Did the previous life have thunder?
It seemed not!
But where was this rumbling thunder coming from?
Ye Xin listened carefully. It was indeed thunder! It was just quite far away, and unless she listened closely, she wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
Just as Ye Xin was thinking about this, a streak of red lightning suddenly appeared in the eastern sky. About five seconds later, a deep rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance.
It seemed that the heavy rain in the east was different from what they were experiencing here!
A broadcaster’s voice came from the television:
“Typhoon Meihua continues to strengthen. The central wind speed has now reached Level 18. It is expected to pass through B City within the next 24 hours. A City will also experience strong winds at that time. Residents are advised to make preparations against the strong winds and stay away from large outdoor billboards…”
They had another 24 hours!
Perhaps even less than 24 hours!
Looking at the sky gradually darkening, Ye Xin decided to take another risk.
She grabbed Father Ye and, ignoring Mother Ye’s attempts to stop them, hurried into the curtain of rain.
By now, the drainage system was already overloaded. Rainwater was gushing out of the drains, forming countless little fountains.
Ye Xin found a secluded spot, released her Wrangler, and quickly climbed inside.
Fortunately, there were hardly any vehicles on the road in weather like this. As long as they didn’t drive straight into a ditch, there was basically little need to worry about traffic safety.
Following Ye Xin’s directions, Father Ye drove to the address given by the diesel salesman.
It was a gas station.
With rain this heavy, the gas station employees had already gone home.
Ye Xin looked around, pried open the warehouse beside the station, and sure enough—the diesel and gasoline she wanted were all stored inside.
Whether diesel or gasoline, she took everything without hesitation!
She didn’t even spare the small convenience store inside the gas station. These supplies would be extremely difficult to find in the future.
After that, they drove to an outdoor equipment specialty store. Ye Xin had already scouted this place out beforehand. All she needed to do was destroy the surveillance cameras inside.
The store had everything: inflatable boats, polar-weather equipment, outdoor tents, and more.
Ye Xin didn’t hesitate for even a second. She smashed open the security door and went inside, immediately absorbing everything into her space.
Even if she didn’t take them, someone else would eventually benefit from them. From this moment on, these stores would never have a chance to reopen.
After clearing out this store, she also emptied several nearby outdoor equipment stores. Unexpectedly, she found more than a dozen sets of extreme-cold clothing capable of withstanding temperatures below -50°C.
After clearing out those stores, she noticed the Xinhua Bookstore nearby, only about 100 meters away.
Looking at the bookstore’s two-story building, Ye Xin didn’t hesitate.
This place contained the treasures of human civilization. In the future, many of these books would be taken away and burned as firewood to keep people warm.
Rather than letting that happen, she might as well take the entire bookstore now and preserve these remnants of human civilization for this generation.
Ye Xin called out to her father. He drove the car to the entrance of the Xinhua Bookstore, and as usual, they first disguised themselves and destroyed the surveillance cameras.
Father Ye felt sorry for his daughter and volunteered to pry open the bookstore’s door so that Ye Xin could focus entirely on collecting the supplies.
Seeing the water level on the street steadily rising, Father Ye reminded her:
“Xin Xin, hurry up! At this rate, we might not even be able to get home!”
How could Ye Xin not understand?
Unfortunately, the bookstore was simply too large!
Even walking through it once would take more than half an hour, not to mention all the specialized books on the upper floor!
Ye Xin took a pair of roller skates from her space and put them on. She skated along the aisles, sweeping her hands across the bookshelves and absorbing entire shelves—including the bookshelves themselves—into her space!
With this method, she cleared the entire first floor in less than ten minutes!
Ye Xin hurried upstairs and repeated the process, absorbing all the specialized books.
Regardless of the subject, she took them all.
Let them serve as the last bit of hope for humanity!
By the time all the books had been collected, the rainwater outside had already risen above their calves.
They couldn’t delay any longer!
Looking at the countless supplies still scattered throughout the streets, Ye Xin had no choice but to steel her heart and give them up.
She released the vehicle from her space, stepped on the accelerator, and drove toward the Jinxiu Garden residential complex.
Those supplies would soon be submerged in water, waiting for people to salvage them. Some might eventually be recovered, but many more would disappear from the world forever.
At that moment, the voice of the space system sounded in Ye Xin’s mind once again:
“For contributing to the preservation of human civilization by rescuing books, the Space System has been upgraded to Level 3. Reward: One packet of strawberry seeds.”
What an unexpected surprise!
Ye Xin never imagined that doing something beneficial to humanity could earn her such a reward!
In her previous life, she had been too busy struggling just to survive and avoid starving to death. She simply hadn’t had the time or energy to think about things like this.
The garden outside the little wooden house visibly transformed before her eyes, becoming fertile, soft black soil.
Ye Xin was overjoyed. She didn’t even notice the points rewarded by the system.
Instead, she immediately entered her space and scattered the strawberry seeds across the black soil.
Although this patch of black earth was only about the size of a basketball court—and she had already piled quite a lot of coal, diesel, and other supplies there—it was the place where she felt safest.
With this land, her future life would finally have a reliable source of food.
At the same time, the mist behind the little wooden house dispersed, revealing a forest.
Ye Xin walked into the forest and discovered that it wasn’t just filled with lush trees. There were also countless birds, flowers, fish, insects, and other creatures.
Fish swam freely in the stream, and she could even spot wild rabbits among the trees.
Ye Xin stared in astonishment.
These things hadn’t existed in her previous life!
She quickly focused her consciousness on the little wooden house to inspect it.
What had once been a single bedroom had now become two bedrooms.
And the water and electricity that hadn’t existed before were now fully available!
All of this brought Ye Xin immense comfort and gave her even more confidence that she could survive this lifetime.
When they finally returned to Jinxiu Garden, the floodwater had already risen above their knees.
After storing the vehicle in her space, Ye Xin followed her father up the stairs toward the eighteenth floor.
Although the power hadn’t been cut off yet, the electrical system could fail at any moment. If they happened to get trapped inside an elevator, it would be more trouble than it was worth.
Meanwhile, the residents’ group chat had exploded with messages.
A resident from Unit 3 of Building 8 posted for help:
“Does anyone have a lot of food stored at home? We never cook, and now we only have three packs of instant noodles left. Help!”
A neighbor from Unit 1 of Building 6 also said:
“Same here! I never cook for myself. Who would’ve thought it would rain this heavily? I can’t even order takeout anymore.”
There was also someone from Ye Xin’s own building!
She just didn’t know which floor the resident was on.
Ye Xin shook her head.
In weather like this, it was impossible for restaurants to stay open. And even if a restaurant were open, which delivery driver would dare go outside in such conditions?
Fortunately, Su Jing had listened to her advice and stocked up on quite a lot of supplies at home.
Su Jing also normally cooked for herself, so she didn’t have to worry about running out of food anytime soon.
Unfortunately, Su Jing’s helpful nature began acting up again.
She tagged the neighbor from Unit 1 of Building 6 in the group chat:
“I still have some dried noodles at home. Do you want me to give you some to tide you over?”
The moment Ye Xin saw Su Jing’s message, she jumped up in panic!
She had completely forgotten to warn her about this!
Ye Xin immediately called Su Jing.
“Delete what you just said in the group chat! Right now!”
Su Jing didn’t understand why, but hearing the seriousness in Ye Xin’s voice, she immediately deleted the message without asking any questions.
Who would have thought that the neighbor would reply:
“Thanks, beautiful Su! If my family really runs out of food, I’ll ask you for some.”
Apparently, they knew each other!
Ye Xin helplessly sighed.
“Jing Jing, whatever you do, don’t tell anyone in the group chat that we have food stored at home. We don’t know how long this rain is going to last. It wouldn’t be good if someone started targeting you.”
Su Jing didn’t think much of it.
“I know him very well. He and Jiang Chao have helped me out quite a few times before. It’s fine. We’re just helping each other out as neighbors. Besides, one pack of dried noodles isn’t worth much.”
Ye Xin was speechless.
Just then, a loud banging sound came from outside the door.
Ye Xin froze.
Had someone already lost patience this quickly?