Chapter 3: The Magical Space

“Hello, ma’am. The restaurant specifically asked me to remind you: you need to eat the porcini mushrooms while they’re hot. If they get cold, you have to reheat them in a pan—don’t use the microwave, or you might get poisoned and start seeing little people,” the delivery guy said seriously as he handed over the food.

“Okay, thank you.” Jiang Yan reached out and took the bag.

“If you have a moment, please give me a five-star review!” The young man gave a goofy, honest smile before turning to leave.

“Sure.” Jiang Yan closed the door, double-checked the lock, and finally carried the food inside.

Ever since she’d learned of her mother’s sudden passing, Jiang Yan, once a food blogger, hadn’t managed to eat a proper meal.

Even now, after being reborn, she still had no appetite.

But today was the seventh day after her mother’s death, so she ordered all her mother’s favorite dishes: spicy crab, poached fish in chili oil, stir-fried porcini with dried chili, green pepper fried ganba mushrooms, deep-fried stinky tofu, sautéed choy sum, and a small bowl of fragrant rice.

For herself, she ordered a bowl of Chongqing noodles and a cup of passionfruit lime tea.

After all, you need to eat to have the energy to do things. Even if she didn’t feel like eating, she had to force something down.

But right now, she needed to wash away the bad luck and grime clinging to her.

Jiang Yan set the takeout on the dining table and headed straight for the bathroom.

After showering and quickly finishing her meal, it was already afternoon.

With three billion sitting in her bank account, she didn’t rush out on a shopping spree. Instead, she opened her laptop, ready to organize her to-do list and inventory of supplies she’d need to stockpile.

After all, how to spend three billion, what supplies to buy and store for a lifetime, and which things money alone couldn’t buy and would require connections—none of these were decisions to be made on a whim.

Besides, the disasters to come were unpredictable. Only by preparing as thoroughly as possible could she face whatever came her way.

Fortunately, her mother had known about her love for travel and food. Already financially free and having sold her company, her mother had wanted to travel the world with her, so she’d sold off all their extra properties, shops, warehouses, and so on.

That saved Jiang Yan a lot of trouble in managing assets.

Now, the family only kept a luxury villa and the apartment Jiang Yan currently lived in.

As for cars, they only kept an A-class RV for daily use and a Pagani Huayra for Jiang Yan to drive when she returned to China.

Jiang Yan remembered from her previous life, when she was locked in a basement, overhearing Song Deming and his mistress talking: first came extreme heat, then torrential rain, then floods and mudslides.

All this meant that after the heatwave, her current villa would no longer be livable.

The terrain was too low.

To avoid having to move back and forth, she decided to find a high-rise apartment as her new base, and prepare it in advance for heat, cold, leaks, and anything else that might come.

Renovating and airing out a new place would take time, so that was her top priority. She’d have to insist the contractors use only eco-friendly materials.

Once her big plan was ready, she’d call the real estate agent, and also have them help her rent a high, safe, and well-sealed warehouse.

Looking at the big picture, both villas and the cars needed to be sold.

After all, the RV and sports car would be useless in the apocalypse—better to trade them for an off-road RV.

She’d seen online that there was a foreign model called the “Doomsday Fortress”—expensive, but far more practical and durable than a regular RV.

Objectively, her two properties wouldn’t be easy to sell.

Rich people usually bought new homes, rarely second-hand ones.

The easiest to sell were small apartments or townhouses for first-time buyers.

So she decided to have the agent list them at a steep discount.

If she didn’t sell now, once disaster struck, they’d be worthless.

As for the cars, as long as the price was right, they’d sell quickly on the second-hand market.

She also had a few limited-edition Hermès bags and some collectible watches at home.

Those bags and watches were hot items in the luxury resale market and would fetch a good price.

Additionally, her mother had stored some valuable gold and jewelry in her name at the Anming City Commercial Bank vault.

She’d definitely keep those.

As disasters struck, cash would become worthless, but gold and jewelry would still be useful for bartering, at least in the early and middle stages.

She had the money.

But what supplies to buy, and how to store them, was another big problem.

Suddenly, Jiang Yan remembered those “space cheat” novels she’d read in college. On impulse, she gently stroked her jade bracelet and sighed, “If only I had a space of my own.”

In those stories, the bracelet or pendant would unlock its space after coming into contact with blood.

In her previous life, when Song Deming and Zhang Kai cut her hand, her blood had touched the bracelet, but nothing magical had happened.

Besides, she already seemed to have a “man-eating flower” cheat that could devour living things.

Still, as soon as Jiang Yan finished speaking, her jade bracelet suddenly flashed with light.

She thought she was imagining it.

But she couldn’t help rubbing the bracelet again and repeating, “If only I had a space of my own!”

This time, the bracelet glowed even brighter!

Jiang Yan: “!!!!” It wasn’t her imagination!

Excitement and anxiety surged through her. She started chanting the phrase over and over like “Open Sesame.”

Ten seconds later, the bracelet burst into dazzling golden light.

Jiang Yan instinctively closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, the priceless jade bracelet was gone from her wrist.

And the next thing she knew, she was no longer sitting at her desk “praying”—she was inside a magical space!

So she really did have a second rebirth cheat!

Thank you, Mom!

Thank you, past self, for enduring all that suffering!

The space reward may have been late, but it finally arrived!

Jiang Yan was so overwhelmed with joy that she burst into tears.

She wiped her eyes, took a few deep breaths to calm herself, and began to look around carefully:

The whole space was rectangular, its edges shrouded in thick white mist.

Inside, it was about the size of a standard soccer field, divided into three zones: black, white, and gray.

The black zone was covered in thick, slightly damp black soil.

It looked incredibly fertile—perfect for planting!

Jiang Yan also noticed that, unlike the storage-only spaces in the novels she’d read, this space had sunlight, wind, and air!

Sunlight warmed her skin.

A gentle breeze brushed her face.

The air was not only fresh, but seemed to have a healing quality.

In just a few seconds, she felt all her fatigue, weakness, depression, and negative emotions melt away!

She could faintly hear the sound of running water.

So, there was probably water here too!"