Everyone was busy.
Yang Wen buried herself in sorting through the family’s jewelry and luxury goods. Those items that had once symbolized status would be worth less than a loaf of bread in the apocalypse. She simply packed and categorized everything, then gathered some disguise items like fake noses and wigs, waiting to deal with them later and convert them into supplies. That was far more practical.
Meanwhile, Li Su’s voice had become so hoarse she could barely speak, yet she continued making phone calls nonstop.
“Hello, prepared meal supplier? This is the Li Group. We want fifty thousand ready-made meals of all varieties. The sooner you can deliver, the better. We’ll cover all shipping costs and pay in cash!”
“Forty thousand packs of sanitary pads, three thousand packs of children’s diapers, one thousand portions each of infant formula and rice cereal. I want the best batches available…”
“Boss Niu, triple tomorrow’s vegetable delivery to the villa! We’re hosting guests. Fresh produce, frozen goods, dried foods—we’ll take as much as you have. Price is negotiable!”
“Pharmaceutical company? We want all categories of medicine, from cold remedies to antibiotics, from wound treatments to emergency kits. Bulk purchase. We can negotiate now, sign the contract today, and pay the deposit immediately!”
By the time Li Su finished making calls, her throat was nearly gone. Yang Wen hurriedly fed her a sip of herbal throat tea made from pangdahai.
Fortunately, it was winter in the north.
The shelf life of supplies would be longer, and goods stored in the mine tunnel would not spoil as quickly.
It was just a pity that they didn’t have a spatial storage ability.
In her previous life, humanity only began awakening supernatural powers after the apocalypse arrived.
As for Shen Jianchen, ever since being reborn, nothing seemed to be going smoothly.
He had originally thought that once he got rid of Li Su, that “burden,” everything would go his way.
Reality had slapped him hard across the face.
Of the eight million yuan obtained from selling off company assets, Li Su had forcibly taken 6.4 million. The remaining 1.6 million was divided among several people, leaving him with only 200,000 yuan.
Lin Tianrou could provide some ideas, but they had failed to obtain the Li family’s mine tunnel. Instead, the Li family targeted them at every turn.
The company’s assets had shrunk dramatically. Several properties under his name were driven down to rock-bottom prices. Real estate originally valued at thirty million yuan ultimately sold for just over ten million.
Even that amount of money was insignificant in the face of the apocalypse.
Though Shen Jianchen claimed he didn’t care, he felt deeply frustrated.
It wasn’t about the money—it was the humiliation.
He possessed the advantage of rebirth, yet found himself constrained everywhere, leaving him increasingly resentful.
Fortunately, they had finally purchased an abandoned mine tunnel.
Although it had cost twenty million yuan, they could at last begin stockpiling supplies.
That eased his worries somewhat.
“Jianchen, good news! Incredible news!”
Lin Tianrou burst into the room, her face filled with deliberately exaggerated joy.
Recently, Shen Jianchen had been overwhelmed by one headache after another. The moment he heard “good news,” his mood instantly improved.
“What is it? Hurry up and tell me!”
“I told you! Since we’ve been given a second chance, our luck couldn’t possibly be bad!”
Lin Tianrou deliberately kept him in suspense. After thoroughly whetting his appetite, she lowered her voice and said proudly:
“Wu Xiaomei has awakened a supernatural ability! A whole month earlier than in our previous life!”
“What?!”
Shen Jianchen jumped to his feet.
The gloom vanished from his face as he excitedly paced around the office.
“Really? That much earlier? What ability? Is it still Lightning Element?”
“No!”
Lin Tianrou stepped closer, lowering her voice even further. Greed flickered in her eyes.
“It’s a spatial storage ability! Exactly what we need right now!”
“A spatial ability?!”
Shen Jianchen’s eyes practically glowed.
Rubbing his hands together, he paced back and forth, so excited he nearly jumped.
“Excellent! This is heaven helping me! With storage space, we can preserve fresh food and medicine. We won’t have to worry about the mine tunnel running out of room or supplies spoiling! This must remain secret. Absolutely no outsiders can find out!”
“Don’t worry. I already instructed Wu Xiaomei that she must never reveal it, no matter what.”
Lin Tianrou patted her chest confidently, though she was already plotting how to keep this spatial ability firmly under her and Shen Jianchen’s control.
The two hurried toward the conference room.
Before they even entered, they could hear cheers and excited screams coming from inside.
The noise was enough to make their ears hurt.
Both their expressions darkened immediately.
The moment they pushed open the door, their anger shot straight to the top of their heads.
Wu Xiaomei stood in the center of the conference room like a peacock showing off its feathers.
In front of Feng Wanli, Ning Tian, Li Dadong, and the others, she flaunted her spatial ability proudly.
With a wave of her hand, several tables and chairs in front of her vanished into thin air.
Everyone’s jaws dropped.
Exclamations erupted one after another.
Then she casually waved her hand again, and the tables and chairs reappeared exactly where they had been.
Li Dadong, another reborn fool, jumped up excitedly and applauded.
“Xiaomei! That’s incredible! You’re actually the first to awaken an ability! With you around, we’ll definitely survive the apocalypse smoothly!”
Feng Wanli’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“So the apocalypse is real! It wasn’t just a rumor!”
Ning Tian looked at her enviously.
“If Xiaomei awakened an ability, maybe I’ll awaken a powerful one too!”
The group surrounded Wu Xiaomei, cheering excitedly.
None of them noticed Shen Jianchen’s and Lin Tianrou’s faces, dark enough to drip water.
Only Zhao Qiang stood off to the side, staring blankly at his left hand and muttering to himself.
“Strange. Ever since Li Su punched me, my left hand has been weak. My punching speed and strength are nowhere near what they used to be. Did that punch leave some kind of aftereffect? That woman’s fists were seriously hard—she wasn’t any weaker than me…”
Looking at Wu Xiaomei’s spatial ability, he became smug again.
“Still, fists are useless. Once I awaken an ability, I’ll tear apart anyone stupid enough to cross me!”
“Wu Xiaomei!”
Shen Jianchen’s voice was icy cold, barely containing his rage.
“Didn’t I tell you to keep it secret? Who gave you permission to show off here?!”
The smug expression on Wu Xiaomei’s face froze.
Then she immediately put on an innocent look.
“Aren’t we all on the same side? We’re facing the apocalypse together. How can there be secrets between us?”
Shen Jianchen’s face turned livid with anger.
Lin Tianrou clenched her teeth, a vicious glint flashing through her eyes.
On the same side?
In their eyes, these people were nothing more than disposable cannon fodder for the apocalypse.
Useful when needed.
Discarded when not.
How were they worthy of knowing such an important secret?
“So what if Li Su isn’t here? We can still thrive in the apocalypse!”
Dizzy from all the praise, Wu Xiaomei became even more arrogant.
Hands on her hips, she proudly announced:
“Now that I have a spatial ability, leave all our apocalypse stockpiling plans to me!”
The people around her were completely swept away by the fantasy she painted.
They eagerly agreed.
“Exactly! Let Xiaomei keep everything! A spatial ability is so convenient!”
“That’s right! In apocalypse novels, spatial storage is practically standard equipment. With Xiaomei around, we’re already ahead at the starting line!”
“From now on, Xiaomei is our highest-priority protected member! We’ll all revolve around you every day!”
Listening to their flattery, Wu Xiaomei’s grin stretched almost to her ears.
She completely failed to notice the disgust and calculations hidden in Shen Jianchen’s and Lin Tianrou’s eyes.
Lin Tianrou spoke hypocritically:
“Looks like we’re guaranteed to survive the apocalypse now. But whenever I think about Su Su having nothing at all, I just feel so sorry for her~”
Hearing that, Chen Miao suddenly remembered something.
Taking advantage of nobody paying attention, she quickly pulled out her phone and sent Li Su a message:
[Su Su! This is insane! Wu Xiaomei has completely lost it! Right in front of everyone, she made tables and chairs disappear and then reappear, and she’s telling people she awakened a spatial ability! If they sent her to a psychiatric hospital, wouldn’t she get admitted straight into the intensive ward?!]