At midnight, as soon as the alarm rang, Yu Yao woke up immediately.
Although her body was reluctant to get up after so many days of exhaustion, her tense brain and nerves ultimately won out.
After lingering for a minute, she climbed out and quietly slipped out of the guesthouse through the balcony.
Avoiding surveillance cameras all the way, she arrived beside the Yushan spring and was already sweating from the heat.
The Yushan spring was not small, and the water flow was strong.
Below, a sizable pond had originally formed, but due to the recent strange high temperatures, severe evaporation had caused the water level to drop significantly.
The remaining spring water shimmered under the moonlight.
Yu Yao cupped some spring water in her hands and tasted it, her eyes lighting up.
Cool and sweet.
Testing it with test strips confirmed the water quality was definitely safe to drink directly.
Well… for health’s sake, heating it would be safer—if conditions allowed.
Satisfied, she used her psychic power to touch the spring water, beginning to pull large amounts of it into the water tanks in her backpack inventory slots.
The weather was hot, so no one would come to check; she found a flat area out of the surveillance cameras’ view.
Lying down while watching the stars, she used her psychic power to collect water resources.
Her water collection speed was very fast, and she could multitask—three tanks of 3 tons each could be filled in less than twenty minutes.
At this rate, she could fill all the tanks in just a few days.
It was tiring, but the harvest was plentiful.
At 8 a.m. the next morning, Yu Yao leisurely returned to the guesthouse carrying breakfast.
Sister Chen saw her and asked in surprise, “Miss Yu? You went out so early? How come I didn’t see you?”
Yu Yao smiled, “I went for a morning run. There was no one around when I left.”
Sister Chen marveled, “Not many young people are as disciplined as you.”
“You flatter me,” Yu Yao replied lightly.
Sister Chen laughed heartily, “In that case, you don’t need to buy breakfast anymore. We provide meals here.”
“Okay, I got it.”
Yu Yao forced herself to stay alert while chatting with Sister Chen, then hurried back to her room.
She couldn’t even be bothered to eat the breakfast in her hands, kicking off her shoes and jacket, lying down to sleep.
She had been collecting water all night and happily noticed that her psychic power was growing stronger with continuous use and exertion.
She was now capable of multitasking with four things at once, and her collection speed had increased.
Over the course of one night, the lake below the spring visibly lowered its water level.
The cost, however, was a splitting headache and dizzy exhaustion.
Even when asleep, she was plagued by nightmares and cold sweats in waves.
Though restless, she slept a long time and didn’t wake until after 10 p.m.
Rubbing her still aching temples, she resolved to rest well after finishing her water collection to recharge her strength.
After a shower and eating a spicy pork rice bowl, Yu Yao once again quietly slipped out the window to collect water on the mountain.
For three consecutive days, Yu Yao not only filled all three 3-ton plastic water tanks with drinking water but also filled several 1-ton plastic water towers and water bags.
Then she stopped, as the water level had dropped too severely—continuing would risk being discovered.
She needed to change locations!
During breaks in collecting water, she also quietly collected some clean soil.
In case she needed to plant something later—the planting bloodline of Chinese people runs deep and never fades.
Having settled this major concern, Yu Yao comfortably slept for a whole day and night.
On the fifth day after arriving at Yushan Village, she checked out of the guesthouse, leaving amid Sister Chen’s repeated invitations to come back.
After leaving Yushan Village, Yu Yao first returned to Haicheng.
The network resources she had hired people to download had all finished and were mailed back to her.
Yu Yao had never really had friends growing up, nor anyone to eat with.
So she liked to accompany her meals with electronic pickles and had broad interests: TV dramas, movies, variety shows, documentaries, biographies—all could catch her attention.
According to the original owner’s memory, after the apocalypse, the internet broke down. Except for a small group with resources, most people hardly had the chance or means to watch TV.
The apocalypse was already harsh, and this was hardship on top of hardship.
Yu Yao wasn’t willing to accept that, so she bought several hard drives and sent them all to a very famous and reliable hacker.
She tasked him with downloading every single video resource available on the internet, both domestic and international, within half a month—by any means necessary.
The categories included but were not limited to: TV dramas, movies, variety shows, documentaries, biographies, all kinds of educational videos, DIY tutorials, recipes, maps.
It was her way of preserving some seeds of civilization.
Though the workload seemed huge, it was no trouble for the hacker.
She requested every video to be downloaded three times each, categorized and stored on different hard drives with proper labeling.
For paid videos, if possible, the hacker would hack them; if not, she would pay for them and reimburse the cost.
Back in Haicheng, after receiving the hard drives, Yu Yao randomly checked a dozen or so.
She found the hacker to be very efficient—both well-known and obscure video resources were covered.
All videos were in the highest resolution available.
The hacker was very organized, storing videos in different hard drives by category as Yu Yao requested.
Additionally, he sorted them by country, region, year, and creator, making it easy to find anything quickly.
Very impressive!
After finishing this, Yu Yao boarded a plane to Jiangcheng and arrived at the famous Qiuxi Lake.
Qiuxi Lake is a natural lake, formed by the meltwater of the nearby perpetually snow-capped Nangga Mountain. The lake water was clear and of good quality.
Testing showed it was slightly inferior to the spring water from Yushan Village, but more than sufficient for daily use.
Perhaps due to this year’s extreme heat, the snowline on Nangga Mountain had visibly risen, exposing large dark green and black mountain areas.
Yu Yao stood by Qiuxi Lake, openly collecting water while quickly taking pictures of the snowy mountain on her phone.
Because in a little over ten days, all the snow on these mountains would melt.
Not just here—the poles would suffer the same fate. This was also a major reason for the sudden tsunamis and flooding of many coastal cities.
After enjoying the scenery, Yu Yao chose a flat spot, pitched a tent, and planned to camp right by the lake.
Once upon a time, this place was a legendary camping site.
But now, due to the strange heat, it had become especially quiet and empty.
Yu Yao was comfortable, spending seven consecutive days either collecting water, gathering soil, or practicing with her knives.
When too exhausted, she would nap lightly and then continue upon waking.
After filling all remaining water tanks, towers, and bags…
She traveled around nearby cities to buy specialties, supplies, and stockpile food.
Her total savings, combined with a recent loan, left her with less than fifty thousand yuan.
When Yu Yao returned home to Haicheng, less than ten days remained before the apocalypse.
She did not plan to exhaust herself further.
Besides occasionally going out to pick up cooked food and snacks, she focused on filling gaps and training her body.
In her free time, she repeatedly went to the dock.
She scouted the places that would be swallowed by the tsunami in the future, searching for the best collection routes to maximize resource utilization.
Thus, she leisurely enjoyed the last few comfortable and free days before the apocalypse.
A week before the apocalypse, Yu Yao finally called Aunt Liang.
Claiming that rumors about the apocalypse were getting worse and she was somewhat afraid, she asked Aunt Liang’s family—who were in the logistics business—to help stockpile supplies at her home.
She planned to pick them up later.
Aunt Liang originally advised her not to believe the rumors.
But Yu Yao was resolute, and Aunt Liang had no choice but to agree to stockpile according to the list Yu Yao provided.
Yu Yao happily said several flattering things that made Aunt Liang laugh warmly.
After hanging up, she kept only a few thousand yuan for herself and transferred the rest to Aunt Liang.