Countdown: Day 25 before the apocalypse. Evening.
Downtown, the city’s largest and most famous night market—“Smokefire Alley.”
As night descended and the neon lights flickered on, the two-kilometer pedestrian street awakened. Colorful glowing signboards intertwined overhead, while loud hawking cries, the clang of spatulas against iron woks, and the charred aroma of cumin and chili bursting over charcoal fires blended into an intoxicating wave of street-market atmosphere.
This was the soul of the city at night.
A holy land for carbohydrates and fat-fueled indulgence.
Lin Qi wore a plain black casual outfit and a baseball cap, her hands tucked into her pockets as she stood quietly at the entrance of the night market.
Watching the bustling crowds filled with life, watching the young men and women laughing wildly while chugging iced beer beside barbecue stalls, a trace of daze flashed through her eyes.
In her previous life, after the extreme cold descended, the city had been frozen into a silent graveyard. There had been no neon lights, no laughter—only howling blizzards and frozen corpses. Back then, even catching a whiff of grilled meat would have been enough to drive people insane.
And now, she intended to move this entire street full of human warmth into her space.
Sure, she already had rice and hotpot base. But who would reject the convenience of hot, ready-to-eat meals during the apocalypse? Especially those heavily seasoned, oil-soaked street foods that required complicated preparation—once the power and water failed, they would become impossible luxuries.
Lin Qi inhaled deeply, savoring the air mixed with the scent of grilled lamb skewers and garlic oysters, then strode into the night market.
Unlike ordinary customers wandering around casually, she headed directly toward the busiest stall in the center of the market—the one with the longest line.
“Old Xu’s Secret Spicy Crayfish.”
The stall was famous for its overpowering flavors and plump crayfish meat. Every table was full, and a crowd of waiting customers still surrounded the place. Boss Xu stood shirtless before three massive iron woks, furiously stir-frying crimson crayfish in bubbling chili oil and dried peppers.
The aroma was irresistible.
Lin Qi pushed through the crowd, walked straight up to him, and pulled out twenty thousand yuan in cash from her backpack, slapping it onto the greasy cashier counter with a loud smack.
“Boss. This is the deposit.”
Old Xu froze in shock, nearly dropping his spatula into the wok.
“Miss… what’s this? Booking the whole place?”
“Not the place. The production.”
Her voice sounded abnormally cold amidst the noise.
“Spicy, garlic, and thirteen-spice flavors. I want two thousand portions of each. Six thousand portions total. I want everything packed and ready before midnight.”
“S-Six thousand portions?!” Old Xu sucked in a cold breath.
Even the waiting customers nearby turned to stare in disbelief.
At most, this food stall sold a few hundred portions a night. What did six thousand mean? That was enough to empty out the entire seafood market!
“Miss, stop joking around.” Old Xu wiped sweat from his face with a bitter smile. “Even if you split me into eight pieces, I still couldn’t cook that much! And my crayfish stock isn’t enough either!”
“Then restock. If your kitchen can’t handle it, rent the chefs and woks from the surrounding food stalls.”
Lin Qi calmly pulled out another three stacks of cash.
Fifty thousand yuan total.
She lined the bills neatly atop the counter.
“I’ll pay full price according to your highest menu rate. This fifty thousand is extra for manpower coordination and renting the neighboring stalls. As long as everything is delivered before midnight, you’ll receive the remaining balance in full.”
The moment Old Xu saw the bright red stacks of cash, his eyes practically bulged out.
After more than ten years running street food stalls, he had never seen such an outrageous “takeout order.” That fifty thousand alone was equal to two months of his net profit!
“Deal! I’m taking this job!”
Old Xu slapped his thigh hard, greed lighting up his eyes.
“Dazhuang! Call Old Wang at the seafood market and tell him to send every crayfish he has! Xiao Li! Go rent the chefs and woks from the neighboring stalls. Tell them I’ll compensate double for tonight’s losses!”
Under heavy rewards, efficiency exploded.
Within ten minutes, Old Xu had forcefully integrated the resources of five nearby food stalls. More than a dozen giant woks were lit simultaneously. Dozens of apprentices and chefs went full throttle.
One corner of the night market instantly transformed into a giant crayfish-processing factory.
After settling the crayfish order, Lin Qi continued deeper into the market.
Her next target: barbecue.
In the snowy nights of the apocalypse, what could be more satisfying than eating sizzling grilled meat skewers while drinking ice-cold beer?
Using the same method, Lin Qi approached the two largest barbecue restaurants in the market:
“Xinjiang Red Willow Skewers” and “Northeast Jinzhou BBQ.”
“Red willow lamb skewers, pork belly, grilled gluten, grilled tendons, oysters, scallops, garlic eggplant…”
Standing before the grills, Lin Qi rattled off a long list of items before casually dropping another hundred thousand yuan in cash onto the counter.
“Twenty thousand skewers of each. Don’t ask questions. Everything must be grilled and packed before midnight.”
The barbecue shop owners stared at the money, their Adam’s apples bobbing wildly.
Without saying another word, they immediately shut their storefronts, hung signs reading “Reserved Tonight,” and mobilized every employee into frantic meat-cutting, skewer-threading, and charcoal-lighting.
Smoke from the charcoal fires rose into the sky alongside the rich aroma of grilled fat, making nearby customers swallow repeatedly in envy as they watched the freshly grilled skewers get packed into giant insulated containers.
And she still wasn’t done.
Cold noodles, stuffed pancakes, stinky tofu, fried skewers, iron-plate squid—even takoyaki and hand-grab pancakes weren’t spared.
Like a crazed housewife sweeping through a supermarket, Lin Qi used cash to overwhelm every stall owner she encountered. As long as it was greasy, flavorful, carb-heavy, and delicious, she ordered it in batches of thousands.
Finally, she stopped before a trendy milk tea shop with a line stretching far down the street.
How could barbecue and crayfish possibly be complete without icy drinks?
“Bubble milk tea, mango pomelo sago, cheese grape tea, smashed lemon tea. Five thousand cups each.”
She handed over her bank card to the stunned store manager.
“All fruit teas must use freshly mashed fruit. Double toppings in every milk tea. Fill the cups with ice. Deliver everything to the refrigerated trucks at the street entrance before midnight.”
Thus, under the absolute power of money, the entire two-kilometer Smokefire Alley night market transformed into Lin Qi’s personal kitchen for the night.
11:30 PM.
At an open space near the entrance of the market, more than a dozen rented cargo vans and refrigerated trucks were parked.
The various food stall owners and their workers sweated profusely as they loaded packed meals, skewers, and milk tea into the vehicles.
“Boss Lin! Six thousand servings of crayfish, all packed in reinforced insulated foil containers. Want to inspect them?” Old Xu was soaked through with sweat, but he grinned broadly after receiving the final payment worth hundreds of thousands.
“Twenty thousand red willow skewers! Just came off the grill—still burning hot!” another barbecue owner excitedly chimed in.
Lin Qi opened the cargo door of one truck.
An overwhelming wave of spicy crayfish aroma and sizzling grilled meat instantly rushed toward her face, almost making her tear up.
This wasn’t merely the smell of food.
It was the ultimate reassurance that would keep her alive during the apocalypse.
“No need to inspect. Thank you for your hard work.”
For once, a faint smile appeared in her voice.
“Boss Lin, if you ever have another order like this, call us anytime! We’ll be waiting!” the stall owners shouted happily as they packed up and headed home with their earnings.
Eventually, the crowds dispersed and the street fell silent under dim streetlights.
Lin Qi climbed into the driver’s seat of one of the trucks. After confirming no one was around, she started the engine and remotely locked all the other trucks.
Next came the moment of miracles.
Closing her eyes, she activated her consciousness.
“Store.”
“Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—”
The dozen trucks parked along the street entrance—along with every steaming-hot meal, every insulated container, and every refrigeration unit inside them—vanished instantly into thin air.
Lin Qi’s consciousness descended into her infinite space.
Inside the space, time stood absolutely still.
The six thousand servings of spicy crayfish remained frozen in the exact moment they had left the wok. The red chili oil still bubbled violently, while even the steam rising from the food remained suspended in midair.
The twenty thousand skewers of grilled meat still sizzled with glistening fat bubbles locked forever at their most mouthwatering moment.
The twenty thousand cups of iced fruit tea remained perfectly chilled, droplets of condensation crystal clear along the cups without melting in the slightest.
The moment Lin Qi took them out during the apocalypse, they would instantly resume the exact temperature and taste they had at this frozen moment.
“This… is true food freedom.”
Looking at the “mountain of cuisine” formed from countless stacked takeout containers inside her space, Lin Qi finally exhaled in satisfaction.
But the night market was merely an appetizer.
Street food could satisfy cravings, but in terms of nutrition and quality, it still couldn’t compare to genuine top-tier cuisine.
If she wanted to live like a queen in the apocalypse, she needed higher-dimensional luxuries.
“Tomorrow…”
Lin Qi opened her eyes in the darkness, her gaze burning brightly.
“The city’s top fifty luxury hotels. Michelin restaurants…”
“Quanjude roast duck. Cantonese-style roast goose. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall. Premium steaks…”
Every luxurious hot dish that required expensive ingredients and impossibly complex preparation—
She would stuff all of it into her frozen space.
The ultimate feast for food lovers had only just begun.