In her mind, the image of rows upon rows of neatly arranged goods became clearer and clearer. Suppressing the overwhelming joy in her heart, Tang Mo fixed her gaze on a bottle of cola inside the freezer in her mind. With a single thought, she suddenly felt a cold sensation in her hand.
It worked!
Tang Mo opened her eyes and saw a bottle of cola, still covered in condensation, suddenly appear in her hand.
Without thinking, she twisted the cap open and took a big gulp straight down her throat. The sweetness and coolness that filled her mouth told her unmistakably that all of this was real. There was no need to wait for the apocalypse—the space inside the jade pendant had already been activated!
Walking over to the freezer, Tang Mo carefully observed it. The row of cola she had just organized was still completely full. It seemed that the supermarket inside the jade pendant was not connected to the real-world supermarket.
This had always been a question in Tang Mo’s mind in her previous life. Unfortunately, she had never had a chance to verify it. Because of that uncertainty, even after obtaining the jade pendant in her last life, she didn’t dare take too many items out of it.
She was afraid that if the two were truly connected, taking too much would leave her mother without enough supplies. She had decided to take only what she needed—but before she could even do that, she lost the jade pendant.
Suddenly, Tang Mo seemed to think of something. She opened the shop door, ran across the street to a supermarket, bought a bottle of water, then quickly ran back and placed it on the shelf. After that, she closed her eyes and entered the space.
The shelves inside the space remained exactly the same. There was no extra bottle of water.
Tang Mo opened her eyes, picked up the water bottle, and thought about putting it into the space.
Sure enough, when she entered the space again, the bottle of water appeared in a blank area in the corner of the supermarket—an area without shelves. That spot corresponded to where the cashier counter would be in the real supermarket. Clearly, the supermarket inside the space had no cashier counter.
Tang Mo tried to move the bottle of water with her mind, but it could only move within an area of three-square meters.
She understood immediately. All the areas with properly arranged shelves were pre-existing supplies she could freely use. The space reserved for storing other items was only three-square meters.
That was already enough.
Tang Mo felt satisfied. Although her family’s supermarket was small, it was fully stocked. Despite its size, it had everything she needed.
Whether it was bags of rice, flour, grain, and cooking oil, or sealed snacks and instant noodles, there was enough food for her to eat alone for several years. On top of that, there were two large freezers filled with water, nearly an entire wall stacked with cases of bottled mineral water, and all kinds of seasonings, pots, bowls, blankets, bedding, and daily necessities.
What were these?
They were slowly accumulated security.
Tang Mo was not a greedy person. This was already more than enough for her.
The most urgent task now was to reinforce her jade pendant necklace. This was the most important thing in her life at the moment—nothing mattered more than this.
If she lost the jade pendant again, she would truly want to cry herself to death.
She checked the time. It was only a little past ten in the morning. Tang Mom wouldn’t be home until at least six in the evening.
Tang Mo got dressed, picked up her wallet and keys, locked the supermarket door, and went out.
There were only seven days left before hell descended upon the human world. At a time like this, who would still care about how many cans of cola or packs of cigarettes they sold today?
Tang Mo had always had a smooth life growing up. She attended the best high schools and universities, and scholarships came easily to her.
Although Tang Mom’s small supermarket didn’t earn much profit each month, both mother and daughter lived frugally. Tang Mo also took on side jobs to earn extra money. Over the years, not only had they avoided financial hardship, they had even managed to save a small amount.
Tang Mo didn’t know exactly how much money her mother had, but she herself had twenty thousand yuan in her bank card and several thousand more in cash. Over the next few days, all of it would have to be spent on supplies.
The money wasn’t a lot, but it had been saved little by little.
Thinking about how she had scrimped and saved for so long in her previous life, only for her money to end up as meaningless numbers in a bank after she died, Tang Mo felt heartbroken for herself.
Thankfully, heaven had given her a second chance.
Her mother was still alive, and the jade pendant hadn’t been lost. Tang Mo regained her optimistic nature.
As long as her mother was alive, no matter what happened—even if the next second was hell—Tang Mo would not be afraid.
She took a taxi to a nearby hardware store and chose one that looked especially professional.
An older man sat on a rattan chair inside the shop. He wore a vest so faded its original color was unrecognizable. With glasses on his nose, he was bent over, fully focused on the work in his hands.
Tang Mo didn’t speak or rush him. She stood quietly to the side and waited.
Only after the craftsman finished his work did he look up at her.
“What do you need?”
“I want to replace the chain for my jade pendant,” Tang Mo said, taking the necklace off her neck and handing it to him. The thin red cord was badly worn and uneven, making the jade pendant look as though it might fall off at any moment.
The craftsman carefully examined it.
“The loop on the pendant itself is quite sturdy. Unless the jade breaks, it won’t be damaged. But the chain really won’t do—it definitely needs to be replaced.”
“Miss, I’d suggest going to the jewelry store next door to get a chain. I don’t have gold or silver here. Mine are strong and durable, but they’re not pretty,” he kindly reminded her.
Tang Mo curled her lips into a slight smile. Strength and durability were exactly what she wanted. Appearance wasn’t even a consideration. The more inconspicuous, the better.
“Just make it as strong as possible. This is very important to me. I just need to make sure it stays around my neck. Nothing else matters.”
“Oh, and could you thread two chains instead? That would be safer.”
After thinking about it, Tang Mo still didn’t feel reassured. One chain didn’t seem secure enough. This pendant could save her life—she couldn’t afford to be careless.
“Alright. Wait a bit. This won’t take long.”
In less than an hour, the craftsman handed the newly fitted necklace to Tang Mo.
Two chains now passed through the pendant. One was an extremely thin metal snake-bone chain, while the other was a black leather cord, giving it an unexpectedly stylish look.
Both chains were very sturdy, and the clasps had been modified by the craftsman. They were difficult to remove by hand and definitely wouldn’t come loose on their own.
The length was customized to Tang Mo’s request—too short would make it too noticeable, too long would interfere with movement. This length was just right.
Clearly, the craftsman’s skills were excellent. Tang Mo happily put the necklace back on and gave it a firm tug.
Not only was it sturdy—it actually looked pretty fashionable.
She felt that her heavy-metal double-chain design was practically ahead of the fashion curve and silently praised herself.
After paying, the heavy weight in her heart finally lifted. Facing what was to come, Tang Mo felt much less anxious.
Thinking of the empty three-square meters inside the jade pendant, an idea suddenly struck her.
Three square meters referred only to floor space—she couldn’t waste the height.
After carefully considering the ceiling height of her family’s supermarket, Tang Mo ordered five modular shelves from the shop owner, each eight meters tall. Everything in the space could be accessed using mental power, so height wasn’t an issue at all—the taller, the better.
Each shelf had removable aluminum panels in the middle, allowing her to freely adjust them to store items of various sizes and maximize the use of that three-square-meter space.
Because she needed them urgently and wanted them delivered the next day, she paid extra. Including the necklace, she spent a total of 2,300 yuan there today.
Worth every cent!
After confirming all the details with the craftsman, Tang Mo left with a cheerful smile. After saving money for so many years, this was her first time spending so freely—and surprisingly, it felt great.
Checking the time and weighing the remaining money in her pocket, she headed to the next stop: the pharmacy.
During the first half year of the apocalypse, the fog had not yet dissipated, and mutant beasts had not yet appeared. Aside from enduring hunger, humans were not severely lacking in medicine.
But after six months, mutant beasts ran rampant. Vast areas of buildings collapsed overnight, replaced by ancient trees and plants bursting up from the ground.
Medicine became extremely scarce. For people who frequently went hunting, bleeding and injuries became a daily occurrence. A single infection without medicine could cost you your life.
Five thousand yuan—that was Tang Mo’s budget for medicine.
After the apocalypse, human physical fitness greatly improved. Colds and fevers were almost nonexistent, but anti-inflammatory drugs, hemostatic medicine, and bandages were lifesaving essentials. These three items took up most of her budget.
In addition, with the lack of proper food, the water people drank became dirtier and the food more horrifying. Gastrointestinal medicine and anti-diarrheal drugs were also necessities.
As for the rest, Tang Mo prepared a bit of everything she remembered might be needed. Better safe than sorry.
After buying the medicine, she stopped by a sporting goods store and bought several sets of lightweight sportswear, sports shoes, and two sports backpacks.
Tang Mo had always dressed in a gentle, ladylike style. Since it was summer, her wardrobe was mostly filled with dresses.
She remembered clearly how inconvenient it had been to wear skirts when she was trapped at school in her previous life. They were neither durable nor practical and slowed the group down during movement.
Only after leaving the school did, she manage to find a set of ill-fitting long sleeves and pants to change into. She absolutely could not afford to make the same mistake in this life.
After buying clothes, Tang Mo went straight into the hair salon next door and asked the stylist to cut her hair short—clean, sharp, and thinned out. The simpler and more convenient, the better.
“Miss, maybe don’t cut it that short. With hair this short, you won’t even be able to wear skirts properly. Long hair looks better,” the stylist said earnestly, trying to persuade her.
“Just cut it. It doesn’t matter if it’s not pretty,” Tang Mo said calmly as she sat down.
Watching the long hair, she had carefully grown for years fall to the ground strand by strand in the mirror, Tang Mo slowly lowered her eyes.
What use was beauty?
In the apocalypse, without strong power to back it up, the most miserable and hopeless people were often the beautiful girls.
Tang Mo was beautiful, but weak. Girls like that suffered the most. Fortunately, she was clever enough to realize the problem early in her last life and deliberately made herself look dirty and hunched, which helped her avoid many troubles.
She wasn’t overthinking it. Once the laws that maintained normal order collapsed, humanity gradually returned to the primal food chain—where the strong preyed on the weak.
Whoever was stronger possessed more resources. This became the unspoken rule.
Morality, etiquette, respect for the elderly, care for children, and “ladies first”—all of it disappeared. When morality collapsed, people tore off their hypocritical masks, leaving only raw human nature.
Everyone struggled desperately to survive in the apocalypse. No one knew whether they’d get another meal tomorrow or be torn apart by mutant beasts. In a world where surviving was already exhausting, who had the energy to care about others?
Only strength mattered. Before she gained enough power, she had to keep a low profile.
Tang Mo closed her eyes and began carefully planning her future, step by step.