That Could Work

After she finished typing, Ming Jiu suddenly thought of something and poked Sister System in her mindscape.

[Sister System, can't you just hack into the bank's backend and remove my transaction limit?]

The system answered crisply: [No.]

The system continued explaining: [I cannot proactively intervene in national financial systems, public security systems, judicial systems, and the like.]

Ming Jiu opened her laptop and pulled up the supply inventory the system had compiled for Zuo Junhao.

[Right. If you could do that, I'd just have you get all the money and gold out of the banks for me—no, if you could do that, it'd be faster to directly requisition supplies from everywhere.]

[But you can alter my financial records and transfer purchase records out of my name. Does that count as a violation?]

The system said: [In your terms, that is skirting the line. As long as the amount is not enormous, I will not receive a warning.]

Ming Jiu casually asked: [What counts as an enormous amount?]

[More than 300 million.]

Ming Jiu: ...

[Then never mind.]

The system rarely initiated conversation: [Have you decided which supply point to raid?]

[I have.]

Ming Jiu pressed a shortcut key, and the supply spreadsheet on her screen was replaced by a map.

Across the table, Ming Rong, who had already ordered takeout, blinked. She remembered that her sister had not brought a laptop when they boarded the plane.

Whatever. It was no big deal.

[The mall, and—] Ming Jiu tapped twice in the north, once on a logistics park and once on a centralized warehouse beside a large wholesale market. The two locations were not far apart. [Warehouse One and Warehouse Two.]

These three supply points were the closest to Dragonview Court, and they were also close to one another.

It would be difficult for her to act before the blizzard.

Even if the system could alter every surveillance record related to her, it could not alter people's memories. If the goods in three massive warehouses vanished into thin air, Zuo Junhao would find a way to investigate on his own even if he did not dare alert the authorities. Anyone she encountered on the road could become a witness to her little operation.

The blizzard and plunging temperatures would make things harder, but there were ways around that.

The system said: [It appears the host already has a plan.]

[Yes. I plan to take the gene serum on the first day it snows, then move the warehouse supplies three days later, once the serum has fully taken effect.]

By then, the snow would have accumulated to a certain depth, and fewer people would be outside.

The system said: [The host's plan is highly reasonable. Does the host intend to depart from her current location?]

[Yes. Do you have any suggestions, Sister System?]

The map on Ming Jiu's laptop automatically enlarged. A red dot lit up in the center, marking a hotel closer to the supply points.

[Not ideal. If the snow is too heavy, hotel management will be stricter during a disaster. I'll need to disappear for one or two days, and the staff can't possibly avoid checking the room during that time.]

[And I plan to live in this apartment for around a year. When the temperature first starts dropping, I need to stay here in case I have to deal with an emergency in time.]

Things like frozen burst water pipes, leaking heating pipes, or problems with the gas line.

Most importantly, she was not comfortable leaving Ming Rong alone in a hotel.

At home, she could have the system connect to the surveillance cameras to check on her sister. Once they replaced the front door and locks, the apartment would be far safer than a hotel.

The system said: [Then the host will also need transportation suitable for travel in snowy weather.]

Ming Jiu asked: [How about an all-terrain vehicle?]

The G Province Safe Base rescue team had used snowmobiles and utility all-terrain vehicles in her previous life. Back then, she had been a rescue team volunteer and knew how to operate both.

It proved that she had made the right choice in her previous life. Disaster relief volunteers had initially worked purely out of goodwill, but as the disaster worsened, those with relief experience and dedication became "official workers" and received supplies every day.

After the safe base was established, those supplies were replaced by base points and priority slots for moving into the base.

This had been the fallback plan she had carefully prepared for herself and her sister, and it had worked extremely well.

Ming Jiu said: [We'll handle it this afternoon while we're looking at the RV. We'll modify the all-terrain vehicle first.]

The system said: [All right, host. Do you need me to look up all-terrain vehicle dealerships?]

[Thanks.]

Her phone rang—it was the takeout delivery.

The elevators in the complex required card access. Just as Ming Jiu was about to move, Ming Rong had already run out to press the elevator for the delivery rider.

As she ate the stir-fried dishes her sister had ordered, Ming Jiu gave her a thumbs-up. That was her little sister for you.

Their mother and father had always made a point of teaching them the skills needed for independent living. Of course, it was not for that bullshit about serving their husbands' families after marriage.

As their mother put it, they did not have to do such things, but it was best to know a little. More skills never hurt, and they would be better able to take care of themselves.

Her talents and Xiao Rong's were completely different. She liked drawing with their father and was interested in handicrafts like crochet and sewing, but her cooking was lacking—just barely edible.

Xiao Rong had put all her skill points into cooking. She had no interest at all in their father's painting or their mother's dancing. From the moment she could eat salted food, she had been a tiny gourmet. Even the materials she used to learn to read as a child had been cookbooks.

Ming Rong loved eating and enjoyed studying food. Though she was still an elementary school student, with someone helping chop ingredients and do prep work, she could easily put together an entire spread of home-style dishes by herself.

Ming Rong put down her chopsticks, lowered her head to type rapidly on her tablet, then turned it around for Ming Jiu to see.

[Sis, once the apartment is fixed up, I'll cook delicious food for you every day!]

"Sure. Then I'll be the chef's assistant."

After lunch, the renovation worker arrived. Carrying his tools, he walked around the apartment, quickly measured the doorframes, then went up to inspect the roof.

"The windows are pretty good. They don't need special reinforcement, though it's not impossible if you want it. Same goes for the roof waterproofing. My recommendation is not to redo it, but it's not impossible if you want to."

He was a pretty honest worker.

"So we're keeping the original door dimensions? Any particular requirements?"

Ming Jiu said, "Reinforce the windows and redo the roof waterproofing. When can you start? As for the doors, I'd like to look at them in person at your store."

The worker thought for a moment. "If you're in a hurry, we can start this afternoon. There isn't much work right now, and the workers are ready to go. The store's only a few kilometers away. I drove here—want me to take you there to have a look?"

"I'll drive and follow you. Then start this afternoon. I'll send you the temporary access code afterward."

Ming Jiu stuffed her laptop into her bag, and Ming Rong, having received the signal, started putting on her coat and scarf.

"I won't have time to stay here and supervise this afternoon, so just come straight over and get to work. Let's add each other's contact information. Video call me directly if there's a problem."

"Afterward, I'll hire someone else to inspect and accept the work."

The worker waved generously. "No problem, no problem. Don't worry, our shop has a fixed construction crew. If anything goes wrong, we definitely won't disappear."

Once they got into the car, Ming Jiu reached into her backpack and exchanged two kilograms of gold bars for two hundred gold coins, then tossed the bag onto the back seat.

It was minus sixteen degrees today. Once the car started, the temperature inside gradually rose.

"We're driving to City L this afternoon. Is there anything you want to eat? We can go buy it."

Ming Rong did not ask a single question and had no objection to where they were going. She took out her tablet and began searching food recommendations.

Before long, the sisters arrived at the store. With the system's help, Ming Jiu quickly chose her targets: an armored entry door, an old-fashioned barred security door to be installed outside the entry door, a Class A security door for the master bedroom, and a fingerprint lock with a video display.

Once the door was shut, the apartment's main master bedroom was practically a small one-bedroom unit. If installing an armored door did not require knocking down part of the wall, Ming Jiu would have loved to put one on the master bedroom too.

As for the barred security door, it would not actually provide much protection. Ming Jiu was mainly installing it to deal with the neighborhood office workers' regular home visits during the early stages of the disaster.

With a barred door between them, it would reduce a great deal of prying and unnecessary contact.

After choosing the doors and paying the deposit, Ming Jiu asked the worker to deliver them to her apartment while reinforcing the windows that afternoon. They would arrange another time to install the doors.

Having the doors delivered first would make it easier for the system to modify them. Ming Jiu did not expect an ordinary door, even a decent-quality one, to block much danger. If she wanted peace of mind, she would have to rely on the system.

Besides, she felt she needed to be present during the installation. She wanted to learn how to remove and install them herself.

Once she had explained everything that needed explaining, Ming Jiu made another trip to the bank to remove the limit on her card. Then she drove Ming Rong straight to City L.