“Then I’ll have to trouble you. Aside from this unit and units 1001 and 1002, all the other apartments are mine.”
The piece of tofu Bo Zhiya was holding mid-air fell with a “splat.” He looked at Shen Ruoran several times in surprise. Then, he silently picked it up and placed it on the table for Zhou Qing to clean up later.
Having worked as a domestic helper for several wealthy families, Zhou Qing had seen her fair share of extravagance, but she had never seen anything quite like this. As a complex specifically designed for the upper class, the prices at Xinju Yuan were naturally high. Buying an entire building would likely cost hundreds of millions.
Zhou Qing nodded blankly. It was truly rare for such a wealthy girl to take the initiative to visit them. Little did she know that this visit would grant them extraordinary protection during the end of the world.
With food, supplies, clothing, and shelter all sorted out, the last thing remaining was transportation. Even though her spatial storage already contained five modified buses, RVs, SUVs, sedans, and motorcycles, Shen Ruoran still wanted to stockpile more.
The next day, at the port of the nearest coastal city to City B, Shen Ruoran took a tour led by a sales manager to compare the performance and prices of various vessels.
Looking at the stagnant inventory of large and small boats, the manager rubbed his nervous hands. The situation caused by Country R had severely impacted their industry, and ship prices had plummeted. Finally, a wealthy boss had arrived; he hoped to close a deal smoothly.
The deep-pocketed Boss Shen did not disappoint the manager. “Give me ten ships, a mix of large and small ones. Also, I want to buy twenty submarines.”
The manager looked at Shen Ruoran with stars in his eyes, as if he were looking at the God of Wealth himself.
On the third day before the first countdown, the sky remained cloaked in a gray, oppressive haze. The weather station, news broadcasts, and WeChat public accounts began pushing reports about upcoming heavy rainfall. The risk level for rainstorms was high, and people were advised to avoid traveling.
However, not many people took it seriously, continuing their lives as usual. At first, they thought it was just a few days of heavy rain…
Raindrops the size of rice grains hit the ground with a pitter-patter. In a short time, the rain intensified. Sheets of water crashed down, and low-lying areas were instantly submerged under several centimeters of water.
Jia Feifei held a 30%-sugar milk tea in one hand and an umbrella in the other as she walked comfortably out of a shopping mall. Noticing her umbrella canopy sagging inward under the weight of the downpour, she wisely turned back and used a mobile app to call a ride back to Xinju Yuan.
There were many people waiting for cars nearby. Everyone still believed this was just an ordinary rainy day. Some were chatting and laughing, while others scrolled through their phones, complaining that Didi was much slower today than usual.
By the time the black Volkswagen reached the Xinju Yuan villa area, the water had already reached Jia Feifei’s heels. Her delicate, refined face twisted into a frown, irritated by the dirty water touching her well-maintained skin.
Jia Feifei walked to her front door grumbling, used her fingerprint to open the villa gate, and immediately rushed inside to take a comfortable hot bath. Afterward, she put a traditional Chinese medicine bag into her foot bath bucket. She lay on the sofa with her upper body and soaked her feet for half an hour.
“Ah, refreshing…”
Finished with her soak, Jia Feifei stood up and stretched. Her squinting eyes suddenly froze, and her pupils dilated. Without even drying her feet, she threw on her slippers and ran to the door.
The water outside was rising continuously and had begun to seep into the villa. Jia Feifei, who was a severe germaphobe, started cursing. What kind of disgusting weather was this? She hated her home being made dirty more than anything. Her husband had been on a business trip abroad lately, and she had given the nanny a few days off, so she had to clean it herself.
She found several rags and stuffed them tightly against the bottom of the door to block the water. Fortunately, the windows were tightly shut; she only needed to worry about the door.
By the time she finished, Jia Feifei was sweating. She stood behind the window for a while to observe the rain, thinking she would shower again once it stopped.
As it turned out, this rain wouldn’t stop for half a year.
As the rain intensified, a projector on the 28th floor was playing a popular outdoor variety show. The dense jokes and hilarious quotes from passersby had Shen Ruoran doubled over in laughter. When she got tired of laughing, she took a sip of coffee or a bite of fried chicken. Life was wonderful.
[Disaster detected. Management rights have been opened to the Operator. Would you like to spend 1 Rental Point per month for building safety maintenance?]
Receiving the notification, Shen Ruoran paused the show and checked the first-floor surveillance on her phone. The ground was indeed very damp, with signs of water seepage.
Knowing that 1 Rental Point could guarantee the building’s safety for a month, Shen Ruoran felt it was a great deal. She unhesitatingly spent her only Rental Point. Instantly, the ground floor returned to a dry state, and water no longer seeped in.
Then, she received a new message, this time regarding the status of Zhou Qing and Bo Zhiya.
[Foreign visitors detected in the building. Would you like to recruit them as tenants? Tenants must pay a minimum of 1 Rental Point per month.]
Shen Ruoran’s finger hovered over the “Confirm” button. If she recruited them, how would they pay the points? If she didn’t, what would happen to these “foreign visitors”?
As if sensing her hesitation, the system popped up an explanation.
[If the Operator does not make a choice within ten minutes, the foreign visitors will be automatically evicted to ensure the building’s safety.]
Shen Ruoran didn’t decide immediately. She wanted to consult the parties involved first. After all, her primary condition for choosing tenants was that they must follow her arrangements and recognize her as the boss of the building.
Although they had only had brief contact, Shen Ruoran didn’t dislike Zhou Qing and Bo Zhiya. However, if she took them in as tenants, the 30th and 31st floors would completely become her territory, no longer belonging to the Bo family. If Bo Zhiya couldn’t accept this, she wouldn’t look after them.
Ding-dong…
Ding-dong…
Shen Ruoran rang the bell several times before anyone finally opened the door.
Bo Zhiya was the one who opened it. The youth’s expression was full of impatience, though he wasn’t angry at her specifically. His study had suddenly been flooded, and when he walked out, he found the living room was also full of water. Zhou Qing was frantically trying to save the situation with rags.
Shen Ruoran was stunned by the scene inside. Similarly, Bo Zhiya was dazed by the situation outside.
His home, a high-rise on the 30th floor, was currently like a “Water Curtain Cave,” yet the hallway outside remained perfectly dry, as if they were two different worlds.
It was absurd!
Bo Zhiya’s gaze shifted to Shen Ruoran’s feet. He let out a scream, his back stiffening as he pointed in panic at the gap beneath the door.
Was it a haunting in broad daylight? Why wouldn’t the several-centimeter-deep water flow out through the gap, but only keep rising inside his house?
Shen Ruoran, knowing some of the inside details, quickly guessed why the Bo family’s home was flooding.