This confession session went surprisingly smoothly—so smoothly that Xia Nuan was a bit taken aback.
She had expected to need a lot of explaining, but her family quickly threw themselves into the preparations.
The authority to command the stockpiling of supplies was even handed over to her.
Well, this…
Xia Nuan couldn’t help feeling that her parents and brother were too easily persuaded. They believed whatever she said, no matter how outrageous, and would seriously consider it.
It gave her the impression that they were too trusting and not particularly sharp.
It seemed she would have to keep a closer eye on them in the future to make sure they weren’t deceived by others.
Under the clear, expectant gazes of her family, Xia Nuan thought for a moment before slowly speaking: “The first thing to prepare is food. Although the Space can be used for planting, the planting area isn’t large, and plants need time to grow. So we must stock up on enough food. Salt and sugar are strategic reserve materials and should also be stockpiled in large quantities. As for other seasonings, buy as needed.”
“Then there’s medicine, purified water, gasoline, diesel, various outdoor living tools—my brother mentioned kayaks, so we should buy more in case some break and we need backups. To prevent being unable to cook during power outages, we should also prepare gas canisters, portable stoves, gasoline and diesel generators, toilet paper, shampoo, and other daily necessities…”
She found a reasonable excuse to gloss over the fact that plants grown in the Space needed to be sold for money to upgrade it.
Everything else she could think of, she listed one by one.
Xia Mu, like an attentive elementary school student, quickly took notes in his notebook.
By the time Xia Nuan finished speaking, Xia Mu had filled an entire page.
“Do people really need this many things just to stay alive?”
Xia Mu sighed, suddenly feeling that being human was truly troublesome.
Just buying all these things would probably wear their family out.
But his sister was really amazing—she could think of so much in such a short time, and her smile was so soft and adorable.
She was practically the dream sister!
“Just surviving doesn’t require much, but living well naturally demands more. Stop chattering and get moving. Go with your dad to buy food. Drive to the countryside and buy directly from local farmers—it’ll be much cheaper. And while you’re at it, rent a warehouse. I’ll stay home to take care of our daughter and contact a real estate agent. We’ll go house-hunting tomorrow.”
Fu Ying was a woman who knew how to budget carefully.
Even in wholesale markets in the city, food came from rural grain factories, passing through middlemen. With added packaging and labor costs factored into the price, it was much more expensive than buying directly.
Since her daughter’s Space could preserve freshness, it made no difference whether the food was in fancy packaging or plain sacks.
Xia Nuan was momentarily surprised.
She silently praised her mother’s wisdom.
In her previous life, she had always lived in the city and never experienced material shortages before the Apocalypse, so she had never bothered with such calculations.
If she had been in charge of the preparations, she would have definitely chosen to go to wholesale markets, wasting a lot of money in the process.
With today’s action plan set, Xia Zhiguo and Xia Mu went out to buy grains, oils, and seasonings, while Fu Ying contacted a real estate agent to look for houses.
As for Xia Nuan…
She stayed home to rest.
Actually, Xia Nuan wanted to go out too, but her family wouldn’t allow it, insisting that she had just recovered from a high fever and wasn’t fully well yet, so she must rest at home in bed.
Feeling the care and warmth from her family, Xia Nuan didn’t insist.
If she couldn’t go out to buy things, she could shop online at home.
There were many items that couldn’t be found in local markets anyway.
In any case, she couldn’t let down her family’s good intentions.
Xia Nuan first transferred five million to her father, which was more than enough for their expenses.
Xia Zhiguo didn’t refuse either, happily accepting it. This straightforward, unceremonious approach made Xia Nuan feel they didn’t treat her as an outsider, which pleased her even more.
After everyone had left the room, Xia Nuan took out her phone and started shopping.
She needed to buy both solar and diesel generators. On cloudy or rainy days without sunlight, the solar generator could only be used later. For the more than a month before the Apocalypse, she would have to rely on the diesel generator.
She bought the highest quality ones, preparing three of each, spending sixty thousand.
A CNC machining center, cutting machines, and various repair tools cost a total of two hundred and thirty thousand.
In her previous life, even after the Apocalypse began, Dragon Country initially maintained very strict gun control. It was almost impossible for ordinary people to get their hands on high-powered weapons.
Xia Nuan was an excellent archer, which served her well in the early days of the Apocalypse.
Later, guns inexplicably started becoming more and more common. After asking around several times, Xia Nuan learned that the black market boss had somehow acquired a machining center and cutting machines that hadn’t been waterlogged and had started producing weapons himself.
This led to more and more people possessing firearms, frequent violent robberies, and increasing difficulty for her when going out to gather supplies.
Although she didn’t know how to use a CNC machine, she could learn. There were plenty of online learning materials; she would download a bunch later and slowly figure it out.
She also bought a considerable amount of diving equipment and oxygen tanks.
After the city was submerged, many supplies were underwater, and the only way to collect them was by diving down.
Of course, she couldn’t forget her most skilled weapon—the bow and arrows—nor the chainsaw.
Holding that thing in her hands gave her a solid sense of security; any troublemaker who saw it would think twice.
Cable ties, blowtorches, permanent matches, fire starters, hemp rope, fishing line, plastic bags, high-power flashlights—these handy, easily overlooked items also needed to be purchased in bulk.
Insect repellent, pesticides, preservatives, herbicides, rat poison…
In the future, when plants and animals mutated, these things would be the best tools for survival.
Used properly, poison could also be a means of ensuring survival.
Xia Nuan kept tapping away on her phone, buying everything she could think of for the time being.
For items that weren’t convenient to purchase in large quantities online, she followed the contact information provided by the online stores’ credentials and privately negotiated transactions with the sellers.
Finally, after buying dozens of high-capacity USB drives, electronic resources and entertainment files, and several phones and computers with extremely long battery life, Xia Nuan finally stopped.
Just as she put down her phone, Fu Ying knocked on her door.
A head peeked in, and seeing her mother’s almost furtive expression, Xia Nuan couldn’t help but smile.
“Mom, what’s up?”
“Hehe, I just made some chicken soup and brought it over for you to try.”
Seeing that Xia Nuan wasn’t sleeping or resting, Fu Ying gracefully entered the room.
The golden chicken soup emitted a rich, enticing aroma that made one’s mouth water.
Xia Nuan picked up the bowl and eagerly took a couple of sips, her eyes suddenly lighting up.
“It’s delicious!”
This wasn’t just empty praise; the soup was genuinely exceptionally good.
It was savory and fragrant without being greasy, and after finishing a bowl, her whole body felt warm.
She didn’t know how to cook, and the Lu family had always been people who never lifted a finger in the kitchen. So, in her previous life after the Apocalypse, every meal she ate was merely edible.
Since being reborn, she hadn’t had a proper meal yet. Suddenly tasting such delicious chicken soup, Xia Nuan finally felt the real sensation of being alive again, nearly moved to tears.
People really can cry over a bite of food.
Xia Nuan held her bowl and sipped the soup like a little hamster, so well-behaved it was almost unbelievable. Fu Ying’s heart melted at the sight.
Yes! Exactly! This was the daughter she had always dreamed of!
“As long as you like it. I just contacted the real estate agent, and they sent over quite a few listings. I picked out a few good ones to show you. Whichever you like, we’ll go with that one.”
“Is there anything in Golden Summit Garden?”
“Golden Summit Garden… Let me look, dear.”
Fu Ying felt the name of the neighborhood sounded familiar. After flipping through the listings for a while, she indeed found a picture, but then a conflicted expression appeared on her face.
“There is one. It’s on the top floor, the seventeenth story. A two-hundred-square-meter flat, fully furnished and ready to move in. The rent is eighteen thousand a month, with a deposit for six months and payment for one month upfront. The environment and facilities are good, but it’s just a bit too expensive.”
Even though she knew that money would become worthless after the Apocalypse, Fu Ying still felt a pang of heartache.
Money still had its uses now. Other apartments only cost three or four thousand a month, with a deposit for three months and payment for one month upfront. The difference amounted to tens of thousands, enough to buy a lot of supplies.
“Let’s go with this one. Don’t worry about the money, Mom. I earn a lot from each competition I participate in. Even if we spend a little more, it’s nothing. Safety is the most important thing right now.”
Xia Nuan gently persuaded her.
A month later, many buildings collapsed during the typhoon, and only a handful of neighborhoods remained relatively undamaged. Among them, Golden Summit Garden was the best preserved.
Out of the more than twenty buildings in the neighborhood, not a single one was damaged—at most, some windows shattered.
It was said that because the developer also lived in the neighborhood, they had used the best materials during construction.
The facts proved that solid materials could withstand anything. Later, during the earthquake, the buildings sank downward but never collapsed—truly remarkable.
So no matter what, she had to move her family into this neighborhood.
“Well… alright then. I’ll listen to you, dear.”
Fu Ying gritted her teeth and nodded, truly placing unconditional trust and compromise in Xia Nuan.
She had a clear understanding of her family’s current situation. Even including their current house, their assets were worth at most one or two million.
Now, all their expenses were being covered by Xia Nuan. Whoever paid the bills had the final say—she couldn’t overstep or confuse priorities.
Moreover, as someone who had transmigrated, even with the memories she had received, her understanding of this world couldn’t possibly surpass that of the natives.
Listen to advice, and you’ll eat well.
“Then it’s settled. I’ll pay the rent later. Mom, tell the agent we’ll go to take over the apartment directly tomorrow.”
Xia Nuan couldn’t help but feel grateful for how considerate and hassle-free her family was.
They listened and took advice, sparing her from having to argue or explain at length. They weren’t stubborn, and their execution was exceptionally strong.
Unlike those fools from the Lu family, who were full of “I don’t care what you think, only what I think.”
With the apartment settled, they now had a fixed residence for after the Apocalypse.
Xia Nuan was discussing the move with her mother when the doorbell suddenly rang.
The old house had poor soundproofing, so Xia Nuan could clearly hear the commotion from the living room even in her room.
But when she heard the visitor’s voice, her expression instantly darkened.
It was Lu Zhaozhao.
What was she doing here?