12: oil

After greeting her parents, Ai Yue headed straight for the apartment Han Xiao was renting.

When she arrived at Han Xiao's apartment full of murderous intent, she was told by his roommate that Han Xiao had returned early that morning with bruised eyes, packed his luggage without a word, and moved out; as for where he moved, he didn't say.

Ai Yue frowned and took out her phone to call Han Xiao, only to find that he had blacklisted her.

Ai Yue was literally laughed out of anger by his petty move; this scum had hidden himself away quite quickly.

With no other choice, Ai Yue could only return home with a belly full of frustration.

The next day, Ai Guosheng continued to deliver grain and vegetables to the third cafeteria, Li Shilan cleaned the villa at home, and Ai Yue went to the water tank shop to pick up the tanks she had ordered.

When she drove the hummer to the water tank shop, the boss was loading the tanks Ai Yue needed onto a semi-trailer.

“Miss Ai, all the goods you wanted are ready. Where should I deliver them?” the boss asked, wiping away sweat.

Ai Yue looked at the massive vehicle; the entire truck was filled with water tanks.

Ai Yue thought to herself that this would definitely be enough for domestic water storage this time.

She led them to the warehouse; the two rented warehouses were packed so tightly with water tanks that they could barely fit.

After settling the payment and seeing off the boss and his workers, Ai Yue closed the rolling shutter door, stored all the water tanks from the warehouse into her space, and then drove to the suburban reservoir.

She had found out that the water in the reservoir was running water, which would be perfectly fine for domestic uses like flushing toilets and doing laundry.

Ai Yue found a spot near the reservoir with no surveillance cameras and, seeing no one around, placed the water tanks into the water. Once filled, she stored them directly into her space. Repeating this for three hours, Ai Yue finally filled all the water tanks and buckets.

Seeing that it was noon, she sat on the shore, took out a whole fried chicken and a bottle of cola from her space, and enjoyed her meal while looking at the scenery of the reservoir.

After filling her stomach, she went to meet her father, stored the large pots of food he had brought into her space, and filled the truck with grain, vegetables, and oil. It was also time for her to go to the gas station to get some fuel.

Countdown: thirteen days.

The day after tomorrow is the Technology Auction being held in City A, featuring many high-tech gadgets from home and abroad. Ai Yue didn't want to miss it.

Before going to City A, she still had to prepare everything that needed to be prepared.

Driving the hummer into the nearest gas station, she filled the car with gas. Ai Yue tried mentioning to the staff that she wanted to purchase some diesel separately, but the staff stated that individual citizens cannot freely purchase diesel. Without a permit, the private sale of gasoline and diesel is illegal.

She had no choice but to give up. She honestly filled the car with gas, drove to a hidden stretch of road to siphon out two-thirds of the fuel, and then drove to another gas station. Repeating this, she accumulated fuel bit by bit, sealing it all in iron drums.

In one afternoon, Ai Yue traveled across the entire city, accumulating about one ton of gasoline, but her harvest of diesel was zero.

At the end of February, it got dark quite early, and it was basically dark by five o'clock.

Returning home, Li Shilan had already cleaned the villa until it looked brand new; the only thing left was to put in the furniture, which was all in Ai Yue's space.

Like a magic trick, Ai Yue gave a small wave of her hand, and the sofa, TV, coffee table, dining table, and beds appeared out of thin air, landing exactly where they were supposed to be.

Every time this happened, the old couple looked incredulous. It was too miraculous; they never expected that the materialism they had believed in for most of their lives would collapse with each wave of Ai Yue's small hand!

The three of them, exhausted from a long day, didn't have the energy to cook for themselves. Ai Yue directly took out Goji Berry and Yam Beef Soup, Stir-fried Sour and Spicy Lamb, Braised Ribs with Tofu Skin, and a cold dish of Three-Flavored Shreds from her space—appetizing and good for digestion—along with a bowl of Eight-Treasure Rice for each person.

The three dishes and one soup were eaten clean by the three of them, with not a single bit wasted.

After the meal.

“Dad, let's go get some gas in a bit. I'll get gasoline, and you drive the truck to get diesel, how about that?” Ai Yue said to Ai Guosheng as she lay lazily on the sofa.

“Okay, but you'll have to come with me to the sand and gravel plant in a bit.”

“Huh? Why go there?”

“Why ask so much? You'll know when we get there. Let's go,” Ai Guosheng said as he took the lead in putting on his clothes.

Ai Yue turned back in confusion and asked Li Shilan, “What is my dad going there for? Why is he being so mysterious?”

Li Shilan spread her hands: “How should I know?”

Utterly confused, Ai Yue got up and followed behind Ai Guosheng out the door.

The night wind was biting, and there were only a few scattered pedestrians and vehicles on the road.

The two of them, wrapped up tightly, kept running from gas station to gas station. Time flew by, and before they knew it, it was already one in the morning. Since there were fewer cars at night and no need to queue for gas, it was much faster than during the day.

Two tons of gasoline, and more diesel—about four tons.

“Yueyue, let's go! To the sand and gravel plant!” At this time, Ai Guosheng parked the truck, opened the hummer's door, and sat in the passenger seat.

“Dad, why are we going there? Can't you tell me now?” Ai Yue asked again.

“You'll know when we get there. Sigh, as people get older, they can't handle staying up late. You drive well; I'll take a nap and you can wake me when we arrive.”

Seeing that he simply wouldn't say, Ai Yue helplessly did as he told her.

An hour later.

“Dad, we're here.”

“Mm, we're here. Get out of the car,” Ai Guosheng said, opening his bleary eyes and giving a big yawn.

After getting out of the car, Ai Yue was led by Ai Guosheng to a pile of sand. He said, “Collect this pile of sand.”

“Huh? Why collect sand?” Ai Yue asked with some surprise.

“Didn't I tell you that I would solve the toilet issue? This is the solution!” Ai Guosheng looked at Ai Yue with a face full of pride, looking as if he were asking for praise.

“Sand? For the toilet? How do you use this? This wouldn't work well, would it?”

“I say, you child, you're truly smart when you're smart, but you're also extraordinarily stupid when you're stupid.” Ai Guosheng didn't keep her in suspense any longer.

“Use the sand mixed with cat litter. Not only is there a large quantity, but it also has the characteristics of cat litter; it can solidify waste and eliminate odors. I've already experimented with it; it works great!”

“Look, such a big pile, and it's free! Saves money, right?” Ai Guosheng felt proud of his idea.

After hearing his idea, Ai Yue's mouth twitched; her dad was really bold in his thinking.

Unable to resist Ai Guosheng's repeated promotion, Ai Yue had no choice but to wave her hand and collect the pile of sand.

Ai Guosheng returned to the car with a satisfied look, no longer sleepy and full of energy. He told Ai Yue to sleep for a while while he drove back to the city.

After a night of hard work by the two of them, they harvested a total of five tons of gasoline and nine tons of diesel.

Ai Yue felt it might not be enough. After all, the power would go out during the Apocalypse, and if the family wanted electricity, they would have to rely on a generator burning diesel. So, while there was still time, she should stockpile more.

When the Apocalypse arrived, for organizations with power, gasoline and diesel would be indispensable. There was only so much fuel in the entire city; once everyone snatched some, it would be gone.

The combat strength of the three of them was average. Although they had guns, they could only protect themselves; they weren't qualified to snatch resources from other powers.

Before going home, Ai Yue accompanied her father to deliver grain and vegetables to the university cafeteria. Upon returning home, the two were so sleepy they couldn't keep their eyes open and fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed.

By the time Ai Yue woke up, it was already afternoon. Walking out of the bedroom and downstairs, she saw her parents organizing something.

“Mom, Dad, what are you doing?”