"Kill her! Kill her!"
"Anyone who insults God is scum!"
"They all deserve to die! They all deserve to die! Kill her now!"
"God, please forgive us..."
Jiang Ci jolted awake from her nightmare. Only after seeing the familiar ceiling did she let out a soft breath.
She really had come back.
She quickly threw off the covers, got out of bed, and washed up.
After dying as a cult's sacrifice to heaven, she had been reborn six months before the natural disasters struck.
Once the initial joy passed, she quickly calmed down and stayed up last night drawing up a stockpiling list.
Just as she finished washing up, the phone beside her bed rang.
Jiang Ci picked it up, glanced at the screen, and quickly answered.
A middle-aged man's voice came from the other end. "Miss, I've already contacted the buyer. All that's left is your signature."
The man paused, then continued, "Are you sure you want to sell the Jiang Group?"
The young woman's voice was youthful but decisive. "Yes. I won't be going to the office. Bring the contracts and wait for me at Mingren Coffee. I'll be there in half an hour."
After hanging up, Jiang Ci changed into casual clothes, grabbed her phone and the keys on the entryway cabinet, and headed out.
She drove her BMW Mini to Mingren Coffee.
Lin Jiahao was already waiting for her by the window.
This steady, mature middle-aged man was the professional manager her father, Jiang Wei, had specifically hired before dying of illness to help her manage the Jiang Group. Until she fully took over the company, all she needed to do was collect the money.
Under his management, the Jiang Group was indeed running smoothly. Barring any surprises, she would have been able to take over without a hitch after graduation.
Unfortunately, in her previous life, the natural disasters had struck without warning. She had substantial savings but nowhere to spend them. After scraping by for three years without enough food or clothing in the aftermath, she had died.
Lin Jiahao did not look down on the young woman across from him because of her age. Respectfully and courteously, he laid the printed contracts before her one by one.
Jiang Ci read through them carefully. The price was reasonable and within her expected range, and every clause in the contracts was in order.
After confirming there were no problems, Jiang Ci picked up the pen and neatly signed her name in the appropriate places.
She believed that her father's spirit in heaven would surely support her decision, too.
The contracts were soon signed. Jiang Ci capped the pen and set it back on the table.
Lin Jiahao took the contracts and carefully checked them again, only putting them into his briefcase after confirming nothing had been missed.
Looking at the pretty young woman across from him, he was filled with emotion. Time had passed so quickly. It had already been five years since Mr. Jiang's death, and Jiang Ci had grown into a young woman.
He and Jiang Wei had been friends since their younger days, and the Jiang Group represented Jiang Wei's lifetime of hard work. Though he did not know why Jiang Ci had suddenly decided to sell it.
He respected her decision.
He had practically watched Jiang Ci grow up and knew she was not reckless. She had never acted spoiled or run wild just because she was a wealthy young lady.
Instead, she had been calm, outstanding, bright, and sensible from childhood, a role model for her peers.
He trusted her.
"Ci, whatever your reason for selling the Jiang Group, your Uncle Lin trusts your choice. Take care of yourself, and call me if anything comes up. The buyer will transfer the money into your account later. Keep an eye out for it."
Jiang Ci nodded and said,
"Uncle Lin, thank you for looking after me all this time. Take care. I'll be going now."
With that, she stood up, smiled at Lin Jiahao, and turned to leave without hesitation.
The Jiang Group had sold for four billion. With that money, she could stockpile enough supplies to survive.
The money problem was solved, and last night she had also solved the problem of how to store her supplies.
Now she just needed to buy supplies according to the list she had drawn up.
Last night, overwhelmed by the joy of being reborn, she had gone to bed too late and gotten up late today as well. By now, Jiang Ci was ravenous.
Come to think of it, she had not eaten anything good for three years, but she was not the sort to binge just because she had gone without good food for so long.
She knew that even if she wanted to gorge herself, her stomach would not allow it.
Despite her hunger, Jiang Ci calmly drove home, then found a rice noodle shop downstairs in the residential complex that she had frequented in her previous life and ordered a bowl of rice noodles with tomatoes and shredded pork.
She added an extra portion of shredded pork.
She finished the whole heaping bowl, drinking every last drop of broth. Jiang Ci was thoroughly satisfied.
It had been three years since she had eaten rice noodles this delicious. If only she could have a big bowl like this whenever she wanted after the disasters.
At that thought, Jiang Ci got up and hurried home.
She needed to go back and properly study her portable space.
The night before the cult sacrificed her in her previous life, she had been beaten bloody and thrown into a dark little room, barely alive. Blood from her head had trickled down her neck and seeped into the ancestral jade pendant she wore.
By a stroke of chance, it had unlocked a portable space.
Unfortunately, she had died before she could figure out what was going on.
So the first thing she had done upon being reborn last night was take a fruit knife and cut her finger to draw blood.
After the pendant absorbed her blood, it instantly crumbled into ash.
With a thought, her entire body entered a bright, rectangular space.
The space had clearly changed a great deal compared with her previous life.
That night in her previous life, after the space unlocked, her entire body had entered it as well, but back then, it had been square and completely empty.
She had lain inside for three hours before being kicked out.
The space she entered last night was rectangular, with invisible walls on either side and a home with three bedrooms, two living rooms, and two bathrooms at one end.
The other end stretched on endlessly. She had run inside for a long time last night without seeing its end, and she suspected that the space extending in that direction was infinite.
Not long after she entered, midnight arrived, and she was kicked out again.
After that, she had spent all her time making her supplies list. Now she needed to go home first and work out some specifics about the space.
Only by fully understanding her portable space could she make the most of it in the future.
Jiang Ci currently lived alone in Apartment 1101, Building 8 of Jiaxing Residential Complex.
Her family owned a villa in the suburbs, but it was too big. Her father had passed away five years ago, and her mother had remarried six months ago.
She did not want to intrude on her mother's new life, so she had refused to move into her stepfather's home.
But living there alone, the villa felt empty and desolate. Whenever the housekeeper was away, the whole villa seemed like a ferocious beast about to swallow her.
So she had moved out.
Jiaxing Residential Complex was in a school district, with three apartments sharing each elevator, all small units with two bedrooms and one living room. The smaller the home, the safer Jiang Ci felt.
She shut the doors and windows tightly and was just about to enter the space when her phone suddenly rang.
Looking at the caller ID, Jiang Ci pressed her lips together.
When she answered, a stern woman's voice spoke. "Jiang Ci, tomorrow is Sunday. Come over for lunch."
At the sound of that voice, the young woman could not help feeling close to tears, but she fought them back.
Hearing no response, the voice on the other end grew sterner, even a little fierce. "Hello! Did you hear me? Say something!"
Jiang Ci composed herself and said softly, "I know... Mom."
Wen Qianyue hung up and stared blankly at her phone screen, puzzled.
Had that brat taken the wrong medicine? She actually hadn't talked back, and she'd even been so gentle?
Could something have happened?
I'll have to ask her properly tomorrow!