Xu Wanning quickly put away her phone. “No one. Come on, let’s go inside.”
The three friends exchanged puzzled looks and followed her, all feeling that Wanning was hiding some kind of secret.
As soon as the four entered the dealership, a saleswoman greeted them with a bright smile.
“Looking for a car, ladies?”
Xu Wanning swept her gaze across the showroom and pointed at an SUV.
“Do you have this one in stock? Can I take delivery today?”
The saleswoman froze for a moment. “Y-Yes, you can.”
Xu Wanning nodded. “I’ll take it. And I’ll take the van next to it as well. I’ll pay by card and finance the rest.”
She hadn’t chosen luxury models. Both vehicles were standard versions. In the apocalypse, once a vehicle broke down, spare parts would be hard to find. Standard models would make replacement parts much easier to obtain.
The saleswoman hurriedly led them through the paperwork.
The down payment for both vehicles came to 157,000 yuan, with monthly installments of 8,000 yuan afterward.
Lu Zhiyu and Song Yunqing followed silently the entire time. Once everything was finalized, they stared blankly at the two vehicles in front of them.
“Ningning, why didn’t you buy two of the same car? This SUV is so cool,” Wen Shuyang said, running a hand along the vehicle.
Xu Wanning opened the van door and sat inside.
“An SUV doesn’t seat many people. A van does. There are thirteen people between us and our families already. Add teammates later, and there won’t be enough room.”
If SUVs weren’t so much better suited for the apocalypse, she would have bought two vans instead.
Wen Shuyang climbed into the passenger seat.
“Then why finance them? We’ll have to pay 8,000 yuan every month. It’ll cost more than buying them outright.”
Xu Wanning fastened her seatbelt.
“When the apocalypse comes, do you think they’ll still be coming after me for loan payments?”
Wen Shuyang was speechless.
How had she not thought of that?
The money saved this way could buy a lot more supplies.
“Next stop: the pharmacy,” Xu Wanning said as she started the engine.
Lu Zhiyu and Song Yunqing drove the SUV behind them.
They split up and focused mainly on purchasing essential medicines.
Cold and flu medications, antibiotics, digestive medicines, disinfectants and wound-care supplies, anti-allergy drugs, anti-inflammatory painkillers, chronic illness medications, emergency medical supplies, vitamins, oral rehydration salts, eye drops, and more.
They purchased enough to support one hundred people for six months, spending a total of 120,000 yuan.
There was no need to buy too many specialized medicines. Once the apocalypse arrived, they could collect supplies directly from nearby pharmacies. Useful items could be kept, while anything unnecessary could be turned over to survivor bases in exchange for contribution points.
By the time they left the pharmacy, it was already 4:30 in the afternoon.
Seeing that there was still plenty of daylight left, Xu Wanning did some quick calculations, stored the SUV in her spatial storage, and drove the van toward the nearest electrical equipment market.
She planned to purchase generators and solar power equipment.
While the navigation system calculated the route, she went online and ordered maps.
Not just maps of the capital, but maps of cities and towns across the country, large and small. If they ever needed to travel somewhere, having maps would be invaluable.
She also downloaded offline maps onto both her phone and the vehicle’s navigation system. Even without internet access, they would still be able to find their way. The paper maps would serve as a backup in case of emergencies.
When they finally left the electrical market, another 480,000 yuan was gone.
They had purchased:
In her previous life, these had been some of the most important power supplies imaginable.
People who had grown accustomed to modern conveniences suffered terribly once electricity disappeared.
On the drive back, Xu Wanning glanced at Wen Shuyang.
“Shuyang, go online and order solar-powered flashlights, hand-crank flashlights, and solar rechargeable lanterns. Get professional tactical-grade models. One hundred of each.”
“Got it.”
Wen Shuyang immediately opened JD.com and selected the highest-rated products based on sales and reviews.
The total came to another 30,000 yuan.
Out of the original 2.36 million yuan they had available, only 220,000 yuan remained.
Song Yunqing’s fingers were practically cramping from keeping track of the expenses.
“This is the first time I’ve spent money this fast, and somehow it still feels like it’s nowhere near enough.”
Lu Zhiyu adjusted her glasses.
“Shouldn’t we buy a villa and turn it into a shelter?”
But in the capital, buying a villa wasn’t cheap. Even the down payment was beyond their current budget.
Xu Wanning shook her head.
“No need. The best shelter is actually our university.”
“After the apocalypse begins, most cities establish survivor bases around university districts.”
“One reason is that they can accommodate large numbers of survivors. Another is that university buildings are constructed to high standards and are less likely to collapse during disasters like earthquakes.”
“Once the apocalypse starts, all we need to do is clear out the zombies in our dormitory building. After that, the dorm itself will be one of the safest places around.”
The three friends immediately felt reassured.
They were already located in the university district, giving them a major advantage. Countless dangers could await people trying to travel across the city to reach a survivor base.
“Let’s head back to campus first,” Xu Wanning said. “We’ll sell our designer bags and luxury items, recover some cash, and then continue stockpiling supplies.”
At exactly six o’clock, the four returned to the university.
Campus parking was limited. Most spaces were reserved for faculty and staff. Student permits were scarce, so they had no choice but to park at the shopping mall across from the university, where parking cost three yuan per hour.
If they weren’t worried that constantly taking vehicles in and out of the spatial storage would attract attention, they wouldn’t have wasted money on parking at all.
They went to the cafeteria for dinner first, then hurried back to the dormitory to sort through their luxury goods.
Their designer bags, jewelry, and clothing sold extremely well.
Anything that hadn’t already been reserved by buyers was sold directly to secondhand luxury stores to speed up the process.
The prices were much lower than selling the items individually, but efficiency mattered more right now.
After making a trip to complete the transactions, the four of them returned with a combined total of 2.4 million yuan.
When they had originally purchased those luxury items, they had spent well over twice that amount.
It hurt.
None of them were billionaire heiresses.
Their families ranged from upper-middle-class to comfortably wealthy, nowhere near the level of true elites. The fact that they owned so many luxury items already was impressive enough.
Having grown up buying whatever they wanted whenever they wanted, none of them had developed a habit of saving money.
As a result, their cash savings weren’t particularly large.
Wen Shuyang looked at her now-empty wrist and pretended to cry.
“Waaah… waaah…”
Xu Wanning patted her head.
“Alright, alright. After the apocalypse, we’ll make a trip to the luxury stores and clear them out. You can take whatever you want.”
Wen Shuyang nodded vigorously.
“Mm-hmm!”
After hesitating for a while, Song Yunqing spoke softly.
“Shouldn’t we tell our families?”
“If they believe us, maybe they could give us more money so we could stockpile even more supplies.”
“And if more people survive when the apocalypse arrives, wouldn’t that make the zombies less frightening?”
Xu Wanning sighed.
In the apocalypse, human nature was often more terrifying than the zombies.
Wen Shuyang pinched Song Yunqing’s cheek.
“Did you forget what Ningning said?”
“She said you were stabbed to death by Wu Na.”
“Wu Na never seemed like that kind of person, but in the end she murdered the very person who saved her.”
“And that scumbag Jiang Lei? He actually shoved me toward a zombie so he could escape.”
“Just thinking about it makes me furious.”
“Speaking of him, I still haven’t officially broken up with him yet.”
“But before I dump him, I’m definitely squeezing some compensation out of him first. Otherwise my youth would’ve been wasted for nothing.”
Still fuming, she immediately started sending voice messages.