“Okay, Dad,” Lin Yang said quickly as he sat down.
Lin Wan nodded vigorously beside him. Her heart felt sour and swollen, as if it had been soaked in scalding hot water, yet at the same time it felt as though it was being protected inside a solid fortress.
Lin Wan hurriedly answered, “The Space Dimension is very large—extremely large. Storing tens of thousands of jin of grain would be effortless.”
She paused for a moment, then her speaking speed increased, drawing on the experience from her previous life.
“And when the torrential rain comes, the entire city will be flooded. In the previous life, the deepest water reached the 11th floor of our building. Our residential community is in a low-lying area. Once the water rises, there’s no way to stop it! We have to leave! We need to find a place at a higher elevation and rent it—preferably somewhere high up, spacious, and safe! Oh right, Dad, Mom, we need to add more things to the list!”
She spoke even faster.
“Water purification tablets! The more the better! Also flint stones, thick canvas, raincoats and rain boots, strong ropes, hand-crank flashlights and radios! And… seeds! Seeds for vegetables! Potatoes and sweet potatoes are fine! Even though my Space Dimension can’t grow crops, after the apocalypse ends we can take them out and plant them to grow food.”
“Yes, yes, yes! Wanwan is right. You’ve thought of everything so carefully!”
Li Shulan seemed as if she had suddenly been awakened. She struggled to stand up, wiping her face randomly. Her voice still carried a sobbing tone, but it now had a bit more life in it.
“And sanitary pads! Soap and laundry powder! Sewing kits! Salt! We need to stockpile a lot of salt! Pickling and disinfecting both depend on it!”
The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became, her words tumbling out incoherently.
“Oh my! So many things… Do we… do we have enough money, Old Lin?”
“Whether we have enough or not, we still have to buy it!” Lin Yang wrote rapidly. Even the blank space on the back of the newspaper was filled with dense scribbles, his handwriting messy.
“Shulan, you’re responsible for contacting the real estate agent and the bank. Withdraw the money! All of it! Not a single cent left! Then take what Wanwan and you just mentioned and go to the wholesale market! If anyone asks, just say… just say our family is opening a small supermarket. We’re buying in large quantities, so ask them to give us the lowest price! Rice, flour, oil, water, canned food, vegetables, fruits—buy as much as you can first!”
He lifted his head and his gaze swept sharply toward Lin Yang.
“Little Yang! In a moment, come with me to the hardware market and the pharmacy! Generators, gasoline cans, water purifiers, and medicine! These urgent items—we’ll go buy a batch first! Hurry!”
“Then what about me, Dad?” Lin Wan asked quickly.
“You!” Lin Jianguo slapped the fully written list into her hands. “You’re the most important one! Stay at home and organize everything that’s already inside your ‘pocket.’ Pack up whatever needs packing and clear space in the house! Then when we bring things back, you’ll store them! Also, go online and check where there are houses for rent at higher elevations! It must be fast! It must be sturdy! It must be in a good location! As for the price… as long as it’s not outrageous, rent it first!”
“Okay!” Lin Wan nodded heavily.
“Does everyone understand?” Lin Jianguo looked around the room. His gaze lingered on his wife’s swollen eyes, his son’s pale face, and his daughter’s determined expression. “There’s no time to cry anymore, and no time to be afraid! Move!! Shulan, make the call! Little Yang, put on your shoes! Wanwan, clear space!”
The deathly silence was completely shattered.
Li Shulan seemed as though she had been struck by an invisible whip. She suddenly climbed up from the floor and stumbled toward the bedroom to find her phone. Her steps were unsteady, yet there was a ruthlessness forced out of desperation in them.
Lin Yang saw his father already grab the old canvas bag from the shoe cabinet by the entrance. Then he glanced at the mountain-like pile of supplies on the balcony.
He stomped his foot hard, grabbed his coat, and chased after him.
“Dad! Wait for me!”
Lin Jianguo pulled the front door open. The old hinges let out a harsh creaking sound.
Suddenly Lin Jianguo stopped. He turned and looked at Li Shulan.
“Shulan, call Father-in-law and Mother-in-law first. Tell them I’ll go pick them up in a few days.”
“Okay, I’ll call right now,” Li Shulan replied.
He turned back and gave one last glance at the dining table.
The bowl of white porridge that Li Shulan had knocked over had already lost its warmth. It had become cold and sticky.
Meanwhile Lin Wan remained by the table, picking up a pen and quickly adding to the messy handwriting Lin Yang had left behind.
“Water purification tablets… flint stones… thick canvas… seeds…”
The door slammed shut with a bang, shaking loose the dust that had accumulated on the doorframe for years.
Inside the small living room, only Lin Wan’s hurried breathing remained, along with Li Shulan’s phone conversation—her voice thick with a nasal tone as she tried to sound calm.
“Hello, Mom, it’s Shulan. How are you and Dad? You’re doing well? I originally planned to visit you in the next couple of days, but something suddenly came up and I can’t leave. Jianguo said he’ll go home in a few days to pick you up so you can come stay with us for a few days. Oh… Dad went to the fields? Alright… tell him when he comes back.”
After only a few sentences, Li Shulan hung up and called the agent, Manager Wang.
“…Yes, Manager Wang, let’s go with the price we discussed, 1.18 million! …You can transfer the ownership today? That’s wonderful! …Yes, yes, I know it’s below market price. We urgently need the money, there’s no other choice… Ah, thank you, thank you! …Seven days? Alright! Seven days it is! We’ll definitely move everything out and leave the house completely empty for you!”
Li Shulan hung up the phone. Her body swayed slightly and she almost lost her balance.
She supported herself against the cold wall, her hands still trembling.
One million one hundred eighty thousand!
The home they had lived in for most of their lives had been sold just like that!
It felt as if a piece of flesh had been gouged out of her heart, leaving a sharp pain.
But when she thought of the overwhelming flood her daughter had described, the despair of water reaching the 11th floor, that pain turned into numb lingering fear.
“Mom!” Lin Wan hurried forward to support her.
“I’m fine, I’m fine…” Li Shulan took a deep breath and wiped away the tears that kept spilling out. Yet there was now a ruthless determination in her eyes, the kind forced out when someone had been pushed to the brink.
“Wanwan, the house has been sold. I’ll go transfer the ownership this afternoon, and the money will arrive soon. Your father and brother have gone out, but we can’t sit idle either!”
She seemed to be encouraging herself as she raised her voice slightly.
“That’s right, we can’t sit idle! Your father is right—there’s no time to cry anymore! Wanwan, hurry and tidy up the house. Pack everything we don’t need for now. Put the valuable and portable things into your… that ‘pocket’ of yours first! I still need to go to the bank and withdraw all the money!”
“Mom, large cash withdrawals require appointments now…” Lin Wan reminded her. She still remembered the chaos in the early days of the apocalypse in her previous life when the banking system collapsed.
“I have a way! I’ll visit several banks if I have to! I’ll get it out somehow!” Li Shulan rushed into the bedroom, pulling out every bankbook and bank card in the house. She even found several fixed-deposit certificates from who knew how many years ago, along with the property ownership certificate and land certificate, stuffing everything into her old handbag in one go. “Wait for me. Mom will be back very soon! Then we’ll go to the wholesale market!”
Her mother’s figure hurried out of the door, and the house finally fell completely silent.
Lin Wan stood in the middle of the living room and looked around the small home that was both familiar and soon to be left behind.
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting bright patches on the floor. Fine dust floated in the air. Everything appeared calm, yet the atmosphere was filled with a tense feeling like the calm before a storm.
She pinched the palm of her hand hard. The pain made her mind clearer.
“Space Dimension…” she murmured softly, concentrating her mind as she sensed the enormous Space Dimension that had followed her after her rebirth.
Her consciousness sank into it.
It was an indescribably vast space—gray and endless. The bottled water, rice, flour, and cooking oil that she had hurriedly stored earlier sat alone in one corner, occupying only a tiny fraction of the space.
“Dad is right. I should organize what we already have first.”
She began to move.
First she ran into her room and took the extra clothes from all four seasons out of the wardrobe, along with quilts and bed sheets. She rolled them up, and with a single thought the items in her hands instantly disappeared, reappearing neatly in one corner of the Space Dimension.
The laptop on the desk, power banks, several important reference books—stored.
Even the sewing kit in the drawer, nail clippers, and a multifunctional military knife. These inconspicuous little things might prove extremely useful in the apocalypse. Store them, store them all!
Next came the kitchen.
Bowls, plates, and chopsticks? Too many. She selected only the sturdy stainless steel and thick ceramic ones.
Various seasonings? Salt, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar…
Especially salt—her mother had specifically emphasized it earlier. Lin Wan placed two entire unopened bags of salt into the Space Dimension.
The dried goods in the cabinet—wood ear mushrooms, dried shiitake mushrooms, vermicelli—were swept clean.
Inside the refrigerator were eggs, meat, and vegetables. In the freezer were frozen meat, frozen fish, and ice cream.
She hesitated for a moment.
Time inside the Space Dimension was frozen. Whatever was placed inside would come out exactly the same. It was far better than a refrigerator.
So she simply emptied the entire fridge.
By the time she finished, fine beads of sweat had already appeared on her forehead. But seeing the supplies inside the Space Dimension gradually increasing gave her a faint sense of security.
She did not dare stop.
She began rummaging through cabinets and boxes again, searching for anything in the house that might be useful.
Her father’s toolbox? Stored! The wrenches, screwdrivers, wires, and ropes inside would definitely be useful later.
Her mother’s knitting needles and yarn? Stored! Perhaps during extreme cold she could knit something herself to keep warm.
Even the toilet paper, sanitary pads, laundry detergent, and soap stored in the bathroom—she placed more than half of them into the Space Dimension.
The entire house began to look visibly emptier.
At that moment, her phone rang.
It was a call from her younger brother, Lin Yang.