Two days later, this “major project” of purchasing was finally completely finished. All the slaughtered meat had been skinned, drained of blood, and washed thoroughly clean by the villagers, then packed into individual bags made of pure cotton cloth. To make storage and transport easier, the villagers brought out the large water vats they had previously used for storing water, scrubbed them completely clean, and placed all the meat inside. Just the meat alone filled over six hundred large vats. Qiao Yu, using the excuse that it would be inconvenient to load onto the trucks, specifically asked the village chief whether these vats could be moved along with the meat. The village chief agreed without a second thought—after all, every household in the village now had its own well, so these water vats were no longer needed.
The stored meat, grain, fruits and vegetables, eggs, mushrooms, and everything else were all placed up on the mountain. The village chief had set up a temporary storage shed next to the grain depot, and everything was put inside. Fortunately, it was winter, and the temperature on the mountain was even lower, so storage wasn’t much of a challenge.
Only after all the work was finished did the village chief calculate the total price—5,724,600 RMB in all. Qiao Yu had also carefully calculated based on market prices and knew that this price was indeed very fair, even considerably lower than market rates.
Qiao Yu brought over the two suitcases she had carried with her when she arrived, opened them, and began pulling out money as she spoke: “Village chief, with this much money, there’s no way I could carry it all here on my back. Each of these two suitcases contains one million—this is as much cash as I could bring. I’ll give you the rest after the convoy arrives tomorrow. But if it’s convenient, could you let me hold onto the keys to the grain depot for now?”
The village chief had never seen this much money in his entire life. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head, and his first thought was: Good heavens! This much money, and this young lady just carried it here in her suitcases?
“Village chief?” Qiao Yu noticed the village chief staring blankly at the money, lost in thought with no reaction for a long while, and couldn’t help but remind him again.
“Huh? Oh, oh…” The village chief snapped back to reality at Qiao Yu’s gentle call and hastily fumbled in his pocket, pulling out the grain depot keys and handing them to Qiao Yu: “Sure, why wouldn’t that work? There are two keys in total, both for the main gate of the grain depot. I was worried that tomorrow when we move the goods, having to unlock each door individually would be too troublesome, so I didn’t lock the smaller storage rooms inside. These keys were meant to be handed over to you for safekeeping anyway—I just got so busy that I forgot. Don’t be upset, Xiao Qiao.”
Qiao Yu successfully obtained the grain depot keys and quietly breathed a sigh of relief inside. She smiled and said, “No problem. Don’t worry—I contacted our convoy this morning, and I estimate they’ll arrive tomorrow afternoon.”
The village chief nodded repeatedly upon hearing this. “Alright then, Xiao Qiao, you go get some rest. I’ll go distribute this money to everyone first, and the rest will be handed out once the final payment arrives.”
“Okay.”
Having spent these days in Luling Village, Qiao Yu had come to know the village chief fairly well. He truly was a good man—there wasn’t a single person in the village, from top to bottom, who didn’t respect him. And precisely because the village chief was who he was, Qiao Yu could confidently proceed with her next plan.
The village chief divided the money Qiao Yu had given him according to each household’s share ratio, item by item, then broadcast an announcement over the loudspeaker, organizing for each family to send one representative to come collect a portion of the money first, with the rest to be given out tomorrow.
From afternoon until evening, the lights in the village chief’s office stayed on until nearly ten o’clock before going out. The villagers, cash in hand, left for home one after another with smiles on their faces. Qiao Yu had bathed early, exchanged goodnights with the Yao family, and returned to her room—but she had not slept at all.
She lay in the darkness for a long time before finally checking the wall clock by moonlight. The hour hand had already passed two. With the entire village shrouded in silence, Qiao Yu changed into a set of black clothes and moved silently along the base of the walls toward the grain depot.
She could not delay any longer. According to her previous life’s timeline, the Day of First Omens was tomorrow. She had to get back before then.
Qiao Yu first went to the grain depot and unlocked the main door with her key.
Inside, aside from the fully stocked granaries, every spare inch of space was filled with large barrels, burlap sacks, and crates—so packed there was no room to even set foot, yet everything was neatly arranged. Starting from the entrance, Qiao Yu walked slowly inward, sweeping everything into the Spatial Dimension as she went. Over a thousand bags of flour, several hundred barrels of peanut oil, over a thousand sacks of grain, several thousand crates of vegetables and fruit… Everywhere Qiao Yu passed turned into empty void.
She then went to the temporary warehouse not far away and, using the same method, collected all six hundred-plus vats of pork, chicken, beef, and mutton, along with several hundred crates of eggs, into the Spatial Dimension.
After confirming nothing was left behind, Qiao Yu retrieved four black suitcases from the Spatial Dimension and placed them inside the grain depot. This was cash she had withdrawn from the bank before coming to Luling Village. Knowing how isolated the village was and that mobile payments might not work there, she had prepared ten suitcases in advance, each containing one million. Four suitcases—four million. The extra money would serve as compensation for them.
She set the suitcases by the entrance where they would be seen the moment the door opened, then locked the grain depot and slipped quietly back through the village. Only when she reached the village chief’s doorstep did she hide in the shadows beside the gate and urge the Jade Seed already in her hand to sprout.
Verdant vines silently crossed over the rooftop, hung the grain depot key on the doorknob inside the gate, and then retreated without a sound.
Qiao Yu hurried along under the moonlight. The village roads were rough, so she could only release her car from the Spatial Dimension once she was out of Luling Village. The distance was far, and she had booked a six o’clock high-speed rail ticket—time was tight.
Following the navigation the whole way, it was nearly half past five by the time she drove near the high-speed rail station. Pedestrians were gradually increasing along the road. Qiao Yu found a secluded alley, parked the car, and after confirming there were no people or surveillance cameras around, she returned the vehicle to the Spatial Dimension and sprinted toward the station.
Only after successfully boarding the return high-speed train did Qiao Yu have the chance to carefully sort through the supplies she had just collected. The Yushu Space was originally divided into four compartments. Qiao Yu had designated the upper two as storage areas for food and water, while the lower two served as one area for clothing and daily necessities and another for the car and other consumables. At this point, after Qiao Yu’s stacking and organizing, the food compartment in the Spatial Dimension had been filled to one-fifth of its capacity.
Qiao Yu took out his phone, opened the chat window with Yao Lingling, and typed: Lingling, I’ve already left the village, and I’ve taken the things with me. The money is in the grain depot, and the key is with the village chief. Don’t ask me why, and there’s no need to contact me again. If you trust me, don’t go back to the city. Have everyone take the reserve grain back to their own homes, and then reinforce the houses as soon as possible, especially the front doors.
After typing these words, Qiao Yu’s finger hovered over the send button on the right for a long time, hesitating, before finally pressing it. Then, without caring whether Yao Lingling would reply, he directly blocked both her phone number and chat app account.
Having done all this, Qiao Yu slumped heavily against the back of his chair, as if all his strength had left him.
Though devoid of compassion, it was not without feeling.