. She thought about that pitying look in Qu Meijing’s eyes. If she had simply had a precognitive dream, that look would probably have been one of smugness, not that condescending pity.
After quickly analyzing all the information, Qin Sang asked Dalinzi when he would be back.
If the apocalypse was coming, he should come home as soon as possible! Business trips and such—none of that was more important than staying alive.
Why did she believe in these people’s precognitive dreams? Naturally, because Qin Sang had also discussed the matter with Goose Grandpa.
Yesterday in the space, Qin Sang had mentioned Qu Meijing to Goose Grandpa casually. At the time, Goose Grandpa had said that the external energy fluctuations were abnormal. Qin Sang hadn’t fully understood then, but now she did.
“I still have half a month before I can come back,” Dalinzi quickly replied to Qin Sang’s message. “As for supplies, you should start preparing them in advance.”
Attached to the message was a supply preparation list. Items that would be hard to buy outside—such as weapons, power generation equipment, fuel, and the like—had already been crossed out, indicating that he would take care of them.
Qin Sang didn’t ask further. With so many years of friendship between their families, many things didn’t need to be said.
Dalinzi also left her a final message: the internet wasn’t very safe. They would discuss the rest in person when he returned.
After reading the message, Qin Sang stopped worrying about Qu Meijing’s situation. As long as the woman didn’t cause any trouble, she couldn’t be bothered. What she needed to do now was to quickly inform her family and then join the stockpiling efforts.
—
“So, the apocalypse is really coming?”
Listening to her daughter’s account, Qin Sang’s parents were still a bit dazed. They weren’t old-fashioned—of course they knew what the apocalypse was. But wasn’t that something that only appeared in movies and novels? And now, they were about to experience it?
“Based on online information, quite a few people seem to have had apocalyptic dreams.”
The global internet user base was enormous. Proportionally, the number of people having these precognitive dreams wasn’t large. But in absolute terms, it probably wasn’t small either. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be people stockpiling supplies in their development zone.
As for why only these people were having dreams while their family of three had none? Probably just a matter of probability.
Qin Sang pondered this. At the same time, she immediately thought of her cousin Qin Wenbang’s strange behavior.
“Mom, Dad, do you think Qin Wenbang might have also had apocalyptic dreams? Could that be why he came to borrow money—to stockpile supplies?”
This observation struck a chord with Qin Sang’s mother.
She slapped her thigh. “Oh! That little bastard is really something else. He actually said he’d pay back the money with interest in three months—talked like it was a sure thing. But if the apocalypse is coming in a month, who’s going to be around to collect the debt from him?”
The more she spoke, the more agitated she became. She reached out and pinched Qin Sang’s father several times. “See? See what kind of monsters and ghosts your younger brother’s family has turned out to be? Knowing the apocalypse is coming, not only did they not warn you, his own elder brother, but they wanted to bleed our family dry to stockpile supplies for themselves. When the apocalypse really comes, that family won’t give us a single grain of rice!”
Qin Sang’s father wasn’t stupid either. Once he understood the implications, his heart felt cold.
He had doted on his younger brother since childhood. Even when the family split, he had given in and let his brother take the larger share. As for the family’s roast goose heritage, that had been because Goose Grandpa had chosen his daughter long ago. Given the big secret of the spatial space, his own father naturally wouldn’t have passed the roast goose brand to his younger brother.
That was the only point of disagreement between the two brothers. But because he had given up so much during the family division, even that small difference had been suppressed.
Now, before disaster had even struck, his younger brother had done something so chilling.
Qin Sang silently observed her father’s expression, knowing it was better for him to completely give up on her uncle’s family sooner rather than later.
In peacetime, her father’s brotherly affection for her uncle could still exist. But in a disaster scenario, given the character of her uncle’s family, it was best to give up early. Otherwise, with all the supplies in their family’s roast goose space, her father might very well soften.
After all, this space had been passed down through generations, and inside were many treasures left by their ancestors. A kind-hearted man like her father might secretly help out if her uncle’s family were on the verge of collapse.
But Qin Sang didn’t trust that family at all.
“Dalinzi sent me a stockpiling list. I’ve printed it out. Let’s cross-check it against our inventory in the space and circle the things we’re missing. Starting tomorrow, we’ll buy, buy, buy. Also, should we renovate our house like the upstairs tenant did?”
Speaking of this, Qin Sang felt a bit torn. Her main concern was that there might be earthquakes or massive floods in the future that their house couldn’t withstand. But if Qu Meijing—a reborn person—had chosen to rent a place in their building, did that mean their building and even this area would be safe?
Qin Sang knew she couldn’t fully rely on Qu Meijing, since she didn’t know her background. So, when it came to renovating the house, Qin Sang felt she needed to gather more information.
Anyway, today was July 3rd, and the apocalypse was supposed to arrive on August 8th. That gave them a full month.
Without further delay, the family entered the space and began taking inventory.
While they worked, Qin Sang mentioned the apocalypse to Goose Grandpa.
“The apocalypse usually means the end of the world. But I sense that the external energy fluctuations are quite intense. It doesn’t feel like things are heading toward annihilation.”
Goose Grandpa’s words puzzled Qin Sang. But regardless, preparing supplies in advance was the best course of action. Even if the apocalypse didn’t come, things stored in the space wouldn’t spoil.
Busy taking inventory, Qin Sang didn’t notice that the normally lively goose eyes were now flashing with glimmers of light.
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