Countdown: Day 24.
9:00 AM.
In the busiest CBD district downtown, a low-key black Porsche Cayenne slowly came to a stop in front of Tianxiang Tower.
Tianxiang Tower was the city’s oldest and most prestigious century-old restaurant, famous throughout the province for its authentic Cantonese roast goose and its painstakingly slow-cooked Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Even ordinary lobby seating usually required reservations made a week in advance, let alone the luxurious private rooms that cost tens of thousands per meal.
Today, Lin Qi wasn’t wearing the inconspicuous black sportswear she had used before.
Instead, she had changed into a perfectly tailored high-end business suit. Her long hair was tied up neatly, and a pair of expensive gold-rimmed glasses rested on her nose.
Her identity today was no longer the mysterious woman throwing money around at the grain market yesterday.
Today, she was a cold and wealthy female executive representing a multinational corporation purchasing premium employee welfare meals.
The moment she pushed open Tianxiang Tower’s revolving glass doors, the lobby manager immediately approached with a professional smile plastered across his face.
“Good morning, miss. Do you have a reservation?”
“No reservation.”
Lin Qi’s tone was cool and efficient. Without wasting a single word, she pulled out a black-and-gold Swiss banking supreme card from her Hermès Birkin bag and lightly placed it between her slender fingers before handing it over.
“Call your general manager. I want to discuss a major business deal.”
The lobby manager had seen plenty of powerful figures at Tianxiang Tower, but the moment he saw the black-gold card representing terrifying levels of wealth, his expression instantly changed.
There were probably fewer than five people in the entire city who possessed a card of this level.
“P-Please wait a moment! I’ll get the general manager right away!”
Less than three minutes later, a slightly overweight middle-aged man in a suit hurried downstairs from the second floor, sweat already forming on his forehead.
“My surname is Zhao. I’m the general manager of Tianxiang Tower. May I ask how to address you, miss?”
Manager Zhao handed over his business card with both hands, his attitude respectful to the point of humility.
“My surname is Lin. Manager Zhao, I dislike wasting time.”
Lin Qi didn’t even take the business card. Instead, she walked straight to the lounge sofa in the lobby and elegantly crossed her legs.
“I represent our overseas headquarters and am purchasing premium prepared meals for a hundred-day closed-door executive training program. I heard Tianxiang Tower’s signature dishes are quite famous?”
“Of course they are!”
The moment Zhao heard the words “multinational corporation,” his posture straightened with pride.
“President Lin, our Signature Deep-Well Roast Goose and Supreme Buddha Jumps Over the Wall have both been served at state banquets! There’s nothing else like them in the city!”
“Good.”
Lin Qi nodded and took out a printed list from her bag, sliding it over.
“I want five thousand Signature Deep-Well Roast Geese. They must be freshly roasted with crispy skin and tender meat, vacuum-sealed together with your special plum sauce.”
“Five thousand portions of Supreme Buddha Jumps Over the Wall as well. Every serving must be packaged in premium purple clay stew pots and kept piping hot.”
“In addition, braised pork, steamed eastern star grouper, abalone sauce fish maw, black truffle fried rice…”
She tapped the list lightly.
“Twenty signature dishes listed here. Prepare five thousand servings of each. By ten tonight, I want everything fully packaged and loaded onto my designated cold-chain trucks.”
Manager Zhao stared blankly at the horrifying numbers on the list, his brain instantly freezing.
Five thousand roast geese?!
Five thousand Buddha Jumps Over the Wall servings?!
And twenty signature dishes with five thousand servings each?!
Was this supposed to be employee training food?
This looked more like a state banquet for ten thousand people!
“P-President Lin…”
Manager Zhao swallowed hard, his voice trembling.
“This order is too massive! Five thousand roast geese—our ovens would crack apart before we could finish them in a single day! And Buddha Jumps Over the Wall requires broth simmered for three full days…”
“That’s your problem, not mine.”
Lin Qi interrupted mercilessly, her gaze icy and oppressive.
“I only care about results. If you can’t handle it, I’ll walk out that door and give the contract to JuShan Pavilion instead. Their manager practically begged me for it yesterday.”
The moment he heard the name of Tianxiang Tower’s biggest rival, JuShan Pavilion, Manager Zhao’s eyes instantly turned red.
If such an enormous contract got stolen by a competitor, his position as general manager would be finished.
“We’ll take it!”
He slammed his palm against his thigh.
“President Lin, don’t worry! We already have premium stock broth in our cold storage! If our roast ovens aren’t enough, I’ll rent the kitchens of every restaurant I know! Even if all the chefs collapse from exhaustion tonight, we’ll deliver everything before ten!”
“And… regarding payment…”
He rubbed his hands nervously.
“Calculate the total price. I’ll pay immediately.”
Lin Qi pushed the black-gold card forward.
“But I have one condition. Every dish must be sealed in top-grade insulated food containers the instant it leaves the kitchen. If the food cools by even one degree—or tastes even slightly worse—you’ll refund every cent with interest.”
“Understood! Tianxiang Tower’s reputation is our life!”
Ten minutes later, when 23 million yuan in upfront payment hit Tianxiang Tower’s account, the entire restaurant kitchen exploded into chaos.
Every existing reservation was postponed.
Dozens of chefs were urgently recalled.
Massive soup cauldrons boiled furiously.
Rows upon rows of plump roast geese were shoved into blazing ovens.
Meanwhile, Lin Qi had already returned to her Porsche without sparing the frenzied chefs another glance.
Tianxiang Tower was merely the starting point of today’s carb-and-fat carnival.
For the next ten straight hours, Lin Qi moved through the city like an unstoppable shopping machine.
Driving across every prosperous district, she targeted only one thing:
Every top-50 luxury chain restaurant, internet-famous private kitchen, and century-old establishment in the city.
Not a single one would escape.
Second Stop: Bashu Family, the city’s largest Sichuan restaurant
“Boiled pork slices, Mao Xue Wang, Kung Pao chicken, spicy diced chicken, mapo tofu—five thousand servings of each!”
“Use authentic Hanyuan peppercorns and Erjingtiao chilies. Heavy oil, heavy spice. Seal everything in thick insulated foil containers!”
Lin Qi slammed down a five-million-yuan cash deposit.
The restaurant owner didn’t even have time to remove his apron before charging straight into the kitchen. The overwhelming scent of chili oil instantly spread across the entire street.
Third Stop: Sakura Hidden, a top-tier Japanese restaurant
“Bluefin tuna otoro sashimi, A5 wagyu sukiyaki, sea urchin battleship sushi, eel rice bowls—two thousand servings each.”
“Sashimi must be stored in zero-degree cold-chain boxes with dry ice. Sukiyaki must include portable charcoal stoves.”
Fourth Stop: Quanjude Roast Duck
“Five thousand premium roast duck sets.”
“Sliced duck meat, pancakes, scallions, cucumbers, sweet bean sauce—all packaged separately.”
“Also, five thousand portions each of salt-and-pepper duck racks and duck bone soup.”
Fifth Stop…
Old Beijing hotpot lamb.
Xinjiang big plate chicken.
Northeastern iron-pot stewed goose.
Cantonese dim sum.
Shrimp dumplings, siu mai, chicken feet—ten thousand baskets each.
Even the most ordinary fast-food chains weren’t spared.
KFC Original Recipe chicken.
McDonald’s Big Macs.
Pizza.
Fried chicken cutlets.
Cold noodles.
Roujiamo.
Luosifen.
In the frozen wastelands of the apocalypse—
while mutated monsters and violent raiders wandered through endless blizzards—
she would sit safely inside a fortress that even missiles couldn’t penetrate.
Outside the windows: endless snowstorms.
In her left hand: a Quanjude roast duck wrap.
In her right hand: Tianxiang Tower’s premium Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
On the table: steaming Mao Xue Wang and fried chicken.
That…
was what truly deserved to be called living.
9:30 PM.
Lin Qi drove back to the abandoned logistics warehouse complex in the suburbs.
She had already rented a massive open-air parking lot outside the compound, along with over a dozen refrigerated trucks and heavy cargo vehicles waiting nearby.
Soon, the distant highway lights began appearing in dense clusters.
Those were delivery fleets from all fifty top restaurants in the city.
Box trucks.
Cold-chain transports.
Even private cars driven personally by restaurant owners.
They poured into the parking lot one after another.
“President Lin! Tianxiang Tower’s five thousand roast geese and twenty signature dishes are all here! The insulated containers are custom-made—the soup inside is still scalding hot!”
“President Lin! Bashu Family’s Mao Xue Wang and spicy chicken! Just smell that aroma—absolutely authentic!”
“Five thousand Quanjude roast duck sets! Even the duck soup is still hot!”
Truck after truck opened.
In an instant, the entire parking lot transformed into a massive culinary expo featuring the finest cuisines from across the country.
The savage spicy fragrance of Sichuan cuisine.
The rich aroma of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall broth.
The fruity wood-smoked grease scent of roast goose.
The high-calorie smell of fried chicken and burgers.
All of it mixed together into a temptation so overwhelming it could drive a starving person insane.
Standing in the cold wind, Lin Qi inhaled deeply.
At that moment, the hunger and terror from her previous life—the desperate fear of starvation—were finally soothed.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Expressionless, she signed one final payment check after another.
“Unload everything into the trucks and refrigerated trailers I rented. After that, you’re free to leave.”
There was nothing in this world more efficient than the circulation of money.
Within just one hour, tens of thousands of premium prepared meals had been transferred completely.
And once all the restaurant delivery teams finally departed—
leaving only the trucks rented by Lin Qi behind—
she slowly walked toward the first heavy truck loaded with Tianxiang Tower’s Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.
In her eyes burned the scorching greed of a dragon guarding treasure.
The night was dark.
The wind was high.
And the “storm devouring” of her infinite space… began once more.