Stockpiling in Progress 2

At a little after eight, Ming Jiu finally got home.

The house had already taken on a new look—there was now a tissue box and an aromatherapy bottle on the previously bare movable sofa side table, a capybara-patterned mat had been laid in the entryway, and a pair of light-blue plush slippers sat on top of it.

Several storage boxes had been neatly placed in the open section of the shoe cabinet, filled with individually wrapped masks. A movable clothes rack had also been added beside the cabinet, with Ming Rong's coat, hat, and scarf neatly hung on it.

A sofa cover in the same color had been spread over the sailboat sofa, which looked wonderfully comfortable to lie on. The dining chairs had cushions too, and every chair leg had been fitted with non-slip, noise-reducing rubber caps. The air carried the faint scent of laundry detergent.

Ming Rong had already pounced toward her, but Ming Jiu caught her by the head.

"The wind's strong outside. I'm covered in dust, so don't hug me."

Ming Rong behaved herself and signed, [Go take a shower. I'll heat up the food. Are you hungry?]

Ming Jiu nodded vigorously. "Hungry. Starving, actually. Please serve me some extra rice, little chef."

Ming Rong happily ran off to the kitchen while Ming Jiu headed straight for the guest bathroom.

When she had bought appliances and furniture before, she had only replaced the toilet in the master bedroom bathroom and left the guest bathroom alone.

Luckily, she had not replaced it. Otherwise, Ming Rong would not have been able to use the toilet properly after staying home all day. A newly installed toilet needed a day or two before it could be used.

By the time she had finished her hot shower and dried her hair, steaming dishes were already waiting for her on the dining table.

Ming Jiu took a sip of corn and pork rib soup and felt like she had come back to life.

Oh my God, what kind of heavenly little sister was this?

Ming Rong held up her tablet. [I'll make soup for you at home tomorrow too, Sis!]

Ming Jiu said, "You worked hard cleaning up the house by yourself. If you're tired, don't cook. Takeout is pretty good too."

Ming Rong wrote, [I like doing these things. It feels great. You work much harder outside, Sis.]

Ming Rong was telling the truth. Although she did not know exactly what Ming Jiu had been busy with lately, she knew that the light in her sister's bedroom was always turned off late, and the dark circles under her eyes were growing worse.

Ming Jiu almost wanted to cry. Her little sister was practically an angel!

Begging and throwing tantrums to make their mother keep her sister had been the most correct decision she had ever made. She just felt a little sorry for her mother—having a baby was truly hard.

"It's okay. I'll be done soon. Once I'm done, everything will be fine."

Everything she was doing now was the strongest guarantee that she and Xiao Rong would be able to live well in the harsh days to come.

January 29th. Ten days until the blizzard.

Early in the morning, Ming Jiu sneaked out like a thief, went home, and released the storage boxes from the spatial warehouse—all except the ones containing food.

Then she quietly carried breakfast back to the hotel room. After eating, she sent her sister to Room 2501 as usual.

The moment Ming Rong entered, she saw the storage boxes piled all over the living room and nearly jumped for joy.

Their belongings had finally arrived!

Ming Rong took off her coat and rolled up her sleeves.

[Once we finish organizing, can we stop staying at the hotel? I like living at home!]

Most importantly, she would be able to cook. She did not want to eat takeout anymore.

"Of course. Take your time organizing. I still need to be busy outside for a few more days, so you won't be bored at home."

Ming Rong nodded hard.

After settling her sister in, Ming Jiu drove to City L. Her main tasks today were—watching the unloading, receiving goods, making major purchases at the agricultural market, and squeezing in calls to factory salespeople whenever she could.

Another energetic day.

After lying down last night, she had harvested crops for more than two hours. Her farm's upgrade progress had now reached (100.69/300). In another four or five days, it would reach Level 2. She was fairly satisfied with her progress.

After all, earning gold coins to level up was not her priority at this stage. The fact that she could spare some attention for it was already quite good.

The agricultural market was located inside the wholesale complex and counted as a separate area. Ming Jiu had entered through the east gate yesterday, but the west gate was more convenient today.

Today, she was not pulling a suitcase. She carried a large travel bag on her back and had changed into a different outfit, though her face was still tightly covered by a mask, scarf, and hat.

As for vegetables—she had asked the system to make a list in advance of the varieties her farm did not have. Since it was the end of the year, the market's selection was exceptionally complete.

Ming Jiu found major wholesalers and placed orders directly, buying at least five tons of each kind of vegetable.

It was the end of the year, and temperatures had been abnormally low this year. Even wholesale vegetables were not cheap, and Ming Jiu rarely felt such heartache over spending money.

The process was not as smooth as it had been at the wholesale complex yesterday. Ming Jiu ran into a small problem.

The wholesalers did not ask why she was buying so much—this was a wholesale market, after all. What else could wholesale vegetables be for besides reselling?

They merely offered her some advice regarding the delivery warehouse.

The temperature was low now. If insulation was not handled properly, fresh vegetables could easily freeze and spoil.

Ming Jiu immediately rented a warehouse specifically for storing fresh goods. The warehouses beside the wholesale complex could be rented by the day. To be safe, she rented one for two days and scheduled all deliveries for the following afternoon.

Next came fruit. The system compared the farm's fruit with what was currently available on the market, and there was not much difference in variety. Ming Jiu did not need to stockpile extra amounts of any particular type.

Once the farm reached Level 5, she would unlock orchard planting. So, she simply placed orders with vendors for a wide range of fruits in smaller amounts, only three to five hundred jin of each variety, with delivery scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.

As for freshwater and seafood, City B mostly had frozen seafood. Fresh live aquatic products were available, but they were expensive. Ming Jiu stockpiled some, though the total amount could not compare with the vegetables and fruit.

Both she and Xiao Rong loved seafood and freshwater produce. She wanted to squeeze out a day or two to return to City G and stockpile seafood and southern fruits specifically.

Finally came meat and eggs. Ming Jiu did not want frozen meat, only fresh meat.

She found several wholesalers directly affiliated with slaughterhouses. She ordered a total of five thousand whole chickens, ducks, and geese, as well as five tons of poultry products such as chicken wings, duck wings, feet, claws, and offal.

She ordered fifty black pigs and fifty sheep each, along with ten cattle. Aside from the heads, sheepskins, and cowhides, she requested that everything be slaughtered, cut up, cleaned, and packaged.

The size of these orders was equivalent to the procurement orders of a large food processing plant. Ming Jiu could only spread her purchases among different sellers, which greatly reduced the discounts she could get.

Including the goods and additional services, the meat alone cost nearly a million.

The meat deliveries were scheduled for the day after tomorrow.

Lastly came eggs. She ordered the most chicken eggs—a full two tons—while duck eggs and goose eggs totaled one ton.

Ming Jiu also saw preserved eggs, salted duck eggs, and sesame paste eggs in the shop, so she ordered several hundred jin of each.

After receiving the delivery slips, she did not immediately drive to the warehouse. Instead, she returned to the wholesale complex and bought another batch of dairy products.

Milk, yogurt, cheese, butter... Ming Rong liked baking, so Ming Jiu bought a great deal of baking ingredients as well.

Once her shopping was complete, Ming Jiu drove straight to the old factory building and began the unloading-receiving cycle.

The first shipment delivered that afternoon was menstrual products: sanitary pads of various lengths, overnight period underwear, and tampons. Ming Jiu chose reliable brands and stockpiled enough for her and her sister's future needs.

Vehicles came and went all afternoon. With Sister System working behind the scenes as well, unless someone camped near the factory building twenty-four hours a day, it would be difficult to tell which vehicles were delivering goods and which were transporting them away.

Every time Ming Jiu received a batch of goods, she immediately confirmed it online. The system then promptly arranged a transfer order, creating a seamless chain of logistics records that gave her a full sense of security.