Qin Sang’s hometown, Huashan City, was right next to the provincial capital, only about an hour’s drive away. The wholesale markets in the provincial capital were much larger than those in Huashan City. Additionally, she was worried that stocking up locally might be noticed by acquaintances. So, after taking inventory of her space supplies yesterday, Qin Sang drove directly to the suburban wholesale market in the provincial capital early this morning.
This wholesale market area wasn’t just for agricultural products—it also had a clothing mall and a daily necessities wholesale market, making it very convenient for stocking up.
As she got out of the car, Qin Sang wondered if she would run into other people who were also there to stock up.
Ever since learning about the existence of “survivors,” Qin Sang had been a bit worried about encountering them while shopping. Most of these people believed they had prior knowledge and wanted to get a head start on hoarding supplies. They might feel hostile toward others doing the same.
She also feared that these people might find out she had supplies and come to rob her after the apocalypse broke out.
However, the most urgent thing for them to stock up on was probably food. That was something Qin Sang had plenty of. So, the chances of running into them today were probably low.
But just as she approached the entrance of the clothing mall, she ran into Qu Meijing.
Qu Meijing didn’t see her. She was arguing with a young man and woman.
Before Qin Sang got closer, she heard Qu Meijing say, “I don’t know where to buy heat-resistant clothes or anything like that. If you know what’s good for you, stop following me.”
Qu Meijing was utterly annoyed with this pair of siblings. Yesterday, she had packed two hundred servings of ginger milk curd from a dessert shop in Huashan City. These two were the shop owner’s children. As she was leaving, they stopped her and started talking about something called “survivors.”
That was how she found out that her large-scale purchases of prepared food over the past two days had caught their attention. And she wasn’t the only one—many others already knew that the apocalypse was coming in a month.
The siblings didn’t have enough money and didn’t have many connections, so they latched onto her, asking her to buy supplies for them while she was at it.
She had managed to shake them off yesterday. Afraid of being bothered again, she specifically came to the provincial capital to stock up, yet here they were again.
Qin Sang was sharp. Having grown up eating space-grown food, her senses were particularly acute, and she could clearly see and understand the conflict between the three. Suppressing a laugh, she quietly decided to head to the daily necessities market first.
See? She knew Qu Meijing’s actions would draw attention. Especially since some people in this world had prophetic dreams. Without those dreams, people might just think Qu Meijing’s shopping spree was odd, not jump to conclusions about an apocalypse. But once someone knew the end was coming, wouldn’t they immediately recognize what Qu Meijing was doing?
She also wondered if anyone else in her village, aside from her cousin, had prophetic dreams. If so, things would get even more interesting.
—
The daily necessities market was crowded. As soon as Qin Sang entered, a wave of heat hit her.
The temperature had already approached 45 degrees Celsius today. There was no air conditioning in this market—only the industrial fans from each stall owner, blasting noisily.
Qin Sang moved quickly, not haggling too much over prices. If the price was similar to what she had seen online, she placed the order directly.
Toothbrushes, toothpaste, towels, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, laundry detergent, laundry soap, dish soap, facial cleanser, disinfectant, affordable face cream, moisturizer, glycerin, Vaseline, tissues, sanitary pads, diapers, and various other daily necessities—she bought enough for her entire family for a hundred years.
Stocking up this way meant having more than enough, and since everything would be stored in her space, expiration wasn’t an issue. Before coming, she had already asked her parents to clear out several warehouses in the space.
Their roast goose business had been put on hold temporarily. The excuse given to outsiders was that it was too hot to make roast geese.
Additionally, there were kitchenware vendors here. Qin Sang also ordered a large batch of disposable tableware, along with five hundred sets of non-disposable stainless steel bowls, lunch boxes, basins, spoons, chopsticks, and the large stainless steel barrels used in canteens.
She also bought five hundred 50-liter plastic buckets at once. As for plastic basins, she bought five hundred of each size.
For brooms, dustpans, mops, trash cans, and similar items, she bought a hundred sets.
As for rice cookers, woks, soup pots, thermoses, thermal cooking jars, insulated bottles, and other kitchenware, she ordered them directly from brand flagship stores online. Such items were hard to find in this wholesale market, and since she didn’t need large quantities, buying them online wouldn’t trigger big data alerts.
The goods she bought from this market were to be delivered to a warehouse on the outskirts of Huashan City. Her family had been renting this warehouse for a long time—it stored lychee wood and various spices used for making roast goose. So, no one would pay special attention to her family’s warehouse.
In many apocalypse novels, the main characters suddenly rent a warehouse in their city and start buying things like crazy. Qin Sang felt that would easily get noticed by warehouse managers.
Once she finished buying daily necessities, all that was left was to wait for delivery, inspect the goods, and settle the final payment.
To stock up, Qin Sang had taken hold of the family’s bank cards. Together, their savings and checking accounts totaled 3.86 million yuan. Part of that money came from land compensation and old house demolition fees, while the rest was what her parents had earned from selling roast geese over the years.
Their roast goose business was quite profitable. Because it was delicious, they sold them at a high price. However, they never produced large quantities—scaling up would attract attention and risk exposing the space. So, over the years, their savings weren’t as high as outsiders might have imagined.
If she wasn’t buying grains or meat, 3.86 million yuan was enough for a well-planned stockpile.
If more money was needed later, she could consider loans or something. As for selling the house like the main characters in apocalypse novels?
That was out of the question.
Their house was a self-built one. Not only would it be hard to sell, but finding another place to live afterward would be inconvenient. And since the apocalypse was coming soon, living close to familiar villagers and relatives would be safer than living in a building full of strangers.
Moreover, Qin Sang had always felt that since Qu Meijing, the reborn woman, had chosen their house, there must be something special about that area.
Her family also had a roast goose shop. They could sell it if they wanted to, but it didn’t feel like the right time. Since they weren’t short on money for now, the family decided to leave things as they were.
In apocalypse novels, the main characters often rent luxury cars, then sell them on the black market for cash, max out dozens of credit cards, or exploit various online lending platforms and apps. The Qin family felt they hadn’t reached that point yet.
After exiting the daily necessities market, Qin Sang pulled down her baseball cap and walked directly into the clothing wholesale market.
Her understanding of the future came from two sources: the information Dalinzi had sent her and the renovation work Qu Meijing was doing on the house.
Huashan City was in a subtropical zone. During the coldest part of winter, they only needed light down jackets for about half a month. Yet Qu Meijing was installing underfloor heating and even seemed to be building a fireplace. These two details alone confirmed that extremely low temperatures were coming—likely far lower than normal.
The construction worker wasn’t someone Qin Sang knew, but her father had taken an elderly uncle from the village who used to do cement work to take a look. The old uncle noticed right away that the walls needed thickening. Judging by the bricks being used, he estimated they would be thickened by a full fifty centimeters. A lot of cold-proof materials had also been brought in.
The old uncle told her father that this tenant’s renovations were unreasonable and suggested evicting her.
Otherwise, why make the walls so much thicker and reduce the interior floor space?
After hearing this, Qin Sang became even more certain that the future would bring extreme cold. For now, she decided to prepare for temperatures as low as minus one hundred degrees.
Still, she was annoyed that Qu Meijing was thickening the walls to such an extent. The lease agreement only mentioned wall reinforcement, but not how thick they would be. At the time, neither side had imagined it would be this excessive. If the house hadn’t been built by her family with quality materials and a deep foundation, the structural integrity might have been compromised.
The main reason they hadn’t evicted Qu Meijing was that Qin Sang wanted to observe her actions. The apocalypse would be extremely dangerous, and having a “prophet” around could prove useful.
As she was still thinking about Qu Meijing, Qin Sang unexpectedly ran into her at a stall selling thermal underwear.
Talk about fate. She had spent over two hours in the daily necessities market. She’d assumed Qu Meijing would have left by now. Yet the woman was still here.
Qu Meijing recognized Qin Sang at first glance.
It wasn’t hard—Qin Sang was tall, nearly 1.7 meters, making her stand out in a crowd. Plus, although she was wearing a mask, her large eyes and the “good luck” bracelet on her wrist made her instantly identifiable.
Qu Meijing had always been sensitive to jewelry.
Seeing her expression, Qin Sang knew she had been recognized. But she wasn’t flustered—there was no reason to be. She simply nodded at Qu Meijing as a greeting and walked past her toward a stall selling underwear.
Qu Meijing wanted to call out to her but didn’t know what to say.
Should she ask why Qin Sang was at the wholesale market? Whether she knew the apocalypse was coming and had come to stock up?
After finally shaking off that brother and sister and circling back, Qu Meijing didn’t want anyone else discovering her secret.
But while those siblings didn’t know where she lived, Qin Sang—her young landlady—certainly did.
This realization unsettled Qu Meijing.
Why was it that in other people’s rebirth stories, the protagonists thrived while she, despite being careful, kept running into people who had prophetic dreams?
And apparently, many others were having such dreams too.
Would these people change the future? If news of the apocalypse became widespread, would those few detestable individuals survive this time?
Just thinking about that future filled Qu Meijing with rage.
No. She could not let those despicable people live.
Unaware of the thoughts swirling in Qu Meijing’s mind, Qin Sang was currently busy shopping at a stall specializing in outdoor gear.
As soon as the stall owner heard what she wanted, he said knowingly, “You young people—are you all into this ‘apocalypse survival stocking up’ thing lately?”
Qin Sang’s expression tightened at his words.
The owner didn’t notice and cheerfully continued, “I’ve got windproof lanterns, solar-powered radios, solar-powered flashlights, solar rice cookers, hand-crank generators, kayaks, speedboats, tents, compressed biscuits, water purification tablets, windproof matches—all sorts of doomsday gear! So, how about a few dozen or even a hundred sets?”
Judging by the owner’s expression, Qin Sang could tell this wasn’t his first time dealing with such customers. He also looked like he’d struck gold. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one stocking up at his stall.
Feigning embarrassment at being found out, Qin Sang quietly asked the owner how many survivors had placed orders with him.
Eager to make a sale, the owner freely shared the information. He rambled on, explaining that more than a dozen young people had already ordered from him.
It wasn’t just his stall—several others in the wholesale market had seen similar customers.
“But you young people lack common sense,” the owner continued. “Just earlier, some young woman wanted to buy thick down jackets rated for minus eighty degrees. Not only are those things expensive, but no one in this market sells them! Doesn’t she see how hot it is here? Now, buying heat-resistant clothing—that at least makes some sense…”
As the owner droned on, Qin Sang thought to herself: That must have been Qu Meijing. Good—one more piece of information. The future would be extremely cold, down to minus eighty degrees.
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