Han Ying also wanted to buy jet skis, but the outdoor shop didn’t carry them. The boss said he could try contacting someone, so she ordered three. Seeing that she hadn’t bought life jackets or swim rings, the boss generously offered to give her fifty sets of professional life jackets and swim rings for free.
Since the boss was being so generous, Han Ying bought all the inflatable pools, folding pools, and framed swimming pools in the store’s warehouse—over a hundred of various sizes. Both the boss and Han Ying were secretly delighted.
Other items weren’t available in such large quantities yet. The boss promised free delivery within 100 km within two days. Han Ying left the address of the warehouse she had rented earlier.
In truth, the main reason she came to this outdoor shop was for these hundred-plus portable pools; the fifty outdoor survival kits and water-activity gear were just add-ons.
After paying a 30,000-yuan cash deposit, she drove her small truck away, carrying the hundred-plus pools and a valuable piece of information from the shop owner—where to find sellers who dealt in bulk diesel and gasoline underground.
Driving the small truck and humming, Han Ying was in a wonderful mood. She had been worrying about fuel; she was prepared to waste a teleportation talisman to “shop for free” at a refinery if necessary. She never expected to gain intel so easily.
After she left, the shop owner stared stiffly at the 30,000 yuan in cash.How long had it been since he handled this much cash? He never thought such a pretty young girl would be so… old-fashioned. Even his sixty-year-old father didn’t carry cash anymore.But honestly, receiving physical cash felt very different from hearing a mobile payment notification. It felt… weirdly satisfying.
By the time Han Ying returned to the small restaurant, two and a half hours had passed. The server had already finished packing the twenty dishes she ordered. After the server helped her carry everything to the truck, she paid and left.
After walking some distance, she found another place with no surveillance. Just like she had done with the pools earlier, she stored all the food from the truck into her space talisman. Then she switched the truck back to her SUV and prepared to return to the university district.
Han Ying already knew she wouldn’t make it back in time to pick up today’s milk tea orders, so she had told the shop in the morning not to make any until she notified them. Milk tea loses its taste drastically after an hour.
Checking the time, she realized she could do one more task before heading back.So she called the milk tea shop to tell them to start preparing her order; she would pick it up soon.
Yesterday, she had listed the apartment in Yujing Community for sale. The one she currently lived in near the university was rented, and she had no intention of staying there after the apocalypse. She needed to buy another place.
She already knew exactly where she wanted to buy. After dealing with several agents in the past two days, she had gained some experience. This time she didn’t use the previous two agents but hired a new one instead.
Using her real identity, she asked the agent to purchase a property for her in Yuefu Jiangnan, specifically Building 9, Floor 27, Unit 2702 or 2703. The agent did not ask why she refused to consider 2701.After all, she promised five times the normal commission if he could secure either apartment. Yuefu Jiangnan was expensive—each square meter cost at least . The commission from a single unit would be around 20,000 yuan normally, and five times that meant nearly 100,000 yuan. If he completed this deal, his month would be a breeze.
Han Ying didn’t care how the agent contacted the owners.Her goal for buying a unit on that floor was because of the residents in 2701.
She had met the couple living in 2701 after the apocalypse in her previous life. During the early stages of the end times, she went out to search for supplies with them several times. In truth, she wasn’t helping—they were the ones taking care of her and letting her share their finds. After she entered the shelters, she never learned what became of them, but they had helped her tremendously back then. They even saved her twice.
This time, she decided to become their neighbor. With such reliable neighbors, she could feel more at ease.
After leaving the agency, she checked the time, then drove toward the university district. She had told the milk tea shop earlier that she’d return to pick up her order.
After collecting a batch of milk tea, she went straight home.Her rented place was very close to the milk tea shop. Today’s batch didn’t reach her target quantity, so she told the staff to prepare another batch for her to pick up later.
Before going home, she stopped by the convenience store outside her community to pick up three packages. They looked small but were surprisingly heavy—they were the talisman-drawing tools she had ordered online after learning she had inherited the ability to draw space talismans.
Back home, she quickly cleared the table and set the three packages on it. She had bought them from three different shops to compare quality.
She carefully opened each package with a knife.Each contained:
10 medium-sized wolf-hair brushes
10 bottles of cinnabar ink
100 packs of high-grade talisman paper (100 sheets per pack) — 100 packs total
These items looked ordinary but were extremely expensive.A single wolf-hair brush: over 200 yuanA bottle of talisman cinnabar ink: 100 yuanA pack of high-grade talisman paper: 350 yuan
There were cheaper low-grade and mid-grade alternatives, but she knew quality directly affected success rate and effectiveness, so she bought only the best.
After unpacking everything, she laid out three sets of tools and three stacks of talisman paper, storing the rest in her space talisman.
Pouring a little cinnabar into three ink dishes, she followed the technique and memories inherited through the transmission talisman and began drawing her first talisman.
She had been worried she might not truly know how.But once she picked up the brush… she completed it in one smooth, continuous motion!
It felt as natural as her years of drawing and dance training.A first-try success!
Did this mean that although she didn’t have talent for cultivation, she did have talent for talisman crafting?
A completed space talisman lay before her, and all of its information immediately appeared in her mind:
Capacity: 225 cubic metersShelf life: 20 years unusedAfter activation: valid for 3 years
She had only inherited one percent of the original talisman master’s cultivation, so she expected a difference—but she didn’t expect the difference to be this huge:
The original master’s space talisman had 2,000,000 cubic meters.Hers had only 225 cubic meters.
The gap nearly made her choke.
Still, her cultivation was what it was.And 225 cubic meters wasn’t small—equivalent to three large rooms.
Since the quality couldn’t match the original, she would simply win through quantity!
Thinking of this, Han Ying’s energy surged again.