Lin Ran wiped away her tears and straightened up from Lin Ma’s embrace. “Yes, it’s all in the past. So let’s focus on the present. I don’t aspire to achieve great feats in this apocalyptic world—I just want us all to survive together.”
She turned to her younger brother and said, “Let’s talk about something happier. Xiao Ze, why don’t you explain to Mom and Dad what Spirit Spring Water is?”
Upon hearing this, Lin Ze’s gloom instantly vanished. He bounced up excitedly, stripping off his clothes as he declared, “Mom, Dad, let me show you what true body purification means!”
Thump!
No sooner had he spoken than Lin Ze ripped off his shirt and flung himself into the small stream.
Lin Ba: “…”
His dear son!
What was he doing?
This was utterly foolish!
Lin Ma swallowed hard. “Xiao Ze, what are you doing? Why did you suddenly take your clothes off?”
Lin Ze, scrubbing himself vigorously in the stream, replied, “Mom, Dad, you should jump in too! This stream water is a treasure—it has miraculous effects like purifying the body, expelling toxins, and nourishing the skin. Soak in it a few times, and you’ll be completely reborn, with physiques better than any 18-year-old!”
Lin Ma only caught the words “expelling toxins and nourishing the skin.”
“If it can expel toxins and nourish the skin, then Mom will give it a try too. But I’d like to change into a swimsuit first.”
Lin Ba nodded. “I’d like to change as well.”
He had understood Lin Ze’s explanation and wanted to improve his body until it surpassed that of an 18-year-old youth.
Hearing this, Lin Ran led them out of the Dimension. After they changed into swimsuits, she brought them back inside.
After some thought, Lin Ran decided her own physique could use some improvement too. She changed into a swimsuit and, upon entering, noticed the delicious food on the table. She brought the food into the Dimension as well.
The family of four soaked in the Spirit Spring Water while enjoying the feast—it was pure bliss.
But as they soaked, they began to notice something odd.
What was that smell?
“Xiao Ze, did you just pass gas?”
Lin Ze was indignant. “Mom, don’t blame me! That smell is coming from you.”
“How could that be? A refined lady like me would never pass gas. If it’s not you, Xiao Ze, then it must be you.”
Lin Ma swiped at Lin Ba, making him yelp in protest.
“No, it wasn’t me.”
Lin Ran laughed heartily. “Oh, yes it was! But Mom, you smell too. Body purification means expelling impurities and toxins from your body. The stench you’re noticing is actually coming from yourselves.”
“I suggest you scrub it off quickly, or else—ugh—”
“It’ll get too foul.”
After Lin Ran’s explanation, no one blamed each other anymore.
They had indeed realized the odor was emanating from their own bodies.
Lin Ran scrubbed furiously at the grime on her skin. She was glad she had eaten quickly earlier; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to stomach any food with this stench around.
The smell was absolutely overpowering.
By now, the family had cast aside all concerns about image. They were all equally filthy and smelly, so no one could judge anyone else.
They wordlessly distanced themselves from one another and devoted themselves to scrubbing off the grime.
When Lin Ran had finally scrubbed off what felt like half a catty of mud, thick as noodles, she finally felt somewhat cleaner.
Only then did she step out of the stream.
“That’s enough for today. We can soak again every day from now on.”
After speaking, Lin Ran noticed a few poor little fish floating belly-up in the stream and immediately felt a pang of guilt.
“Tomorrow let’s go buy several large folding bathtubs so we can each soak in our own tub. Otherwise, it’s too polluting for the environment.”
This decision received unanimous approval from everyone.
After soaking in the Spirit Spring Water, Lin Ran led everyone out from the Dimension.
After changing clothes, they all returned to the living room.
Lin Ma was very satisfied with the effects of her bath. She had spent quite some time looking in the mirror and discovered it truly had remarkable beautifying and skin-nourishing effects.
The skin on her face was porcelain-white and firm, making her feel several years younger. The results were much better than going to a beauty salon for treatments like hydrafacials.
“From now on, we can make soaking in this Spirit Spring Water a daily routine.”
Lin Ba deeply agreed: “Absolutely, I feel particularly relaxed all over. This must be what Xiao Ze meant by improving physical constitution.”
He suddenly felt his son knew more than he did, and picked up his phone saying: “Xiao Ze, send Dad those apocalyptic novels you often read. Let me study them too.”
“No problem, I’ll send them to you right now. First, you need to download the Tomato Novel app.”
Lin Ba: “Alright, good.”
Seeing Lin Ba so eager to learn, Lin Ma quickly asked Lin Ze to send her some novels too—she couldn’t fall behind either.
After chatting for a while, the family got down to business.
“Ran Ran, tell me what you all bought today.”
“Okay.”
“Today we first rented a warehouse in Xiaoshan District, then went to the wholesale market to get enough rice, flour, grains, and oil from Auntie Zhang to last our family a lifetime. We also bought seasonings from the neighboring stall, along with many seeds, farming tools, ice cream, and popsicles.”
After Lin Ran finished speaking, Lin Ze thoughtfully showed the purchase list to his parents.
“To prepare for the apocalypse, these things are far from enough. Unfortunately, after buying all this, Xiao Ze and I have no money left.”
After reading the list, Lin Ma said: “It’s indeed not enough. You said the apocalypse will start with extreme heat, so we still need to buy heat-resistant air conditioners and insulation panels.”
Lin Ba added: “And the extreme heat will cause power outages. We need to buy generators, and prepare several more sets of solar generators. In such hot weather, I’m afraid the solar panels might burn out. It’s better to have extra sets ready.”
“Actually, dear, with such hot weather, shouldn’t we choose a cooler place to escape the heat? Cities have heat island effects and are naturally much hotter than suburbs. When the high temperatures come, it will definitely be even hotter here. How about we go back to your family’s old house in the countryside?”
The place Lin Ma referred to was the farm left to them by Lin Ran’s grandfather—essentially a few orchards, several acres of land, and an old courtyard house.
Since Lin Ran’s grandfather passed away, they had only visited during New Year to pay respects to the elderly, and basically never stayed there.
The farm was semi-abandoned.
But their village was indeed cooler, located up in the mountains at a higher altitude.
In previous years when Lin Ran’s grandfather was still alive, Lin Ba and Lin Ma often took Lin Ran and Lin Ze back there to escape the summer heat.
Lin Ran fell into thought—the place Lin Ma suggested seemed feasible. She silently picked up her phone.
Lin Ze felt a little excited watching his family. He loved that countryside—it was his childhood paradise. He wanted to go back.
However, Lin Ba frowned and poured cold water on the idea: “In principle, that makes sense. We still have three months—it wouldn’t be impossible to renovate the old house. When the apocalypse comes, the countryside will be much safer than the city anyway.”
“But don’t forget that after the extreme heat comes torrential rains and floods. Ranran said the floodwaters would submerge everything below the 10th floor of our building. Our farm is at a high altitude, up in the mountains.
But whether the floods will actually reach us there—who can say for sure?”