New Home 2501

The apartment had great natural light. The living room had floor-to-ceiling windows, though they were not particularly large. Ming Jiu specifically dug out the contract from when the person in charge had overseen the renovations and gave it a glance. The entire apartment had been fitted with multilayer glass with excellent insulation.

The glass did not need replacing. Later, she would arrange for someone to inspect the window frames and, ideally, reinforce them.

There were plenty of custom-built cabinets throughout the apartment, providing more than enough storage space. Most of them were old-fashioned, but they were definitely sufficient.

The building was not very old, and it had insulation both inside and out. Ming Jiu had only learned how important insulation was after experiencing the blizzard. Houses in G Province practically had none of it. During the extreme cold in her previous life, it had been truly unbearable—just bare walls, as though drafts were blowing in from every direction.

The furniture and appliances were incomplete as well. The apartment had originally been rented out unfurnished, and the scattered furniture and appliances had probably been left behind by previous tenants.

Ming Jiu immediately made the decision. Unit 12-2501 would be their temporary residence before the safe zone was established.

City B's safe zone was enormous. Centered around Yunjing Mountain Scenic Area and Yunjing Reservoir at the northeastern corner of the original urban district, it spread outward in every direction. The old city occupied only a small corner within the safe zone, and even its farthest extension only reached the former Fifth Ring Road.

The two apartments divided from Grandpa's inheritance happened to be right at the edge of that small corner.

Ming Jiu did not know exactly when City B's safe zone had been divided up and established. She only knew it was around the middle of the extreme heat period following the blizzard and extreme cold—at least seven or eight months from now.

In the early days after the safe zone was officially established, survivors still mainly lived in the city. Only after the infrastructure within the safe zone gradually improved and more housing became available did the center of the safe zone slowly shift toward the scenic area.

For at least the next year, this apartment would be an ideal place to live—convenient transportation, official administration after the disasters, and easy access to information.

Most importantly, it was near the center of the route connecting more than half of Zuo Junhao's supply points. Setting out from here, she could empty at least three supply warehouses before Zuo Junhao noticed that the weather was going wrong, then inform the authorities about the remaining warehouses.

What she needed to do now was quickly get Unit 2501 in order, then purchase property in advance at the center of the future safe zone.

The thought made Ming Jiu feel much more at ease. She turned to Ming Rong. "From now on, we'll live in this apartment. What do you think?"

Ming Rong nodded vigorously and used sign language to tell her sister that she really liked it here.

Although it did not matter where they lived as long as she was with her sister, she liked this apartment better than the hotel.

After viewing the apartment, Ming Jiu immediately called on the system to help her find a reliable renovation company. The apartment did not need major alterations. She only needed the windows reinforced, the waterproofing redone, and some of the interior doors replaced.

[System Sis, can you put together a cost-effective list of furniture and appliances? The shipping address needs to be nearby. It would be best if they can deliver the next day and immediately arrange workers for installation.]

The monthly service really was different. The system only replied with two words.

[Okay.]

Ming Jiu was relieved.

After the person in charge from the trust company left, only the Ming sisters and an employee from the real estate agency remained in the apartment—a capable-looking career woman in her thirties surnamed Bai.

"Miss Ming, the entrusted lease for this apartment is signed every February, and there are only a few days left before the contract expires. I can remove the apartment from the platform directly and avoid any compensation for breaching the contract. Here are the keys, and here is the door lock code."

"The property manager has a spare key as well. If you need it, you can collect it from our office anytime. The office is at the east gate, in one of the ground-floor shops of the complex, though I still recommend changing the locks directly."

"Here is the elevator card. The water and electricity cards, as well as the gas card, are all here. You can pay for them online. This apartment does not have underfloor heating, but the radiators were replaced the year before last and were drained and maintained before this year's heating season. The property management fee, like the lease, expires in February."

"If there are no issues, please sign here."

Sister Bai handed the tablet in her hand to Ming Jiu. Ming Jiu swiped through it twice and signed the agreement.

She had never dealt with real estate matters before and did not understand all the details involved. The only reason she dared sign so readily was because she had the system.

The system could analyze this kind of contract in less than a second.

"Alright. If there are no problems, I'll return to the company now and enter the contract into the system."

Ming Jiu had a good impression of Sister Bai. It turned out that this agency really was reliable, so rather than seek out someone else, she simply raised her own requests.

"I don't have any issues with this apartment. I'll need to trouble you, Sister Bai, to contact the tenant in Unit 602 as soon as possible. My maximum compensation is one quarter's rent."

"Also, I want to buy another apartment in Yunjing Scenic Area. Can you handle that as well?"

Sister Bai took the tablet from her bag again. This time, when she handed it to Ming Jiu, the screen displayed a map of Yunjing Scenic Area in City B.

"Of course. From the sound of it, Miss Ming, it seems you already have a target area?"

Ming Jiu drew a circle on the map with her finger.

"Somewhere within this range. I think the environment here is nice."

Neither of them liked wasting words, and Ming Jiu quickly stated her requirements.

She wanted a fully renovated, move-in-ready apartment. A secondhand apartment with renovations was fine as well, but the building could not be more than five years old. If it was a high-rise residential building, it had to be at least above the seventh floor. A villa in the mountains would be even better. She had no specific requirements for the layout, but it had to be no smaller than 120 square meters. Her final requirement was speed.

After Sister Bai noted down Ming Jiu's requirements and left, only Ming Jiu and Ming Rong remained in the apartment. It was just half past eleven in the morning.

Ming Jiu entered the new apartment's address into the food delivery app on Ming Rong's tablet.

"It's time for lunch. Order whatever you want to eat. Your sister has some things to handle."

The apartment had only recently been vacated, and the agency had cleaned it thoroughly. There was not much dust on the dining table or chairs either.

Ming Jiu first called the car shipping company. She did not want to waste time picking up the car, so she simply paid extra to have them drive it directly to her.

This apartment had come with an underground parking space when it was purchased, which was perfect for long-term parking. As for the rental car she was currently driving, she could simply ask the property management office to rent her another parking space later.

As soon as she finished speaking with them, the system listed the phone numbers of two renovation companies and a furniture and appliance list. Ming Jiu opened Taobao and JD, only to find that her shopping carts were now filled with items.

[Host, these furniture and appliance brands all have physical stores in City B.]

Ming Jiu understood immediately.

[I love you to death, System Sis!]

With physical stores, they could handle delivery and installation all in one go, which would save her a great deal of trouble.

After some thought, Ming Jiu decided to arrange the renovation company first.

Both renovation companies were quite good. Ming Jiu chose the one that could send workers over within half an hour.

All the furniture selected by the system came from only two brands, while the appliances came from just three. Ming Jiu directly used the WeChat mini-programs for those brands to find the stores closest to Dragonview Court. After adding the sales staff's contact information, she sent them the list and completed the payment in one go.

The system had considered everything thoroughly. Every item on the list was in stock, and Ming Jiu arranged for all the furniture and appliances to be delivered and installed at one in the afternoon the next day.

After finishing all that, Ming Jiu saved each piece of furniture and each appliance from her shopping cart before deleting them. Once she confirmed the new complex's address, she directly ordered more than a thousand 2TB portable hard drives.

With the system's help, the money trail for the order, as well as the shipping records after the goods arrived, could be quietly shifted onto several large merchants dealing in electronic products. It would not attract any attention at all.

After all that, well over a million yuan vanished from her account in an instant. Ming Jiu had even used the "inheritance card" she had just obtained today, since she had not removed the spending limit on her own savings card.

At that thought, Ming Jiu opened her phone's notes app. With the system protecting her, she could have absolute privacy in the era of big data, so she decisively abandoned handwritten notebooks.

Amid her packed schedule entries, she inserted another note: Remove spending limit on XX bank card.