Chapter 13: No Rescue

Can't get in!? Lin Buwan's heart skipped a beat—her two hundred thousand yuan worth of supplies were still inside. She tried to enter the space with her mind and succeeded; she could also retrieve the stored goods. This brought her some relief, and she mentally calculated the time she'd entered the space today.

She had gone in around eight in the morning, and now it was past noon. So, did this mean she could only stay in the space for four hours a day? That was far too short!

On the stove in the space's kitchen, the beef was still simmering. When Lin Buwan entered with her consciousness, she found that even without her physical presence, she could still manipulate objects inside. However, cooking with just her mind was incredibly complicated. Fortunately, the dish wasn't too difficult. She decided that once the beef had been braised enough, she would simply turn off the heat—it needed to soak anyway.

There was still a lot of unsliced beef in the kitchen, so she had no choice but to take it out and cut it bit by bit. Once she finished slicing and marinating it, she could put it back into the space. The entire day was spent chopping—beef, pork, and all kinds of vegetables that needed to be washed and then diced or sliced. It was endless, truly endless...

Lin Buwan regretted not thinking to buy some sort of food processor back then. It was the first time she realized how exhausting chopping vegetables could be.

It wasn't until four in the afternoon that 2010 brought Daodao back. Lin Buwan saw that big black shepherd again—Black Bean. It looked at Daodao with lingering fondness, while Daodao, belly round from eating, seemed to have played herself to sleep.

“You really went to a lot of trouble,” Lin Buwan said, a little embarrassed as she scooped up the puppy.

Wei Qu smiled. “No trouble at all. Black Bean gets bored alone anyway. If it's convenient, I can come by tomorrow and take Daodao to play again.”

“Alright, then I'll trouble you again,” Lin Buwan replied.

“By the way, judging by Daodao's color and build, she’s probably a dachshund,” Wei Qu remarked.

“Dachshund?” Lin Buwan muttered. “She looks more like a big rat to me.”

Wei Qu found the girl before him rather amusing. “Well, you're not wrong. When she grows up, she'll be quite long, with short legs—a small hunting dog.”

They chatted a little more, mostly about the dog, and then Wei Qu went home and closed his door.

Lin Buwan was just about to close her own door when it was pushed open from outside, and a voice called in, “Lin Buwan, it’s me.”

“Are you trying to scare me to death? I thought you were a burglar,” Lin Buwan cursed, glancing at the living room to make sure there was nothing that shouldn’t be seen. She moved her foot away from behind the door to let Hua Xiao in.

“I was wondering why you were so quiet all day. So you’ve been getting cozy with the handsome guy next door?” Hua Xiao tsked twice in mock disapproval. “Forgetting your friends for a pretty face!”

Lin Buwan gave a brief explanation, not caring whether Hua Xiao listened or not. She hugged Daodao and sat down on the sofa, while Hua Xiao sat beside her, absentmindedly stroking the puppy’s smooth fur.

“I don’t think this rain will stop,” Lin Buwan ventured. “Hua Xiao, do you have any plans?”

“What plans?” Hua Xiao asked, bewildered. “The authorities should have rescue operations, right? We just have to wait.”

That was what Lin Buwan had thought in her previous life. “But what if there’s no rescue?”

“Impossible, isn’t it?” Hua Xiao frowned. “But, hearing you say that, maybe it’s not so far-fetched. It’s already been a week…”

“If things keep going like this and there’s no rescue, I’m afraid there’ll be chaos in the building.” Lin Buwan warned, “You and Yu Su should be careful. At night, block your door when you sleep, and try to scrounge up some supplies.”

Hua Xiao nodded; from her expression, Lin Buwan could tell she’d taken it to heart.

The supplies Lin Buwan had given them would last twenty days at most. If they rationed carefully, it could stretch to over a month, so Hua Xiao wasn’t feeling too anxious. She still believed rescue would come.

There would be a rescue, but not until the rain stopped entirely—over a month from now.

Lin Buwan had never gone to the rescue center in her previous life, but some people from the building had. They didn’t stay long before returning. They said the rescue center was a star-rated hotel in Baicheng, packed to bursting, with people everywhere and no place to sit. The daily food ration was meager and left them hungry, and the sanitary conditions were terrible.

Those who returned from the rescue center would rather sleep in the corridors of the apartment building than go back there. That said enough about what kind of place it was.

After chatting for a while, Hua Xiao saw it was nearly dinnertime and left.

Lin Buwan ate her dinner, watching the rain outside, and calculated that she had to go out tomorrow—it had already been ten days.

Ten days. Many people’s food stocks were already gone, and the water level had risen to the fourth floor.

After dinner, she crawled into bed early, praying that the rain would ease up tomorrow. Daodao, apparently worn out from playing all day, was curled up in her cardboard box, sleeping soundly.

At five thirty the next morning, Lin Buwan’s alarm rang.

She slipped into the space to wash up, prepared breakfast for Daodao, and had a bowl of wonton noodles in bone broth herself.

She glanced at the thermometer on the wall—thirteen degrees. It felt fine indoors, but outside it would be colder. The rain was still falling, but her prayers seemed to have worked; it was much lighter than yesterday.

By the time she finished breakfast, it was nearly six o’clock, and still not fully light outside.

Lin Buwan looked at Daodao. She was uneasy about leaving the little puppy home alone, but 2010 would certainly be asleep at this hour. She’d tried before—if she wasn’t in the space, any other living creature would be ejected as well.

“Daodao, you have a name now. Be good and don’t bark at home,” Lin Buwan said, patting the puppy’s head. “I’ll be back soon.”

The puppy, of course, didn’t understand. She blinked at her owner and whimpered twice.

Lin Buwan sighed. Such a little charmer.

Time was running short. Lin Buwan carried the cardboard box into her room and put one of her plush slippers in it to keep the puppy company. Then she slung on her backpack and stepped out the door.

She had planned to drag her inflatable kayak downstairs. It wasn’t particularly heavy, but it was quite bulky. She decided to wait until she reached the fourth floor and see if the coast was clear before taking it out.

The emergency stairwell was empty and pitch-dark. Lin Buwan felt her way down. By the seventh or eighth floor, she could see that quite a few people were living in the corridor.

As the water continued to rise, soon people would be camping on the stairs.

Before long, she reached the fifth floor.

No one lived on the fifth floor anymore; the water on the fourth floor had reached halfway up. Lin Buwan opened the emergency door, entered the fifth-floor corridor, picked a random door that was ajar, and slipped inside.

She headed straight for the balcony.

From the balcony to the water’s surface was just over a meter—not too high.

Once sure no one was around, Lin Buwan retrieved the fully inflated kayak from her space, lowered it with a rope, and tied another rope to the railing for safety. She slid down the rope and landed safely in the kayak.

As soon as she climbed aboard, the kayak wobbled on the murky, yellow water that surrounded her. Lin Buwan felt a surge of nerves.