“Ah… no….” Bai Nianqing woke up from a nightmare once again.
This was already the third time. Ever since the day before yesterday, at her grandmother’s funeral, she had accidentally pricked her finger. The blood on her fingertip had smeared onto the jade bracelet her grandmother had left her, and the bracelet had suddenly vanished, transforming into a space that existed only in her mind.
For three consecutive days, she had been having the same nightmare: a group of ragged people walking along the road.
Bai Nianqing couldn’t hear what they were saying, but judging by their yellowed, emaciated appearances, it looked like they were fleeing a disaster.
She also noticed that there had likely been a drought, because for three days in a row, she hadn’t seen a trace of green in her dreams.
Most importantly, the people in her dream were all dressed in ancient-style clothing.
Bai Nianqing didn’t know if this dream was a warning from heaven. But regardless, she had already decided that tomorrow she would take all her savings and go buy essential supplies to stock up.
Especially food and water—these were the most needed items during a drought.
Her savings weren’t much, only 360,000 yuan. Fortunately, she was still at her hometown, where they used deep wells, so water didn’t cost anything.
She planned to spend 150,000 yuan on rice, flour, grains, cooking oil, and seasonings.
100,000 yuan would go to medicine—if she really ended up traveling back in time to survive a disaster, medicine would be indispensable.
Another 50,000 yuan would be spent on fabrics, cotton, yarn, and cold-weather clothing like down jackets.
There’s a saying that after a great drought comes a great flood, and there might even be cold waves, so these had to be prepared in advance.
The remaining 60,000 yuan would go toward other daily necessities:
Matches, laundry detergent, soap, toilet paper, rubber boots, raincoats, tarps, flashlights, and so on.
Most importantly, sanitary pads—these were absolutely essential, and not just a little; she had to buy plenty, enough to last a lifetime.
She also planned to buy meat—pork, beef, and mutton—and some ready-to-eat food. If she had to flee in the past, having pre-cooked food to fill her stomach would be indispensable.
After calculating everything, her money still wasn’t quite enough. If necessary, she could sell her dilapidated old house.
Bai Nianqing pondered this and fell asleep again.
At the same time, in the distant Daqing Kingdom, Shen Wenhe also woke up from a dream.
In five days, he was to be married. But ever since three days ago, when he accidentally smeared blood onto the jade bracelet left by his aunt, he had been having dreams.
The main figure in his dreams was a strange-looking girl.
He saw her lose her only close relative—her grandmother.
He saw her, though sad, still bravely handling her grandmother’s funeral.
And he saw her seemingly acquire something extraordinary from the funeral—a space like the “mustard seed space” described in Buddhist teachings.
He saw the girl repeatedly testing storing items into the space and then taking them out.
At first, he was shocked. After all, this was something that existed only in legends, and he had seen it in his dream.
But on second thought, it wasn’t surprising. This land itself was extraordinary; maybe it even bordered on the immortal realm.
In the past three days, his dreams had also opened his eyes: carts with four wheels that didn’t need oxen or horses, televisions, talking phones, kitchen appliances that cooked without fire.
All of these amazed Shen Wenhe and filled him with longing.
He didn’t know what had come over him, and he didn’t dare tell anyone about his dreams.
He also had a little secret: he thought he was falling for the girl in his dreams.
Seeing her cry made his heart ache. Now, his most anticipated moment each day was falling asleep early so he could see her in his dreams.
But he also knew they could never be together. This was just a dream, an unattainable one.
Besides, he was about to be married. The marriage had been arranged by his legitimate mother, and he had never even met the bride.
But since it was decided that he would marry her, he had to be responsible toward her.
As a son of a concubine, he had always lived a difficult life at home. Love was a luxury for him—let alone for a girl who only existed in his dreams. They could never be together.
Five days from now, the wedding would happen, so it was best to put these thoughts aside.
Thinking this, Shen Wenhe fell asleep again, though this time the girl did not appear in his dream.
The next day, although he felt regret, Shen Wenhe had no choice but to accept reality and focus on preparing for the wedding.
Meanwhile, modern-day Bai Nianqing was busy gathering supplies.
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, five days passed. Bai Nianqing put the last batch of pork into her space.
She returned to the rented hotel. Since her house had been sold, she had no place to stay, so she lived here temporarily.
She didn’t idle around in the hotel, but instead organized the items in her space.
She had bought mostly rice and flour: 200 bags of 50 kg rice (10,000 kg) and 200 bags of 50 kg flour (10,000 kg).
She also bought 500 kg each of cornmeal and corn bran, and some millet, mung beans, and soybeans.
200 barrels of peanut oil, and 50 barrels each of corn oil and rapeseed oil. 200 kg of sesame oil.
She placed the rice, flour, grains, and oils in one corner of the space. The space wasn’t very big—about the size of a soccer field—but she had tested it: it could store items indefinitely without planting.
The best part was preservation—items remained exactly as they were when taken out.
Next came seasonings, which she organized into boxes and stored neatly.
She also bought plenty of medicines: cold medicine, fever medicine, stomach medicine, heat-clearing medicine, anti-sunstroke medicine, alcohol, gauze—anything she could think of.
She stacked the medicine boxes together, separate from the grains.
Next were cotton, fabrics, quilts, bedding, cotton clothing, yarn—various warm items.
She bought 500 kg of cotton, 15 quilts, 10 sets of cotton clothing for men and women, down jackets, down vests, down pants, cotton shoes, gloves, and hats.
There’s a saying: after a great drought comes a great flood, and perhaps even a cold wave. Bai Nianqing feared she wouldn’t have time to prepare for warmth, so she prepared everything in advance.
All these items were placed in visible corners.
Next came ready-to-eat foods: 500 meat buns, 500 vegetable buns with chives and eggs, 500 steamed buns, 500 flower rolls, 500 jin of flatbreads, 500 jin of dried noodles, and 100 jin of dried wonton wrappers.
Instant noodles, self-heating meals, bread, and milk were also included.
And eggs—1,000 in total. Eggs were excellent for traveling; nutritious, tasteless, and easy to eat without others noticing.
She also bought some vegetables from local villagers for 500 yuan: cucumbers, tomatoes, beans, eggplants, peppers, rapeseed, and bok choy.
Finally, water: 100 large plastic barrels (50 kg each) and 50 large water tanks (50 tons each), all filled with water.
Even if there was no water for two years, she would still be able to eat and drink well.