CH 5

The scenery outside the window zoomed past, and Jiang Muyun couldn't take her eyes off it.

Outside were towering skyscrapers, and the sounds of bustling crowds filled her ears. It had been a long time since she had witnessed such a vibrant scene.

Jiang Muyun spent the entire journey just looking outside, even luxuriously wasting three hours as she walked back home from the station.

She listened to the shouts of street vendors, the honking of cars, and the laughter and chatter of pedestrians.

When Jiang Muyun returned, it was during mealtime, so there weren't many people in the area.

She took out her access card and swiped it to open the unit gate. Coincidentally, the elevator was already on the first floor.

Jiang Muyun entered the elevator, pressed the button for the fifteenth floor, and without any stops along the way, it took her directly to her doorstep.

Standing in the familiar corridor, Jiang Muyun looked at the slightly peeling 1501 doorplate and took out her keys. From finding the keyhole to unlocking the door and stepping inside, every movement was muscle memory.

As Jiang Muyun sat on the slightly worn-out old sofa, she turned on the television and the air conditioner. At the moment when the cool breeze reached her in the scorching summer, she truly felt that she had come back to life.

She comfortably rested her head on the sofa armrest for a while, glancing at the time. It was already 7 o'clock in the evening.

Jiang Muyun had left at 6 o'clock in the morning, taking a high-speed train from West City to South City for over seven hours. Then she walked back home from the station, and she couldn't believe that the entire day had passed just like that.

Jiang Muyun slumped on the sofa for a while before struggling to get up and take a shower. Afterward, she took out a portion of the food packed in the space.

After finishing her meal, she took out the treasures from her grandfather's collection.

Among them were his military medals, military uniform, and some old artifacts.

Jiang Muyun gently touched the cherished military uniform of her grandfather and retrieved a large storage box. She carefully placed all of her grandfather's old belongings into the box and then stored the box inside her space, tucking it away in a corner far from clutter.

Jiang Muyun stretched lazily and proceeded to turn on the desktop computer and laptop at home. She casually chose a video streaming website and began mass downloading TV shows, movies, and various entertainment programs on both computers simultaneously.

Good thing her broadband plan wasn't up when she left home.

Then she proceeded to organize her shopping list.

Since the list needed to be carried with her and items checked off as she made purchases, the original list with its edited and crossed-out items appeared too messy and cluttered.

Jiang Muyun didn't want to strain her eyes, so she decided to make a fresh copy of the list.

Initially, Jiang Muyun only intended to stockpile a sufficient amount of food, medicine, and daily necessities—three major categories—to ensure her survival needs. Her primary criterion for everything was "being able to survive."

However, now Jiang Muyun looked at her balance and felt that, while prioritizing "surviving" was essential, she could also improve her quality of life to some extent.

She spent nearly 600,000 on the major shopping spree in West City, and now she had over 2.28 million left in her hands.

From now on, there is approximately half a year until the existing currency completely loses its value.

She decided to keep the remaining 80,000-plus as her spending allowance for that period of time.

In a time when everyone would be frantically waving cash to exchange for goods, if she didn't spend any money and managed to live well, she would easily become a target for others, seen as a fat lamb to be taken advantage of.

With the remaining 2 million, Jiang Muyun planned to spend it in two areas.

One is to purchase supplies, and the other is to renovate the house.

In the early stages of the apocalypse, although people panicked due to famine, there was still a basic social order in place with the official authority holding absolute military power.

Until the arrival of the acid rain, vast areas of buildings that had endured hardships collapsed completely, leaving ruins behind. The authorities were overwhelmed and unable to cope with the situation. The existing food and water resources drastically dwindled, and after the rain stopped, the rampant mosquitoes caused widespread infestations. Epidemics spread throughout, and the panicked masses, who had long been in a state of fear, finally lost all control.

The residential area where Jiang Muyun's family is located was originally a government officials' housing complex, with many retired cadres living there. Later, during the urban redevelopment, the area was demolished and rebuilt, attracting new residents. However, many of the original residents also chose to move back after the reconstruction.

Not to mention anything else, the construction quality here is absolutely top-notch.

Back then, Jiang Muyun used to watch her grandfather and his group of old friends come over from time to time to supervise the construction.

The older generation, including Jiang Muyun's grandfather, had experienced no fewer storms and hardships throughout their lives than Jiang Muyun had experienced in the apocalypse. There was no easy way to deceive or fool them.

Barring any unexpected circumstances, her home could provide her shelter for a considerable period of time during the apocalypse. It was crucial to ensure that her home was well-prepared and properly secured.

As long as the house doesn't collapse, Jiang Muyun is willing to live here until the end of time.

As Jiang Muyun continued to write, her eyelids began to grow heavy and droop.

When she opened her eyes again, she realized that it was already the next day.

It is now August 23, 2023, according to the Blue Star Calendar. There are forty-two days left until the global cooling event.

Leaning over her computer, Jiang Muyun checked the progress of her mental nourishment downloads. Afterward, she didn't rush to organize the luggage she had brought with her.

She first called a housekeeping company and requested that they thoroughly clean every nook and cranny of her home.

Jiang Muyun had personally experienced the terrifying insect infestations that occurred after the apocalypse.

In every inconspicuous corner, there could be a breeding ground for all kinds of creatures.

In her previous life, she heard that someone's wooden floor became infested with insects, with the insects filling the gaps beneath the floorboards to the point that they forcefully caused cracks in the floor, which was how it was discovered.

Fortunately, Jiang Muyun's grandfather had grown tired of the creaking sounds caused by the old wooden floors in their previous house. Therefore, after they moved back, they had all the floors paved with ceramic tiles. Otherwise, Jiang Muyun would have had to remove the floorboards and redo the flooring.

While the housekeeping company was tidying up the house, Jiang Muyun kept herself busy as well.

After measuring the dimensions of the doors and windows in her house, Jiang Muyun changed into a new set of clothes.

In the mirror, Jiang Muyun was dressed in a chiffon maxi dress, wearing high heels, and sporting a wide-brimmed sun hat with sunglasses. She had applied fiery red lipstick.

Looking at herself in this outfit, Jiang Muyun even found herself hot.

She wrapped her sandals in a plastic bag and stuffed them into her handbag.

Then she casually bought a lace-edged sun umbrella from a street vendor. With confidence, she boarded the subway and headed to the outskirts of the city. She found a medium-sized door and window factory and placed an order for several custom-made windows.

All the windows were made with specially crafted double-layer tempered glass, providing excellent insulation, heat insulation, soundproofing, and odor resistance. They were known for their outstanding sealing properties.

The windows were custom-made based on the window dimensions. Jiang Muyun placed the order first, and then the production process began. Since the factory did not have stock items, everything was made to order. As a result, Jiang Muyun had to wait for approximately ten days before the window installation professionals would come to her home.

The double-layer windows that Jiang Muyun bought are not commonly seen in the southern region, let alone the fact that she wanted tempered glass.

Such double-layer windows are typically found in the northern regions, where they are installed in homes to withstand the severe cold of minus thirty to forty degrees Celsius during the winter.

Jiang Muyun's requested windows can be delivered within ten days, thanks to the unique geographical location of South City.

South City is located right on the dividing line between the northern and southern regions of China. While winters are cold in South City, they are not as severe as in the north. Therefore, the local residents in South City experience winters with the lowest temperature being around minus seven to eight degrees Celsius without centralized heating.

Some people choose to rely on their money to use air conditioning and electric heating for warmth. Others cannot tolerate the dryness that comes with using air conditioning, so they choose to rely on their physical strength and endure the cold with their own resilience.

There are also people who cannot tolerate the dryness and do not possess the resilience to endure the cold. In such cases, they have to explore other options, such as installing these specially-made windows in their homes.

Therefore, these windows are quite popular in South City, and the factory has sufficient stock. The workers are experienced, and the only thing missing is the production time.

And then there's the door.

In the post-apocalyptic world, the ones knocking on your door may not necessarily be humans; they could be ghosts or other entities. Relying solely on a single security door is not secure enough.

So Jiang Muyun chose an extremely ugly large iron door, resembling a prison-style design, which happened to fit the dimensions of Jiang Muyun's house.

The person who received Jiang Muyun mentioned that this door was a custom order that was abandoned by the original client. Due to the high-quality materials used and the relatively high cost, the factory kept it in stock for sale. If Jiang Muyun was interested, they could offer her the lowest price for it.

In any case, the cost of this door has already been covered by its original owner.

Jiang Muyun's ordered windows are quite expensive, so offering a small discount on this is not a big deal.

Without much hesitation, Jiang Muyun nodded and even asked if it was possible to install the door as soon as possible.

Being able to sell off such an unpopular item made the person quite happy. They immediately promised that someone would come to install it tomorrow.

Jiang Muyun walked another two rounds, then went to the neighboring shop next to the door and window factory to buy a few thick blackout curtains. The curtains would be delivered along with the windows.

After purchasing the doors and windows, Jiang Muyun spent some time in the area and managed to rent a small warehouse.

Jiang Muyun had a conversation with the warehouse manager, who was holding a cigarette, for about half an hour. He said that his third uncle was a chain smoker. During their conversation, Jiang Muyun also met the warehouse manager's third uncle and ended up buying a used van from him for 5,000 yuan, not knowing how many previous owners it had.

At first glance, the van looked like it had been pulled back from a battlefield in the Middle East, but surprisingly, it drove smoothly without any issues. Moreover, all the necessary documents were in order, which impressed Jiang Muyun greatly.

Indeed, it was the legendary domestically-produced powerhouse car. Its exact power source remained a mystery, but it proved to be incredibly strong when faced with challenges.

As for the other advantages of this vehicle, it's hard to say. However, its durability is certainly guaranteed.

She didn't have any other requirements. She couldn't afford a fancy car, nor did she see the need for one. Durability was sufficient for her.

Jiang Muyun paid for the van without hesitation, and Third Uncle had all the necessary documents prepared as well. Both of them being local residents, they went directly to the vehicle registration office to complete the transfer of ownership.

This third uncle truly lived up to his reputation as a professional in the used car business. Once inside the vehicle registration office, he navigated through the process as if he were in his own home. He was more familiar with the steps than the staff themselves.

As Jiang Muyun exited the gate of the vehicle registration office, she could simply drive off in this battle-damaged van.

Since Jiang Muyun was already in the city area, she didn't feel the need to rush to the outskirts at the moment.

Seeing a nearby mountain bike store, she decided to go in and take a look. After browsing for a while, she ended up ordering five mountain bikes with gears.

All the tires were off-road mountain tires, and she also bought several dozen spare tires and numerous spare parts to facilitate future replacement and repairs.

After the apocalypse, energy resources became scarce, making it nearly impossible for ordinary people to obtain fuel. Vehicles that relied on burning fuel had become almost useless and turned into scrap metal.

Not to mention the successive onslaught of floods, acid rain, and earthquakes, which left very little space for regular cars to maneuver. The new energy vehicles also had no room to perform in such conditions.

These durable mountain bikes with strong off-road capabilities and no reliance on energy sources are the best means of transportation in such conditions.

Jiang Muyun made an agreement with the store owner regarding the delivery time. The bikes and accessories would be delivered to the small warehouse she had rented at 6:00 PM that evening.

Jiang Muyun drove her old van at a steady pace in the direction of the small warehouse.

On the way, Jiang Muyun passed by a construction site and spent some money to load a few bags of cement and sand.

The initial stages of drought during the apocalypse rendered the toilet at home completely useless.

Later, during the flooding, sewage backflow and the invasion of insects from various pipes and vents became nightmares for countless households.

By purchasing some cement now, she could permanently seal off all those areas, putting an end to these issues once and for all.

Jiang Muyun also took the opportunity to inquire about the places where the workers usually ate. She then went from one restaurant to another, trying out their signature dishes one by one.

While satisfying her own hunger, Jiang Muyun also placed an order for hundreds of servings of food, enough to feed a large group of people.

This time, she chose dishes that produced a lot of smoke and had strong odors when cooked.

Instead of requesting delivery, she made arrangements with the restaurant owners regarding the pickup time and decided to drive herself to collect the food.

To discover affordable yet delicious restaurants, harnessing the power of the locals is essential. Jiang Muyun sat in her car and sighed, realizing the significance of community influence in finding hidden culinary gems.

As for rice, since there was a charge for rice in South City, Jiang Muyun felt it would be better to steam some rice at home herself.

The dilapidated van drove over a bumpy cement road, and the few snake-skin bags inside the vehicle disappeared without a trace.

As the van passed through the road again, the mountain bikes also found their place inside Jiang Muyun's space.

After Jiang Muyun picked up the food she had ordered earlier in the day, she learned from the owner of one of the restaurants that a new plastic processing factory had opened in the industrial zone to the south of the city. The wholesale price for food containers was exceptionally cheap, prompting the small restaurant owners in the area to consider placing a joint order for a larger quantity.

Jiang Muyun felt that her luck was really good.