"Ah..."
Jiang Ning jolted upright in bed, drenched in sweat, her eyes filled with confusion and despair.
The familiar surroundings shocked her—wasn't this the apartment she had lived in before the apocalypse?
Ding-dong. Ding-dong...
The continuous notification sounds snapped her back to reality. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand—September 14, 2029, 9:32 AM.
A dozen unread messages, all warnings about an incoming super typhoon "Cleaver," expected to make landfall on the 17th. Wind speeds were forecasted at levels 16-19, bringing days of torrential rain.
Jiang Ning froze.
Wasn't she already dead? Devoured by the horrors of the apocalypse?
Had her unwillingness to die trapped her in a nightmare?
Ding-dong.
Another alert. 9:37 AM.
Jiang Ning clenched her arm, and the sharp pain confirmed it—this wasn't a dream.
She had really been reborn.
Back to three days before the catastrophe that marked the beginning of the end.
No—two and a half days.
But there was no joy in her heart, only an overwhelming exhaustion.
Typhoons, floods, extreme cold and heat, earthquakes… Each disaster was a descent into hell.
Was there even a point to reliving it all?
But now that she was back, should she just wait for death?
No. Never.
She splashed cold water on her face. In the mirror, a young and beautiful version of herself stared back—skin full of youthful glow, untouched by the struggle and despair of the apocalypse.
Her tired gaze fell on the jade pendant around her neck—something that had been with her since birth, when she was abandoned at a hospital.
Later, Yang Weicong had taken it from her and given it to Su Mengyao.
For three years in the apocalypse, Su Mengyao had lived like a queen—always pristine, her clothes immaculate, her skin flawless as if she had never left a peaceful world.
Once, when Jiang Ning was starving to the brink of unconsciousness, she had caught a glimpse of Su Mengyao pulling an ice cream out of that very jade pendant.
Jiang Ning's breath hitched.
She picked up a blade and cut her finger, letting a drop of blood fall onto the pendant.
A brilliant light flashed. When she opened her eyes again, she was inside a doorless apartment—no furniture, just running water and electricity. A two-bedroom, one-living-room space, roughly 80 square meters, with a 3-meter-high ceiling and a 10-square-meter black-soil garden on the balcony.
A holographic countdown timer floated in the living room:
01:56:13.
This was the mysterious space that had kept Su Mengyao living like royalty.
And it had been stolen from Jiang Ning.
Exiting the space, she could sense everything within it just by focusing her mind.
She began testing its capabilities—boiling water stayed hot indefinitely, fresh food never spoiled.
Except for the balcony and garden, the entire space had a perfect preservation function.
Items could be stored and retrieved with a thought. The countdown only ticked down when she was inside.
But there was no time to waste.
Since she had a second chance and this space was rightfully hers, she would not let herself suffer again.
Survival meant preparation.
Jiang Ning grabbed a pen and paper, listing out supplies.
She had grown up in an orphanage—not the peaceful kind, but one filled with secret battles and backstabbing.
Naturally, she had become selfish and sharp, unwilling to be taken advantage of.
No sense of security.
In elementary school, she picked up scrap paper for money.
In middle school, she worked part-time.
She tutored, cleaned toilets, wrote homework for others—as long as she got paid, she did it.
Despite her struggles, she had always excelled in academics, ranking at the top in high school.
Even as a second-year medical student, she had been tutoring five senior high students, charging 200 yuan per session.
Money was her lifeline.
She had sold insurance, taken commissions, even dabbled in content creation—anything that wasn't illegal, she had done.
After ten years of grinding, she had managed to save 200,000 yuan, hoping to use it for a house deposit after graduation.
Now? It didn't matter anymore.
She texted the parents of her tutoring students, claiming she was hospitalized and couldn't continue.
The tutoring fees were paid biweekly. Most of her students came from wealthy families—two even sent 500 yuan each as a "get well soon" gift.
She received 6,000 yuan in total.
Before ending the conversation, she subtly reminded the parents to stock up on emergency food and medicine for the upcoming super typhoon.
Disasters would keep coming, and medications would soon become more valuable than gold.
She took a photo of a long list of medical supplies and sent it to Zhang Chao, a pharmaceutical company rep and an old friend.
[Got a new rich client. They need these urgently. Delivery by tonight. Give me a good price.]
Zhang Chao replied instantly.
[Received.]
Five minutes later, he called.
"Ah Ning, this list is insane. Are you serious?"
"The money's been transferred. One condition—everything must arrive tonight."
She cut the call and wired him 50,000 yuan.
[Adjust the amount if needed.]
There was no time to waste.
Jiang Ning grabbed her keys, about to head out—when her eyes landed on a brand-new pair of limited-edition AJ sneakers on the table.
8,000 yuan.
She felt like slamming her head into a wall.
She had always been a practical person.
But when it came to Yang Weicong, it was like she had been cursed.
She had rented an expensive apartment just to be closer to him.
She had lined up at dawn to buy these exclusive sneakers for him.
Her own shoes had never cost more than 300 yuan.
Yet she had spent 8,000 on him.
And what had she gotten in return...?
He took the gift but wanted to keep the pendant. He neither accepted nor rejected her confession, and during the typhoon, he took the school beauty out and finished all her stored food.
For three years of disaster, not only did he never help her, but he also stood by coldly as she was beaten and slaughtered by demons.
Had she known earlier, she would have fed those AJ sneakers to a dog rather than gifting them to him.
This time, she wanted to see—without her stockpile and spatial abilities—if he and Su Mengyao could still live their glamorous lives!
A super typhoon raged for half a month, followed by three months of torrential rain, flooding the entire city.
Jiang Ning rented an apartment on the 18th floor. Although it wasn't submerged, she still lived in hardship.