Spending Money Feels Great

Two hours later, Ming Jiu arrived safely in City L.

She hadn't wasted the time on the road either. Ming Jiu had gotten off the highway early, taken a slight detour to the industrial park, and settled on a warehouse location.

It was an abandoned, vacant factory building.

The factory had a warehouse, and it was less than twenty minutes' drive from the highway exit. Inside the factory walls was a spacious open area, perfectly suited for temporarily placing her light steel villa.

More importantly, the system had performed a simple scan of the buildings and confirmed that the factory complex would not survive more than two months in the blizzard. Once it collapsed, there would barely be any evidence left behind.

Ming Jiu called the number posted on the factory gate. The person on the other end was an agent in City L, and they agreed to meet that afternoon to sign the contract and make payment.

In order to get the keys as soon as possible, Ming Jiu headed straight for the agency after entering downtown City L.

Once they heard that she only needed to temporarily store some homestay space pods, the agency didn't make things difficult. They agreed to rent the place by the day. The factory had been vacant for ages, and after speaking with the owner, the agent only asked Ming Jiu for a token deposit.

After getting the keys, Ming Jiu went to a 4S dealership first and checked out two light-truck RVs.

Ming Jiu took both for a couple of test drives, then had the system scan and inspect them. There were no issues with either vehicle. The factory display model cost 450,000, while the other one—a custom order that the buyer had never picked up—was slightly more expensive at 470,000.

"The custom interior and living-area setup on this one are a whole tier above the display model. If the other party hadn't backed out, this customization alone would've cost at least 500,000."

Ming Jiu did prefer the customized one. It was clear that its original buyer had been eagerly looking forward to it; the living-area design was far more detailed.

"I'll take both. I'm paying in cash, in full. Give me the keys, and you'll be responsible for delivering the vehicles here."

Ming Jiu sent the factory address to the salesperson over WeChat.

"Yes, yes, of course. It's not far, so we'll cover the delivery fee. When would you like them delivered?"

"Today. I'll give you the keys in a moment. Once you've delivered them, I'll come pick up the keys. Just leave the vehicles in the yard."

She signed the contracts and swiped her card in one smooth motion. Ming Jiu had no intention of wasting more time dealing with insurance, inspections, registration, and other procedures. As long as she kept the invoices and other documentation proving the two vehicles belonged to her, that was enough.

After taking care of the RVs, Ming Jiu followed the address provided by the system and headed straight to an auto market on the other side of City L.

She chose two three-seat practical all-terrain vehicles manufactured in S Province, 150,000 each, and arranged a delivery time with the seller.

She didn't buy any accessories for either the RVs or the all-terrain vehicles. After the system upgraded them, ordinary accessories would no longer be compatible anyway.

Last came the mobile housing manufacturer.

Three fully furnished, thirty-nine-square-meter homestay space pods, and one fully furnished light steel villa with its own bathroom, with a total usable area of ninety-eight square meters across two floors.

Unlike the vehicles, which she would be able to use soon, the mobile homes were preparations for emergencies. The earliest reasonable time to bring them out would be three years later—only if she had enough firepower to barely pass herself off as a spatial ability user.

So Ming Jiu didn't intend to use the money on her card. She packed cash into a travel bag beforehand, placed it in the trunk, and planned to settle the bill in cash.

After inspecting the available units and confirming that the factory could carry out further renovations, Ming Jiu was very satisfied.

"The light steel villa doesn't need any modifications. Leave one space pod as it is. Convert one of the other two into a kitchen and the other into a communal laundry room."

"I want the kind of commercial kitchen used in mall backrooms—commercial four-burner induction stoves, soup kettles, steam ovens, deep fryers, and the like. Make it a multifunctional kitchen."

"For the laundry room, just add enough drainage outlets and power sockets. Can you produce the blueprints here?"

She wanted to install the kitchen and laundry room in her space, with the kitchen being the highest priority.

When people were hungry, their sense of smell became much sharper. If she cooked something at home, the neighbors upstairs and downstairs—even people in the next building—might smell it.

Desperate, starving people were no different from wild beasts. She didn't want to suffer as she had in her previous life, and she especially didn't want Ming Rong to suffer. Cooking in her space was the safest option.

Although she herself couldn't enter the space, her mental power could control everything inside it. Chopping vegetables, preparing ingredients, and cooking wouldn't be a problem. As long as she strictly followed Xiao Rong's recipes and resisted every sudden burst of inspiration, the food couldn't possibly taste too bad.

The laundry room was purely for convenience and to save effort.

The water supply and drainage were easy to handle as well. She could get a water pump and hook it up to pipes, drawing water directly from the river in her space.

As for wastewater, Ming Jiu ordered several steel frames from the factory to raise the space pods off the ground. Water tanks could be placed beneath them to collect the wastewater, much like an RV. She would just need to empty them regularly.

For electricity, she could use energy boxes from the system shop. Perfect.

Thinking of this, Ming Jiu spoke with the person in charge again and asked for four finished, preassembled frames—the kind that could be used immediately once placed on the ground.

The person in charge tapped on a calculator a few times, made several calls nearby, and finally gave Ming Jiu a definite answer.

To be honest, Ming Jiu's order wasn't large. The modifications would make some money, but they were troublesome too. They had plenty of home renovation resources on hand, but none for converting a unit into a commercial backroom kitchen, so they would have to find someone.

It was the end of the year, and business at the factory was poor. Any profit was better than none.

"Here's the thing. We'll find someone as quickly as possible. Drawing up the plans will be easy, but I don't have many connections for procuring kitchen equipment, so the price might..."

"It's fine. We need it urgently, so the price is negotiable. Just give me a specific timeline, and we'll sign the contract."

As long as it was fast and the quality was up to standard, Ming Jiu could even accept the person in charge taking a kickback.

"It'll take a week to finish everything. Fortunately, the delivery location isn't far. Are you sure you don't need us to deliver and install everything directly at the site?"

The person in charge tried to make a little more off the delivery fee.

"No need. We have our own transportation channels."

Once the contract was signed, the factory quoted 350,000. Ming Jiu paid a thirty-percent deposit in cash.

She rushed back to where the RVs were, retrieved the factory keys, and by then it was already getting dark.

Ming Jiu had spent the entire afternoon driving all over City L. In between, she had to video call the workers reinforcing the windows and waterproofing the roof from time to time. Ming Rong stayed in the car whenever she could, determined not to make things harder for her sister.

Things were nearly settled. Ming Jiu called the people at the auto market, hoping to have the all-terrain vehicles delivered to the factory before they got off work.

The arrangements went smoothly, and Ming Rong had also picked out a restaurant in her food guide—a barbecue place.

The weather was cold, it wasn't a weekend, and Ming Jiu had arrived early, so there were no other customers in the restaurant.

While ordering food to eat there, Ming Jiu also packed over five hundred yuan worth of skewers. Just like at the food stall last time, she put them in the trunk before storing them in her space warehouse.

After dinner, Ming Jiu drove straight to the abandoned factory. The all-terrain vehicles had already arrived. She opened the factory gates, and the two vehicles were unloaded into the yard.

She checked the marks she had deliberately left on the vehicles during the inspection. They were right—the exact two she had test-driven.

Only after the transport truck disappeared down the road did Ming Jiu return to the factory and try storing the two RVs and two all-terrain vehicles in her space.

The process went smoothly. All four vehicles stood intact on the endless grassland in her space.

After putting them away, Ming Jiu carefully sensed the condition of her body. She didn't feel any obvious drain on her mental or physical strength, and she couldn't help letting out a breath of relief.

Good. This could work.

When it was time to officially stockpile supplies, she could test her limits.

Once she got into the car, Ming Rong handed her the tablet.

[Are we going back to the hotel now?]

"Yeah. Are you tired? If you are, get some sleep first. The drive back will take two hours."

Ming Rong shook her head, took back the tablet, and typed a few more words.

[I'm not tired, but I think you're really tired, Sis.]

Ming Jiu started the car. Was she tired? Honestly, not at all.

Just thinking about how all the preparations she was making now would be useful in the future filled her with energy.

Besides, spending money without worrying about the consequences felt really great.